Back to nest path to arrested development

Published Jan 20, 2014

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A new sitcom is on the horizon and it has the weirdest title; How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life). The question is, who’d want to live with their parents for life? I love my folks, but forever is a long time to share that space.

But if you are in this situation, or are considering it, then this is your “how to” guide.

In this sitcom we meet Elaine (Elizabeth Perkins) and Max (Brad Garrett, pictured) who are parents to Polly (Sarah Chalke).

Polly figures the only place to go after leaving her husband is back to the nest. However, the return to her parents’ home does not go as easily as she had hoped, hence the show’s title.

Her problems not only come from her ageing parents; her ex wants her back and there is an “almost” guy in the picture. These pressures make her very uncomfortable and soon she realises she has to navigate her way through her new lifestyle.

Seeing Garrett in this show is quite sad because the man, who has done well in the past, appears to be struggling.

The one spoiler is that the show was cancelled after one season so don’t get too attached. That said, it reinforces the point that Garrett must have needed the money to have considered this gig. This is the guy who came from Everybody Loves Raymond, Finding Nemo and Ratatouille so to end up in a show that didn’t go anywhere is bad for his CV.

It is yet another sign of what direction Hollywood is taking when film actors are now taking whatever TV offers come their way. Sometimes it works and in other cases it doesn’t.

Look at Charlie Sheen’s victory lap in Two and a Half Men and compare it with the later Anger Management. This is bearing in mind that Sheen was big in the movies when he appeared in films like Platoon and The Three Musketeers.

Garrett is facing the same predicament: unless he voices the next Toy Story, or something that big, he’s going to fade from the game.

 

•  How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life), Tuesday, Vuzu, DStv channel 116, at 6.30pm.

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