Good Luck Charlie: “Good Bye, Charlie”

In the magical world of live-action Disney sitcoms, scenarios range from the far-fetched (the bionic youngsters of Lab Rats) to the glamorous (the titular nanny in Jessie lives with her young charges in a fabulous Manhattan penthouse). Kids may bond while in their karate class (Kickin’ It), performing for a Chicago-based dance TV show (Shake It Up), writing pop songs in Miami (Austin & Ally), or, in the worst possible scenario, when they find out their dog has a blog.
Only one of Disney’s current shows features just a nice, normal family, and sadly, it’s the one departing this week after four seasons. Good Luck Charlie’s premise is that the parents of a middle-class family of teenagers have a new baby. Elder daughter Teddy (Bridgit Mendler) creates a video diary for baby Charlie to explain their family’s quirks, and ends each week with an episode summary and the signoff, “Good luck, Charlie.” Even with such a soft hook (compared to bionics and pop stars), Good Luck Charlie is worth all those previously mentioned shows put together (although Jessie does have its moments).
Why does Good Luck Charlie have actual charm while so many other Disney sitcoms (and kids’ shows in general) attempt to grasp it with wise-cracking teenagers in glamorous outfits? The show gets so many things right, down to the minute details of the home décor. The Duncan house features pillows and wall drawings of insects (patriarch Bob is an exterminator, his wife Amy a nurse); the chalkboard on the refrigerator lists kids’ chores or jobs around the house for the dad to do. Toys overflow trays on the living room coffee table, adding to a reasonable amount of clutter rarely seen on sitcom stage sets. Sure, GLC features the standard stock characters: the doofus older brother, the smart-aleck middle child, the mother the kids are more scared of than the benevolent father. The plots could also have been pulled from a sitcom episode generator: Teddy needs to find a quiet place to study; Gabe (Bradley Steven Perry) gets invited to a cotillion. The kids lose the baby while their parents are out to dinner. Toddler Charlie locks P.J. (Jason Dolley) out of the house. The show even pulled out the classic “let’s add another kid and up the cuteness factor” in season three, with new baby Toby rounding out the huge family.
Somehow Good Luck Charlie rises above these generic trappings. The cast has expert comic timing, especially the parents (Leigh-Allyn Baker and Eric Allan Kramer), and even Charlie. The show also accomplishes the truly rare trick of establishing what feels like genuine familial chemistry. None of it appears pre-manufactured or pandering. When Teddy has her first breakup with boyfriend Spencer and her mother consoles her, Amy takes over the video diary and explains to Charlie that Teddy’s going through her first heartbreak. “First one?” Teddy yells. “There will be more?” Of course there will, but the heartwarming way Amy consoles her daughter reinforces that Teddy will always have this support behind her. It’s a thoughtful scene that shows just how rare an actually touching family sitcom is. I doubt I’ve ever genuinely cracked up at anything on Family Matters or Full House. Good Luck Charlie gets laughs out of my family a handful of times per episode. Mia Talerico as Charlie is especially delightful, a far cry from a toddling Olsen twin with a cloying catchphrase like “You got it, dude!” Instead, she wants to name her baby brother Hot Dog, like a normal little girl would.
I’ve tried writing down some of my favorite punchlines, but suspect they lose a lot minus the chemistry and the timing, like when the helpless P.J. says he’s hungry in the kitchen and his frustrated mother suggests he check out the giant thing packed with food right next to him. “You mean Dad?” Or when Gabe admits to his new young neighbor that he’s 14, who slams him with, “Go take a nap, Grandpa!” P.J.’s friend starts a food truck based on fish and gravy, citing other weird meal combinations: “What about bacon and eggs? Bacon from pigs, eggs from chicken, it’s like chaos on a plate!”
In GLC’s penultimate episode, “Down A Tree,” Charlie has a playdate with Taylor. Bob and Amy each think they’ve met Taylor’s mother: “Susan.” “No, pretty sure her name’s Cheryl.” And it turns out they’re both right. The dad reasons, “Oh, Taylor has two mommys,” and his wife deadpans, “Wow, nothing gets past you, Bob.” Not exactly earth-shattering dialogue, but nevertheless this marked the first appearance of a same-sex couple on a Disney show. (Unfortunately, it also led to a call for a boycott by the One Hundred Million Moms group and death threats against the show’s now five-year-old star.)