The problem is that the set-up of the show didn’t ring true. Now while I could believe a dissolution of the marriage as Franklin’s character was unhappy (having gone right from high school to marriage to a much older man), what was harder to believe is that the two daughters (not that far away from being on their own) would happily agree to leave a stable life in a small town (leaving their friends, etc.) to move to a run-down area of a large city.
I remember when my cousin (about the age of the girls on the show, mid-teens) was forced to uproot from her hometown to a small town in the middle of nowhere (and this with both her parents) and she was absolutely miserable and unhappy for some time.
A realistic portrayal would’ve had the mother drag them off, only to have the girls return to dad and their hometown and normal life VERY quickly. The set-up for the show was better suited for Ann Romano to have been a widow discovering her late husband had frittered away their finances and leaving no life insurance. Of course, one probably shouldn’t put too much effort into critically analyzing sitcoms.
You know I don’t think I’ve actually seen a single episode of that show. The premise sounds like some feminist crap.
You’re right though, no way 2 teenage girls would be happy with that, they’d probably refuse to go.