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Hercules Has Seen Fox’s New
Baby Sitcom RAISING HOPE!!

Published at: Sept. 21, 2010, 3:22 p.m. CST

I am – Hercules!!
The third sitcom about poor people from wealthy writer-producer Greg Garcia (“Yes Dear,” “My Name Is Earl”), “Raising Hope” follows a pool cleaner suddenly thrust into the role of single fatherhood. The pool cleaner barbeques on a grocery cart. He meets a cute supermarket checker who likes to rebel by drawing faces on produce. The pool cleaner’s dad likes to push people down while they’re trying to pee. The pool cleaner’s ancient grandma likes to wander around topless and make out with her grandson. The infant gets to watch her mother get electrocuted. There’s a lot of vomiting. Martha Plimpton plays the pool cleaner’s mom. I still find Martha Plimpton sexy, even as a grandmother. I laughed a time or two. Not enough to want to stick with it, but I’m not much of a sitcom guy. This might play well to the cannabis-saturated Adult Swim crowd that enjoys “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.” Or not. HitFix says:
… Though I think a little of Garcia's "My Name Is Earl"-style humor goes a long way, I did laugh several times during the "Hope" pilot, including some things Dillahunt does as Neff's none-too-bright father. …
TV Squad says:
… Nothing about it is funny and it strands two outstanding actors in a vehicle that fails to harness their many talents. … broad, shrill and aggressively wacky …
USA Today says:
… when it's not trying too hard to be weird and rude — and sometimes when it is — it can be wildly funny and surprisingly sweet. … the standout — just as she was last season in her guest shots on The Good Wife and Fringe —is Plimpton, who creates her own humorous take on the traditional sitcom mom. With marvelous, subtle skill, Plimpton is able to scorch the earth with a look while still revealing the warmth beneath her character's cynical shell. It's a pleasure to watch her work. …
The New York Times says:
… Martha Plimpton isn’t the only reason “Raising Hope”could be the best new sitcom of the season, but she is the main reason. … Virginia’s son, Jimmy (Lucas Neff), has just quit his job and walks home. “There has to be more to life than cleaning the same pool over and over,” he says. “There isn’t,” she snaps as she sweeps past him. It’s not a brilliant line, but there is incandescence in the way that Ms. Plimpton manages with two words to morph into a comically hardened, uneducated, working-class mom without becoming either a caricature or a cruel joke.
The Los Angeles Times says:
… In keeping with the interiors, bits of old and broken junk take up too much space in the pilot — and then there's Leachman's Maw Maw who keeps taking her shirt off, a ridiculous vomiting scene, and the tedious if inevitable jerry-rigging of baby equipment by a newbie parent. But every time Garcia's script lurches, it quickly catches itself and swings back toward laughter. In his early travels, Jimmy meets Sabrina (Shannon Woodward), who survives her job as a grocery clerk by drawing faces on the melons. Neff and Dillahunt infuse their characters with depth and hilarity and Plimpton is, as she ever was, just marvelous.…
The Washington Post says:
… Plimpton, at 38, finds herself playing a new grandmother -- and frankly, making this show worth watching …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… works on two levels, the absurdist gags about dysfunctional families and lower-class values that populated "Earl," and the never-too-saccharine sweetness that Jimmy brings to the world. If Garcia can keep up this mix, Fox may have itself a non-animated comedy hit. …
The Boston Herald says:
… will leave you feeling better about the state of the network sitcom. It’s kicking and screaming. …
The Boston Globe says:
… There may be a smaller number of top-notch newbies this season, but “Raising Hope,’’ a celebration of parenthood and childhood, of small joys and big struggles, is certainly one of them. …
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… Garcia knows his territory, and anyone who watched his "My Name Is Earl" knows we're among the unshaven underclass with hearts of gold. …
Variety says:
… While the pilot's not as good, in fact, this Fox series almost feels like a logical companion to ABC's single-camera standout "Modern Family." … Tonally, "Hope" proves very similar to "Earl," which also broke with TV's homogenized sitcom vision of middle-class bliss. As with that show, though, you wonder whether there's enough here to sustain the series as baby Hope (hence the title) celebrates her first birthday, much less until she reaches the terrible twos. That said, the pilot is a laudable effort, and shines even more brightly when held up against its new companion, "Running Wilde."
9 p.m. Tuesday. Fox.
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