Hope & Faith

You may talk a lot about this show's faults like being: traditional, formulaic, overacted, goofy.. whatever. Though, strangely it worked and with honors! I feel that big part of its real joy came from the funny 2 leads (Faith Ford) and (Kelly Ripa). They are so cute and vigorous on the screen, having a productive chemistry, looking interestingly idiot, or honestly childish, and by their overacting they deliver hilarious performance. The rest of the cast wasn't that good, but close. The scripts were surprisingly hitting the mark every time, I've never felt bored, and it managed to be unpredictable, for instance: how (Faith) is going to survive in the soap opera that she had part in?, how (Faith) will do in the shop that that she went to work at?, and how (Faith) and (Hope) may do when they found themselves imprisoned in a supermarket?, or unit to save (Hope)'s daughter from some evil party? By the way, these episodes were memorable and top notch. It wasn't another sitcom on TV, albeit it seemed so. It was so nice sitcom despite any criticism. And it's a rare time to love a work with what are supposed to be its faults, or maybe love it because those very faults!

Being a fan of quality comedy product, imagine how shocked I was when I first saw this appallingly BAD show! Now I didn't watch just one episode and dismiss it, oh no, I watched most of the 1st Season and half of the second, this I think puts me in a position where I am able to criticise...

There have been many U.S. 'family type' sitcoms, but this must rank as one of the most dire in recent history.

Firstly the writing is, if one can call it writing, weak beyond belief - these people aren't writers, they are talentless hacks who couldn't spot a quality gag at 5 yards. Plot lines vary from the merely predictable, to trite and twee and to the plain and simple f***ing lousy!! But sometimes weak writing can be counteracted by a solid cast with a strong comedy sensibility - sadly Hope & Faith has nothing like a good cast.

In all fairness, most of the cast just about acquit themselves as serviceable actors - but just only just about.

The award for most irritating and misjudged comedy performance goes to the appallingly bad, Kelly Ripa - a so-called actress with a grasp of comedy technique that it is so lacking as to be non-existent.

With over-the-top, facial 'mugging' being her main stock in trade, Ripa spirals from one bad scene to another even worse scene without barely time to take a breath - the only thing she seems have in any sort of abundance is energy, for this I cannot fault her.

But energy and over-acting are simply not enough to constitute a good comedy performance - which makes Kelly Ripa no comedy actress.

There is no subtlety in Ripa's attempts at acting, no refinement and virtually no comedy timing on her behalf - surely things that are standard requirements for a quality comedy performance.

If all this sounds like I'm Kelly Ripa-bashing, then yeah, I suppose I am. But Ripa certainly deserves it as she probably the very worst thing about this show, well, maybe Kelly Ripa AND the scriptwriters should take equal blame.

I didn't expect Hope a& Faith to set the sitcom genre alight, but by the very same measure, I didn't expect anything quite as bad as this REALLY is.

I caught this show here in England on a cable channel called ABC1, along with other shows that were as new to British viewers as Hope and Faith , a couple of these shows were: Less Than Perfect and Eight Simple Rules...

Bottom line is this, I was expecting no more, no less from these other shows - I was VERY pleasantly surprised! Both Less Than Perfect and Eight Simple Rules are excellent comedy shows and are vastly superior to the massively inferior Hope & Faith.

I must cite Eight Simple Rules in particular for having a perfect cast, providing top-notch, classy performances, augmented by excellent, witty and razor-sharp writing - if Hope & Faith had only half the quality of ESR, then it wouldn't be quite that bad, problem is Hope & Faith, in comparison to Eight Simple Rules, is left floating dead in the water.

PG.

The pilot for this show was terrible. The jokes were tired, and predictable. None of it had any logical things in it. And the acting was poor. But in the following episodes, the are just great. The jokes are unpredictable. funny, and the acting has improved so much. The writing is getting a lot better, also. For those of you who thought the pilot was bad, give the new ones a chance. They are really good!

Hope & Faith: 4/5

TV rating: TV-PG D. There ae some sexual references, but not to bad for little kids. They won't get any of the jokes, though.

I absolutely love this show! Every episode is hilariously awesome! I think Kelly does an amazing job of being Faith, she is so great to watch, and very funny. Not saying Faith Ford isn't - she's an amazing actress too! One of ABC's finest shows in my opinion. I have to say, Sydney isn't very convincing as a 14 year old though (or whatever she's meant to be). The old Sydney was played by a 25 year old, and it is so obvious, but she doesn't ruin it that much, and she is a great actress, though I prefer the new Sydney. Some of the best, funniest lines I've heard have come from this show, it's the sort of show that if you're feeling down or bored just switch it on and you're instantly smilie again!

I had low expectations the first time I watched this show, but it has quickly become one of my favorites. Faith Ford and Kelly Ripa are perfect for their roles on "Hope & Faith". Hope (Ford) is a housewife/caterer whose sister Faith (Ripa), a soap opera actress, lives with her, as her career is pretty much dead. Her husband Charley (Ted McGinley) is a dentist, and is always in a friendly tiff with Faith. Older daughter Sydney (Megan Fox) is a mini Faith, and is the source of a few sarcastic yet funny lines. Middle child Hayley (Macey Cruthird) is the smartest of the bunch, and has the curliest hair I've ever seen. The only person I think does not fit in with the rest of the cast is the son Justin. The character would be fine, but Paulie Litt's look and timing are off (I'm not knocking a little kid's acting skills; I think they could have found someone better). It is also fun to see how the situations Hope & Faith get into play out. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good laugh, or likes any of the cast.

*On a side note, I find it funny that their names are Hope and Faith, two values/qualities that have similar meanings. I also like that one character is named Faith, and the other is played by a Faith.