Series / The War at Home

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An American Dom Com that lasted for two seasons (2005–07) on Fox. The premise is that Michael Rapaport plays father and husband Dave Gold and has to deal with the chaos that is his family.

One of the big gimmicks of the show was the constant Fourth Wall breaking and having a character go into a white void to confess something to the audience.

The family members were:

• Dave: Father and husband, lazy, loud and obnoxious.
• Vicky: Mother and wife, pretty much the Straight Woman.
• Hillary: The oldest child and typical 17-year-old daughter who dates.
• Larry: The middle child at 16, a rather geeky effeminate boy, who Dave thinks is gay, but is actually straight.
• Mike: The youngest child at 14; he is the snarker among the children.

Also appearing in the opening credits (and about half the episodes total) was Kenny, Larry's best friend, who had a crush on Larry and came out in the second season.

This show provides examples of:

• A Man Is Always Eager: Subverted! When the Golds leave Kenny alone at home with his boyfriend Dylan, Dave has to have "the talk" with Kenny because, he reasons, men are animals and a man, unlike a woman, is never going to say "no". But when Kenny is finally alone with Dylan, he immediately blurts out he doesn't want to have sex with him and that he's a virgin. Dylan admits the situation is new to him too and also doesn't want to have sex yet. They wind up watching The Lord Of The Rings together instead.
• All the Good Men Are Gay: Hilary eventually discovers this about Kenny. In one episode, Kenny complimented on Hillary, Larry's sister, and eventually spent a lot of time with her. Hillary proposed Kenny to be her boyfriend by kissing him, but Kenny avoid himself from the kiss because he's got a crush on Larry (hence he's gay). But then he's Flying Under the Gaydar, so he had to lie that he doesn't want to be her boyfriend because he wants to treat her like a sister.
• Ambiguously Jewish: Kenny seems to be Ambiguously Jewish, since his mother has a Hebrew name ("Shirra") and the music that plays during his fantasy of marrying Larry sounds Jewish-theme. Then again, he could also qualify as an "Ambiguously Muslim" since his father's name "Achmed" is a common Muslim name. If so, Kenny was kicked out of the house because homosexuality isn't allowed in the Muslim world and Shirra also had to follow her husband because of the rules (which was rather exaggerated).
• Camp Straight: Larry, the middle son, alarms his Archie Bunker-like father with his non-macho behavior, such as participating in the school musical and dressing as a woman (although most of his schemes are attempts to get girls), and he suspects that he and his nerdy best friend, Kenny, are more than friends. Turns out Larry's straight... but Kenny ain't.
• Coming-Out Story: Kenny. Note that this is to the other characters only - we know from his very first inner monologue that he accepts himself as gay and is not "confused" or questioning and doesn't go on a journey of self-discovery.
• Conceited Country Club: In one episode, Dave goes golfing with his daughter's boyfriend's father (who is black) at a country club that the boyfriend's father is a member of. It turns out that, while the club has no problem with a black man being a member, they don't want Dave to join because he's Jewish. When their children break up, Dave remarks "I'm gonna miss that Jew-hating country club".
• D-Cup Distress: Hilary is suffering A-Cup Angst, wishing that she had larger breasts like her mother. Mom says that having big breasts is a pain in the back, literally.
• Drop-In Character: Kenny, even though we do see his parents. He even lives with the Golds for a while, after his parents have kicked him out for being gay.
• Entendre Failure: In an early episode, Dave is concerned that Hillary might have lost her virginity, and tries to find out if Larry knows anything about it, using Sexual Euphemisms. Apparently, he doesn't, as this trope occurs.
  Dave: Listen, I need to ask you a question. What do you, um... know about your, um... sister's relations?
  Larry: You mean like cousins and stuff?
  Dave: No, no, no... Do you... do you know if your sister is, you know... active?
  Larry: Well, she does do pilates and plays tennis sometimes.
  Dave: Why do I even bother with you?
