Skinny-15

Norman Lear is notorious for his liberal (so they called it ground-breaking) television series of the 70's in which he tampered with conservative censors' traditional television taboos. "All in the Family" was the first step, and despite the over-the-top stereotypes, it succeeded. The downside is the way the show outdated itself by being too topical, but on the other hand it stands as a time capsule. "Maude", a spinoff based upon AITF's recurring character, was a novelty at the time and chose to play the feminist card (however loosely), but at the end of the day, the only element that survived the translation between the two programs was the heavy dosage of loud shouting matches. Bea Arthur is a better actress than this show displays, since she is rarely given the opportunity to do much more than posturing and screaming "Walter" repeatedly. Many 70's programs are now waving the banner of 'retro' to gain some sort of badge of hip for the straplings that weren't there; this show should be returned to the vaults and only drudged up for retrospectives iconifying what made this era of entertainment the very worst that the century had to offer.

A fun, wonderful icon of the early 70's and the small-town charm reflected in so many Disney movies of the era. There will never be any awards for these charmers and no critical acclaim, as they are probably considered fodder for kiddies, but like other such films of the genre ("That Darn Cat", "Snowball Express", "The Boatniks", "Superdad", etc.) they are loaded with a slew of recognizable faces (in this case Hal Holbrook, Joe Flynn, Wally Cox...even an uncredited small part from The Partridge Family's Danny Bonaduce). Michael-James Wixted is charming with his convincing innocence and cross-reference accent, while Flynn and Cox play the kind of characters they usually do in these types of films - all adding up to silly fun.

This particular film was one of those NBC "Wonderful World Of Disney" Sunday night TV movies that came and went and are suddenly available to be seen on The Disney Channel, so take a no-brainer break and watch this one with (or without) the kids.

I think everybody here is reading a little bit too much into what is your typical Disney Channel film. Director Savage Steve Holland hasn't changed much since his 80's fare like "Better Off Dead", only this time out the premise has moved from high school to junior high. Admittedly, the sexual undertones (the slutty look of the film's heroine) is a bit over-the-top for a film mainly aimed at pre-teens, and the kids I watched the film with found her to be hideous, so go figure. But Bug Hall turns in his usual solid performance, considering the relatively tepid material he has to work with. Lots of cameos from Weird Al Yankovic, Leslie Nielson, etc. and a totally campy role for Lainie Kazan, who's been in the camp camp since "Lust In The Dust". It's predictable stuff, yes, but harmless. And better entertainment that 99% of the garbage found on Nickelodeon.