The Pitts is a short-lived Dom Com that aired on FOX in 2003 (in place of the dark comedy Titus following Christopher Titus arguing with executives over the show's content) and starred Dylan Baker, Kellie Waymire, Lizzy Caplan and David Henrie.
Bob and Liz Pitt, their teenage daughter Faith and their 12 year old son Petey are a normal middle class suburban family... or at least they would be if they weren't both Born Unlucky and major Weirdness Magnets. Be it mere freak fires or being mauled by beavers or outright haunted cars and werewolves the Pitts regularly put up with situations and injuries more commonly found in cartoons than Live-Action Television. The show was co-created by former The Simpsons showrunner Mike Scully, so that would explain the cartoonishness of the show.
The original show did not last long (five episodes, plus two which were never shown in the US), due to poor reviews and ratings. There was an abortive attempt at an animated adaptation in 2007 that would have seen Baker and Caplan return to their characters (Waymire had passed away in 2003 a few months after the show ended and Henrie was unavailable having joined Wizards of Waverly Place). FOX decided not to run with the animated version.
Tropes used by the series:
- Amusing Injuries: Everyone in the main cast but especially Bob and Faith.
- Brainless Beauty: Faith is a weird example in that while she literally qualifies (see Who Even Needs a Brain? below) and is a bit shallow and boy obsessesed she is probably the best Deadpan Snarker in the show and doesn't come across as all that ditzy otherwise.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Faith.
- Bumbling Dad: Bob.
- Who Even Needs a Brain?: In the episode 'Miss American Pipe' Faith gets a section of drain pipe almost the diameter of a tennis ball lodged in her head, running all the way through just above her ears. A mystified doctor noted there was "absolutely no damage" and at the end of the episode the pipe was knocked out leaving a hole clear through her head with no visible brain matter. Faith bemoaned her bad luck throughout but suffered no side effects other than being treated as a freak at school.
- World of Weirdness: Living ventriloquist's dummies, sentient cars, werewolves. Picture a Dom Com set in the Weekly World News universe.
