Patrick Ecclesine/FOXDid you like Mean Girls? Great! Because you should probably just pop that DVD player in again instead of trying to figure out what's likable about Fox's comedy I Hate My Teenage Daughter.
We know what you're thinking: "Wait a minute, isn't that the new show with the always-funny Jaime Pressly that has a really great title!?"
Yes, yes, it sure is.
So now you may be asking, "Can it really be that bad?"
Find out...
I Hate My Teenage Daughter (Fox)
Premieres: Wednesday, Nov. 30, 9:30 p.m.
Time-Slot Competition: Harry's Law (NBC), America's Next Top Model (CW), Criminal Minds (CBS), Happy Endings (ABC)
Cast: Jaime Pressly, Katie Finneran, Aisha Dee, Kristi Lauren, Chad Coleman, Eric Sheffer Stevens, Kevin Rahm, Wendi McLendon-Covey
Status: We've seen the revamped pilot episode.
Teenagers these days are mean. And they're not just mean to their peers, but also to their poor mothers! Such is the premise of I Hate My Teenage Daughter, which stars Pressly as Annie Watson, mother to Sophie (Lauren), and Finneran as Nikki Miller, mother to Mackenzie (Dee).
The premise is shaky at best, but with the right pieces, this show could've been a solid multicamera comedy. Unfortunately, none of the characters are likable. You're frustrated with the mothers, annoyed with the daughters, and barely notice the fathers and other male characters. We don't know about you guys, but our mothers would never stand for this crap, so right off the bat it was hard to relate to the mother-teenage dynamic.
The basic plot of the pilot revolves around best friends Annie and Sophie trying to punish their daughters for bullying a kid in a wheelchair at school. (Not exactly tickling your funnybone, right?) Sophie's dad is a huge slacker, and apparently very dumb. Mackenzie's father is divorced from Nikki, and because he's an African-American golf-pro, there's got to be a Tiger Woods joke, right?
That's basically the problem with Teenage Daughter. You spot the jokes coming from a mile away and when they do come, they're a little lowbrow. You don't really understand why the mothers are so afraid of their daughters, except for a little backstory about growing up being bullied in school. The sparring between the mothers and a former mean-girl classmate (the girls' principal) is one of the few bright spots in the pilot, especially with the addition of Reno 911's McLendon-Covey being her awesome self.
We can't see Teenage Daughter's premise holding an audience past episode two, because it will grow real old, real quick. We do adore the actors on the show...just none of the characters that they play.
Basically, Pressly deserves better. We all do.
Verdict: Pass. Sorry, but it has to be said: Give this time slot view to one of the best and most-underrated comedies on TV: ABC's Happy Endings. Not that we're totally in love with that show or anything. (We are.)