I'm all for using previous art as inspiration, but when TV writers make a show with characters that are nearly identical to the characters of the show before it - that's just lazy, in my opinion. It takes effort to think of something new. The Barkleys, a cartoon about an anthropomorphic family of dogs, was adapted from All in the Family. Arnie (Henry Corden), is a cantankerous, narrow minded bus driver. Agnes (Joan Gerber), his wife, is a homemaking pushover. They have three children: long-haired hippie Roger (Steve Lewis), boy crazy Terry (Julie McWhirter), and nerdy Chester (Gene Andrusco). I know All in the Family is a classic, but it grates my nerves. Archie Bunker is too unlikeable and one-dimensional to be funny. All he does is spout hateful rhetoric, verbally abuse his daughter's husband for being Polish American, and talk to his wife like crap. Put all of that together, and it's just a bunch of people shouting at one another. With The Barkleys being a family friendly cartoon, the humor is way more lighthearted. Episodes revolve around Arnie's get-rich-quick schemes, and struggling to understand his kids. So the writers touched on poverty and the generational gap, which are still issues today. However, I found nothing appealing about this show as someone who lives in the 21st century. The episodes didn't make me laugh or even smile. Not that I was offended or anything - I just thought they were boring. They've been using the same family structure and stereotypes in shows for decades. Opposite sex couple with three kids. The oldest is a male, the middle child is a female, and the youngest is also a male. The mother is nurturing, while the father is an idiot, who does love his children, but deep down inside, doesn't want to be bothered with them or his wife, and would rather spend all of his Friday nights playing poker with his buddies. The lack of originality with comedy programs, whether it's animated or uses real actors/actresses, is why I avoid them. If you don't like All in the Family, you won't like this show. I suggest The Flintstones (coincidentally, Henry Corden voiced Fred Flintstone after the death of Alan Reed in 1977, the original voice actor) or The Jetsons if you want a cartoon that's still entertaining in the modern age.
Review of The Barkleys
