8 SIMPLE RULES FOR DATING MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER

Martin S., Katy S., John, Kaley C. & Amy D.

Twenty five years after the sitcom that made John a huge TV star, he chalked up another big hit for ABC in a family comedy that teams him with with his 'Chance in a Lifetime' co-star, Katey Sagal. The series has already won two awards in its' very first season:The Peoples' Choice Award for Favorite Comedy 2003 and Best Comedy in the 5th Annual Family Television Awards.

The children are played by Kaley Cuoco, Amy Davidson and Martin Spanjers and the show is based on the book by Bruce W Cameron.

The premise of the show is extraordinarily simple (successful shows often are!)...a stay-at-home sports-writer father Paul Hennessey (John), his wife Kate (Katy Sagal) who has recently returned to her career as a nurse...leaving her husband to take care of the kids...16 year old Bridget (Kaley Cuoco). a 'hot', dumb blonde who speaks in some sort of high velocity language probably only understood by other teens; depending on your age you will find this either cute or irritating. Then there is younger sister Kerry (Amy Davidson) who although equally pretty, has a predeliction for wearing black, shapeless clothes and shows signs of being an academic, which means she goes around with a constant chip on her shoulder and is frequently outshone by her frivolous sister. Kerry also has a sarcastic and frequently cruel tongue. The third child, and Paul's only ally (some of the time at least) in a house full of raging hormones, is Rory (Martin Spanjers) "the boy" as Paul often refers to him, who often has to resort to telling tales on his sisters in an attempt to get them grounded, in order to survive actually living with them. 'Sisters From Hell' is a phrase which springs to mind for poor Rory, and frankly they have made me realise I'm actually quite relieved to be an only child!

Paul's problem is one that will be understood by every father in the world. He adored his little baby girls - they depended on him,loved him and looked up to him. He and their mother were their universe and he can't face the fact the girls are turning into young women who appear not to need him any more. In fact they seem to be ashamed of him, a feeling I guess all of us understand up to a point, knowing it will eventually run its course after the 'peer pressure' years. (Even Rory turns against him when Paul turns up at his school one day wearing slippers!) The girls are unspeakably rude and disrespectful and rarely ever let him penetrate their armor of invulnerability...but when they do - and those times are gone almost as quickly as they appear - he basks in the warmth and is reminded for a moment of the way life used to be. His attempts to keep them from growing up by planning family vacations to the places they once loved and keeping up annual family traditions including having fun nights telling ghost stories on Halloween up in the kids' treehouse, are met with hostility and resentment, and it is left to Kate to mediate. She understands the girls are growing up and need a little more freedom; she even understands they're interested in boys, particularly Bridget, and while she'll often intervene on their behalf, she loves Paul and doesn't like him to feel unhappy either.

The interesting thing is - and I think this is what people recognise in the show - is that deep down the girls really DO still love Paul, however hurtful their words. After all, they rarely openly defy him when they could if they really wanted to. They go to the treehouse for Halloween night, albeit somewhat ungraciously; they return after half an hour from a concert they were desperate to attend because they feel guilty knowing their dad was worried about their safety, and, in one episode they're genuinely mystified when Paul says it hurts his feelings when they say they hate him (something they do far too often). "What makes you think we hate you?" they ask him, astonished. "Because you tell me you hate me," Paul replies. "But that's just the way we talk, we don't MEAN it," they respond. This is the chink in the armor which I guess is supposed to make all parents glow with warmth and remember why they wanted to become parents in the first place. Personally I'd have liked to see these moments last longer; seconds later in the same scene, Paul grounds both girls as punishment and as he leaves the room they're both screaming that they hate him again.

John is excellent as the harrassed Paul, and his chemistry with Katy Sagal is lovely to watch. The younger actors are all good in their roles and the scripts are funny and well acted by the cast.

Following John's tragic, sudden death in September 2003, the producers of the series have decided to continue in some way with the show. This page will not be following it.