Some plot lines in sitcoms don't require return visits because they just don't stand up or the jokes lose their impact. The storyline surrounds Julia and Suzanne's half brother Clayton (Lewis Grizzard) who has been released from a mental institution and is trying to make a new start. He tries to work in customer service and fails, and after getting to know the other members of Sugarbakers decides to pursue his ambition to be a stand-up comic.
While Grizzard has a definite comic ability with his deadpan persona, he seems out of place here, especially as Julia and Suzanne's brother, born between them to their father and his wife between two marriages to their mother. The storyline becomes more about Julia and Suzanne's desire to try to continuously mother him when he doesn't really need mothering anymore. Some of Clayton's jokes are funny if rather controversial now while others just lay there and get only eye rolls, not laughs, and the efforts to be sentimental are overpowering.
While Grizzard has a definite comic ability with his deadpan persona, he seems out of place here, especially as Julia and Suzanne's brother, born between them to their father and his wife between two marriages to their mother. The storyline becomes more about Julia and Suzanne's desire to try to continuously mother him when he doesn't really need mothering anymore. Some of Clayton's jokes are funny if rather controversial now while others just lay there and get only eye rolls, not laughs, and the efforts to be sentimental are overpowering.
