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Titus aired from March 2000 until August 2002 on FOX.
This very dark comedy was loosely based on the dysfunctional family life of its star, Christopher Titus who played himself. Slightly warped but well-meaning Chris owned Titus High Performance, a Southern California garage specializing in sports and racing cars.Working with him were his incompetent younger brother, Dave ( Zach Ward), and his neurotic best friend, Tommy ( David Shatraw), the organized detail man he despertaely needed. Chris' girlfriend Erin ( Cynthia Watros) was the only one who could keep Chris and his father, Ken ( Stacy Keach), from total alienation-despite the fact that Ken , the alcoholic patriarch of the Titus clan, was an obnoxious, sleazy slob who had been divorced five times and had driven Chris' manic-depressive mother, Juanita , into a mental institution that he had sensitively described to the child as "the wacko basket." As Chris said," Normal people say what they mean. My Dad's a pain in the ass, my girlfriend's constantly pissed at me, my brother's an idiot, and Tommy annoys the crap out of me . Life is beautiful. "
Chris would frequently break the third wall by making observations to the audience about the people in his life, in black and white from a spartan room that housed what appeared to be an electric chair and was lit by a single bare, hanging lightbulb. There were also flashbacks featuring younger versions of himself. Chris, age 10 was played by Phoenix Forsyth and later by Evan Ellington; Chris , age 5, was played by Dylan Capannelli and Dave, age 5 was played by Adam Hicks.
Juanita escaped from the mental institution , showed up to make dinner ( she drugged most of the family), and tried to kill Ken, but failed. Ken later faked a heart attack to save his driver's license after an auto accident ( he had been having sex with a woman while driving which caused the accident) and then had a real one. In the fall of 2000 Ken came home from the hospital and had sex with Kathy ( Mary Lou Rosato), the visiting nurse who was supposed to be helping him regain his health. She helped him regain it alright. They professed to be in love and he proposed to her. When she moved in, she manipulated Chris into moving Dave's stuff out of the house, leaving him with no place to live. Ken and Kathy almost got married, but when Chris screwed things up at the pre-wedding dinner, Ken started working on the lady bartender. In early February, Chris bad-mouthed guys from a hot-rod magazine and turned up on the cover of their magazine with a very negative article , which cost him his business.Tommy and Dave left to find other jobs , and Chris was forced to get a job at an auto parts store. The events drove him to drink.Erin, who had grown up in a home full of alcoholics , left him too, but he eventually won her back. In May he was hurt when his car exploded during a drag race. He was brain dead in the hospital, but when they removed life support he miraculously recovered. In the season finale, Chris and Erin where about to get married, when his mother Juanita, killed her current husband. The shock caused them to cancel the wedding and vow never to get married.
At the start of the 2001-2002 season, Chris' left arm was barely functioning after his accident, Erin's troubled niece Amy ( Rachel Roth), a lesbian moved in with them, while Erin trained to become a social worker and started to do case work. As the series came to a close in July 2002 , Juanita, who had escaped from the mental hospital to reconcile with Chris, committed suicide. On the plane ride back from the funeral Chris thinking he was schizophrenic, went berzerk; the whole gang was arrested . At the end of the episode he entered a mental hospital for a three-month stay.
Chris' mother Juanita, who showed up a few times during the three season run of the series, was played by three different actresses-once by Christine Estabrook, three times by Frances Fisher and twice by Connie Stevens.
A Review from Variety
Titus
(Series -- Fox; Mon. March 20, 8:30 p.m.)
By MICHAEL SPEIER
Filmed in Los Angeles by 20th Century Fox Television. Executive producers, Brian Hargrove, Jack Kenny, Christopher Titus; co-executive producers, Adam Belanoff, Sally Lapidus; producers, Faye Oshima Belyeu, Randy Cordray; director, Michael Lessac; writers, Titus, Kenny, Hargrove.
Titus - Christopher Titus
Ken - Stacy Keach
Erin - Cynthia Watros
Dave - Zack Ward
Tommy - David Shatraw
Fox is at it again. The network that revolutionized crude-and-rude TV returns to its roots with "Titus," an edgy but spotty comedy in desperate need of a moral compass. The dysfunction part is a riot, but do viewers really need more sophomoric jokes about alcoholism and lesbians?
