The Goode Family
The Goode Family
| 27 May 2009 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
  • 1
  • Reviews
    Yasen Kiranov

    The opening paragraph is a little off-topic rant/opinion dump, If any potential reader is interested in the review itself, I would recommend skipping it.It's sad how prematurely this show was scrapped due to low ratings. Now, I'm sure people can find a whole bunch of reasons "The Goode Family" never amassed the necessary popularity to survive, but I personally see it as tragic case of preconceptions determining public opinion. Now, I'm not from the USA myself, so any political BS people throw around about satirical shows such as this one was never that interesting to me. If I'm not mistaken, the main creative force behind the show (Mike Judge) once stated, that his work is more about people's way of thinking and social processes - not political events. Even so, people just love to label things as "conservative" or "liberal" to simplify them. It really sucks when folks can't appreciate a good joke, or a piece of art in general, just because they have a stick up their arsenal about some recent political event that no one will give a fudge about in 5 years or so. Quite sad, indeed.The show itself is based around episodes with individual plot lines - there is no connection between episodes, save for the characters and setting. The humor is varied, ranging from lighthearted jabs at different stereotypes that doesn't really stand out that much from other satirical shows to slapstick moments which work surprisingly well and occasionally - surprisingly cynical and nuanced humor, which is the highlight of the show.The series does have several shortcomings, some of the running jokes, namely the dog not being fed properly, could have been handled better. Some of the supporting characters aren't developed properly and don't fulfill the potential their overall concept had planned. Out of the 13 episodes created, the later ones show more refinement and potential, (especially the "lime dew" one) proving the series had a good starting point. Sadly, corporate pulled the plug.In its unfinished state the series exists as more of a curiosity, but I would still highly recommend seeing it, as it still shows time, effort and creativity was put into it, what little there is.

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    Juaqino

    I'd like to say something nice about this show before I say something bad about it. First off, I love the idea of this show. It's basically the reverse of Mike Judge's previous shows such as the hilarious Beavis & Butt-head and the somewhat funny King of the Hill, which poked fun at rednecks and idiots. The Goode Family instead pokes fun at P.C. environmentalist liberals. This is an idea that I have not seen anywhere else, and in reality it should make a great show.But it doesn't. Much of the humor falls flat. I don't know how else to describe this show, but it's just not that funny. It has it's moments, but so far it's been disappointing to me. Mike Judge is better than this. This show has a lot of potential, but in the first season it certainly hasn't met that potential.However, I don't hate this show. I want to see it succeed because I still like the idea and want to see Mike Judge make a terrific show. Fortunately I think it's been picked up for another season, so we'll wait and see what happens.The show isn't bad enough that I won't watch it. The upside is that it's not obnoxious, like King of the Hill sometimes was. Though The Goode Family isn't great, I'm still hoping it will get better. It still has time to fix it's previous flaws. It could even become as good as Daria was(which was a spin off of Beavis & Butt-head).I give this show a 5 because it's worth watching, but just barely.

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    tirkkanen

    This is not the kind of comedy that makes you laugh. It's more of an educational drama with a touch of funny. The characters are all good and the environmentalist theme of the show is nice. Still it doesn't really amaze you in any way. It's just something to watch when nothing else is on. For example when watching the pilot I almost laughed out loud during the final scene before the credits, so it definitely doesn't itch everyones laugh nerves. The animation is good, I like the realism of it. I also liked the irony of the pet dog being a vegan (against his will of course). The characters are the stereotypes you would expect. They include the parents, the mother being the obsessive one and the father being more relaxed but still staying true to the cause. The teenage daughter is fairly normal with teenage problems. The weirdest character is the adopted white African American son who seems to not be all there but yet excels in everything he does. Maybe there is potential that I didn't quite catch or I just simply don't enjoy the subtle comedy, because I like to laugh when watching a comedy. Anyway I'll give it 5 out of 10 for being too plain.

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    rich

    I think animation lovers will know Mike Judge only too well from 'Beavis and Butthead' and 'King of the Hill'. Very different shows but they grew on us. King Of the Hill in it's prime was wonderful and now in auto-pilot is still amusing to watch. I love both shows and wish B & B could make a comeback minus the music videos. Mike's new show 'The Goode Family' is a little more like KOTH. In the sense that it feels like a sitcom with live actors except that it's animated. The pilot episode was amusing through out with some good dialogue and interesting characters. The title character Gerald Goode is voiced by Mike Judge doing a reprisal of the hippie teacher from B & B. The consensus on the web seems to be that the show is too risqué with it's hyper-liberal goody two shoes family at the heart of the story. Others plain don't like it. I think like Mike's other two shows, this one needs some time. Give it a season, if it's still good...

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