Family values, intervention-style

Tonight's first episode puts cameras in the house of the Ciccone family of western New York, where 30-ish daughter Kim is caught between her husband, Anthony, and her always-there parents, Richie and Pam, with whom he's opened a restaurant. Richie rides roughshod over everybody, forever decreeing things his way, while sprightly music oddly underscores simmering tensions. Kim responds by wielding access to doted-on granddaughter Nina as a weapon to keep her folks in line.

Bullies and wimps, bystanders and escalators. They're a combustible mix. Until "relationship expert" Mel Robbins enters the house, I'm tempted to say -- except things only really explode when she does. There's a screeching, slamming, very nearly physical skirmish that's discomfiting to eavesdrop on -- especially if, like most of us, you've been there with your own parents, spouse, in-laws or adult offspring.

Maybe Robbins shouldn't have pulled out the duct tape and ordered Kim to shut 'em up.

"What happened yesterday was actually awesome," Robbins enthuses of the giant fight that seemed so damaging. Its intensity forced family members to stop and face their behavior. "This family's a classic example of what happens when you do not talk about the small stuff that bugs you," Robbins says. "It builds and builds, and all of a sudden, there's a massive, insane and unnecessary explosion."