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Will greenies think the new Mike Judge comedy is ‘Goode?’
Austinite Mike Judge has a new show, “The Goode Family,” premiering tonight at 8 p.m. on KVUE (ABC). The half-hour, animated comedy from the creator of “King of the Hill” and “Office Space” focuses on the Goodes, a family of hardcore tree huggers whose motto is ‘WWAGD — What Would Al Gore Do?’
Research led me to this post by Mother Nature Network blogger Shea Gunther. He posted a few clips from the show — and a synopsis — but offered little opinion beyond this: “I’m really excited about ‘The Goode Family,’ a new animated series from Mike Judge, the voice and brains behind ‘King of the Hill’.”
I wanted to know why a environmental activist would be excited about a show that appears to have set its satiric sights on environmental activists (apparently so did some of his readers, who responded to his post with disbelief) so I got a hold of Gunther, who was kind enough to elaborate.
“I’m excited about the Goode Family because I’m a huge fan of Mike Judge,” Gunther says. “I think ‘King of the Hill’ is one of the better shows on TV; he has a subtle touch that humanizes the red neck Texan lifestyle as seen through the Hill family. I’m hopeful that he’ll do the same for greenies through the Goode family.”
Gunther insists he’s not worried about the show’s potential to poke fun at environmental activists. “First off,” he says, “we’re a pretty funny group of people — we put our food scraps in special containers on the kitchen counter, wear funky clothes, eat funny food, and sometimes we smell bad. What’s not to laugh about that?”
He claims that a group has to be able to laugh at itself if it hopes to become a mainstream movement.
“You know you’ve hit the big time when either ‘The Simpsons,’ ‘South Park’ or Mike Judge are making fun of you,” he says. “We just have to roll with it and enjoy the ride.”
Gunther claims that environmentalists, as a whole, don’t mind being made fun of.
“The most hilariously stereotypical environmentalists will probably get all huffy about it, not that that’s a hard thing to do. For the most part though, we’re a fun bunch of people and I think ‘The Goode Family’ is going to find many a fan in the world of greenies.”
What do you think? Do you use special containers for your table scraps? What’s your take on “The Goode Family?”
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