Book Review of "The Summons" by John Grisham

Well I finally read my first book by John Grisham, and I was very impressed. I have seen several of the books made into movies that he has written, and for the most part have liked them very much. I really liked the movie The Firm as well as the movie The Rainmaker. So I decided to read this book on the left to see what his writing style was like. This story is the story of two brothers who are summoned home to find that their dad has died and left several million dollars of cash around with no mention of it in his will. The oldest brother (Ray) finds the money in the story and decides he will hide it until he can figure things out. I don't want to give too much away (for those who haven't read it yet), but it was really a fascinating read. The story was fast enough pace to keep you interested, and I think did a great job showing the dangers of hoarding wealth. In fact, if I had to pick one verse in the Bible that illustrated what this story was about, I would pick Luke 12:15 where Jesus says:

Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

Greed can do all sorts of things to a person, and in the end cause him/her to hurt the ones he/she loves. This novel was an excellent story that helped to enforce that idea, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Highly recommended.

Lucky You Review

I had seen several previews for this movie, and it looked good so while at the video store, I figured we would pick it up and see what quality of romantic comedy this proves to be. First mistake renting this movie, was thinking that it was a romantic comedy. It really isn't. All the commercials and previews make it appear to be a great romantic comedy movie, but in reality Lucky You is more of a sports drama about a distant son who is a habitual gambler and his rocky relationship with his dad who taught him the game of poker and who is always trying to show that he is a better gambler than his own son. However, that being said I have to admit I liked this movie. Eric Bana is the main character who is not necessarily a likeable character in the beginning as they show how desparate this guy is to gamble. He basically pulls all sorts of tricks just to get more money to hit the poker tables, and even steals from Drew Barrymore after taking her out for a romantic date. He not only compulsively gambles, he really has a chip on his shoulder towards his father who consistently beats him in gambling and makes him feel like he'll never measure up. That is what is great about this movie. Although it isn't really a comedy (OR that romantic), the complexity of the characters and the lessons that the main character learns about relationships make this movie worth seeing. I won't give away how things work out, but I will say it does prove to teach some very important lessons about winning, competition, and forgiveness. As long as you aren't watching this movie for a sappy love story, I think if you give it a chance, this movie may be an enjoyable watch with redemptive themes.

Dan in Real Life review

We got a recommendation from a friend that "Dan in Real Life" would be a good romantic comedy with a good amount of romance, yet something I (Paul) would enjoy watching as well. I personally am not into movies where the guys are merely there to add the romance factor and have no real function other than to sweep the main girl character off of her feet. Sure sappy love stories have their place, but I appreciate good romantic comedies that have some substance to the characters lives. We were not at all disappointed with "Dan in Real Life". This movie was great. The characters are well-played, and very true-to-life at times, and the story isn't boring at all and moves along very well. The main plot of the story is a guy named "Dan" who is the single father of three girls and also works as a newspaper columnist. Dan is just trying to do a good job as a dad to his three girls when he meets this intriguing woman at a bookstore and really hits it off talking to her. He thought all was going well, until he finds out that his brother is dating her. I won't go any further than that, but this movie did a wonderful job showing how awkward and weird falling in love can be (especially around your close family). I thought the family relationships shown in this movie were really shown in a great 3 dimensional way, and yet it still showed that the extended family cared about each and every person. Dan has trouble throughout with his feelings, but one of the characters wisely shares with him that "love isn't just a feeling, it is an action you take" (my paraphrase). I have to agree with that message, and hope that more movies like this one are released. Two thumbs up.

Jerry Maguire Review

Another movie that it took me some time to actually watch all the way through. I finally did after much coaxing from my wife, and was pretty impressed with this movie. As most probably know, it is the story of a sports agent who ends up hitting rock bottom and through the power of a dream and some loyal friends, decides to change his life. I guess this movie could pass as a romantic comedy, but it also has many other "just plain drama" moments. Unfortunately, it also has some things that detract from the morals and message (such as pre-marital sex, and quite a bit of foul language). The negative parts are unfortunate, because the acting is top-notch and some of the messages are really redemptive. A few things I liked about this movie were :

1. I won't go into how, but one of the strongest themes throughout the movie was the importance of sincere honesty when relating to others. Acting like nothing is wrong or refusing to say anything that might hurt or offend can actually hinder rather than help growth in life and character.

