I'm sorry that Norman Lear divorced his wife of thirty years. I don't know Lear, nor do I know his wife or ex-wife. I am sorry, because Lear decided to take this situation and turn it into a show. This was a show about a man who has grown daughters and has remarried a younger woman. They all gather together for Sunday dinner, hence the title. The daughters are not happy about the new wife.
Robert Loggia played the Dad, Teri Hatcher was the new wife. The wife was a Christian who prayed and called God, "Chief".
As a Christian, Hurrah for the use of prayer, but, "Chief"!? Would you go up to your father and call him Jimbo or Skinny? Twee with a dusting of arrogance. Bleh.
I'm not against writers turning real situations into comedy or drama. Carl Reiner did this to good effect in the "Dick Van Dyke Show". "Never Name a Duck" was based on ducks that ended up at his house. "Seinfeld" had a character named Kramer, based on a real person. However, when one sees show after show with similar themes, it makes one cry out, "Can't you just tell your therapist or church leader about this, instead of subjecting the viewing public to it?" Imagine what we would have been spared. If the writing staffs of "The Boys Are Back" or "Happy Family" didn't have sons that moved out when they were grown, how much happier would we be? All of the above would have been forgiven (told you I was a Christian!) had not the writing been lackluster, the characters unlikable and the chemistry non-existent. All of this covered with the patina of the real-life parallel of a man marrying a younger woman and divorcing the older one makes this show one best left forgotten.
