Dan Reviews: House Husbands a web series

Recently I had the chance to check out 2 episodes of the upcoming web-based comedy series House Husbands, not to be confused with the reality show House Husbands of Hollywood currently airing on the Fox Reality Channel.  The basic premise of the show goes like this – Brian, played by Jeff Witzke shows up for work one day, only to be most unceremoniously laid-off from his job. Upon finding this out he does what any guy would do and calls up his two best friends Mark(a stay at home dad-played by Michael Cotter) and Tommy(who just likes to stay home and play Halo 3-played by Darren O’Hare) for a bit of comfort and a bite to eat. At that fateful meal he decides that he is not going to tell his wife that he has been laid-off, out of fear of what might happen to him. He also decides, because he has 6 months of severance pay and finding a job in the current economic climate maybe a bit difficult that he is going to spend that time hanging out with his friends and seeing what is on the other side of the looking glass.

House Husbands follows this geeky trio as they roam the female dominated world of domestic engineering and yes, hilarity does indeed ensue. One thing I immediately noticed about the show was the focus on a demographic other than the 18-24 year old, which I found very refreshing. All the characters are seem to be comfortably married and some with kids, yet they still play videogames and make Star Wars references. It was nice to be watching characters not only could I identify with, but whom I could see myself in some of the same situations.  One scene that really kind of stood out to me was, Brian and Tommy who are waiting for Mark while he visits a pre-school are having a lightsaber duel using iPhones and the Lightsaber app outside in the parking lot. I am over 30, and yes I have done this.

In this day of “anyone can produce a web series” House Husbands stands out for several reasons. The production value and acting on this show is at par with most sitcoms you would see on television. To tell you the truth I didn’t know this was a web series pilot until I re-read the information that was sent to me. Being a fan of The Guild, which is also a web-series, I can’t help but draw a comparison. I love The Guild, but we all saw how the production values and writing drastically improved over course of the show, and as the show gained notoriety. This is sadly the fact with most web series. There is something to say with consistency and starting off on the right foot. The writing on the show shows a bit of polish as well with House Husbands, it’s co-written by all 3 stars of the show. This really shows and benefits the show as well with all 3 of the characters getting their moment to shine. The humor in the show is very guy-centric without having to go for a low blow, for a good laugh. My wife who is pretty geeky as well actually watched it with me the second time around and got quite a few laughs out of it as well.

I really enjoyed House Husbands and think even though it is a comedy takes an interesting look at gender roles and stereotypes in our current society and allows us to take another look at them, and have a good laugh at the same time. Where once the male went to work and the female stayed at home, more and more in this economy with the skyrocketing cost of living and child-care this decision is no longer just based on what gender you happen to be – but what makes sense for the family. I also enjoyed another stereo-type the show broke which was the portrayal of the older geek as someone who is a functioning member of society that has a job even if he gets laid off, and a family. Where-as most media would portray us as un-married, un-kept and living in our parent’s basement it’s really nice to see something different and feel a kinship with what I see on the screen for once. The makers of House Husbands are currently in meetings looking for the best way to release the show and it should make its debut in hopefully the near future until then check out the trailer.