TV Not Very Positive To Guys

Remember that New York Times article I mentioned about new sitcoms showing men in a more positive light? Guess what - it's not much more positive.

I saw the series premiere of "Listen Up." It's okay - it needs work, but it's not all that bad - but, as Tony Kornheiser's TV alter ego, Jason Alexander shows a split personality on the small screen. He's seemingly unsure of whether he's supposed to be a competent career man and father or a clueless doofus who can't communicate with anyone. Tony, his character, handles his own - most of the time - with his partner Bernie (played by Malcolm-Jamal Warner - nice to have him back!) on their sports talk show, but at home Tony deals - ineffectively, mostly - with a scatterbrained son and a loudmouthed 14-year-old daughter who doesn't respect him. Then there are times when Tony gets through to his kids, yet is victimized by Bernie's practical jokes. The writers have to make Tony more of a real man if they want this show to work. Not likely to happen; Tony's last name is, somewhat symbolically, Kleinman (German for "little man").

ABC's "Complete Savages" does feature Keith Carradine as a respectable patriarch trying to raise his five sons, but, judging from the review I read in today's paper, the five boys are the kind of little monsters you wouldn't want to hang around with. They're always indulging in rude, obnoxious, and destructive behavior. Carradine's character, incidentally, is a fireman who's a little rough around the edges - i.e., he's not exactly a wonderful guy himself. And this is loosely based on Mel Gibson's family? I hope it's very loosely based on it, because otherwise I'd have doubts about Gibson's parenting skills. Anyway, I didn't see it. Don't plan to, either. The negative review in my local paper turned me off before I turned the TV on. (The critic in my local paper didn't like "Listen Up," either, but at least I gave that a chance.)

We're not likely to get thoroughly likable male characters on television sitcoms any time soon, because the consensus seems to be that clueless fathers and immature bachelors are funny. My advice is to go to Nick at Nite and watch "Cosby Show" reruns - and remember when everyone wanted Cliff Huxtable as their dad or their neighbor.