It’s another month, and Adam & I are back on our bullshit! This time, we’re tackling an early entry on The WB, from one of the creators of Married…with Children, known as Unhappily Ever After. Just as Married… put its stamp on the fledgling Fox Network, Unhappily was one of the standout comedies in the early years of The WB. Due to them sharing the same “father” in Ron Leavitt, they are often compared, with Unhappily being considered a Married… “ripoff”. I, however, never really saw that as the case. Whereas they shared the same ingredients, they do vastly different things with them. At the end of the day, the Bundys loved each other, but you can’t necessarily come to that conclusion for the Malloys.
If you’re not familiar, Unhappily Ever After centers on the Malloy family, where the adults are getting a divorce, and everyone has to adjust to the New Normal. Jack (Geoff Pierson) and Jenny (Stephanie Hodge) Malloy are not great partners or parents, so the kids have to fend for themselves. Oldest child Ryan, played by Entourage‘s Kevin Connolly, is a horny dunce. Seriously, he only gets hornier and dumber as the show goes on. Middle child Tiffany, played by Nikki Cox, is equal parts sexy and smart. Similar to Ryan’s progression, Tiffany only gets hotter and more diabolical as the show goes on. Finally, the youngest child Ross, played by Malcolm in the Middle‘s Justin Berfield, is actually a self aware example of the “Advertised Extra” trope. The most important character, however, was the puppet Mr. Floppy, voiced by Bobcat Goldthwait. You see, when Jack moves into his new apartment, Ross gives him his stuffed bunny for company. So, the stress of the divorce, combined with what the show’s marketing labels as “schizophrenia”, caused Jack to see Mr. Floppy as a living being. He talked, he drank, he riffed on pop culture. The show basically used Mr. Floppy as both a soapbox and also as a way to take the edge off of how horrible the human characters are to each other and those around them. So, this formula gave The WB 5 seasons and 100 episodes – that aren’t streaming anywhere today, for whatever reason.
So, if any of that sounds interesting to you (and I’m sure it does!), then check out the episode here, or where all fine podcasts are not sold!
