Reviews

"The Funny Side" was a clever series that looked at different slices of life (i.e., leisure time) through the eyes of five married couples: young, elderly, blue collar, white collar and minority (in this case, African-American). The sketches were often very funny (and I audio taped a few segments, so I can go by more than a 34-year-old memory). I particularly enjoyed the blue collar couple playing a "Monopoly"-esque board game: (Husband lands on a space that instructs him to draw a "Big News" card: "Your limousine's been hit by a truck! Collect three million dollars for whiplash!"). Another favorite: John Amos asking his wife why there are no black comic book characters (Teresa Graves: "What about Lothar - Mandrake the Magician's partner?" Amos: "Partner? Lothar was his slave!"), then imagining himself as "Captain Afro" - something that would probably NEVER get on the air today! Contrary to an earlier opinion, it's my recollection that Gene Kelly did indeed take part in the musical numbers, and did at least some dancing toward the end of every show.

I hope the tapes of this show didn't get "wiped", and that perhaps some of it will wind up on DVD - or at least TV LAND - some day. Despite the academic interest in seeing the early work of such TV icons as John "Good Times" Amos, Cindy "Laverne & Shirley" Williams, Pat "Bob Newhart Show" Finley, Teresa "Get Christie Love" Graves - not to mention the immortal Mr. Kelly - there was some good entertainment and a lot of laughs to be had in "The Funny Side."

Thanks to my 15-year-old daughter for forcing me to watch this! It's now my favorite movie of all time. I can't get enough of it! It's SO much better than the Hayley Mills version - after seeing this great remake, Mills now comes across to me as shrill and phony. Lindsay Lohan is much more natural and certainly convincing as the twins. The relationship between the parents is more real, too. Funny that the running length for both versions is the same; this one seems to move much faster. Anyway, if you're a hopeless romantic, as I am, this movie is a MUST!