TV REVIEW : Fulghum, Families and Fatherhood

“Fulghum and Family” is a lightweight, pleasant “sermon” in which the author of the best-selling author of “All I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,” “It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It” and “Uh-Oh” offers up gentle stories while doing a decent imitation of Garrison Keillor--without the bite or the Powdermilk Biscuits.

This hourlong special, airing today at noon on KCET Channel 28 and at 10 on KOCE Channel 50, is not strictly for fans of the former Unitarian minister’s works but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to be one--if you liked the books, you’ll like the show.

Fulghum simply stands center stage in front of a live audience that the camera keeps panning at poignant moments in search of tears-through-the-smiles, spinning tales of life’s milestone events--weddings, funerals, births and the like--with unobtrusive backing from a pianist and a fiddler. Every so often the musicians get a chance to cut loose, and Fulghum gets the audience to sing along to tunes like “Home on the Range” and “All This Joy.”

This isn’t quite as saccharine as it sounds--Fulghum is a decent storyteller and his anecdotes hit their marks. They are often humorous and touching and somewhat bittersweet, ranging from a bride with the hiccups at the big ceremony to a first visit to the zoo with a little girl to the embittered widow in a small town in Oregon whose husband’s funeral is invaded by his VFW lodge brothers and a stripper imported from San Francisco (the woman couldn’t stand his friends and her dear departed was in charge of hiring the stripper for the lodge’s annual big party).

Tied in to Father’s Day, the show and stories are linked by thoughts of special days in our lives, by “the back and forth . . . and up and down” of family life. As Father’s Day offerings go, you could do far worse.