Climbing the FAMILY TREE

Article first published as Climbing the FAMILY TREE on TheTVKing.

HBO's Family Tree is little more than a curiosity for most of the freshman run. It's vaguely amusing in a very understated way, but while the characters resemble those from Christopher Guest films, there isn't a clear zaniness that elicits laughs out loud or quotable lines. It's this bit of pizzazz that is absent, as the story unfolds slowly over eight episodes.

But I feel the season finale, "Cowboys," which aired this week, is different. Maybe it just took me awhile to adjust to the tone and style of the series, but in this last episode, I finally connected with the material. It meant something more, the characters actually mattered, and there was pay-off from the journey we've been on.

Tom (Chris O'Dowd) is on a mission to find out about his family, but by the end of "Cowboys," he isn't looking any longer, at least for this day. He's enjoying the last bit of his trip to California before he goes home, hanging out with his newly-discovered relatives, and spending time with the gal he likes, Ally (Amy Seimetz, The Killing). He's relaxed, luxuriating in a place he enjoys being, with people that he is fond of, even though he's only known them a short time.

This occurs despite the startling revelations Tom inadvertently stumbles onto. Al (Ed Begley Jr.) tells Tom about a bunch of conspiracies, including the faked moon landing and JFK's assassination secrets. This stuff is crazy, and Tom doesn't buy any of it for a moment. Yet, shortly thereafter, he tells Amy that he'll miss Al and the rest of the kin, and Tom means it. It doesn't matter what Al believes, he's family, and Tom is glad to know him.

It's this connection, which we see in the brilliant O'Dowd's face, that makes the whole series mean something. For the first time, we see just how desperate Tom is to be part of the family, and how grateful he is to find his roots. We see how much he loves those whom he is a part of, and likes being around them. His life seems so much better than in the first episode, and without even realizing it, there has been growth and development.

Does that mean Tom will stay in America? At the end of "Cowboys," he is kissing Ally, whom he sleeps with, and says he doesn't want to leave. It's an ambiguous ending, but combined with the stated fondness for his West Coast relations, it seems to indicate that Tom is more than a little tempted not to return to England.

This season of Family Tree split the action between England and the United States, and that worked well. There were wonderful actors playing parts on both sides of The Pond. That could easily continue into a sophomore year, should the show be renewed. If Tom goes home and stays there, that would drop a valuable portion of the cast, and I'd hate to see that happen.

But regardless of how the tale might continue, "Cowboys" is a perfect ending that leaves viewers wanting more. If we're lucky, HBO will grant us that.

Climbing the Family Tree

Article first published as FAMILY TREE Review on Seat42F.

Grade: 94%

Many are familiar with the work of Christopher Guest, who has made such fantastic mokumentary films as Best in Show, A Might Wind, and This Is Spinal Tap. It’s about time, then, that he gets a weekly series on television. FAMILY TREE, which premiered on HBO last night, is that series.

Set in London, England, FAMILY TREE stars Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids, Girls) as Tom Chadwick, an unemployed, heartbroken man in his thirties who inherits a box of bits and bobs from his great Aunt Victoria. In that box are mementos from his family’s history, which he will make his mission to dive into and discover his roots.

It’s a simple premise, to be sure, and one that many can relate to. We’ve all had times in our lives where we lack direction and need to figure out our purpose. Many choose to examine the past to find clues as to a possible future. Tom is easy to relate to and sympathetic in his journey, wonderfully brought to complex life by O’Dowd.

Tom has help in his journey in the form of best mate Pete Stupples (Tom Bennett, PhoneShop), who lives in the past, but in a bad way. Whereas Tom seeks meaning and enrichment from his own history, Pete wants to maintain a silly, sex-obsessed, immature existence as long as he possibly can. He’s also the type of friend to latch onto a person and never let go, whether the other person wants them there or not. Tom is in exactly this position with Pete.

I’m not saying Tom should ditch Pete, even if Tom is a much more likeable person. They have a lot of shared stories together, and Pete is a nice enough bloke, certainly loyal. He provides the comic relief to the more serious Tom, which is probably why Tom doesn’t mind having him around so much, for laughs.

In the pilot, “The Box,” Tom and Pete take an old military photograph to expert Neville St. Aubrey (Christopher Fairbanks, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) to examine. Tom at first believes that the man shown is his great grandfather, but Neville is able to discover that Tom’s relation is the photographer, not the subject, and in finding a photo of said great grandfather, Tom learns he is descended from a “Chinaman.”