The star is California native Christopher Titus, who earned notice in 1998 for his one-man show, "Norman Rockwell Is Bleeding." That breakthrough performance piece, which he still takes on tour, covers the same ground as his self-titled sitcom: They both introduce auds to his emotionally stunted childhood. An oft-married, philandering dad and a psychotic mom fuel his fury, and his shtick revolves around the problems growing up.
In the pilot (which Fox brass recently decided to air as the second episode), Christopher (Titus) and his younger brother, Dave (Zack Ward), think their father (Stacy Keach) is dead because he hasn't emerged from his bedroom in four days.
Since they both refuse to open the door, the two spend the afternoon riding down Memory Lane. They recall their days with an institutionalized mother and a man whose primary goal was to score with tarty women.
Also in the mix is Dave (Tommy Shatraw), a persnickety friend who works at the family's hot rod shop, and Erin (Cynthia Watros), Christopher's spunky girlfriend who supposedly serves as the group's ethical leader. But, considering how miserable her boyfriend is, even she's a little disappointed when daddy eventually surfaces.
Christopher Titus is a funny, macho guy. His pain translates into a few clever bits, and he's full of decent intentions. The execution, however, doesn't always click. There are cracks about necrophilia, drug use and panties, so the one-liners sound a lot like they might have come from "Married ... With Children." And while nobody's expecting "Masterpiece Theatre," "Titus" is overly concerned with its own raunchiness.
The pilot's biggest victories come whenever Keach is center stage. He taught his sons how to swim by throwing them into the lake, prodded them into touching electrical wires and embarrassed them at soccer games. His demented behavior, shown via flashbacks, is a hoot.
But there's too little of that witty bitterness and too much bad taste. "Titus" is in it for the instant laugh track instead of the long haul, and that, with the help of a very plain look, makes for some pretty hit-and-miss stuff.
An Article from The New York Times
Dysfunction At a Junction Of Confession And Comedy
By BERNARD WEINRAUB
Published: March 16, 2000
His mother was a manic-depressive schizophrenic who killed one of her husbands, wound up in a mental hospital and committed suicide. His father drank too much and married five times. Their son was -- as you can imagine -- an unhappy and dysfunctional child.
''Once you've driven your drunk father to your mom's parole hearing, what else is there?'' said the son, Christopher Titus, 35, the star and co-creator of ''Titus,'' an autobiographical Fox sitcom that essentially turns tragedy on its head. The half-hour show has its premiere on Monday night at 8:30.
Mr. Titus, who grew up in small towns in Northern California, has been a stand-up comedian since he was 17. But in 1994, at the Montreal Comedy Festival, he finally got tired of being what he called ''a happy comic, making observational jokes, being physical and high energy.''
He recalled: ''I wanted to quit. I got tired of talking about nothing.''
His agent and friend, Bruce Smith, pulled him aside. ''He said: 'What are you doing? You're talking like Seinfeld. You're not Seinfeld. You're talking like a happy guy. You're intense and driven. Talk about your life.'''
Mr. Titus said the audience would never get it. But he went ahead and nervously tried a two-and-a-half-minute act about his troubled family, about growing up in a world where his mother was mostly in mental hospitals and his father drank and caroused.
''At the end of it the audience went nuts,'' said Mr. Titus. ''I instantly changed.''
The Fox Network already has one dysfunctional family in its lineup, in ''Malcolm in the Middle,'' the most successful new sitcom on television. But that show -- with its genius son and funny, wacky parents -- hardly has the edge or the potentially tragic undertone of ''Titus.''
Sandy Grushow, chairman of the Fox Television Entertainment Group, acknowledged that ''Titus'' was hardly a traditional sitcom. ''That's a good thing because it's been proven time and time again that the conventional half-hour format doesn't work any longer,'' said Mr. Grushow. ''At Fox we're accustomed to doing things that are a little bit outside the box. That's where 'Titus' fits in.''
Fox has been a haven for dysfunctional families ranging from the Bundys in ''Married . . . With Children'' to the animated characters in shows like ''The Simpsons'' and ''King of the Hill.''
Mr. Grushow acknowledged that he was a little concerned about the reaction to ''Titus.'' ''Unlike 'Malcolm,' I believe 'Titus' will be a show that's polarizing,'' he said. ''There'll be people who love it, and people who won't have a taste for it.''
