The Harper House: The Complete Series (DVD), CBS Mod, Comedy

"The Harper House" is a comedic exploration of a family adjusting to downward mobility. Love, humor, and playfulness hold the family together and the dark side of this ethos is that sometimes people outside of their family are hurt by their attempts to honor one another. I like the clean look of the cartoon drawing and the theme song, a vaguely Baroque piece. The comedic tone of the show is light-hearted and amusing, aiming for the chuckle rather than the belly laugh. Ollie (Tatiana Maslany) is easily the most lovable of the Harper brood and the character I will miss the most if Harper House is never revived. She is so sunny and thrilled to be alive that she's awed by skin dust and her ill-fated pet tic. It's through her that I can appreciate her twin brother Todd (Ryan Flynn), who can be sensitive and sweet, but also moody, obnoxiously competitive, and superior, and her parents Debby (Rhea Seehorn), an ambitious dreamer, and Freddie (Jason Lee), a nervous nuturer. Dad Fred is so eager to please the neighbors that his opinions take shape as the people outside his family react to his words. When the writing is there to support her, as in the "Eat Obama" episode (my favorite episode), Ollie is also the funniest character on the show, both in terms of how she's drawn and voiced. I also like the kids' section of "Marshmallow Test," which wasn't particularly funny but was sweet and felt significant, %26 the "Sling Blade" references in "Home Alone" were a high point. In general, I found myself more interested in the crew of kids, and I'm not sure why because I liked Debbie and Freddie. I'd like to see more of the neighborhood kid Shauna (Gabourey Sidibe). I'm curious about what kind of good or bad trouble Shauna and Ollie would get into together. Expecting a TV show to get itself completely together in ten episodes is a pretty high bar. There is enough that is good and promising about "The Harper House" that I hope it isn't in permanent cartoon heaven.