Downsized

There's a tender and no-nonsense tenor to it, which is a welcome switch from most of reality TV's junky tropes.

It's impossible not to root for the Bruce family. But it's just as hard not to dread the series's success.

Very often, reality-show participants stop seeming like real people, as if being on TV makes them abstract characters. [Daughter] Bailey's bad moment here makes Downsized feel painfully real.

You can't help realizing that just by the act of taping a reality show, the Bruces--all nine of them--are already employed in a job, albeit a temporary one.

Many of the scenes with the teens seem staged, especially tonight's climax. Still, the Bruces aren't anything like the delusional couples who populate Bravo's "Housewives" shows. This is a functioning family trying to survive a dysfunctional time.

[Why do] The husbands come across as total bums? Not just because of the way they lounge around all day moaning about how hard (sniff) it is (sniff) not to be able to provide for their family. They dress like bums, too.

Stepfather Todd reacts to news of the family's fifth car by reasoning that since they don't have enough parking spaces, the only solution is to buy a home. And we're off and running to the poor house. Again.