• Friend-or-Idol Decision: Larry has to decide between Kenny or the poem he took from Kenny that he said he made himself.
• Freudian Excuse: It was revealed that the reason why Dave acts like a jerk is because his father badgered him.
• Gay Aesop: About Kenny. When he told his parents that he's gay, he was kicked out of the house. Later, in the episode "Kenny Doesn't Live Here Anymore", his parents were constantly told by Dave and Vicky Gold to "accept their child whoever he is". They took him back during the ending before Kenny gets to be taken by social services.
• Last Het Romance: While Kenny was living with the Golds, his date Dylan stops by, which leads to hilarity, as Hilary discovers that it's her ex-boyfriend.
  Hillary: Wait wait wait, you mean my Dylan, is now your Dylan?
  Dave: Who knew Hilary? You're the Gaymaker. The last stop on the train to Gay-ville. Sprinkle on a little Hilary, and (waves hand) HELLO!
• Lysistrata Gambit: Subverted when Dave (the father of the household) and Vicky (his wife) are in the middle of an argument. Dave antagonistically assumes that she's going to withhold sex from him, but she instantly shoots the idea down, remarking that she wouldn't want to deny herself and claiming that she had something else in mind.
• Meadow Run: It happens between Larry and Kenny after their fathers apologized to each other. They're very close friends when one of them is gay and the other is straight but assumed gay.
• Mistaken for Gay: Larry, by his own parents. At first it's just Dave who thinks Larry is gay while Vicky maintains that he's not. Then they see him kiss someone who they think is a boy but is actually a very tomboyish girl. Hilarity Ensues.
• Papa Wolf:
  • Dave may be a jerkass, but he deeply loves his kids and will do anything to protect them.
  • Likewise he lets Kenny stay with them after he's thrown out of his home and later when a boy shows up to take Kenny on a date, Dave immediately tells him to take a hike because he thinks he's not good enough.
    Hillary: Welcome to the family.
• Pedophile Priest: Played with, one episode has Mike convinced that the local priest was a pedophile, so he attempts to seduce him so he can report him to the cops.
• Prom Is for Straight Kids: Kenny, after finally came out of the closet, he decided to go to prom with his boyfriend Dylan, but the school wouldn't allow it. This manages to get to the local news, only to lead to him getting taken by Child Services, seeing as the Golds weren't his actual parents.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: One of the fastest on record: Rami Malek was added to the opening credits starting in the show's second episode, though only for the episodes in which his character appeared. (This ended up being about half of them.)
• Shotgun Wedding: A flashback reveals this happened to Dave and Vicky when she got pregnant with Hilary; the flashback shows the two crying miserably while staring at a positive pregnancy test and Dave depressedly asking if Vicky wants to marry him.
• "Signature Sport" Stereotype: In one episode, Dave meets his daughter's black boyfriend's parents; when the father mentions he plays golf, Dave acts surprised, to which the father asks him "Haven't you heard of Tiger Woods?". Dave then clarifies that for one thing, Tiger Woods is only half black, and two, he wasn't surprised at a black man playing golf; rather, he was surprised that the two of them would have something in common.
• The Talk: Kenny has a date, and since he is currently living with the Golds, he gets the Talk from Dave. It leads to this Breaking the Fourth Wall moment:
  Dave and Kenny, simultaneously: This is the most uncomfortable conversation in my entire life.
• There Is Only One Bed: Dave, Larry and Kenny stay in a motel room with only two beds. Dave ends up sleeping on the floor because he doesn't want Kenny sleeping with Larry or himself.
• Token Minority: Kenny, being the token Middle Eastern character, as well as the token gay character.
• Transparent Closet: Kenny. The only one who doesn't know, naturally, is his best friend and crush Larry, though even Larry notices his "gay" mannerisms and will comment on them from time to time.
• White Void Room: All the main characters take a turn at talking to the audience in one of these.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Once again, Kenny. Subverted. His mother eventually knocks some sense into his father.