Archie Bunker's "All in the Family" meets "Will & Grace" - with mixed results.

While this show is not as 'in your face' with it's gayness as, say "Will & Grace" or even "Ellen" (when it was on), it DOES show gays in a more normal light, but still manages to marginalize and stereotype the gay characters.... True, they seem to be more 'normal' at first glance, but then when you further dig into the characters, you find certain stereotypes still abound.... Phillip (one of the gay fathers) comes across as just TOO gay and falls into a queenie, self-righteous flaming queer. Simon is the most 'normal' gay character on the show and is more like the normal gay guy you'll meet - he's stable, has a good job, cherishes his home life, but still manages to want to party once in a while, and still can have some moments of queeniness when needed.

All in all, I do like the show and the way it represents the Gay community. The wife (Audrey) is a gem and probably one of the best characters on the show. The kids (Liz and Bobby) are fairly boring and nondescript. It seems that the only reason they exist is to join the Gay couple and the hetero couple and give them a reason to interact.

The show has it's funny moments, but the studio audience doesn't always seem to get the humor - probably due to the fact that many of the gay jokes are more subtle than 'Will & Grace' and the largely straight audience just doesn't get it. I've heard that they're trying to get more gay folks into the audience to help liven things up and provide a better laugh track to go along with the more subtle 'gay' humor.

I just hope that this show continues to grow and finds an audience. While it will never be a run away hit like 'Will & Grace', it shouldn't just fall away and die. But, it also doesn't have a 'Friends' to follow on the tails of, as W&G did. So, here's to a long run of "It's All Relative".