The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

Posted: 26 Sep 2012 02:46 AM PDT

Laugh through the challenges of parenthood in Up All Night.

WE all know parenting can be tedious but shows about it don't have to be.

For far too long, television has been dominated by portrayals of frazzled parents trying to juggle between climbing the corporate ladder and raising children. The scene is not unfamiliar: with their hair tousled and their shirts in disarray, the busy parents fish out their briefcases buried under a pile of diapers before driving their tiny tots to a nearby nursery, then heading to work, all the while, thinking, "This isn't what I signed up for."

Remember Tom and Lynette Scavo from Desperate Housewives? Throughout all eight season of the series, this frustrated husband-and-wife team (I can still hear Lynette's perpetual sigh in my mind) had to constantly clean up after their four children when they're not busy with the rat race. Just when they thought their children were all grown up and they could finally kick up their heels, Lynette learned she was pregnant with her fifth child in season five.

While I believe many viewers can identify with the couple and draw inspiration from their struggles (God bless the Scavos), I'm tired of this depressing, woe-is-me portrayal of parenthood on the small screen. Don't get me wrong, parenting is a tough job but the depiction, though real and powerful, is sappy, overstated and one-dimensional.

Thankfully, television's newest parents, Chris (Will Arnett) and Reagan Brinkley (Christina Applegate), are changing all that in the sitcom, Up All Night.

Hilarious script

In an interview with Forbes magazine, the show's creator Emily Spivey revealed that she came up with Up All Night when she had her child while working as a writer for the live comedy show, Saturday Night Live.

Like Spivey, the Brinkleys had just delivered their firstborn Amy. As with any other first-time parents, the couple is getting used to those incessant crying, middle-of-the-night diaper changes and the typical lifestyle modifications that come with parenthood. This premise may not be exceptionally inventive but it does set the show for some great laughs.

What's more, unlike many of today's sitcoms that thrive on lines jam-packed with puns, the show's humour is honest and unpretentious. Viewers can get a kick from watching a scene in which the couple fawns over a pile of baby socks or when they describe the adorable Amy with a bunch of (muted) expletives. But it was during a scene from a flashback episode when Reagan delivers her baby that takes the cake. She describes the ordeal as, "It's like hair coming out of hair."

Real-life parenting issues

Don't let the series' light-hearted approach fool you into thinking it doesn't address real-life issues that parents go through. Reagan is plagued by a worry that all working mothers face: what if Amy's development is delayed because she didn't spend enough time nurturing her daughter? In an episode, after learning that a child around Amy's age has started to crawl, Reagan got down on all fours, trying to get her daughter to improve her motor skills.

Besides that, new parents can relate to Chris and Reagan's desire to still want to be "cool" and party alongside the twentysomethings. For instance, they went to extraordinary lengths to impress their hip and happening neighbours who just moved in (with disastrous results).

Then, there's the age-old struggle of how to maintain the spark between married couples. This has Chris donning more risqué clothing (okay, don't get any ideas, they are just tight-fitting tee and pants) or Reagan planning a romantic night out in town.

The great thing about the show is its ability to bring up these issues without making them sound like some serious third world problem. But that's not to say that the show makes light of them, it simply finds a more entertaining way to go about it.

A switch in gender roles

It's refreshing to see Chris taking on the stay-at-home husband role, given that househusbands are possibly the most underrepresented group in the media.

In case you're wondering, no, Chris didn't assume the role by default because he was a slacker. In fact, he was almost named partner in a law firm but decided to give up his lucrative position to become a full-time father.

So, while Reagan is out pursuing her high-flying career as a talk show producer, he starts off as a clueless father pushing the cart around a supermarket looking for "regular cheese" but all he found was "fancy cheese". It's endearing to see him calling up his wife to ask where to find the cheese, and having done that, still bring home a block of "fancy cheese".

Instead of playing up this "clueless father" angle throughout the series, Chris doesn't stay clueless for long. By episode five, the father successfully conducts a playgroup while the instructor is attending to a call. In another episode, he even offers relationship advice to Reagan, saying, "Maintaining the romance in a relationship is very, very important, or at least that's what Gwyneth (Paltrow) says, as tweeted from the London Spice Market."

What would be interesting to see in the future is how Chris deals with those who respond negatively to his unorthodox choice of being a full-time father. In doing so, the show helps to bring awareness to the stigma and perhaps discrimination that comes with being a househusband.

> Up All Night airs every Monday at 10pm on Diva Universal (Astro Ch 702).

Reward yourself

Posted: 26 Sep 2012 01:48 AM PDT

Take the final lap to win cash in Red FM's Sure Can Win.

THIS week marks the final week of Red FM's Sure Can Win contest. The easiest radio contest ever is coming to an end soon, so make sure you do not miss out on the opportunities to get your hands on the remaining portion of RM100,000 and flight tickets.

Red FM's Sure Can Win has been running for the last three weeks and to date there have been 72 very happy winners. When we chatted with them, they all expressed how they loved that it was so easy to win and there was no effort required at all. To find out more about what the ecstatic winners have to say, head on to red.fm/surecanwin.

Whilst Red FM's Sure Can Win is still rolling out, you can still win yourself other prizes. This week, there are movie passes to be won for House At The End Of The Street, Taken 2 and Universal Soldier: Day Of Reckoning. With Halloween coming up, Red FM is giving away in-season tickets to watch the much awaited Adam Sandler movie Hotel Transylvania.

This month's Hottie of the Month is Pink, releasing her sixth studio album titled The Truth About Love. This album comes right after the singer has welcomed her first child, Willow Sage, with husband Carey Hart.

Next week, with the start of October is Red FM's K-Poptober month. With the ever-growing K-pop craze, Red FM is proud to be the official radio station for Wonder Girls and Big Bang. Both bands are performing in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 13 and Oct 27, respectively. Red FM will be giving out tickets to the sold-out Big Bang concert. Wonder Girls tickets will be up for grabs from the first week of October.

Keep up-to-date with all that is happening on Red FM by "liking" its Facebook page, facebook.com/redfm.my. This is one radio station that never stops rewarding and loves to make it easy for you to walk away with the prizes.

For more information, log on to red.fm/surecanwin. Join the Red FM Malaysia Facebook fan page on facebook.com/redfm.my and follow us on Twitter @iloveredfm.

Red FM is owned and operated by The Star.

> Red FM's Station Frequencies: Taiping, Kedah, Perlis and Pulau Langkawi: 98.1FM; George Town and Seberang Prai: 107.6FM; Ipoh, Perak: 106.4FM; Klang Valley, Negri Sembilan and Tapah: 104.9FM; Kuantan, Pahang: 91.6FM; Batu Pahat and Malacca: 98.9FM; Johor Baru and Singapore: 92.8FM.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Selasa, 25 September 2012