Get Real

By James Poniewozik

There have been few arguments for corporal punishment as strong as this unintentionally depressing dramedy of domestic self-absorption. But it's hard to say who could use it most: the casually amoral kids, who spend half the show delivering know-it-all voiceovers? The whiny parents? The sex-talkin' grandma? Actually, it may be the show's makers, who have piled on a media-studies dissertation's worth of trendy fourth-wall-breaking, belabored pop references and defensive, reflexive asides: "I know what you're thinking," goes one. "This is another one of those smart-ass shows where the kids talk to the audience." Oh, you don't know the half of it.

--By James Poniewozik