The War At Home

Ok, so I watched the pilot for the new show "The War At Home." This is the show that, you may remember, got some early (and, it now seems clear, undeserved) attention last month because of GLAAD's nonsensical but-all-too characteristic hysteria over a couple of lines.

War [at Home] stars Michael Rapaport and Anita Barone as parents in constant battles with their three teenage children. A story line in the pilot revolves around whether one of their two sons (Kyle Sullivan) is gay.
In one scene, his sister (Kaylee DeFer) says to the parents, "He's not gay, he's just a fag." That line set off sparks with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), which met with Fox officials. The line was changed.

The original line was funnier. And frankly, this show needed all the funny they could bring. I have rarely seen a more unfunny premire of a "sitcom." You know, the more "crass" TV I see, the more affection I have for what "Roseanne," "The Simpsons" and even "Married...With Children" did at their best.

Those shows could all be pretty crass, but (again, at their best) they were well-written, cast, performed and produced series. Best of all, they were simply funny, while also proving revolutionary in their depiction of blue-collar people on televison.

"The War At Home" is none of the above.