The WB's web site describes the show as follows: "In the smallest town in the smallest state, Molly's positive she's got the weirdest family around. The fact is that until recently, Molly felt like she was one of them. Now, emerged from braces, glasses and baby fat, she dreams of shedding her familial shackles, too."
The premise does work, to a certain extent. After all, she has to put up with her mom Mary, played by Julia Sweeney of "Saturday Night Live," a pathologically late, obsessive penny-pincher and her dad Jerry, played by Fred Willard, a sweet man who just doesn't know when to butt out of his daughter's life. But as if that isn't bad enough, her brother, Grant, has dreams of becoming, of all things, a Christian rock star, while her other brother Rick dodges calls from the police and hides fake Rolexes in his bedroom.
In a recent episode titled "Mini-Jerry," Rick finds that his gambling has obviously gotten out of hand to the point where he's ducking and hiding from loan sharks in the presence of his parents, Mary and Jerry, who are completely oblivious to the problem. But then again, they have problems of their own. Mary had just discovered cable TV and is now addicted to the drama and excitement of... The Weather Channel!!! while Jerry is busy trying set Molly up with younger, shorter version of himself. He even dresses exactly like Jerry.
But the show does have it faults. The jokes aren't all that funny and really, hasn't "The Weather Channel" already been made fun of to death. The Pop-up graphics and voice-over narration don't do anything to help either as they seem obnoxious and out of place with the show's cuteness. The graphics are likely only there in an attempt to cash in on the recent success of VH1's "Pop-Up Video." Finally, if Molly's family is really that bad, why does the show always have a happy ending. Every episode takes a 180-degree-turn in final minutes to bring a message to the viewer that's just about as relevant as "Jerry Springer's Final Thought." This is where the writers could learn a thing or two from "Malcolm," a show which isn't trying to be positive or negative but rather just tries to give the viewer a slice of life. "Maybe It's Me" sometimes appears like an episode of "Malcolm" ravaged by corporate censors.
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