Mr. Titus's partners in creating the series are Jack Kenny and Brian Hargrove, two former New York stage actors who have been writers on shows like ''Dave's World'' and producers on ''Caroline in the City.'' Partly because of their theatrical training and Mr. Titus's stand-up comedy experience, the series is taped in front of an audience without interruption to give it a sense of live theater. Usually studio audiences sit for three or four hours or even longer during the taping of a 22-minute sitcom while scenes are reshaped.
''This puts a lot more pressure on the actors,'' said Mr. Kenny. ''It is like theater.'' Mr. Hargrove said, ''But there's an energy and immediacy and focus that the actors and the audience bring to it that, we hope, is translated onto film.''
The pivot of the show is, of course, Mr. Titus. The other major character, Ken Titus, his father, is played by Stacy Keach.
Christopher Titus said with a laugh that at first his father was a little disturbed by the way he was depicted on the show but that he now enjoyed it. ''My dad got a little angry, but he signed the release,'' said Mr. Titus. ''What's he going to do? My brother, Dave, is fine with it. He's like an extreme sports guy. He surfs all day.''
But the show's blurring of the line between fiction and reality takes some odd turns. At a recent Friday-night taping, Mr. Titus proudly introduced his father, who stood and waved to the audience. The taping that night depicted a real-life event: his father once faked a heart attack because he smashed up a car while he was engaged in sex with a woman.
''The show is wickedly close to my life,'' said Mr. Titus. ''My dad never missed a drink, never missed a joint, never missed a party. He also never missed a day of work, a house payment or a car payment. He was a single parent, and he did his best.''
One or two episodes will depict Mr. Titus's mother returning home for a visit from a mental hospital. His mother, Juanita, killed herself in 1994. She had earlier shot and killed an abusive husband.
''I didn't know her well,'' said Mr. Titus. ''She was a concert pianist. She spoke four languages. She was brilliant. But she wouldn't take her medicine. She loved the ride of schizophrenia.'' Mr. Titus himself grew up with two half-sisters and a half-brother.
Mr. Titus said that as a 5-year-old he wanted to make people laugh and to become a comedian. He would sneak behind the sofa every night so he could stay up late to watch Johnny Carson, and he listened to and imitated the records of Bill Cosby. He began performing in clubs as a teenager in San Francisco and in recent years has won a following on the club circuit. A one-man show at the Hudson Theater in Los Angeles in 1998 called ''Norman Rockwell Is Bleeding'' led Michael Hanel, senior vice president of comedy at 20th Century Fox Television, to team Mr. Titus with Mr. Kenny and Mr. Hargrove.
Mr. Titus is married to his high school sweetheart, Erin, who is also depicted on the show.
The ever candid Mr. Titus said: ''My wife and I once cheated on each other. I said the most cruel things in the world to her. We fought through it. Now no one can ever get between us.'' The incident will of course be used on the series.
A Review from The New York Times
By CARYN JAMES
Published: March 20, 2000
The show is based on the stand-up performances of Christopher Titus. (Don't worry, no one else has ever heard of him, either, though Fox pretends he's well known.) Here he plays a character named Titus who makes customized cars for a living and, like the real person, has a father who has been divorced many times and a brother who is just as scarred by their family as he is.
In his black-and-white addresses to the camera, interspersed throughout the series, Titus is in a stark room with a bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Despite its high concept, the show frequently falls back on banal sitcom humor and is never as funny as the annoying laugh track suggests. Titus and his brother think their father must be dead because he has been in his room for four days (cue the laugh track) without asking for a beer.
The show's true radical element is not the cliched beer-drinking father, but its rock-bottom assumption that dysfunction is the all-American standard. At the start, Titus says: ''Sixty-three percent of American families are now considered dysfunctional. We're the majority.'' He means it. He explains that his father ''never missed a drink or a joint'' in his life but ''also never missed a day of work or a house payment.'' This is the dysfunctional father as heroic antihero (given perfect growling obtuseness by Stacy Keach).
Still, the series is better in its throwaway moments than in its grasping, ambitious ones. Titus says that when he was a boy, if his arm had been ripped off during a soccer game his father would have strapped it back on and returned him to action. An irreverently funny, colorful flashback shows a boy with a dangling, limp arm telling Mr. Keach, ''Thank you, father, I'll be the best soccer player ever.'' Another of the funniest lines is, similarly, a throwaway about his girlfriend, Erin (Cynthia Watros). ''She has that Irish temper,'' Titus says. ''Of course, she's Northern Irish so we don't fight, she just puts a bomb in my car.''
