Guys with Kids: Marny's Dad Visits; Chris Dates

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

When I read the title for this episode, I was thinking that Marny's dad was going to die, not that Marny's Dad was going to visit. A bit morbid of me, but not too farfetched when you consider how Gary-and-Marny-centric this show is. I've been talking about that since the second episode, and, though I find it odd, I don't dislike that fact. I think I have joined the bulk of the characters in finding Sheila incredibly annoying, too. What annoyed me about this episode in particular, however, was that Gary and Marny tried to make her father miserable by giving him all four boys to watch for a couple of hours. Who does that? Even Gary's original hypothetical made no sense - why bundle up all four children when he could take one or two with him and Marny's dad could watch the others? I just found the set-up unreasonable, so when Marny's father wound up having no issues with the kids, I just sat here and rolled my eyes. Emily and Nick finding weirdos with whom to set-up Chris was also a failure, so this episode was an all-around dud. 

Guys with Kids "Marny's Dad" (S01E12): Gary prefers Marny's mother to her father, but he'll have to talk to the man during his five-day trip. Gary tries to have a couple different conversations with the man about space and boats, but he soon learns (through Chris and Nick) that the guy really doesn't like Gary. [haha, space boats!] So, Marny and Gary set it up for Marny's dad to spend two hours with the children, hoping it would get him to respect Gary more. Gary even preps the older kids with sugar and takes the pacifiers from the younger ones before bailing. [see, here's where they went too far.]

Photo by: Vivian Zink/NBC

When Gary gets home, everything is under control so Gary comes clean about what he was trying to do. Marny's dad admits that the reason he doesn't respect Gary is because he never asked for permission to marry Marny. [seriously? from ten years ago? who holds a grudge like that?] But, the reason Gary didn't do that because Marny didn't want him to, as she believes that women are not possessions. To make up for it, Gary invites Marny's dad over and sets the scene for 2002, but when he asks for Marny's hand, the guy says no. Before we can learn the reason, Marny barges in and tells her father off. [and an odd ending to boot!]

Chris had a date bail on him so he took Sheila to a concert, upsetting Nick. Emily and Nick offer to set Chris and Sheila each up, but Sheila doesn't believe they'd know someone she'd like, and Chris is upset over some bad set-ups in college. [this was probably the best set of jokes all episode.] Chris comes around, and both Emily and Nick set him up - identical dates and they'll observe both. [nice way to get two free dinners out of it! I also thought that their points scale was cute.] The date Emily chose winds up being overly close to her cat, and Nick's quickly admits that Chris is just too hairy for her. [HE HAS AN EXTRA TICKET TO BOOK OF MORMON?? how does this happen??]