At the time, the show was embraced by fans of Beavis & Butthead and King of the Hill as a worthy sardonic successor to Judge's animated quiver. But, critics often attacked its mockery of political correctness and progressive politics. Some pundits went so far as claiming such a show was inappropriate in the era of Obama.
In other words, it's only censorship when your side is the one being silenced.
Every time The Goode Family aired on ABC, it felt badly out of place -- right up until its cancellation. Now, its producers are hinting that the show will live again on another network.
ABC canceled Mike Judge's latest animated series last week. It was hardly a shock considering the network moved it around its schedule more than a Three Card Monte dealer shifts the Queen of Hearts. ABC looked for a place to bury the Goodes -- then they killed them.
But, on the show's Facebook page, show-runners John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky claim the show will return on a new network.
It looks like The Goode Family and Surviving Suburbia won't be surviving. ABC confirmed that Friday night's airings of both episodes season finales are in fact their respective series finales. I've sampled both series at one point or another in their runs, and this fate was inevitable.
It was great seeing the "other" Bob Saget get some TV time, but Surviving Suburbia just wasn't good television. Maybe if you're a television fan who's never seen a family sitcom, then the formulaic plotlines and dialogue won't bother you. In a way, I had the same problem with The Goode Family.
However, with the latter, it seemed like they had the potential to grow into something better. I think in the beginning they were too bogged down by their schtick: a family of do-gooders, recycling and living green and all of that crap.
Mike Judge doesn't strike anyone as the kind of guy who's created a legendary animated duo and a cult hit movie. And, you certainly wouldn't size him up as a creative mind with two active series on first-run network TV.
The native-Texan is just too unassuming, soft-spoken and self-deprecating to show up at Comic-Con International last week to discuss TV's The Goode Family and King of the Hill alongside his new feature film, Extract.
But there he was in Press Room 28e, preparing for his panel and eyeing the Mythbusters Comic-Con bag I'd just picked up on the convention floor.
"I've got to get me one of those bags before I go out there," Judge said.
On behalf of a grateful TV Squad nation, I offered him mine. He accepted the bag graciously. Then we begin the interview.
Despite glowing reviews from our own Danny Gallagher, it looks like The Goode Family is moving. Specifically, it's moving to Friday nights at 8:30 P.M., which is affectionately known by some as the "death slot". No specific reasons for the move are given, but the words "super low ratings" are used in the article to describe its first two weeks, so that could be a clue.
I did catch the premiere episode of the show online and thought it was cute and an interesting 180 degrees from the Hank Hill lifestyle that Mike Judge has been working with for 13 years.
Of course, ABC has been cruel to good animated shows before (coughcoughClerkscoughcough). The show isn't canceled yet, but I give it six episodes. I actually think the show would have fared better on Fox, or given Judge's attempt from this show to skewer extreme liberals, perhaps on Fox News. It probably would have worked better than The 1/2 Hour News Hour.
The premiere episode of ABC's The Goode Family didn't do a great job of giving its titular family the kinds of three-dimensional emotions and motivations that make them more than just two-dimensional characters.
It seemed to doom the whole series to the bland, predictable taste of a tofu hot dog.
Last Wednesday's double feature of Goode Family episodes gave the family and even some of the lesser characters more depth and funnier situations. The Goode Family may not be so bad after all.
Surviving Suburbia just can't catch a break. It starts as a high profile return vehicle for Bob Saget over on The CW. Hell, the guy even hosts their fall preview. But it never shows up. So production company ABC snags it and puts it on their air this past winter. But only for a bit before yanking it. Don't worry, they said, it'll be back this summer; which translates as we're burning off the rest of the episodes. And now they're not even doing that!
So I hope you like The Goode Family, because effective immediately Surviving Suburbia is being yanked in favor of back-to-back Goode. I'm thinking online or DVD may be the only chances left to see the last of Suburbia, if anyone even cares. It's not all bad news, though. Apparently to make us feel better about losing Bob (he's still narrating HIMYM so he's still got a job for awhile), they're bringing back the already renewed Better Off Ted with new episodes starting June 23 at 9 Eastern. Maybe with less competition, the goofy workplace comedy can find the audience it deserves.