2. Another thing this movie shows was that sometimes you can't grow until you hit rock bottom. Jerry Maguire did hit rock bottom in this movie, and although he turned to alcohol and depression when unsure of the next steps, it did show that once he reached the end of of his abilities, it was the beginning of his career and life starting to take a turn in the up direction.

3. Many dialog lines that pop culture has picked up. Although I don't go around repeating "Show me the money!" (Cuba Gooding Jr.) or "help me to help you" (Tom Cruise), I admire the delivery and catchiness of some of the lines used in this movie.

All in all, this movie does have a redemptive finish and I found I thought the theme did reinforce some good points about life. Not a movie, in my top 10 list, but yet if you find it on TV (with edited content), I would recommend sitting through it to see what "Jerry Maguire" is all about.

Shattered Glass Review

Well as mentioned before, I haven't completely given up movies. I caught this great movie on TV the other night, and was pleasantly surprised how well-written and directed it was. It is the true story of a journalist by the name of Stephen Glass and a look at his career and how he was discovered to have fabricated some of his stories. It does a phenomenal job of showing how Mr. Glass was probably thinking in order to justify his false journalism, and how he really loved to just tell a great story and have everyone laugh and be entertained. The movie is very well-done in my opinion and very engaging as it shows the publications he writes for become more and more suspicious that he is making up his "facts". I was really drawn into this movie that shows how some people become so desirious for public approval and praise that they are willing to lie in order to be recognized. Watching this movie made me think about my own temptation at times to be hypocritical and to appear differently than I truly am -merely because I want people to think well of me. I do feel sorry that Mr. Glass felt the need to lie in order to impress others, yet I know that he isn't alone in thinking that that will make you popular and well-liked. However, people do want the truth in the long run, and fortunately in journalism that need is pretty emphasized. Although everyone wants to believe that they can get away with things that they know are wrong, I think Numbers 32:23 says it very well ....

"But if you fail to keep your word, then you will have sinned against the Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out." NLT

and the good news is contained in Romans 6:23

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. NLT.

This movie gets two thumbs up in my view.

What I'm Reading

Currently I've picked up the book on the left at my local library, and have been surprised with how involved in the story I am becoming. This story revolves around a young man who's mother has passed away and she has left him a note to go find his uncle and live with him. So, the boy (Jeremy) decides to head across country and find his uncle - who happens to be working at a mine. I haven't finished this story, but I must say the characters are pretty engaging, and the story moves along without too much descriptive language as some novels have a tendency to do. So far I'm really enjoying this book and look forward to finishing it soon.

As far as the comments I have received (re: last post)....

I would like to clarify that I have not given up all movies, just decided to use less of my time to watch movies. I recommend using your time to further creativity, not just watching the ideas of others.

What's been going on

Hello to everyone out there in bloggerville. Just thought I would post some news of what is happening in my life. Due to my increase in movie watching of late, and how little free time I have after I watch the quantity of movies I am accustomed to watching, I have decided to take a break from my online movie subscription. I have cancelled it. Instead of trying to watch 3 movies a month, I intend to watch less TV/movies and read more good books, visit my library, tour the area, and stay involved in my church more. I'm not saying that movies will never have a place in my life - I just want to make sure that movies have a much smaller place than they have been taking of late. I will still post movie reviews from time to time, but now I will probably intersperse movie reviews with book reviews and life stories of my adventures in living (however boring that might be). I also enjoy writing, so I may devote some time to actually write some blog postings that are more than my two cents on the latest from Hollywood. This is very appropriate (at least imho) also due to the writer's strike that is making TV boil down to nothing more than re-runs, news shows, sports, and reality TV. No this isn't a New Years Resolution. This is something that has dawned on me as I came home day after day plopped myself down on the couch and keep hoping that there is something worthwhile on television to numb my brain to another night. I'm sick of it I tell you! Creativity in America is suffering due to the amount of TV watching our country does. It is time to meet your neighbors, try new recipes, go for hikes in the woodlands, and find out what quality novels are being written and are freely available at your local library. Movies have their place, but in my case they were becoming a time drain that I can not afford to keep feeding. Life has too much to offer for me to stay cooped up in the house all evening!! A few movies I have seen parts of, I will now comment on briefly:

Life is Beautiful - excellently done movie about the Holocaust. Very touching and worth watching in my opinion.

