GAG LINES UNCLE BUCK PUSHES THE LIMITS OF TASTE WITH MORE THAN A FEW CHOICE WORDS.

[TMC]

https://web.archive.org/web/20210630...408-story.html

By TOM JICHA, TV/Radio Writer
SUN-SENTINEL

Television might be the only business where the leaders follow the upstarts.

Fox generated considerable attention for itself, and more importantly Nielsen points, with the raunchy Married ... With Children. So domestic comedy might not be the same for quite some time, at least until the inevitable backlash materializes.

Uncle Buck, which premieres tonight on CBS, might accelerate this development.

The first words spoken on the first new CBS series to premiere this fall are a 6-year-old girl bellowing at her brother, "You suck!" This happens only a few moments after 8 p.m., 7 Central, a distinction with meaning in this instance. Dinner plates still will be on the table in the Midlands.

If there were any lingering doubts about there still be such a thing as the family viewing hour, this scene dispels them.

It isn't just the barroom exclamation, the fact that it comes from the lips of a youngster who would not yet have finished her first month of first grade, or the tender hour when it is being aired that is reprehensible. What makes it totally unacceptable is that the line generates a raucous swell of laughter.

The producers said this is not the fruit of a laugh track but a genuine, unsweetened reaction from a studio audience. Whatever, the message is clear to youngsters. Profane is cute.

Studio laughter is routinely enhanced artifically. If what the producers claim is true, the second most responsible action would have been to tone down the yuks artificially. The most appropriate action, of course, would have been never to have depicted a child using such language in the first place.

This is not a case of crucifying an entire show for an isolated line of dialog. Later in the Uncle Buck pilot, the same little girl dismisses a fit of pique by her older sister with the line, "Don't mind her, she's ovulating," which is outrageous, sexist and beyond the comprehension of normal children twice her age.

There is at least one other instance where the little girl urges her uncle to do something, which taken literally has an extremely foul connotation.

Clearly, there is a conscious philosophy to take the low road to success, even though the producers have to realize the program's name is pre-sold to many youngsters from the popular film it is taking off. The fact that the majority of the regular cast are children further guarantees a disproportionate amount of kids in the audience.

Having a Hill Street Blues or L.A. Law take liberties with language and theme is one thing. There might be some children watching, but the expectations are different and parents have an opportunity to control the situation. There is no reason for a parent to anticipate the kind of shenanigans that will take place tonight on Uncle Buck.

But for the language, Uncle Buck would barely merit any attention. Which is probably why the show adopted the strategy it has.

Knockoffs of theatrical hits have a miserable record on television. For every M*A*S*H or The Odd Couple, there are literally scores of bombs like Dirty Dancing, Baby Boom, The Bad News Bears and Gung Ho.

Moreover, Uncle Buck was essentially a mediocre comedy saved by a John Candy tour de force. The CBS version has no Candy.

Kevin Meaney, who takes over the role of the slovenly bachelor pressed into raising a nephew and two nieces, is likable enough. However, Candy is one of those performers who makes such a mark on a role, it is folly to attempt to re-define it.

To give the TV series additional weight and broader demographic appeal, Audrey Meadows has been signed on as a meddling grandmother. The kids are played by Dah-ve Chodan, Jacob Gelman and Sarah Martineck as the foul-mouthed 6-year-old.

When critics universally objected to the show's content during the press tour, co-executive producers Tim O'Donnell and Richard Gurman as well as top CBS executives defended the program as reflective of today's society, further indication of how out of touch Hollywood is with the real world.

They vowed not a word would be changed. It can only be hoped that someone with authority at the network has a change of heart before the premiere airs.

UNCLE BUCK

Airs: Mondays, 8 p.m., WCIX-Ch. 4 and WPEC-Ch. 12. Debuts tonight

Starring: Kevin Meaney and Audrey Meadows

Jicha says: When all else fails, comics tend to fall back on their foul material. This uninspired movie knockoff takes the low road from the opening scene.