The War at Home (TV series)
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| The War at Home | |
|---|---|
 From top left Dean Collins, Kyle Sullivan, Kaylee DeFer, Anita Barone; bottom centre Michael Rapaport |
|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Rob Lotterstein |
| Starring | Michael Rapaport Anita Barone Kyle Sullivan Kaylee DeFer Dean Collins |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 44 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | approx. 22 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | FOX |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV), 720p (HDTV) |
| Original run | September 11, 2005 – April 22, 2007 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
The War at Home is a sitcom that ran from September 11, 2005 to April 22, 2007 on Fox. It followed the antics of a largely dysfunctional and bitter New York family.
It has similarities to another Fox dysfunctional family sitcom, Married... with Children, but unlike the older show, The War at Home discussed controversial issues such as sex, drugs, racism and homosexuality.
On May 17, 2007 the series was cancelled after two seasons and 44 episodes.[1][2]
Contents |
[edit] Cast
- Michael Rapaport as David "Dave" Gold
- Anita Barone as Vicky Gold
- Kyle Sullivan as Lawrence "Larry" Gold
- Kaylee DeFer as Hillary Gold
- Dean Collins as Michael "Mike" Gold
- Rami Malek as Kenneth "Kenny"
[edit] Plot
The show depicts the life of Dave and Vicky and their three children on Long Island, New York. Dave is a middle class Jewish insurance salesman. He is sometimes portrayed as a paranoid, overprotective and hypocritical bigot, and his family (especially Larry) have a hard time putting up with him. Dave is constantly chewed and cussed out (and even punched once) by Larry for always picking on him. It is established toward the end of season one that Dave is the way he is because he had a father who constantly badgered him. Dave's wife Vicky is an attractive Catholic interior designer. Generally levelheaded, she usually spends her time dealing with Dave's unreasonable behavior, but can be quite obnoxious herself.
Of their three children, the oldest is Hillary (Kaylee DeFer), a typical 17-year old who frequently misbehaves, trying to get away with mischief behind the backs of her parents, who often regard her with suspicion. Second oldest is 16-year-old Larry (Kyle Sullivan), an eccentric misfit given to emotional outbursts (such as when Vicky denies him permission to see Brian Boitano star as Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings On Ice). Larry is often seen with his best friend Kenny. Initially Dave believes that the boys are both gay, but it is later revealed to the audience that while Larry is not gay, Kenny has a secret crush on Larry. Dave, and to a lesser extent Vicky, often treat Larry's flamboyancy with wary eyes. The youngest child, the pubescent 14-year-old Mike (Dean Collins), must deal with issues such as masturbation, dating and underage gambling.
The series frequently breaks the fourth wall between segments of an episode, during which Dave occasionally delivers a rant.
[edit] Gay-positive efforts
Perhaps due to criticism of the main character's homophobia (though, ironically, the show's creator Rob Lotterstein is gay himself), the episode Out & In, first airing on January 4, 2007, deals in a gay-supportive way with Kenny coming out of the closet. The show closed with a public service announcement with Michael Rapaport, Rami Malek and Kyle Sullivan, out of character, talking about The Trevor Project, a suicide-prevention support service for gay and inquiring youth.
The plot involves Kenny admitting to himself, Dave, the rest of the Gold family, and finally his own parents that he is gay. His parents react negatively (off-screen) to the revelation, casting him out of their house. Although Dave uses anti-gay slurs during the episode and seems somewhat uncomfortable being hugged by Kenny, he also tells Kenny that he should be proud of who he is. With some prompting from Vicky, Dave also consents to Kenny moving in with them, and begins to treat him as a member of the family.
Larry initially has trouble adjusting to these significant events, and to the fact that his best friend kept such a secret from him for so long. However, he and Kenny quickly resolve matters, with Larry assuring him that his sexual orientation will not be an issue in their friendship. Kenny does, however, maintain his crush on Larry a secret for obvious reasons.
The February 15 episode, entitled Kenny Doesn't Live Here Anymore, dealt with Kenny and his boyfriend being banned from the Sadie Hawkins dance at school due to homophobia. The Trevor Project public service announcement made a reappearance at the end of this episode as well. Eventually Kenny's family takes him back.
The show also recruited openly-bisexual singer/model/actress and MySpace phenomonon Tila Tequila for a cameo appearance on the show in its final season.
[edit] DVD Releases
Season Releases
| DVD Name | Release Date | Ep # | Special Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | May 15, 2007 | 22 |
|
[edit] International Broadcasters
The show is aired in the United Kingdom by E4 and Channel 4, Ireland by RTÉ, E4 and Channel 4,Sweden by Kanal 5, Turkey by ComedyMax, France by M6 and Canal +, Italy by Italia1, Bulgaria by Nova Television, Hungary by HBO, Poland by TVN Siedem, Romania by Pro Cinema, Austria by ORF, Philippines by JackTV, The Netherlands by NET5, New Zealand on TV2, Venezuela by Venevisión, South Africa by SABC3, M-Net, M-Net Series and Go, Switzerland by SF zwei, Norway by TV Norge, in Kenya by NTV, in Croatia by RTL-Televizija and in Iceland by Stöð 2. The series was shot in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.[3]