Picture Perfect - amusing romantic comedy with Rachel from Friends. Didn't watch all of it, but Chrystal really enjoyed this one.

Labyrinth - Old classic movie by Jim Henson. Kind of strange, but interesting if you like fantasy. If you don't like fantasy and fairy tales, you should probably skip it. Fun songs.

Live Free or Die Hard Review

This movie is essentially considered "Die Hard 4". Since I had seen the other ones (except I haven't watched Die Hard 2 through completely) I wanted to see if Bruce Willis still could kick the same kind of butt as he did back in the day. I liked this movie a lot. The action was non-stop and the stunts were very impressive. Sure, you have to put believability to rest for a while, but the Die Hard series has never been about ultra realistic stunts and stories. Bruce Willis did a very impressive job reprising his old role from the earlier movies. He was great - had wonderful one-liners like usual, and kept the action moving throughout. In this movie, the bad guy is an exceptional computer hacker/genius who is trying to cause national chaos and terrorism and Bruce Willis has to do all sorts of things to stop him. In order to do this, he teems up with a super-smart genius computer savy young man who turns out to be just what he needs to get to the bad guy. I think the team-work between the young man and Bruce was superb and really helped the story to have a broader appeal to the younger ages. Allthough there is a fair amount of bad language and violence, I don't think the bad outweighs the good in this movie. Great action, great acting, and a great closure to the entire Die Hard series. Two thumbs up.

Blades of Glory Review

Over the holidays I rented the movie "Blades of Glory" and finally had a chance to sit down and watch it. I was actually surprised about how much I laughed at this movie. I am not a big fan of ice skating and thought a funny spoof movie about it would be hilarious. I enjoyed "Napolean Dynamite" and some of the Will Farrell's movies, so I figured this movie had a lot of potential in the laugh department. It did not disappoint in the laughs, but unfortunately the writers had to add a lot of sexual humor to this movie that wasn't necessary at all. Basically the plot involves Will Farrell and Jon Heder getting kicked out of solo skating tournaments due to getting in a huge fight during an awards ceremony. Their licenses for competing in tournaments are banned for life until someone finds that that ruling only applies to solo tournaments and that they could skate together in couples tournaments with no legal issues. What results are some of the funniest skating moments I have ever witnessed in a movie. This movie had me laughing so hard that I even rewound parts to rewatch how funny they were. Due to some parts having a lot of inappropriate innuendo I probably wouldn't buy this movie, but some of the scenes are really laugh-out-loud funny (as long as you don't mind making fun of ice skating). Minus some of the inappropriate material, this is a very funny movie. Unfortunately due to some of the content, this movie gets a "B-" from me. Too bad the writers have to include inappropriate humor in modern comedies.

Secondhand Lions Review

I was given a recommendation to see this 2003 film by a friend who said it was really a good movie. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from a film where a boy goes to spend some time with two old quirky men who are his great-uncles (supposedly). However, this movie was very well done, and the acting did not disappoint at all. The plot is that this neglected young man is sent to live with his two great uncles who everyone believes are loaded with money (yet who remain kind of strange and reclusive). As he gets to know them, he really begins to like them for who they are, and enjoys learning about their hobbies, their passions, and their history. The film sort of bordered on fantasy with all the storytelling and adventures that the characters get into, yet never to the point that a movie like Mary Poppins would go. I enjoyed the movie, yet sometimes wondered where the story was going. It had a good ending and kept you pretty entertained, yet it wasn't one I would necessarily laugh-out-loud too, nor one I would necessarily want to rewatch. What was refreshing about this movie was that it was very clean and interesting for a family movie without resorting to special effects to tell a good story. It also showed two older men who had many ambitions and loved to live life, and how long that allowed them to live. I am a firm believer that having goals and ambitions in life help you to live long and live life to the fullest and this movie clearly portrayed it in the characters. Yet, sadly this movie did gloss over one of the most important questions a person can ask ... how can I know God personally? Although the men in this movie were out to seek adventure, they failed to look toward God as a person they could relate to and who could lead them on the greatest adventure in life that any man/woman could ever know.

