Pop culture characters in couples therapy

[crenquis]

I thought that Boing Boing was with it…
Us hep cats get our couple’s therapy via The Lockhorns.

They really helped me work through my Andy Capp experiences.

[nungesser]

What’s really interesting is to compare King of the Hill with Mike Judge’s follow-up show, The Goode Family, which tried to be the opposite: following an ultra-liberal family as they deal with conservative people, neighbors, and their day-to-day eco-hippie lives feeding their dog vegan food and raising their “African” son Ubuntu (a white South African kid they dress in dashikis, ho ho). The difference between a show clearly mocking these stereotypes versus a show treating them like real human beings (who just happen to be animated) was huge.

[piratejenny]

Huh, never heard of that one. Hulu has it; looks like it didn’t last long?

[nungesser]

Only one season, and it might have been cancelled before they all aired. I had high hopes but found the characters unlikeable and the humor forced. It was obvious that Mike Judge really disliked these people while it was clear how much affection he had for the King of the Hill characters.

[SpunkyTWS]

Let’s not forget the time Hagar The Horrible hit a little too close to home.

This isn’t the first time the comics have mirrored my life. About a month ago, in Andy Capp, Andy was drinking and carrying on, throwing beer bottles at his wife. Reading the strip made me stop and pause, because I suddenly remembered how drunk I’d been the night before, downing flask after flask of Irish whiskey, and how I’d punched all my family members in the throat and had to go to jail for 30 days.