The episode frequently breaks the [[fourth wall]] in between segments during the episode. Dave makes the occasional [[rant]] during some episodes.
===Reactions of professional TV reviewers===
A television critic, Matthew Gilbert, for the [[Boston Globe]] noted controversial dialogue that elicited criticisms of [[racism]]:
''"Does she actually think we're gonna let her go out with this guy?"'' the dad in Fox's ''The War at Home'' rants about his teen daughter's black friend. ''"I'd rather drink my own urine."'' [http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2005/09/10/before_war_even_begins_the_casualties_are_high/]
Much of the program focuses on the father's displeasure at suspecting that his eldest son is gay. The means through which the show gets across the idea that the son is gay through the use of stereotypes has elicited criticism that the show is [[homophobic]]. Gilbert wrote:
{{cquote|But he's [the father] more like a karaoke [[Archie Bunker|Archie]], mechanically spitting out his homophobic and racist gags at the camera as if they were banal sitcom punch lines. And even worse, we're supposed to laugh along with him, and not necessarily at him. We, too, are expected to fret because Dave's 15-year-old son likes show tunes.}} [http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2005/09/10/before_war_even_begins_the_casualties_are_high/]
[[Time magazine]]'s James Poniewozik rated the show among 'The Worst TV of 2005', in the December 28, 2005 issue. [http://www.freepress.net/news/13115]
[[The Washington Post]] deemed the show "unconscionably smutty", then continued, {{cquote|the problem is not just that it's crude and gross, but that its crudeness and grossness are so pathetically forced and contrived. Its vulgarity has no integrity... all the characters are vile in spirit and objectionable in essence.}} [http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/reports/top10bestandworst/main.asp]
