Payne in the House.

Although I applaud Tyler Perry in bringing to the screen the trails and tribulations of life, for me, the show as a comedy simply does not work. I have gone back week after week in an attempt to "get it" and it simply has not happened. I feel as if I am missing something...the punch line! Some of this could be due to the quite inappropriate syncopation and over zealous nature of the laugh track. This seems to throw any sense of comedic timing out the window of the House of Payne.

And it is strange, some of the characters I find compelling, but when they are interacting as a family it seems not so much that they are dysfunctional, but just simply demeaning to each other. Comparatively, "All in the Family" was certainly dysfunctional, but in essence there was love, poorly expressed at times, but love none the same. Here in the House of Payne I do not feel the love and rapport of the characters.

I realize that this is supposed to be a comedy, but the lead character is the Chief of the Fire department, his behavior and leadership certainly leave much to be desired. He does not evoke a sense of pride or confidence in his profession and this seems to feed into an ugly stereotype, which is truly the basis for my opinion that this show is neither comedic nor entertaining.

There is no sense of family bonding; the children seem to be there only to deliver, over and over again, the same one-liners each show. After the first five times it is no longer funny. In fact I find myself watching the show, jaw agape in amazement, as if watching in slow motion as an accident happens.

Tyler Perry's plays have certainly been successful as funny, provocative and thought provoking. Here in the House of Payne, this is simply not the case. For instance, when the nephew's wife is constantly making excuses for why she is leaving the house for long periods of time, and none of the bills are being paid, and she is acting all stressed out and hyper, no one but the audience seems to pick up on the fact that she has a drug problem. And then the laugh track comes up at the most inappropriate times conveying a sense of the ridiculous; funny, thought provoking and provocative are no where in sight.

In all honesty, the House of Payne to me is not only a poor comedy, but a slippery step on a very negative slope.

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