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.
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.