Fat Men, Hot Wives, Trend Over
Ever since Esquire declared that "fat guys and their hot wives" is TV's "Least Believable Trend" back in September 2004, the Fat Men/Hot Wives meme has been spreading like... well, like those fat guys.
But, now it's growing as thin as... well, as those hot wives.
What started out as a clever observation has mutated into full-blown conventional wisdom that somehow warrants over 1300-words from Slate this week. As Matt Feeney writes:
In the current sitcom lineup... several shows pair extremely attractive women, who are often clad in plunging tops and tight jeans suitable for a Maxim photo spread, with TV husbands who are not only not studly, but downright fat, and a couple who are not only not mensches, but are ugly on the inside, too.
Well put. Since we love this topic (being fans of both fat men and hot wives), we thought we'd provide a (by no means complete) timeline of fat husband/hot wife articles after the jump.
Least Believable Trend
[Esquire, sub. required, September 2004]
"Too often this season, I've had to tell you about new shows that are just CSI clones and 'fat husband, hot wife' sitcoms."
Find 'Lost' [Orlando CityBeat, Sept. 22, 2004]
"From CBS, the network of 'The King of Queens' and 'Still Standing' comes 'Listen Up,' the new Jason Alexander show, and 'Center of the Universe,' starring John Goodman's jowls. ABC, home of 'According to Jim,' (as in Belushi) has a new comedy called 'Rodney,' with a country comic named Rodney Carrington, who's not exactly fat but definitely stocky.... And they're not just fat. They're lazy beer-and-TV slobs who never lift a finger around the house, have barely met their kids and think an emotion is something you only express on the Back Nine. Somehow they've landed these hot wives who look great in jeans..."
Father Eats Best, by Rick Marin [New York Times 'Style' section, Sept. 26, 2004, reprinted here]
"That [fat husband/hot wife] formula has proliferated widely in recent years, starting with Kevin James and Leah Remini in 'King of Queens,' spreading across the CBS schedule to Mark Addy and Jami Gertz in 'Still Standing,' to ABC with Jim Belushi and Courtney Thorne-Smith in 'According to Jim,' to FOX with Andy Richter and Rebecca Creskoff in 'Quintuplets,' and even NBC succumbing with an animated John Goodman and Cheryl Hines on 'Father of the Pride.'"
Television grapples with weighty matter [MSNBC, Oct. 12, 2004]
"Michael Weithorn, co-creator and executive producer of the hit CBS sitcom 'King Of Queens,' said Monday that he is 'tired of people stealing [his] idea.'
"'I'm not going to name names, but there sure seem to be a lot of sitcoms featuring pudgy, working-class goofs with unbelievably hot wives and meddlesome in-laws,' Weithorn said. 'I'm sorry, but that's KOQ territory. These other shows are the work of shameless copycats with no ideas.' Creators of 'According To Jim,' 'Still Standing,' 'Rodney,' 'George Lopez,' and 'Center Of The Universe' expressed the same complaint."
King Of Queens Creator Thinks Everyone's Ripping Him Off [The Onion, October 27, 2004, reprinted here]
