SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 22:00 Min.
Premiering on NBC-TV on March 15, 1989, this episode of “My Two Dads” was scripted by Chuck Lorre and directed by Andrew D. Weyman. Returning home after a movie, Michael (Reiser) and Nicole (Keanan) bemusedly find Joey (Evigan) and a female friend (Keifer) naked in bed. Joey’s legendary womanizing now has Nicole’s impressionable teen pals idolizing him.
Worse yet, Nicole embraces being suddenly ultra-popular, seemingly for that same reason. As the situation becomes increasingly untenable, Michael must convince a skeptical Joey to publicly humiliate himself to right their family’s status quo. Ultimately, it’s about pitching the right role models to Nicole and, by extension, her closest friends.
Michael Taylor: Paul Reiser
Joey Harris: Greg Evigan
Nicole Bradford: Staci Keanan
Judge Margaret W. Wilbur: Florence Stanley
Ed Klawicki: Dick Butkus
Shelby Haskell: Amy Hathaway
Cory Kupkus: Giovanni “Vonni” Ribisi
Zach Nichols: Chad Allen
Max: Blake Soper
Nina: Altizah Wiener
Lacey: Holly Sampson
Jenny Slater: Elizabeth Keifer
Melinda Weller: Leslie Neale
Klawicki’s Other Customers: Uncredited
REVIEW:
TV screenwriter Chuck Lorre’s effort at teasing sex education for teens in “The God of Love” is cringe-worthy. His script’s PG-rated sexist antics objectifying women as mere pick-up targets falls short of good intentions. More specifically, the story’s resolution is far too ridiculous to be of any practical help to a real parent.
Instead of a firm father-daughter sit-down discussion, sitcom logic evidently dictates that ‘Michael’ and especially ‘Joey’ take their time playing up off-screen promiscuity for middling laughs before finally getting around to some responsible parenting. Hence, two-thirds of “The God of Love” risks being almost unwatchable.
This episode’s last few scenes, despite the ongoing silliness, are relatively good, including how guest star Leslie Neale angrily rebuffs Evigan’s smarmy “Joey,” much to the ‘shock’ of the teen characters. Otherwise, even the cast’s usual charm doesn’t carry the insipid “God of Love” far.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 3½ Stars
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