Flody Suarez Movies
The most controversial -- and one of the shortest-lived -- series of the 2005-2006 network season, The Book of Daniel concerned the troubled family of an Episcopalian priest. Aidan Quinn starred as Reverend Daniel Webster, who dealt with most crises by popping prescription pills and brooding over his inability to "reach" his parishioners. Daniel's wife, Judith (Susanna Thompson), spent much of her time drinking martinis and complaining about lost opportunities; his 23-year-old son, Peter (Christian Campbell), was a neurotic homosexual, still plagued by guilt over the death of his twin brother; 16-year-old daughter Grace (Alison Pill) was a would-be manga artist who sold marijuana on the side; and the Websters' adopted Chinese son, Adam (Ivan Shaw), was more concerned about scoring with chicks than anything else. Adding to Rev. Webster's burden was the remonstrative input of no-nonsense Bishop Beatrice Congreve (Ellen Burstyn) and rule-bound senior parish warden Roger Paxton (Dylan Baker). Whenever things became too much to bear for Rev. Webster, he would solicit the advice of his "best friend," Jesus Christ (Garret Dillahunt) -- yes, that Jesus Christ, beard, white robes, and all. It was the calculatedly irreverent portrayal of the Son of God (who trafficked in wisecracks rather than parables) that stirred up the bulk of the controversy surrounding the series. While many big-city critics liked the show, general audiences could not warm up to it at all. Debuting January 6, 2006, on NBC, The Book of Daniel had been slated for a six-week trial run before going to full series; slaughtered in the ratings and roundly condemned by conservative media commentators, it lasted only four episodes before cancellation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aidan Quinn, Susanna Thompson, (more)
- 2002
Inspired by the essays of humorist W. Bruce Cameron, this ABC sitcom went through a number of title changes before settling on its unwieldy but all-encompassing cognomen. The basic gag here was that John Ritter and Katey Sagal, respectively the randy Jack Tripper on Three's Company and the slatternly Peg Bundy on Married With Children, were now cast against type as the intensely over-protective parents of three teenagers, two girls and a boy. When Cate Hennessy (Sagal) re-entered the workplace, her newspaper columnist husband Paul Hennessy (John Ritter) suddenly found himself in more or less full charge of his daughters, the man-hungry (and barely clothed) Bridget (Kaley Cuoco) and the wise-lipped Kerry (Amy Davidson, who was eerily reminiscent of Roseanne's Sara Gilbert). Agonizing over the girls' choice in beaux and their outrageous outfits (thong and bra jokes abounded on this series), the long-suffering Paul often found himself turning to his (comparatively) level-headed son Rory (Martin Spanjers) for advice (the kids on the series were named after the real-life children of series creator Tracy Gamble). And just for the record, those titular eight rules were as follows: "1: Use your hands on my daughter and you'll lose them after. 2: You make her cry, I make you cry. 3: Safe sex is a myth. Anything you try will be hazardous to your health. 4: Bring her home late, there's no next date. 5: Only delivery men honk. Dates ring the doorbell. Once. 6: No complaining while you're waiting for her. If you're bored, change my oil. 7: If your pants hang off your hips, I'll gladly secure them with my staple gun. 8: Dates must be in crowded public place. You want romance? Read a book." The series began its highly-publicized run on September 17, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2001
Based on the FOX animated series The Tick created by Ben Edlund and first aired in 1994, this live-action superhero sitcom premiered on FOX in November of 2001. Patrick Warburton dons the blue suit to play lovable hyperbolic superhero The Tick and David Burke plays his winged weakling sidekick, Arthur. Nestor Carbonell is the charismatic Batmanuel (based on Die Fledermaus) while Liz Vassey is Captain Liberty (based on American Maid). The show was canceled after only one season of nine episodes, one of which remains unaired. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
