TBS's 'House of Payne': A Little More Humanity Would Make It Habitable

"House of Payne," premiering tonight on cable's TBS, is not an irreparably terrible sitcom. Unfortunately, though, the repairs could take years.

That operation would have to start with the premise, of which there barely is one: Three generations of an African American family share -- sometimes -- what looks like an enormous house in the Atlanta suburbs, and things sort of happen to them. Some things happen repeatedly, such as the patriarch of the family telling everybody to "get out" or "go home," apparently desiring the company of none of them.

His wife -- jolly, rotund and religious -- laughs merrily as this insufferable crosspatch snarls and growls at son Calvin and nephew C.J., as well as C.J.'s family: wife Janine and cute kids Malik and Jazmine. What, one wonders, draws them back to a house dominated by such a bitter, crotchety old man? He has the kind of disposition people assume TV critics have (not that there isn't plenty of cause for that).

At times one wishes that, yes, "House" were Payne-less.

Tyler Perry, the highly regarded writer and performer who created the series, might have based it on his own and other folks' memories of growing up. Perry, however, should have worked harder at finding compensating virtues in the characters -- especially "Pops" -- and at giving the audience more reason to care what happens to them. In addition, the show is shot in Atlanta, and no matter how hard Turner Broadcasting insists to the contrary, the city just hasn't the talent and facilities to be a sitcom production center.

It's evident from the pilot tonight (another, unpreviewed, episode will be shown immediately after) that the show's ensemble has a long way to go before jelling as a believable unit. Acting styles conflict or seem barely to exist. However one might long for the series to succeed, artistically and otherwise, it's being produced on a scale too minimalist even for a cable channel.

Perry himself appears in the pilot -- by far the brightest spot in the show -- in drag as Madea, a very tall and broad-shouldered old lady whom he has played before (leading TBS to call the portrayal "now legendary," which might be a trifle premature). Perry is a show all by himself, and when he's on-camera, everyone else in the cast merely gets in the way. Unfortunately, Perry also wants to be sometime writer, director and executive producer of the series -- a case of too few cooks spoiling the broth.

LaVan Davis stars as fireman Curtis "Pops" Payne (hence title), a weak link that ought to be a pillar of strength. Davis doesn't give a performance so much as shout out angry lines of dialogue and then fade back into the scenery. Payne's obvious sitcom predecessors are Archie Bunker and Fred Sanford, but as cantankerous as those men were, glints of decency and humanity shone through. Pops is essentially glintless, at least so far.

To confuse things, an actor named Allen Payne plays Pops's nephew C.J., a remarkably subdued dude considering all the bellowing he must endure; Demetria McKinney is wife Janine, with reliable child stars Larramie Doc Shaw and China Anne McClain as their son and daughter. Cassi Davis is enormously lovable as big Mama, but she doesn't stand up enough to her bullying spouse, and in too many scenes, she's relegated to peeking into the living room from the kitchen.

When the plot of tonight's episode finally surfaces (Malik is being robbed of his lunch money at school each day -- and by a girl), it's reiterated innumerable times before anybody even hints at pursuing a resolution. It never really comes, although perhaps the storyline is picked up again in the second installment.

Two future episodes, made available for preview, deal with the unlikely subject of Janine's becoming a crack addict. Huh? It's commendable to try to introduce serious and topical material in sitcoms, but the way it's done here is awkward and cringe-inducing.

One could list all the ways in which the show comes up short, but the prescription is really simple if "Payne" is to survive and endear itself to a sizable audience: Everything about it needs a little improvement -- except for the things that need a lot of it.

House of Payne (30 minutes) premieres tonight at 9 on TBS with two episodes.