The War at Home (TV series)

	The War at Home
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Rob Lotterstein
Starring	Michael Rapaport; Anita Barone; Kyle Sullivan; Kaylee DeFer; Dean Collins
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	44 (List of episodes)
Production
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	approx. 22 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	FOX
Picture format	480i (SDTV),; 720p (HDTV)
Original run	September 11, 2005 – April 22, 2007

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The War at Home is an American sitcom that ran from September 11, 2005 to April 22, 2007 on Fox. It follows the antics of a largely dysfunctional and bitter Long Island family. It was known for its conspicuous product placement^[1].

[edit] Cast

Michael Rapaport as David "Dave" Gold
Anita Barone as Victoria "Vicky" Gold
Kyle Sullivan as Lawrence "Larry" Gold
Kaylee DeFer as Hillary Gold
Dean Collins as Michael "Mike" Gold
Rami Malek as Khaleel "Kenny" Al-Bahir

[edit] Plot

The show depicts the life of Dave and Vicky and their three children as they live their lives in Long Island, New York. Dave is a middle class Jewish insurance salesman. He is sometimes portrayed as a paranoid, overprotective and hypocritical bigot, and his family (especially Larry) have a hard time putting up with him. Dave is constantly chewed and cussed out (and even punched once) by Larry for always picking on him. It is established toward the end of season one that Dave is the way he is because he had a father who constantly badgered him. Dave's wife Vicky is an attractive Italian Catholic interior designer. Generally levelheaded, she usually spends her time dealing with Dave's unreasonable behavior, but can be quite obnoxious herself.

Of their three children, the oldest is Hillary (Kaylee DeFer), a typical 17-year old who frequently misbehaves, trying to get away with mischief behind the backs of her parents, who often regard her with suspicion. Second oldest is 16-year-old Larry (Kyle Sullivan), an eccentric misfit given to emotional outbursts (such as when Vicky denies him permission to see Brian Boitano star as Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings On Ice). Larry is often seen with his best friend Kenny. Initially Dave believes that the boys are both gay, but it is later revealed to the audience that while Larry is not gay, Kenny has a secret crush on Larry. Dave, and to a lesser extent Vicky, often treat Larry's flamboyancy with wary eyes. The youngest child, the pubescent 14-year-old Mike (Dean Collins), must deal with issues such as masturbation, dating and underage gambling.

The series frequently breaks the fourth wall between segments of an episode, during which Dave or occasionally other characters delivers a rant or other comment directly relating to the scene.

[edit] Gay-positive efforts

Perhaps due to criticism of the main character's homophobia , the episode "Out & In", first airing on January 4, 2007, deals in a gay-supportive way with Kenny coming out of the closet. The show closed with a public service announcement with Michael Rapaport, Rami Malek and Kyle Sullivan, out of character, talking about The Trevor Project, a suicide-prevention support service for gay and inquiring youth.

The plot involves Kenny admitting to himself, Dave, the rest of the Gold family, and finally his own parents that he is gay. His parents react negatively (off-screen) to the revelation, kicking him out of their house. Although Dave uses anti-gay slurs during the episode and seems somewhat uncomfortable being hugged by Kenny, he also tells Kenny that he should be proud of who he is. With some prompting from Vicky, Dave also consents to Kenny moving in with them, and begins to treat him as a member of the family.

Larry initially has trouble adjusting to these significant events, and to the fact that his best friend kept such a secret from him for so long. However, he and Kenny quickly resolve matters, with Larry assuring him that his sexual orientation will not be an issue in their friendship. Kenny keeps his crush on Larry a secret.

The February 15, 2007 episode, entitled "Kenny Doesn't Live Here Anymore", deals with Kenny and his boyfriend being banned from the Sadie Hawkins dance at school due to homophobia. The Trevor Project public service announcement appeared at the end of this episode as well. Eventually Kenny's family takes him back.

The show also recruited bisexual Tila Tequila for a cameo appearance on the show in its final season.

[edit] Seasonal Ratings

Season 1: 7.21 million viewers #95
Season 2:

[edit] DVD releases

Season Releases

DVD Name	Release Date	Ep #	Special Features
The Complete First Season	May 15, 2007	22	Featurette: Living Room Confessions Unaired Scenes Gag Reel

[edit] International broadcasters

Country	Broadcaster	Timeslot
	Nine HD	Sundays at 10.30pm
	ORF
	VT4	Weekdays at 18.00 pm
	Nova Television	Weekdays at 10.00 pm
	RTL-Televizija
	NTV
	HBO
	SBS Net	Weekdays at 18.00
	M6 and Canal +
	RTL2
	HBO
	Stöð 2
	RTÉ, E4 and Channel 4
	Joi
	NTV
	TV1	Weekends at 14:00
	NET5
	TV2
	TV Norge	Weekdays at 16:30
	JackTV
	TVN Siedem, HBO Comedy	Weekdays at 19:30 (7:30pm; TVN Siedem)
	Fox Next
	Pro Cinema
	TV Avala	Weekdays at 19.55
	TV Markíza	Weekdays at 13.25 pm
	Kanal A	Weekdays at 16.40 pm
	SABC3, M-Net, M-Net Series and Go
	Kanal 5
	SF zwei
	ComedyMax
	E4 and Channel 4
	1+1
	Venevisión
	Yes Stars Comedy