In the third episode, when Titus and Erin fight and say vicious things to each other, he realizes that maybe he doesn't want to be happy. This idea about the scars of dysfunction gives ''Titus'' a chance to cross the line between sitcom and drama, but the episode is psychologically astute without being funny or emotional.
At least ''Titus'' is taking a creative chance, though, and this season even a failed risk can be revealing. Like many other shows, ''The Beat'' has a Web site (www.thebeattv.com), a creatively ambitious one that presents a prequel to the series, showing Mike and Zane during their academy days. The visuals are stop-motion jerky. Dialogue that might be amusing on screen sounds lame here. (''What's in sauerkraut, Mike?'') The important thing about the Web site is that it exists. And as with all these networks' gimmicks, what looks like a stunt today may actually be pointing to a different future.
An Article from Entertainment Weekly
Television News
A Life Less Ordinary
Christopher Titus's twisted sitcom--The delightfully dysfunctional new show ''Titus'' is based on the creator's real life
By Dan Snierson
Crisis is brewing at Coco's diner in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, all because Christopher Titus wants a cup of coffee. Unable to flag down a waitress on this March morning, the toothsome actor slips away from the table and helps himself to a carafe warming in the server station. Then he spots an older patron also low on java and ambles over to assist. Now the waitress appears. ''Sir, please put down the pot,'' she orders, reaching for the coffee. Titus holds it away from her grasp, trying to explain his random act of kindness. ''No, no, you see, I'm just getting him coffee.'' She's not amused: ''Sir, give me that pot! Right now!'' Realizing the situation is approaching DEFCON 1 status, Titus finally relents. ''Jeez,'' he mutters, slinking back to the booth with a sly grin. ''When I see someone that needs coffee, I bring it.''
Brace yourself, America, for one crazy cup of jolt. In Fox's aptly titled Titus — a brutally ballsy, self-conscious sitcom that makes All In the Family look like Blossom — the 35-year-old stand-up stars as a struggling hot rod builder saddled with a hard-drinking, womanizing father and a manic-depressive, schizophrenic, institutionalized mother. ''In episode 1 we think Dad's dead.... Episode 2 is my girlfriend being sexually harassed at work.... Episode 3 is Mom drugs us and tries to kill Dad.... Episode 4 is the 'Intervention,' where we try to get my father drinking again...'' He stops for a second. ''Man, when you break it down like that, you really do go, 'What the hell is this show?'''
Call it art imitating white-hot dysfunctional life. Scarily enough, the show's blueprint was cribbed from Titus' real vida loca: He grew up in a modest Northern California town, fist-fought with his beer-guzzling salesman dad, and endured a flurry of stepmoms; at 12, he ran away from home and lived in a garage with his biological mother — a brilliant pianist who frequented mental institutions before committing suicide. (Wow. And you thought you had it rough.)
Instead of curling into the fetal position for decades, though, he did standup. ''All this stuff in my life that people spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in therapy on became jokes,'' he explains. ''I had group therapy with 300 audience members every night. Suddenly it became 'They're all laughing, so it must not suck that bad.''' Observes Titus cocreator Jack Kenny, who first saw him explore these issues in his 1998 one-man play, Norman Rockwell Is Bleeding: ''This is very dark stuff, but Christopher found a way to make it funny. His point of view is 'Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' And now he's the strongest man on earth.''
That's good, because Titus — who lives in quiet Canoga Park, Calif., with wife Erin, two dogs, and four customized cars — may need all the strength he can muster in making amends with dear ol' Dad. Perhaps the shiny Ford Expedition he just bought Papa Titus will help. ''The car wasn't a present,'' jokes the actor. ''It was more of a settlement.'' Hey, it's a small price to pay for what Titus has gotten in return. ''How can I be pissed at my life if I'm sitting here with a TV series?'' he asks. ''I can show that screwed-up people can handle anything.... But I don't want to get that deep because you know what the bottom line is? All the crappy things that everyone ever did to me — this is payback. All you guys that screwed with me? Guess what? I've got a TV show and I'm talking about you!'' Out comes a big-bad-scary cackle: ''And I'm embellishing.''
For more on Titus go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_(TV_series) |
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