The
lowdown: 'The Complete Guide to
Parenting' is a British comedy which was broadcast on ITV1 in September
and
October
2006. It stars Peter Davison as George Hartley, a Professor of Child Psychology
at London University, and Josie
Lawrence
as his wife, Phoebe. The Hartleys have a seven-year-old son, Jamie. George
is the author of a best-selling book
on
parenting, called "Hey Mum and Dad, Get Your Act Together", although as
we find out, George's own parenting skills
are
somewhat lacking, despite the best intentions. Phoebe gets a job in Paris
early in the series, and plans to travel home
on
weekends, which means George will have to look after Jamie all week, with
the assistance of the Hartleys' au pair from
New
Zealand, Korey, and George's long-suffering personal assistant, Karen.
George's rather dubious parenting skills are
constantly
put to the test in many often absurd situations, and usually with disastrous
results.
The
episode: The first episode sees
George take part in the school's program where parents tell the kids about
their work.
Fearing
George will embarass him, Jamie pretends to be sick that day. Other dads
have talked about their work as football
coaches,
firemen and the like, but George is going tell the kids all about ... wait
for it ... psychology! Just what 7-year-olds
want
to learn about. The teacher has to go home after the parent of a problem
child gives her a blood nose, and our hero
George
gallantly offers to take the class until a substitute teacher arrives.
Meanwhile, Phoebe wants to get Jamie into an
exclusive
Catholic private school, and starts attending mass and pretending to be
a Catholic. Back at the school, some of
the
students start taunting each other with racist insults, so George decides
to introduce his own curriculum - a lesson on
ignorance
and prejudice. Farce is sure to follow when the parent of the problem child
arrives, angered by George's decision
to
keep his son in class during play-time. Phoebe comes home to see a news
report of trouble at Jamie's school. An irate
parent
has taken hostages and is holding a parent by his feet from the roof of
the school building. A-plus for guessing that
it
is George... The episode ends with the Hartleys all attending church, with
George trying to have a second helping of the
communion
wine.
The
verdict: Only five episodes were
made, and this show did not receive the success it deserved, as it is an
entertaining
and
at times very funny sitcom. Indeed, at times it borders on comedy-drama
rather than a straight-out sitcom, although at
other
times the humour does descend into farce and occasionally goes over the
top in a 'Fawlty Towers' way. Overall, it is
a
good series that will entertain those who enjoy the British style of humour.
Video Clips:
Substitute teacher
8.8mb An
angry parent 7.8mb |
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