The Trouble with Larry the Homecoming

Production: Filmed in Burbank by Highest Common Denominator Prods., Meleager Prods. and Warner Bros. TV. Exec producers-creators-writers, Andrew Nicholls, Darrell Vickers; producers, Jim Herzfeld, Jan Siegelman; supervising producer, Lisa Rosenthal; director, Joel Zwick.
Crew: Camera, George Spiro Dibie; editor, William Kerr; sound, uncredited; music, Stephen Graziano; production designer, David Sackeroff.
Cast: Cast: Bronson Pinchot, Courteney Cox, Alex McKenna, Shanna Reed, Perry King, Marianne Muellerleile, Michael Leopard.

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Bronson Pinchot stars in this new series as Larry Burton, a manic funny man lost in Africa 10 years ago who unexpectedly comes home to his re-

married wife. The actor and the sharp script should grab audiences quickly: The sitcom has humor, good characters — and Pinchot.

Larry’s slashing fat jokes aboard a freighter home from Africa are painful;but once he’s in Syracuse, where his wife Sally (Shanna Reed) lives with second husband Boyd (Perry King) and daughter Lindsay (Alex McKenna), he discovers his true comedy turf.

Learning of his blurry marital status, he rediscovers Sally’s sister, Gabriella (Courteney Cox), who has grown into a beautiful, challenging adult. Gabriella, who uses not-so-funny sexual innuendoes as part of her defense arsenal, dismisses Larry as the clown he is.

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First episode uses an art gallery operated by Gabriella and Sally as a plot gimmick in which Larry can flash his versatility — it works. Pinchot’s a comic whirling dervish, and as long as the producers can keep him in such high-flown material, “Larry” will be a draw. The trouble with Larry, of course, will be if he ever runs low on shtick.

Cox shows a hearty spirit as well as beauty, and Reed displays a warm side, explaining why Larry took to her a decade ago. King, does what he can with a one-note role, while youngster McKenna avoids the cutes.

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