If that amuses you, you will likely enjoy the humor exemplified in FAMILY TREE. It’s in a similar vein to other Guest works, silly and irreverent, but toned down a bit here, not so in-your-face as some of his movies have been. Many of the jokes are quiet, though unexpected, the nuance taking precedence over the slapstick. It’s a very specific brand, well executed.

There’s also an underlying level of sadness to the proceedings of “The Box.” Obviously, Tom is not doing so well, with little going right in his life. As positive as he tries to be about it, one can sense that any bit of optimism displayed may just be a coping mechanism. He’s had about all he can take, and only through embarking on a new adventure, learning about his heritage, can he get a foot hold and begin to pull himself back up.

Yet, Tom is not the saddest character introduced in “The Box.” That honor belongs to his sister, Bea (Nina Conti, Bromwell High), who walks around with a monkey puppet on her arm. Unlike Tom, who was raised in Ireland by their mother, Bea was subject to father Keith’s (Michael McKean, Clue) inept, unobservant style of parenting. Bea clings to the monkey as a way to find her voice, and thus is quite a depressed, and depressing, person. I look forward to learning more about her, and how she might be inadvertently helped by Tom’s work.

Somehow, Guest rings the humor out of such people, whether it be in interactions between the various characters, the situations they get into, or cut scene interviews with the players. There is always something to find amusing, even in the darkest bit of the half hour, and it is played to great effect.

Besides McKean, other frequent Guest veterans will appear in the series, including Ed Begley Jr. and Fred Willard. Guest has built his own stable of actors over the years, and although they are not the focus in his latest project, he certainly isn’t abandoning them, either. They get his tone and style perfectly, and will only enhance FAMILY TREE in their recurring appearances.

I like FAMILY TREE a lot. It has the distinctive Guest feel, but also comes across as fresh and original. There isn’t really another series on television to compare it to, at least not in anything but broad strokes, taking a simple story and telling it in a very unique manner. If it can find an audience, and it is certainly accessible enough to do so, it should make a great addition to the HBO lineup.

FAMILY TREE airs Sundays at 10:30 p.m. ET on HBO.

Guess who's coming back to Smallville?

     The CW's Smallville is having an exciting year, especially where guest stars are concerned.  With a new two hour TV movie coming up in a couple of weeks, featuring a whole bunch of other heroes, the show is brimming with talent.  However, some news broke a few days ago that is even bigger for the show.  Two Superman heavyweights are returning.  No, no, sorry.  Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor is not coming back...yet, anyway.  It seems that actor is reluctant to go bald again.  But hey, Gene Hackman played Lex with hair, so why not Rosenbaum?  Anyway, I think you will be pleased with who is returning.

     Annette O'Toole (Nash Bridges) played mother Martha Kent for 132 episodes of the series, leaving almost two years ago.  (Fun fact: Annette O'Toole also played Superman love interest Lana Lang in the movie Superman III.)  The last of the adults to leave the cast, Martha went to take her deceased husband's job as a Senator in Washington D.C.  Though fans had been promised an occasional return of Ma Kent, she has been absent from the show since May 2007.  However, I am please to report that she is returning to the town of Smallville this May in the season's penultimate episode.

     Shortly after O'Toole's return was announced, so was the comeback in the same episode of her real life husband, Christopher Guest movie staple, Michael McKean (Clue, Best in Show, This Is Spinal Tap).  McKean was previously on Smallville back in a  2003 titled "Perry", when he played the legendary editor of the Metropolis newspaper The Daily Planet, Perry White.  White has been portrayed by many actors in many versions of Superman, including Jackie Cooper in four movies, Lane Smith in the television show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and most recently Frank Langella (Frost / Nixon) in the 2006 film Superman Returns.  McKean's take was memorable, however, as his Perry White has a drunkard, washed up, unemployed loser.  Clark met him and set him on the proper path, and viewers of the show have long awaited his triumphant remergence.  It is not clear if McKean will become recurring, as both Clark (Tom Welling) and Lois (Erica Durance) currently work at The Daily Planet on the show.  There have been several editors of the newspaper on Smallville, including Princess Leia herself, Carrie Fisher (Star Wars).  Could Perry White have finally arrived once and for all?  And is he romantically linked to Martha Kent?  Considering how important a role White plays in the Superman legacy, his return to the show is big news.

     While O'Toole and McKean won't arrive until May, you can watch Smallville every Friday night on The CW, as it returns from its winter hiatus this coming Friday.