Through him [Jesus] all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. - John 1:3-4 NIV

Early Christmas presents

I love early Christmas presents! This wonderful movie was presented to me by my wonderful wife as an early Christmas present. I have to say that Transformers was one of the best movies of Summer 2007 in my opinion. The effects were great, the story was well-done (even though it was a tad long), and you just can't argue with how cool transforming robots are who come to save the world. What could be better in the fictional Hollywood world where all things work out in the end? I actually never followed the toys and cartoon in the 80s, but I fondly remember how much of a rage they caused among my friends and peer group of the time. I personally was more into G.I. Joe, but I have to say that given the chance, I may have been seriously into Transformers as well. In any case, I think the new movie was well worth watching several times. There are a few parts that definitely seem to cater to the MTV crowd, and unfortunately the writer thought that things like that had to be included in this movie. However, I still don't think it ruins the movie as a whole. Great action, fun story, rocking music. Sounds like a blockbuster to me.

Hollywood Homicide Review

Another movie that I caught on TV and taped, so I thought I would review it. I initially was interested in this movie, due to liking Harrison Ford and his spin at comedy (at least in the Star Wars movies). I knew this movie hadn't gotten that many great reviews, but I thought I would check it out. After watching it, I can see why reviewers were, for the most part, disappointed with this one. I'm glad it wasn't taking up queue space on my blockbuster list. It is a mediocre comedy about an old cop (sorry Harrison) and a young cop who have to learn to work together. Josh Hartnett plays the young guy. You may remember him from the movie Pearl Harbor. He was OK in this movie, but definitely wasn't the best at acting. Harrison was semi-funny in this comedy but he seems to have lost some of his Indiana Jones/Hans Solo humor that made him so funny in the 70s and 80s. Any good lessons in this movie? Not really. The whole movie is supposed to be a semi-funny cop comedy. It somewhat succeeds but not as well as it could. I think better script writing would have helped. One of the funniest parts for me involves a wild car chase in a convertible. Needless to say, seeing Harrison Ford bent out of shape due to his young partner's driving was HILARIOUS! After that, the film is mildly entertaining, but not that great. I did think Harrison Ford did a better job than in the movie Firewall that came out after this one. In Firewall, you just feel bad for him when he takes on the bad guys. At least this movie never put Ford in a place where you honestly felt bad that he was placed in danger. After all, that is what Indiana Jones thrives on. I'll be looking forward to see how his new Indy movie turns out this coming Summer 2008.

Untamed Heart Review

Chrystal is a fan of Christian Slater movies (especially the 80s and early 90s ones) and had seen this romance drama so I added it to the Blockbuster queue to see what it was like. I'm personally not a huge Slater fan, but in some movies I admit he has some talent in the acting arena. This was an interesting movie, because it wasn't really a light-hearted romantic comedy, yet it wasn't pure drama. It was a very well-told story of an orphan boy (Slater) with some social handicaps who ends up falling in love with a waitress. There are definitely some rough parts of this movie, but the director did a great job really causing the characters to shine through so that they seem very 3 dimensional throughout. This is definitely a movie I believe girls will favor over guys, but it had enough going for it that I sat all the way through it. It definitely is a sad movie, and I wouldn't necessarily call the movie edifying, but if it set out to be an emotionally moving love story, I would say it succeeded. Well done, but not that high on my list to see again.

Drumline Review

Chrystal owns this movie, and since I never have seen it (even though it came out in 2002), I decided to sit down and watch it with her. I must confess I was a little skeptical that this movie would be that engaging, due to the subject matter. Come on, people, we are talking about drums in a college band. Not even sports here! However, this movie was surprisingly very very entertaining and well done (in my opinion). First of all, the actor Nick Cannon is amazing. He plays his role exceptionally. Also the actual chemistry of all the stars goes a long way and the movie does a fantastic job of taking something that the audience may not care about much (in this case, playing in a band for those who have never been muscicians), and making it very entertaining and fun to watch. I used to play the trumpet, but have never actually been involved in anything like a college band. However, watching the drum scenes were never boring in this movie due the fantastic way it was presented. Not only that, but true life lessons were well-presented throughout this journey about a young man with talent and a bad attitude. I'm glad Chrystal recommended I watch this one with her. Two thumbs up for a movie that teaches great lessons in an engaging way! I would venture to say that this movie was the best band movie I have seen since the old musical Music Man.

