STILL PARADING

Still Standing
Season 2 (2004)

Still Standing is one of my guilty pleasures sitcoms.  Normally I’m an unabashed supporter of the sitcom format, but even I admit that there are a lot of stupid (sometimes frustratingly long-lived) shows out there.  Still Standing is as cookie-cutter as they come: schlubby dad with an attractive wife, bitchy redheaded teenage daughter (the redheaded daughters are always bitchy in sitcoms-- see Cybill, Reba, 8 Simple Rules, etc), single sister-in-law, blah blah blah.  It’s one of many King of Queens clones that appeared in the early 2000s and yet I’ve always rather (guiltily) enjoyed it.  

Maybe I’m just a sucker for Jamie Gertz, who plays wife/mother Judy, or for Sally Struthers’ frequent and funny guest shots as the mother-in-law.  There’s also a Christmas episode that I adore and watch every year.  Certainly it’s not the schlubby husband or predictable plots that give the show it’s mysterious appeal.  Whatever the reason, it just works for me, much like Yes, Dear, another so-so sitcom that I also find highly watchable.

This was my first time watching the show’s St. Patrick’s Day episode and it was something of a roller coaster ride.  It started out with a lot of unimaginative and slightly offensive gay jokes, as Brian, the nerdy son, is building a St. Patrick’s Day parade float in the backyard.  Dad Bill is frustrated by his son’s geeky hobbies and friends and so he sends his own friend’s jock son Scotty to help and hopefully befriend Brian.  When Bill later demands why Brian and Scotty didn’t get along Brian reveals that Scotty asked him out on a “guy on guy gay date.”

Bill plays unwitting matchmaker

Here’s where the show luckily took a turn from clichéd gay jokes to something more interesting (though the jock who turns out to be gay is a cliché unto itself).  But just as things are looking up we’re subjected to a long and somewhat gross scene of Scotty’s dad unknowingly rattling off baseball-as-gay-sex references until Bill and Judy accidentally reveal that Scotty’s gay.  

The show then takes yet another turn, as the dad knows that Scotty is gay and is totally fine with it, prompting Bill to realize that his strained relationship with his son is his fault and not due to his geeky pastimes.  This episode can’t seem to decide if it wants to rely on gay panic humor or send a positive message about acceptance so it just keeps vacillating between the two.

If you’re thinking this episode sounds better suited for Pride than St. Patrick’s Day, so did I while I was watching it.  However the last five minutes or so practically explode into holiday goodness, with Bill, dressed as a leprechaun, showing up to support his son and ride together on the float.  There’s also a running subplot about Judy being a terrible Irish dancer and her daughter being embarrassed to be seen with her during the parade (eventually Judy discovers that if she’s drunk her dancing improves).

I can’t really make up my mind about this episode.  Certainly the St. Patrick’s Day stuff is fun, but I can’t decide if the gay storyline is slightly offensive or surprisingly progressive (for a sitcom, anyway).  I do, however, fully approve of the term “guy on guy gay date.”  

St. Patrick’s Day Quotient: You have to wade through a lot of double entendres to get there, but things get very festive at towards the end of the episode, earning it a 4!

See It, Skip It, Own It?
This episode is an eclectic mix of tired gay jokes, pro-gay plot twists and St. Patrick’s Day parade floats.  Worth a watch just to witness the weirdness.