(detailed information about this entry from Wikipedia)
The War at Home is a sitcom that premiered on September 11, 2005 on Fox. The show is sometimes compared to other former Fox dysfunctional family sitcoms like Married... with Children, Malcolm in the Middle and Titus. The show also discusses controversial issues such as sex, drugs, racism and homosexuality. The show's scenes are often interrupted to show Dave Gold, the main character, articulating his thoughts and feelings on the events of the episode (see "breaking the fourth wall"). Occasionally, other characters, such as his wife Vicky, on the show will give such commentaries as well. Each thought ends in a comedic result. The show has received decent ratings, but it has mixed reviews from critics due to adult jokes and frequent use of deadpan one-liners. The show is currently the oldest live action sitcom airing on FOX.
The show is rated TV-14.
Plot
Dave and Vicky live with their three kids: Larry, Hillary, and Mike. Dave is a middle class, Jewish father who works as an insurance salesman. He is something of a bigot, though he always denies such allegations. Dave is married to Vicky, an attractive interior designer. Generally level-headed, she usually spends her time dealing with Dave's outrageous thinking.
The couple have three kids. The oldest is Hillary, a typical 16-year old drama-queen. She feels that she does not have any independence or freedom at home. Second oldest is fifteen-year-old Larry, a highly eccentric, very immature, whining socially awkward misfit. Larry is prone to freaking out at various times when things don't go his way, such as when Vicky denied him to go to see Brian Boitano as Frodo Baggins in an Ice Capades version of The Lord Of The Rings. He and his best friend Kenny are always going to each other's houses. Initally Dave thinks that they are possibly homosexuals, but it is later realized that while Larry is not, Kenny is indeed holding a secret crush on his best friend. The youngest child, the slightly on-the-verge of puberty 13-year-old Mike, must, with his father, deal with issues such as masturbation, dating, and underage gambling.
Criticisms
Basic criticisms of the show are that it's simply not very well-written, is formulaic, and is filled with low-brow and no-brow one-liners that many consider to be more crude than funny. Another frequent criticism is that, though War attempts to duplicate the format and success of Married... with Children (a show that became famous for its crass humour), it fails to live up to Married's standard.
Others have the opinion that the writers are not that bad, but the characters lack likability, as the Father always acts terribly intolerant in normal situations, even though he says he is liberal and nothing like his parents. (Some have interpreted that perhaps the father is a character attempting to represent a modern Archie Bunker character.) This contrasts with shows like Still Standing, where the parents aren't role models or moralistic, yet they are still very likable. In addition, there are those who despise Larry for his immaturity, Hillary for her whining and drama queen persona, and Mike for his naivety towards several aspects of life.
Less plot-related critisims are that the show is supposed to take place in Nassau County on Long Island. This can be seen when during one scene of the show the 516 area code appears, which is the area code of Nassau County. Most people who live on Long Island would generally agree that the setting of the show is not in touch with Long Island.
Most areas of Long Island with houses that appear like Dave's do not appear in racially diverse neighbourhoods. The chances of Dave or his daughter being in such close contact with African Americans is somewhat unlikely based on the racial demographics of the hamlets and villages on Long Island. Local newspapers such as Newsday have cited Long Island villages and hamlets for their lack of diversity. Several actors also lack a Long Island dialect, though not all residents of Long Island have the typical distinct Long Island accent, many in fact try to avoid it.
In one episode, Dave takes Hillary to learn to drive. Hillary mentioned being on the road for "...like five minutes." You would assume that they were not far from home, yet the car the officer was driving was a New York City Police Department cruiser.
The thought of Dave not being allowed into a country club because he is Jewish is also unrealistic. Long Island has a very large Jewish population, and there are large Jewish populations in many affluent neighbourhoods in Nassau County. Further, in one episode, during one of Dave's "visions", he is driving a car with a New York license plate. References are also made towards the Long Island Rail Road.
Another inaccuracy relating to Jews was shown in a recent episode. Mike wanted to get a bar mitzvah for the cash, while Vicky was trying to convert Hillary to her religion, Catholicism. In this way, it is implied the Gold children qualify as Jews, although being Jewish at birth traditionally requires a Jewish mother. (See Who is a Jew? for further information.)
Another criticism that should be noted is the show's lack of originality. Aside from being on the same level as Married... with Children, it is grossly similar to previous Fox shows such as Grounded for Life, in the respect that it deals with a New York family dealing with their three children (two boys and one teenage girl) and the father's overrall precocious and closeminded tendencies. It also reflects the Fox show Titus, in that it utilizes the device of "flashbacks" into the minds of the characters to comment on what is happening currently.
Controversy
Much of the controversy surronding the shows treatment of issues relating to sexual orientation and race are often seen as either being an attempt to copy the liberal political incorrectness of Married... with Children or Grounded for Life without being terribly original about it. For example, early episodes rised the possiblity that the neurotic and nerdy teenage Larry might be gay, only to have it revealed that his best friend, Kenny, is in the closet and has a crush on Larry. Thus what could have been untred sitcom waters, a gay teenager, became the effeminate gay bestfriend who occasionally drops by and is somehow able to convince everyone that he is straight. Likewise early episodes had Hillary dating an African American boyfriend, prompting various politically incorrect jokes, but in the end the brief flirtation with interracial dating was dropped almost as quickly as it was raised. Some critics have attributed this to creator Rob Lotterstein whose previous successful shows, like Will & Grace, include various jokes about homosexuals and racial minorities in an attempt to be both liberal and political incorrect, while only superficially addressing issues of race, class or sexuality.
Episodes
- Main article: List of The War at Home episodes
Trivia
- Dave is the only character to have a Long Island dialect. (Rapaport can actually ditch his accent occassionally in public)
- Vicky's fourth wall joke tells us that Dave met her after offering her 2 bottles of beer and some questionable "aspirin". (Possibly date rape)
- Taye's personality is based on Lil' Fizz's teenage years.
- Taye said his name is short for "Boo-Taye" (A pun on a frequent slang term for booty, a female's buttocks). There is no name that is short for Taye. (Although, 'Taye' may be a shortened version of "Taylor".)
- The character of Dave shares similarities to Rapaport's character in Friends. Also, Anita Barone played Ross's wife Carol in the first few episodes Friends.
- This show was one of only two live action sitcoms renewed for the 2006-2007 season. The other being The Loop.
Cast
External links
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The War at Home (2005) 
The War at Home (2005) [TV series]
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Družinsko bojišče (2007) (Slovenia)
