Started out on FOX, became a hit, canceled by FOX, rescued by WB, dropped by the WB, syndicated by FOX Family.... this wonderful, funny show has been struggling for a long time for the respect it deserves. It's not a bad show; it's actually quite under-appreciated, but then, only the fans seem to love it. It had a revolutionary style that started with the end and then flashed back on the events that got them there. The back story was that Donal Logue, the happy go-lucky husband, and Megyn Price, the hot-looking wife, were teenage parents trying to get by with their demurely sexy daughter Lynsey Bartilson and feuding sons, Griffin Frazen and Jake Burbage (who mysteriously vanished but still spoken of just before the last season). Their lives were tested by the idiot brother, a possible shady character who didn't understand why he was always in trouble, played by Kevin Corrigan; Richard Reihle, the widowed father with out-dated parenting tips and Bret Harrison, the kind of nerdy and socially-inept neighbor kid with the hots for the daughter. The show had a surprisingly winning formula and the stars all had excellent chemistry, but very little faith by the networks. Riehle, the consummate character actor, even left to co-star in ABC's short-lived hit, "Married to the Kellys," and even faithfully returned for the last episode while the youngest son remained inexplicably and noticeably missing, something that was never explained (did Burbage's parents ask for more money? we may never know). Several things occurred in the series that took the characters away from their original roles: the dad quit his job to save his favorite bar and fight to keep it open, the mom quit his job to go to college, the uncle tried going legit but still remained basically demented and the daughter took the next door boy as her boyfriend after realizing he was the kind of guy she wanted. Oddly, of all the strange incidents that happened in the series, the one incident that stands out in my mind never occurred in the series. For a promo, Frankie Munez of "Malcolm in the Middle" once described the daughter growing to a hundred feet tall and turning her parents into finger puppets then confessed he was lying. Still, that's an image that has never left my mind and as Fox Family brings the series back, that image will remain my picture of the style and crazy wit of this series.
Review of Grounded for Life
