YOU'VE heard of Rom-Coms.

Well, now welcome to the . . . Soap-Dram-Com-Semi-Musical.

That basically covers the identity crisis of this new show from Barbara Phillips, directed by Deborah Yip.

You can't actually give The Netherley Hillbillies a genre.

It is based loosely on the US sitcom about a family of mountain folk who strike gold with an oil discovery and untold riches flow their way.

They uproot to the affluent Beverly Hills where they are perplexed by a world where they miss the simpler natural things in life.

That classic series (currently showing on Talking Pictures TV) was an innocent yet satirical look at the American dream, class divisions and the impact of sudden wealth.

It was also a morality tale that money can't make you happy.

A Scouse re-imagining is a novel idea and - on paper - has all the makings of typical laugh-out- loud two and half hours in the hands of the reliable Royal Court stalwarts.

Alas, it doesn't pan out that way.

A family of Netherley folk win £78million on the Lottery.

They believe they can't continue to live there and so decide on a moonlight flit to escape to see squirrel land.

They pack up the van, including dad's comfy chair on the roof and relocate to Formby.

There they encounter their next door neighbours who see a chance to manipulate the naive millionaires.

It should be a backdrop for home-grown hilarity, instead there's an over-long plot line on dubious financial investment where you quickly lose interest.

Incongruous songs and a whole load of characters you do not care about become the 'Soap-Dram-Com-Semi-Musical' I talked about earlier.

Paul Duckwoth plays football mad Jed the head of the family and has second thoughts.

He wasn't the only one.

Versatile actresses Lynn Francis and Bev White try valiantly hard to squeeze some humour from their characters but the script is as static as the stage movements.

The Netherley Hillbillies would be better suited to a full-blown musical format allowing it to explore local subjects used so effectively in the much-loved famous Brick up the Mersey tunnels productions.

Sometimes a clever pun-fused title can be misleading.

Sadly these Hillbillies got lost the moment they left Netherley.

The promise of a joyful journey was there - it's just that Jed and co forgot to pack a comedy compass.

It is on until June 22.

Tickets from 0151 709 4321 or Liverpoolsroyalcourt.com