Joining Fox on Wednesday nights, beginning this week, is new comedy I Hate My Teenage Daughter, the series which brings Jaime Pressly back to the small screen in her first starring role since playing Joy in My Name is Earl on NBC. Pressly is joined by Wonderfalls’ Katie Finneran and while both actors add appeal to this new comedy, the show gets off to a rocky start.
I Hate My Teenage Daughter actually touches on an interesting topic. Whether you’re a parent or merely a spectator in today’s world of parenting, the idea of a show about two mothers desperately trying to connect with the daughters they’ve coddled for much too long, could make for an amusing premise. Heck, the struggles of parenting and finding some grasp on today’s youth from a parent's perspective is the basis for a lot of family-based sitcoms and has been for decades. While I Hate My Teenage Daughter isn’t breaking new ground in that respect, it is taking it a step further in that the two mothers featured in the series are struggling with the fact that their daughters are nightmares, and that it might be their fault.
Pressly plays Annie, mother of Sophie (Kristi Lauren). Annie grew up in a strict household with parents that never let her do anything, so she’s taken the opposite approach with her daughter, more or less. Meanwhile, her neighbor and friend Nikki (Finneran) was an overweight social outcast during her own adolescence and has overcompensated for that by letting her daughter Mackenzie (Aisha Dee) do whatever she wants. The result of this is that Nikki and Annie have daughters that talk down to them and do horrible things to other people, including locking a kid in a wheelchair in the bathroom at school.
Eric Sheffer Stevens plays Annie’s ex-husband (Sophie’s father) Matt, and Chad L. Coleman plays Gary (Nikki’s ex, Mackenzie’s father). Meanwhile, Kevin Rahm plays Jack, Matt’s brother (Annie’s ex-brother-in-law, Sophie’s uncle). All of the exes are still sort of around and offering fatherly (or uncle-in-law-ly) advice to Nikki and Annie. It’s probably fair to say that the not always present dads are as much to blame for Sophie and Mackenzie’s bad attitudes as their ex-wives are.
The biggest problem with the pilot is how intensely Nikki and Annie want to win their daughters’ friendship and approval. At one point during the episode, Annie throws a tantrum when Sophie gives her the silent treatment after being punished. Meanwhile, Mackenzie makes a remark about her mother’s eating habits and is later seen walking away from her (while texting), as Nikki follows after her begging her not to be mad at her. It’s supposed to be funny, and if Nikki and Annie weren’t the characters we were meant to be supporting, it might be, but since we’re supposed to like them, it just made me feel uncomfortable. I don’t know if I should be laughing at them or feeling sorry for them.
Annie and Nikki’s awkward submissiveness to their daughters is something the show can easily fix as it’s built into the premise of the series. The second episode takes a softer approach to Annie and Nikki’s attempts to be better mothers and it’s a definite improvement on the pilot episode. In turn, Sophie and Mackenzie prove to be slightly less obnoxious in Episode 2, which definitely helps. Liking the characters, at least to some degree, would be a plus and “Teenage Family Night” succeeds there a lot more than the pilot did. The exaggerated humor mingled with the shrieking laughter brought in by the studio audience (or laugh-track) detracts, though. I doubt I’m alone in having grown a lot more sensitive to that, the more single-camera comedies take over primetime. Then again, I’m usually less aware of the studio laughter when I’m laughing along with it.
The series seems to rely largely on the performances of Pressly and Finneran and in that respect, it does ok. They’re both funny women. Finneran’s Nikki is a bit cartoonish at times and she’s often the butt of jokes due to the weight problems she had growing up. The goofiness of her character might work better if it wasn't always at her own expense. If the series has a strength, it’s the friendship of Pressly and Finneran’s characters. The two are at their funniest when they’re on screen together. Getting to know them better through their friendship and as individuals (beyond just being the mothers of mean girls) would help. Annie’s cluelessness to pop-culture, due to her repressed upbringing could make for some really great story arcs. And Finneran’s awkwardness might work really well when set in a context that doesn’t have her being put down by people. There are also some very faint sparks between Annie and Jack that could lead to something interesting down the line.
I Hate My Teenage Daughter doesn’t get off to the best start, however there’s talent on screen and a set-up that people can either relate to or at the very least, connect with on some humorous level. Give it to the second episode. As I said, there are improvements and we get to know the characters a little bit better. I’ll play this one by ear beyond that.
I Hate My Teenage Daughter premieres Wednesday, November 30th at 9:30/8:30c on Fox.