Bobby Review

The movie "Bobby" recently came out and featured many famous actors, so I decided to see how it was. It is a two hour movie that features many, many famous actors and actresses and my guess is that it was trying to show how life was being lived around the time of Robert Kennedy. However, that being said, Chrystal made a good point - that there are so many famous actors and actresses that it is "almost distracting" . I have to agree, a lot of talent stars in this movie, but after the show you really have to wonder if any star really "shines through" in a performance like this. To me there seemed to be too much background story revolving around life in the famous hotel where Robert Kennedy was shot, and not enough biographic story of Robert Kennedy. Of course, that may be what the director was trying to achieve, but I just had a sense that there was too much going on, and never really got involved in any one of the story lines throughout the movie. Due to the large number of story threads in this movie, you kind of feel like this movie is trying to go into too many directions at one time. All in all, the acting was very well done, but I would have preferred a movie that centered more on the life of Robert Kennedy and less on the lives of those at the hotel - afterall I am watching a movie called "Bobby". I would give this movie one thumb up, but probably not worthy of two thumbs up in my opinion. Definitely don't rent this movie if you are looking for a historical biography sketch of Robert Kennedy.

What I have been reading lately....

I have also been doing some reading since reading and watching movies are two of my most time-consuming hobbies. The book I'm reading currently is a very insightful and motivating book on prayer titled Destined For the Throne by Paul Billheimer. I am on my second reading of this book, due to how good and deep this work is. It isn't very long, but the author is really writing about something that is close to his heart, and you can sense that he isn't writing about something he doesn't practice himself. I do enjoy reading books on prayer, maybe because I recognize how little I do of true praying - I'm not sure. This book has principles that are worth re-reading and that really help true Christians understand in a deeper sense what role prayer plays in bringing God's Kingdom to Earth. Since I am on my second reading, I highly recommend you read a copy of this great book.

Spiderman 3 Review

We finally rented this blockbuster movie of the summer after having low expectations from what the critics and some of our friends had reported about the 3rd installment. I have to say, we both were pleasantly surprised! Maybe we had our expectations in the right place, but I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Spiderman begins to wrestle with pride, bitterness and wanting revenge, and learns that he must choose to remain true and honest in order to stay out of trouble. Some people were complaining that they tried to put 3 bad guys into this movie, and they did - but I don't think it was overdone. It was a long movie, but it didn't seem too drawn out, and I think the overall story was very well done and did not leave you thinking there was too much underdeveloped (at least for me). This movie also had some very redemptive themes about how pride leads to destruction and how dangerous it is to be bitter. It also emphasized the value of forgiveness. I have to say that this movie addressed some surprisingly deep issues of life for a superhero movie. The special effects were well done, the story wasn't too dark, and the morals throughout were very redemptive. I was not disappointed in the least bit with this final episode in the Spiderman trilogy and I think I liked it better than the first movie (about equal with the second movie though). All in all, this movie did a wonderful job showing what we, as Christians, must do according to Hebrews 12:15 - we must

"Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many." NLT

Bitterness does work like a poison (or venom) which can really cause you to stumble as a Christian. That's why we are all called to exhort each other to not fail to receive the grace of God as the above verse references. Check out Spiderman 3 for a great movie, with great acting and great special effects. Two thumbs up. Highly recommended.

Better Off Dead Review

This is considered a classic in the genre of 80s teen comedies. John Cusack (one of the only famous actors in this movie) is the star of this story of a young man who is obsessed with his girlfriend only to have her break up with him to date the champion snow skiier of the school. This movie is wacky, funny, and inventive so please don't rent this movie thinking it will be your typical romantic comedy. It has a sort of deadpan humor that I have a feeling would grow funnier the more I watch it. There is a mean paper boy that is always demanding 2 dollars, there is a sidekick friend who thinks that snow can be sold as drugs, and there is even claymation in this movie. I liked the movie, although I do think the humor appeals more to guys than girls. Although Chrystal watched it with me, I think she didn't enjoy it quite as much as I did. One of my favorite parts involves a scene with Barney Rubble (from the Flintstones). Any movie that can work Barney into the script definitely should be watched for creativity alone if nothing else. All in all, I would say this is an odd-but-funny teen comedy that is very quotable and that I would recommend. Just don't expect something extremely witty and intelligent.

