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Television:

TV Review: THE GOODE FAMILY - 'Graffiti in Greenville'

Out of touch and not very entertaining, THE GOODE FAMILY fails to deliver yet again

Grade: C
Writer(s): Leila Strachan
Director: Seth Kearsley
Rating: NR

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By CARLOS DELGADO, Associate Editor
Published 7/6/2009

If you’re looking for “smart” television that pretends not to be elitist, but secretly wishes it was, look no further than THE GOODE FAMILY. Welcome to yet another “enlightened” but boring episode. Yes, statements were made, people were poked fun at, and a life lesson was learned. But despite all the potential that a show like THE GOODE FAMILY has, instead of connecting with the it, I felt it came off as out of touch and ultimately not very entertaining. Judging by its low traffic Friday night time slot, a lot of people might actually agree with me.

Here’s a recap of "Graffiti in Greenville." Bliss (Linda Cardellini) is required by her high school to participate in thirty hours of community service. But instead of jaunting off to Central America, she is instead relegated to graffiti removal. It soon becomes obvious that there is no graffiti in Greenville, so Bliss’ “community service” is essentially an after school clubhouse. Helen (Nancy Wells) wants Bliss to learn the true value of community service, so she starts tagging up the park herself. But when local artists start commending the work of “Huggo” (actually a misinterpretation of “Heygo”), Helen is forced to admit to the work in order to receive the credit she deserves. Unfortunately, it also entails some jail time.

Let’s start with what worked for “Graffiti in Greenville”. The portrayal of the artists and intellectuals of Greenville as being completely clueless was the strongest element of the show. The fact that they were fooled by Helen into believing the work was done by some underclass citizen in Aztec styling was a nice jab at the disconnect between the sheltered elites and the reality of the streets. I also liked the name “Huggo”. It reminded me of “Huggy Bear” from STARSKY AND HUTCH, but I digress.

Unfortunately, despite the mocking of the clueless art snobs, the entire premise seemed a little far fetched. A renegade mother who is an expert tagger? Jail time for graffiti? Orange jump suits for a local jail? Helen being charged with a hate crime? Nonsense. I also laughed—and not in a good way—at the “hip-hop” beats they were playing while Helen was striking up her name.

While the show was attempting to poke fun of at the misguided and often myopic affluent class of people, THE GOODE FAMILY somehow manages to seem as if it looking down it’s own nose at viewers. Their very perception of what is edgy and politically charged comes off as an idea that some rich producer had while shopping at some expensive organic foods market, which ironically, isn’t far from the truth.

I’m not sure who the audience of THE GOODE FAMILY is supposed to be, but I can tell you it ain’t me (the word “ain’t” being used on purpose to convey my everyday, layman perspective. Kind of insulting, isn’t it?). While in the past, GOODE FAMILY has had some jewels, “Graffiti in Greenville” was clearly not one of them. It’s going to take a better effort than that to get it off the Friday night exile slot. Here’s to betting it won’t.

Reader Comments

Jasper Plannine from Austin, Texas. sez....
One of the issues I have with this show is the extreme personality of all major and minor characters on the show. The patriarch and matriarch Gerald and Helen are deluded. The children are dumb to the point of retardation or completely self absorbed. And the list goes on and on. There is no middle ground so there is nothing to relate to. And I think that is the shows central failing. Perhaps Mike Judge needs new writers for this show. Maybe he should try the organic approach :)
7/22/2009 1:17:14 AM

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