Pinch Me, I Must Be Dreaming

Episodes straight out of a TV sitcom characterize this banal romantic comedy by the late (1918-1992) Swarthout (Where the Boys Are). Don Chambers and Jenny Staley, both divorced, are ready to marry one another-but these Scottsdale, Ariz., realtors have no inkling of the impending events that will turn their romance into farce and give new meaning to the term ``extended family.'' Jenny's feisty 91-year-old grandmother takes an instant dislike to Don and refuses to decamp Jenny's condo for a nursing home. Meanwhile, Don's father, Harry, sliding perceptibly into senility, decides to live with Don, while Don's son, Ron, drops out of college and returns home with a trained rabbit at his side; further complications arise when Ron falls for Jenny's 18-year-old daughter. Though striving for a light effect, Swarthout weaves only a sad tangle of humorless events. Harry, irascible and mean, plows into a barber shop;, Granny waves a shotgun at Don; and assorted ailments of the elderly, including diabetes and heart disease, fail to generate a smile. Will Don and Jenny ever wed? After this torturous and strained series of escapades, it's hard to care. (Sept.)