TV Review - Fam (2019)

CBS just had two new sitcoms, The Neighborhood and Happy Together, which premiered last year. The two new shows featured African-Americans in leading roles. Some viewed these two shows as a way of making up for the network's lack of diversity over the years, certainly over this past decade. The past ten years didn't see African-Americans in leading roles in many of CBS' shows, especially its comedies. Diversity in other ways was also lacking. The Tiffany network just recently put Shemar Moore as the lead in the drama series S.W.A.T. (2017). However, that same year, Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, two actors of Korean descent, were basically kicked off CBS' Hawaii Five-0 for demanding pay equity with that show's white actors.

Prior to that, the only diversity CBS had seen in prime-time was with its comedy, Partners (2012), which included gay characters in the lead. Yet, arguably, those characters were also white. However, this past year, CBS made steps to change that predominantly, lily-white image in its programming. The Neighborhood was about a white family that moves into an all-black area. Cedric the Entertainer and Tichina Arnold, two popular, black comedic actors were given the co-leads of that series. Happy Together was about a black couple that takes in a white pop star into their house to live. Damon Wayans, Jr. and Amber Stevens West were the leads of that series.

It's reported that Happy Together has been cancelled as of this year on CBS. This is probably because Wayans, Jr. and West aren't as popular or well-known, television actors. Yet, the Tiffany network also premiered God Friended Me last year, which is about the black son of a preacher who gets text messages from a social media account labeled as "God." Brandon Michael Hall is the lead of that series. Indian actor, Suraj Sharma co-stars in that series, and the concept seems to be a hit for CBS, more than the diversity.

Nevertheless, CBS has continued green-lighting shows that continue putting people of color in lead roles. This one is another example and could be a kind of replacement for Happy Together, given that the premise is not too dissimilar. At its core, the premise is a young, married couple taking in an interloper who disrupts their lives. In Happy Together, that disruption seemed like it was for the better. Here, the disruption feels like it's more for the worse. The interloper in Happy Together was a charming and welcoming house-guest. The interloper here is a more annoying and frustrating one.

That annoyance and frustration are the source of a lot of the comedy here. Unfortunately, it doesn't work all that well. It only ends up being annoying and frustrating. Instead of laughing at what's happening, one only feels sad for the characters, particularly the protagonists.

Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries) stars as Clem, an employee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Tone Bell (Whitney) co-stars as Nick, an associate professor of literature at NYU. They're engaged to be married. Everything seems hunky-dory until Clem's 16-year-old sister Shannon, played by Odessa Adlon (Nashville) comes to live with them. Things are complicated when Clem's father, Freddy, played by Gary Cole (Veep and Family Guy), a NYPD detective and gambling addict shows up after Clem told Nick that her father was dead.

The true interloper is Shannon and she is a nightmare that disrupts Clem and Nick's life. Freddy pops up every now and then, but the focus is on how Shannon is causing trouble at every turn, being disrespectful and rude, as well as other annoyances. If you think this is funny, then you might enjoy this show. I didn't think it was funny and the characters don't seem particularly interesting otherwise.

Sheryl Lee Ralph (Moesha) is great as Nick's mom. Brian Stokes Mitchell (Trapper John, M.D.) is also great as Nick's dad. I wish the show was more focused on them and just them, but alas, creator Corinne Kingsbury really sets her sights on the wrong pair here.

Rated TV-PG-DL.
Running Time: 30 mins.
Thursdays at 9:30PM on CBS.