Fox's 'Life' offers old humor

By Jacquelene Smith

Daily Arts Writer

What would it be like to have parents that never really grew up? What if they didn't care that you built a fort out of blankets and chairs right in the middle of the living room? What if they had absolutely no idea what they were doing? This is the scenario posed by Fox's new family comedy "Grounded for Life."

While all this may be amusing for the two young boys of the Finnerty family, ultimately the series lacks the comic ingenuity of "The Simpsons" and "Married with Children" for which Fox has come to be known and what makes a series worth watching. The premise is at first promising, but never capitalizes on its potential and results in being little more than mediocre, juvenile humor.

Sean Finnerty (Donal Logue, "The Tao of Steve") and his wife (Megyn Price, "Mystery Alaska") married young. They definitely weren't ready to be parents. With a teenage daughter that rivals a banshee for hysteria capability, and two little heathens for sons, no one would disagree that the couple has their hands full. But really it's their own fault. The only source of discipline that the kids have is their militant grandfather who is easily outwitted by the two boys. For Sean, it's a priority to be the "cool dad." His problem is then balancing that with any sort of authority over his children because then he'd be forced to act like an adult-which he isn't ready to be.

The show keeps insisting that the kids, especially their daughter Lilly (Lynsey Bartilson), are the ones that are in charge. And they are. When the mom comes downstairs, the sons insist that she walk on the furniture to get to the kitchen because the floor is really molten lava. And she does. She barely flinches when they later break several lamps in an attempt to avoid being burned by the volcanic floor.

Sean and his wife take great pains to avoid Lilly's wrath as well. She lays down the law far better than her parents. At one point, Sean climbs the stairs to Lilly's room to confront her about a fake driver's license he found there. He's convinced he's got the upper hand. It's no surprise that Lilly turns the dispute to her favor by making the discovery of the fake i.d. illegitimate because it was evidence gained through the violation of her privacy.

"Grounded for Life" has its moments. When Lilly explains how frustrated she is with her mother's attractiveness, there's a series of flashbacks, from Lilly's point of view. Cut to the mom washing the family car in a pair of daisy dukes and a tank top; the neighborhood boys watching and drooling. In the end, the show is nevertheless predictable and relies too heavily on that brand of whiney-humor that only the cast of "Seinfeld" could ever really pull off. In the end, "Grounded for Life" doesn't offer the viewer much in the way of intelligent humor.