HOW LAZY CAN YOU GET?

Stylized hysteria of the aren't-kids-comical sort—which kids seem to divide on as firmly as adults. The Megglethorp offspring aren't mean or disobedient, just "difficult" (or, from a child's point of view, perfectly reasonable): Timothy, the oldest, is "impatient with grownups who" don't say what they mean; Amy, in the middle, likes to be left alone; and Douglas John doesn't want to grow up—adults are just too unimaginative. So they have foisted upon them for a week (while their parents are away) the well-recommended but ill-suited Miss Hildegarde Brasscoat—who asks meaningless questions, hates idleness, and has no imagination. Not even the kids' harmless capers in response to her "How lazy can you get?" (or "How dumb. . ." or "How messy. . .") can get a rise out of hidebound Miss B. But when Tim's pet crab gets loose, turns up in the chipped beef, and slithers around the table, she cracks up and—"How silly can I get?"—does a madcap parrot imitation. With that, the awful week ends in mutual adoration. There's not an inert, uninflected moment—but only Naylor's bravura style separates most of this from sitcom TV.