Sitcom Fail: Why Doing Everything For Your Kids Is Not a Good Idea. Or Funny.

Denise Schipani / 9 Comments / bad parents in fiction, discipline, family life, humor, modern families / CBS TV, sitcoms, The Middle /

You know what’s funny? It’s not most sitcoms (ba-da-bum!). What’s funny is that after the last time I wrote about the CBS TV sitcom “The Middle,” my friend Sally wrote to agree with me, and also to wonder how it was that I even managed to sit down for an 8pm show. Sally and I […]

December 8, 2009

Rudolph and his Dad: Why Donner Would Never Be Allowed to Call his Son a Misfit Today

Denise Schipani / 13 Comments / bad parents in fiction, holiday / Donner, misfits, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa /

The other day, on impulse at the supermarket, I picked up the DVD of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” for the boys. They hadn’t seen it yet, even though it’s been on TV. Both of them are rehearsing holiday songs for their school concerts, so it’s been a nonstop chorus of Rudolph over here, and I […]