Action Family

Action Family is an episode of the Cinemax Comedy Experiment anthology series, written by and starring Chris Elliott as a private investigator named Chris Elliot who balances work and home life. The episode is structured as two shows in one, with sudden tonal shifts: home life parodies a late 1970s/early 1980s saccharine multicamera sitcom with a live audience, while work scenes shift to dark, gritty film stock without laughter. The absurd action and dialogue serve comedic gags, and a thin murder mystery concludes nonsensically. The episode features cameos by David Letterman and Bob Elliott, and ends with the family lip-syncing to a Partridge Family song.