Footloose Review

Ahh, Footloose. Most people are familiar with this one. The story of a rebel (Kevin Bacon) that turns a whole town upside down with his dancing. Chrystal loves this movie and has seen it countless times, so I finally decided to watch it and write a review about what I thought. First of all, the soundtrack of this movie is very well selected and really does get you in a toe-tapping mood. The acting is well done and involves a pastor who believes that dancing always accompanies sinning against God. He pretty much teaches against all dancing, smoking, and drinking even though he (the pastor) has no relationship with his rebellious daughter who sneaks around doing the very things he preaches against. Kevin Bacon arrives on the scene as the city boy who is out of place in a conservative country town. He smokes, drinks, and most importantly - he dances and believes that these things shouldn't be banned in the sleepy little town. Of course he comes against some resistance from the town board (including the pastor) but impressively uses some Scriptures to justify that there is a time for dancing (check out Ecclesiastes 3:4 if you don't believe me). The choreography in this movie is superb and the moral is a good one too - Don't have standards just for the sake of having them if you have no Scripture to back them up. In this case, the pastor was dogmatic about no dancing, yet he was ignoring the fact that his daughter desperately wanted to grow closer to him and he made no effort to allow that to happen. The pastor reminded me of the pharisees that Jesus talked about in Matthew 23:23 when He said

"You [the pharisees] give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."

The moral of this movie is a good one. Rules without relationship = rebellion. If you are going to have high standards (which can be a good thing), make sure these come from a heart relationship with Jesus Christ, otherwise you'll be out of balance.

The Last Castle Review

This movie stars Robert Redford as a prison inmate who used to be a military general. Basically, in a nutshell, Robert Redford is sent to a type of military prison for doing something wrong. He used to be a three star general but has to go back to being "just one of the guys" as a prison inmate where saluting is illegal. In this movie the prison warden isn't a real pleasant guy to deal with but isn't insanely cruel either. I started to compare this movie to The Shawshank Redemption due to the plot involving a cruel prison warden and a group of prisoners who want to change things. However, this movie I would say was a lot tamer compared to Shawshank. The warden like I mentioned seems very strict, but he isn't all about being the personification of evil (like Shawshank), and from what I could gather seems to treat the men fairly decently. Robert Redford enters the prison and begins to really change the way the men are acting by looking for the best in them rather than the worst (as the warden tended to do). Redford taught the men self-respect and gives them a purpose in life which improves morale and helps them to work together toward a goal. Overall they grow to respect Redford and see him as the emerging leader in their prison. The movie was enjoyable to watch, but does tend toward humanistic ideas. The warden is cast as being cruel for viewing the evil capabilities of the inmates, whereas Redford is a hero for seeing good in each inmate. I agree that we shouldn't always be looking for evil in people, but neither should we ignore it. Sin is a fact and it exists in everyone. To ignore the sin problem in our lives doesn't help people. We need to face sin for what it is - rebellion against God - and then trust Christ to save us and give us a new nature that can transform our attitudes and behavior. Although on the other hand, there is a balance with helping people to see their potential and encourage them for their praiseworth qualities. I just don't think that difference was made very clear in this movie. Recommended for great acting and an interesting look at leadership in a military prison.

Family Ties Season 2 Review

Well the second season was released and I eagerly added season 2 of Family Ties to the queue. In this season it is becoming apparent that the writers were centering more and more of the episodes on the talent of Michael J. Fox, and although the other cast members never had as major of a role as he did, the show definitely seems to change. We get to see Skippy in this episode, although I sadly found out that Nick doesn't show up until season 4 - so we have a little more of a wait until we see the lovable Nick show up. Also Steven Keaton (the dad) has grown a beard with no explanation as to "why?". Alex also seems to be yearning for adulthood and struggling to relate to his mom in an honorable way in one of the episodes. Although I can't endorse every episode in this season, the show still has a lot more going for it than many sitcoms today. As I was watching some of the episodes I came up with a list for what makes a good sitcom:

1. Likeable Cast - probably one of the most important ingredients to a good sitcom. If people don't like the characters, they probably won't watch the show.

2. Relatable Situations - I can't speak for everyone, but the more I can relate to the situations and dialog, the more likely I will keep watching the show.

3. Well written punch lines and humor (script in general). Unfortunately, many shows seem to skip this ingredient lately, and put the cheesiest lines into the script with the hope that canned laughter will make the line funnier. Sorry, that only works so far. A good show will be funny without canned laughter in my opinion - simply because the actors are so good at delivering the lines. However, please note I am not saying that canned laughter is no help at all.

Well that about sums it up for ingredients to a good sitcom. I recommend renting "Family Ties" when you want a taste of the 80s that is still funny today.