The secret to warped comedy? Be thoroughly warped yourself.

Titus airs Mondays at 8:30/7:30 Central on Fox. The promos were obnoxiously ever-present, but they had Stacy Keach, and the lead was this big square-faced Busey-esque guy with a good grin. And heck, I didn’t have much else to watch on Monday. So I tuned in to Titus. Light goes on. "When you’re born, you’re pure, unspoiled, and trusting. I believe everything and everyone." "Then I met my parents." First words of a new series, spoken by Chris Titus to the audience. It’s not like to-the-audience narration is anything new. I think the classic example of that is, of course, the cinematic A Christmas Story, from which sprang The Wonder Years onto the small screen. Other cinematic examples are Ferris Bueller and High Fidelity. When timed right, these narratives are great, but then again, they can be misused. I’m sure we all have our personal favorites, but I’d rather not dwell on mine any more than I have to. Until I write a review about it, that is. Mr. Titus is backed by a solid core cast of supporting players: the aforementioned Stacy Keach plays his father (as dysfunctional a dad as I’ve ever seen), Zack Ward plays his brother Dave (a short Conan O’Brien with a larcenous streak), David Shatraw plays his sensitive and nebbishy friend and business partner Tommy (to fulfill the requisite Woody Allen-esque quotient of any modern sitcom), and Cynthia Watros plays his long-suffering girlfriend Erin. They all hit their marks perfectly, so far as that goes in a modern American sitcom. I keep saying that; what am I comparing it to? I mean, would I think of a Ninteenth-Century German sitcom? A Medieval Japanese sitcom? Why do I find this funny? It’s different from the run-of-the-mill sitcom, not only with its narration and its tendency to cut from narration to flashback for a joke (pretty much exactly like Family Guy does, except live-action and with funny costumes to make Titus look like he’s in high school). Those are directorial choices that work in the show’s favor. Perhaps it’s the blue-collar approach to the characters, the gleeful criminality and raging dysfunctionality (I know, I keep saying dysfunctional… but it pretty much fits best. Plus, where else would I get to type the world "dysfunctionality" for the public to see?). Witness the excerpt: Erin: You guys know that you’re not allowed in the building anymore. How did you get past security? Chris: You walk in with confidence, nobody bothers you. (They look to Dave) Dave: I wore a hat. (Cut to Narration set) Narrator Chris: Dave’s my brother. I love him with all my heart. No matter how many times I’m charged as an accessory. (Cut to view of an elevator, viewed through a security camera) Flashback Chris: It’s called stealing, Dave. Flashback Dave: It’s not stealing. Your girlfriend works here. Flashback Chris: But we don’t need paper. Flashback Dave: That’s the beauty of it: no motive. How are they ever going to catch us? (They both notice the security camera…) They’ve got some formula elements: the dumb guy, the sensitive guy, the lug who’s trying to overcome his screwed-up past, the unrepentant jerk… And they share elements with shows I’ve already mentioned. So why is it better than, say, Stark Raving Mad? Well, I’d have to say because it’s got a skewed approach to things. When Roseanne started, it had an appropriately skewed attitude, as did Just Shoot Me and The Drew Carey Show. I think it’s the edge of weirdness that predicts a good sitcom. It’s like with all those old Bugs Bunny cartoons, versus some of the same things in more recent times. Without the edge, the subversive attitude, the edge of adult satire beyond the superficial slapstick, the more recent cartoons were crap. The edge makes quality. Of course, TV executives everywhere are trying to find an easy way to manufacture edge. Witness Caroline In The City, witness Mad About You, and witness, yes, Stark Raving Mad. But you can’t mass-produce something like that. It’s not something you can learn the secret of, and be able to reproduce with every go. Actually, you can learn the secret, but it’s something that TV executives can’t reproduce. The secret is: to produce something warped, you have to be thoroughly warped yourself. Can you imagine what was cut from the script to make it past the network censors? And can you imagine that kind of thing coming from a corporate climber? The same kind of people who count down the episodes left of 90210 or Party of Five? Sure, those shows have their audience, but if they were doing well enough to merit a tearful goodbye, would they be going off the air? How about a farewell countdown for Misfits of Science? Well, then you’d have to start at 6 with the first episode, but still… So, yeah, I like Titus. That’s not a bad thing; we’re allowed to like TV, particularly if it’s subversive. Do I think it’ll go far? I don’t see it being in the top 10, but I can definitely see it gaining a core audience, and staying high enough in the ratings to hang around for a few years. It’ll do well at that level: good enough to keep getting renewed, yet not so good that they start getting pressured to change. Then again, Frasier has been doing well, being subversive in its own way, and enjoying great success. But then, Frasier’s humor tends to the intellectual; perhaps it goes over the average exec’s head? However, Frasier may well be for another review. So back to Titus. There’s one other thing about the show that I like. It’s got a moral. The moral of the series is not to be good to each other, though that always helps. It’s not that principles are the only thing worth having. It’s not to wander the country touching lives and riding around in a heavenly Cadillac. That would be Touched By An Angel. Every show tends to be about people and their flaws, how everyone makes mistakes of varying severity. Humans are imperfect, particularly in the Titus family, and the only way to deal with that is to work past it with someone you care about. Life is complicated, and things don’t have easy answers. And sometimes the best answer to a situation isn’t the most moral answer, but whatever works. That’s the type of moral that I can really get behind. "When you’re born, you’re pure, unspoiled, and trusting. Some say it’s the only time we’re perfect. You’re also born covered in blood and placenta. Nobody gets nostalgic about that." Light goes off. Yeah. I like that. Date: 4/28/00 Copyright © 2000 by E. Mark Mitchell