Just one look at Mike Judge's The Goode Family feels like Hank Hill and his clan are staring into a periscope that's peering into the Bizarro World. The only thing missing on the Goodes are goatees, including the dog.
It's just too parallel not to notice, and it's an unfair assumption to make. Even though they are from the pen of the same creators, they seem like two completely different shows on the surface. But the similarities end after the premiere episode.
The biggest difference is the first episode of King of the Hill was a gaff-guzzling vehicle for FOX, and The Goode Family's pilot felt more like a smart but bold-lacking hybrid for ABC.
At 8, ABC has the season premiere of Wipeout, followed by the series premiere of The Goode Family and new episodes of Surviving Suburbia and The Unusuals.
CBS has George Strait: ACM Artist of the Decade All-Star Concert.
FOX has a new, two-hour So You Think You Can Dance at 8.
PBS has new episodes of Great Performances and American Masters.
Discovery has a new Time Warp at 8, then new episodes of Mythbusters and Pitchmen.
Also at 8: ESPN has the NBA Shootaround, followed by the Lakers/Nuggets game.
At 8:30, Food Network has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay, then a new Dear Food Network.
At 9, TBS has two new episodes of Tyler Perry's House of Payne, followed by two new episodes of Tyler Perry's Meet The Browns.
A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter at 9.
History Channel has a new MonsterQuest at 9.
At 10, Spike has a new Ultimate Fighter.
E! has a new "10 Greatest Stories" episode of E! True Hollywood Story.
I have to say that even though this trailer for Mike Judge's new (May 27) ABC animated show The Goode Family looks funnier than other recent animated shows, it also features a bunch of characters I just want to punch in the face. I know people like this, and I don't know if I can get though an episode of the show without hating the people I'm probably supposed to be rooting for (I sense these people are probably the type that don't flush their toilets more than a few times a week - gah). I think Brian Doyle Murray's curmudgeonly, un-PC character might be my favorite character on the show.
Question: how many shows can ABC have that are set in the world of the NYPD?
The network already has Life on Mars, and now comes news that ABC has cut the episode order for two other NYPD-based shows. One is Castle, which stars Nathan Fillion as a horror writer who helps the cops solve crimes (yes, another one of those shows). The other show is The Unusuals, which stars Amber Tamblyn and is a comedy about a police station. Maybe it's the new Barney Miller.
Both shows have had the order cut from 13 episodes to 10. They say it's not a quality reasons, it's just that they already have too many shows on the shelf, including Courteney Cox's new show with the horrible title Cougar Town and Mike Judge's new cartoon The Goode Family. They are also interested in picking up King of the Hill, which was just canceled by FOX.
ABC has already said no to a new Alyssa Milano sitcom, which Allison told you about earlier. I'm still kinda ticked they never gave Marlowe a chance.
The Goode Family -- the Mike Judge show ABC did everything it could to kill -- has a new home at Comedy Central.
Every time 
It looks like 
Mike Judge doesn't strike anyone as the kind of guy who's created a legendary animated duo and a cult hit movie. And, you certainly wouldn't size him up as a creative mind with two active series on first-run network TV.
At 8, ABC has a new Surviving Suburbia, followed by a new episode of The Goode Family.
Despite 
At 8, ABC has a new Wipeout, followed by two new episodes of The Goode Family and a new The Unusuals.
Surviving Suburbia just can't catch a break. It starts as a high profile return vehicle for Bob Saget over on The CW. Hell, the guy even hosts their fall preview. But it never shows up. So production company ABC snags it and puts it on their air this past winter. But only for a bit before yanking it. Don't worry, they said, it'll be back this summer; which translates as we're burning off the rest of the episodes. And now they're not even doing that!
Question: how many shows can ABC have that are set in the world of the NYPD?
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