Series Description
The series first aired as a limited-run mid-season replacement in March 2000 and it received rave reviews. It ran for 54 episodes over three seasons until it was cancelled in 2002.
The characters were essentially a dysfunctional family and the situations the show dealt with were often serious and dark and unusual for network sitcom fare, including death, attempted and committed suicide, rape, child molestation, mental illness, road rage, violence, drug abuse, domestic abuse, alcoholism, and terrorism—especially in the third season, which was to be the last (partly due to the controversial nature of the show).
One episode, "Tommy's Not Gay", dealt with the issue that Tommy—who uses stereotypically gay mannerisms but is not actually gay—lashes out at his homosexual father for lying to his mother about his sexuality. However, Tommy later defends his dad against others' homophobia when Tommy's father ends up getting beaten by Titus's friends. The episode made reference to the real-life killing of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming.
The format of the show always began with Christopher turning on a dangling lightbulb hanging from the ceiling in a black-and-white "neutral space", often breaking the "fourth wall". A crude wooden chair would accompany Christopher and sometimes be used as a prop. He would do a short monologue, then the traditional sitcom story would begin. During the episode, segments would be intercut to this "neutral space" where he would narrate or comment on what was happening. There were also frequent flashbacks or dream/imaginary sequences to relevant events. However, almost all episodes took place in only one location. In the end, Christopher would do another monologue, with the same beginning as in the show's opening, then turn the light off, sometimes smashing the bulb or even turning it off with a remote. Occasionally, an alter-ego type character of Titus would appear with him and gets abused randomly. These altered versions of Titus included Nerd Titus, 16-Year-Old Titus, 10-Year-Old Titus, and 5-Year-Old Titus.
The show, unusual for a sitcom, used serious points as act breaks at times during episodes. These included Christopher admitting to having been beaten by ex-girlfriend Noelle (and reading a note from her in which she promises never to hurt him again if Titus would be hers forever); admitting that he loves his violent, manic-depressive, paranoid-schizophrenic mother; and explaining how Matthew Shepard was murdered because of his sexual orientation.
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