Cracking Up (TV series)

Psychology graduate student Ben Baxter (Jason Schwartzman) is asked by his university professor (Henry Gibson) to be a live-in psychotherapist to Tanner Shackleton (Bret Loehr), the 9-year-old son of an influential Beverly Hills couple (Molly Shannon and Christopher McDonald). Upon meeting Tanner, his parents, and his two teenage siblings (Jake Sandvig and Caitlin Wachs), Ben immediately concludes that Tanner is the only normal member of the Shackleton family and considers rejecting the assignment. Because he is ultimately unwilling to abandon Tanner and hopes documenting the rest of the family's dysfunction will advance his career, Ben accepts the assignment and moves from his dormitory into the Shackletons' guest house.

• Molly Shannon as Lesley Shackleton
• Christopher McDonald as Ted Shackleton
• Caitlin Wachs as Chloe Shackleton
• Jake Sandvig as Preston Shackleton
• Bret Loehr as Tanner Shackleton
• David Walton as Liam Connor
• Jason Schwartzman as Ben Baxter

According to White, production of the show was plagued by interference from Fox network executives, who wanted Cracking Up to have a more mainstream appeal and retain the sizable lead-in audience from reality singing competition American Idol. Because of this interference, White hoped the show would be dropped after the pilot episode. When production of the show continued, White sent a "fuck you all" fax to the head of Fox programming, which did not result in his firing, despite bringing the receiving executive to tears. At the behest of a psychiatrist, White went to Las Encinas Hospital for treatment, but fled from the psychiatric facility after insisting to a skeptical staff that there was nothing wrong with him other than being highly stressed. Three days after White left the hospital, Fox cancelled Cracking Up, much to his relief.^[1]

Tim Goodman of SFGate labeled Cracking Up "slightly off," "oddly flat" and "filled with unrealized potential." He stated that the "high-octane" performances of Shannon and McDonald clashed with Schwartzman's "low-key vibes" and Loehr's "flat child acting." He also criticized Wachs and Sandvig's characters for being too broadly drawn and believed the show was limited by its "one-note" premise. Goodman credited Fox for not inserting a laugh track, but qualified that the show's jokes either went "splat" or "la[id] there meekly in a pool of what could be construed as irony." He also said Cracking Up couldn't match the "daring subtlety" of Arrested Development or the "manic physical comedy" of Malcolm in the Middle.^[8]

Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said White was "writing in his comfort zone" and that, like his previous works, Cracking Up was "not typical television." He described the show as "a subtle shade of funny" that benefited from being shot with a single camera and not using a studio audience. He also expressed doubt that the show's brand of humor was obvious enough to fit in on mainstream network television.^[9]

Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times labeled Cracking Up's humor "broad" and its premise "reasonably promising, if contrived." She stated, "White has made a career of exploring the inner lives of characters who straddle the line between weird and crazy. His previous projects have been subtly funny, sad and unsettling in equal measure. In 'Cracking Up,' he removes the hinges completely, with less compelling results." Chocano described the character of Tanner as "a Marilyn Munster in the era of Dr. Phil" and a "morose killjoy." She felt Shannon and McDonald performed generally well, but that all of the Shackletons (other than Tanner) shared "a collective, nerve-jangling mania" and "a single, Dale Carnegie-trained personality." She described Schwartzman as "quietly amusing," but lacking "the oddball intensity" of his Rushmore character. Chocano also noted a tonal shift between the pilot and the second episode, which she speculated was the result of interference by network executives. She stated, "The family of chirpy perverts introduced in the pilot episode suddenly gives way to an Up With People-style chastity cult."^[10]

Freelance film critic Eric D. Snider said that he "loved" Cracking Up's pilot, but gave up on the series after the subsequent three episodes. He said he initially thought the show held "great promise," but that it "trie[d] too hard to be wacky" and continuously fell back on the same over-the-top joke (namely that every character was crazy). Snider said Arrested Development successfully executed a similar premise, being more dryly written and not hitting audiences over the head with the quirkiness of its characters.^[11]