TV REVIEW - #&@! MY DAD SAYS

Oh, you're in this cast too? Can you move that way a bit?

Based on a very funny Twitter feed by Justin Halpern, @#&! My Dad says is directed by sitcom legend James Burrows, stars TV legend William Shatner and ends up like the ugly bastard child of Two and a Half Men and Frasier.

It’s not worth your time, but it’s also not as bad as it could have been.

An average multi-camera sitcom with a laugh track, it features Jonathan Sadowski as Henry - a young man who is forced to move in with his cranky estranged father (played by Shatner) after losing his job at a magazine. Hijinx ensue from generational differences and overacting.

Shatner chews the scenery so much you’re surprised there’s any left for a second episode. It’s fun to try and see which words he’s going to elongate the most. Sample piece of dialogue from the pilot:

“I was hoping you and I could get some one-on-one time.”

“Whyyyyy? You wanna braid each other’s hair and talk about boyyyyyssss?????”

Alternatively you can play guess the telegraphed punch line – it’s the brand new @#&! My Dad Says game! See if you can pick the follow-up spikes to these sets – if you’ve ever watched a sitcom, you can.

“You should see my zucchini.” – might be a penis joke coming. Sure enough "I think I did last night when you opened the door in your jammies."

Female to male: “Imagine what it will do to our sex life? All the high-pitched squealing, all the weeping....” You could drive a truck through that set-up, and sure enough “…you won’t be able to do that anymore.”

So #&@! My Dad Says is nothing new, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be funny. Whether you laugh or not is really down to your sense of humour or how drunk you are at time of watching. I laughed once during the first three episodes, and that’s mainly because I find the idea of an angry raccoon amusing.

The other performers are better than the material really deserves. Nicole Sullivan is her usually brilliant, professionally funny self as Bonnie and Will Sasso is funny enough. Jonathan Sadowski as Henry has clear comic timing and some charm, but delivers the lines so fast it seems like he just wants to get the hell out of there.

So in essence, #&@! My Dad Says is an occasionally offensive, vaguely amusing standard comedy that has less laughs and sophistication than your average episode of Wipeout. But I like Wipeout, so what do I know?

#&@! My Dad Says airs Monday nights at 8pm on Channel Nine.