Daughters only these mothers could love
BY LORI RACKL TV Critic/lrackl@suntimes.com November 29, 2011 4:36PM
Kristi Lauren (left) and Aisha Dee play girls who irritate their moms (Jaime Pressley, right, and Katie Finneran) on “I Hate My Teenage Daughter,” premiering tonight on Fox.
‘I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER’ ★1/2
8:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays on WFLD-Channel 32
Updated: January 1, 2012 8:09AM
I, too, hate the teenage daughters on “I Hate My Teenage Daughter.”
Not crazy about their moms, either. Or their dads.
Aside from a few funny jokes padded between layers of groaners, there’s quite a bit to hate — or at least strongly dislike — about Fox’s new sitcom.
The show stars Jaime Pressly (“My Name is Earl”) and Katie Finneran (“The Inside”) as divorced moms and best friends. These grown-up BFFs were losers in high school. Determined to save their offspring from the same social fate, the women have ended up spoiling their daughters instead. The girls’ fathers are still in the picture — kind of — but they’re not much help in this dysfunction junction.
Together, these parents have created a couple of selfish 14-year-olds addicted to pouting, texting and manipulating their neurotic moms, who are begging for a good b---- slap from Dr. Phil.
I get that raising teenagers isn’t easy and sometimes you want to kill them. Here’s a better idea: Make them watch this show instead.
“It’s edgy, but I think it’s also great for families,” said Finneran, who was born in Chicago and reared in Florida. “That’s what I really love about it, because I think 14-year-old girls are going to enjoy the show as much as their parents.”
I think so, too. And that doesn’t bode well for “I Hate My Teenage Daughter.”
