Info:
Premiere Date: Tuesday, March 7, 2006 (NBC Universal)
Network: ABC
Time: Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. & 9:30 p.m.
Cast: Starring Fred Goss, Gillian Vigman, Jerry
Lambert, Alison Quinn, Max Gail, Dee Wallace, Amanda
Walsh, Desmond Harrington, Greg Pitts, Eden Sher,
Randy Wayne, Trevor Einhorn, Lois Hall, Noah Matthews
and Lexi Jourden.
Introduction:
Fred Goss (“Significant Others”) stars in this unique
hybrid comedy series that offers a mix of
improvisational and scripted humor in an unadulterated
look at marriage, raising children and living in close
proximity to an extended family. Series creators Goss
and Nick Holly borrow from their own middle-American,
middle-class upbringings to deliver a very real and
relatable modern-day family comedy.
Coming this March to ABC is a sitcom that brings the
dysfunctional into family. The sitcom Sons & Daughters
is a hybrid improv comedy series that has no studio
audience or canned laughs. And it's coming to a
television near you starting March 7, airing Tuesdays
at 9:00/8:00 & 9:30/8:30 central only on ABC!
Cast Details:
Fred Goss as Cameron Walker, Gillian Vigman as Liz
Walker, Jerry Lambert as Don Fenton, Alison Quinn as
Sharon Fenton, Max Gail as Wendal Halbert, Dee Wallace
as Colleen Halbert, Amanda Walsh as Jenna Halbert,
Desmond Harrington as Wylie Blake, Greg Pitts as Tommy
White, Eden Sher as Carrie Fenton, Randy Wayne as Jeff
Fenton, Trevor Einhorn as Henry Walker, Lois Hall as
Aunt Rae, Noah Matthews as Ezra Walker and Lexi
Jourden as Marni Walker.
At the center of the family dynamic is Cameron (Goss),
happily married to his second wife, Liz (Gillian
Vigman, "Mad TV"), and the father of three children
with her. One of the speed bumps on their road to
domestic bliss comes from Cameron's resentful teenaged
son from his first marriage, who recently moved in and
is not adjusting well to life with his father and new
step-family.
Cameron's life is further complicated by his sister,
Sharon (Alison Quinn), and her husband, Don (Jerry
Lambert), seemingly happily married with two teenaged
children -- yet both in deep denial on several issues,
including a current years-long sex drought.
Cameron and Sharon's very pretty younger stepsister,
Jenna (Amanda Walsh) -- the "it girl" when she was in
high school -- had her career plans derailed by
becoming a single mom. She continues to be attracted
to "bad" boys like Tommy White, AKA Whitey (Greg
Pitts), and not to the nice guys -- like Wylie
(Desmond Harrington) -- who are attracted to her.
The three siblings' parents, Colleen (Dee Wallace) and
Wendal (Max Gail), are extremely devoted to their
adult children and their grandchildren but, not
surprisingly, have some issues of their own. Colleen,
a little uptight and impulsively judgmental, both
likes and dislikes the safe and comfortable
environment that husband Wendal has provided for 25
years. A good guy, Wendal juggles and struggles with
the varied relationships he has with his extended
family members.
Pilot Plot:
Cameron throws a 25th anniversary party for his
mother, Colleen, and stepfather, Wendal (Wojo from
Barney Miller!), which threatens to be a disaster when
Wendal confides to Cameron that he's thinking of
leaving Colleen. Making matters worse is the fact that
Cameron shared this information with his sister,
Sharon, in confidence, and the news has spread
quickly. Meanwhile, Sharon and her husband, Don,
struggle with intimacy issues in their marriage, which
their children soon become all too aware of.
Analysis:
I think this is a very unique and funny show. It is
very smart and it is what a sitcom should be. I am a
big fan of traditional sitcoms, but this sitcom is so
unique that everyone who watches, will like it. If
you like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development,
My Name is Earl or The Office, then you will just love
this show. The pilot takes time to get used to
because of all the characters of this extended Jewish
family. There are a few scenes that are just very
clever and hilarious--like when Carrie asks her mom if
they do it on his bed or hers, when Marni says that
they are going to hell because they are Jewish, when
Marni uses a marker to make a little moustache, a la
Hitler on Aunt Rae while she is sleeping, and when
Sharon and Don duke it out on the lawn! The show
should be great each week. To get used to all the
characters, I suggest you go to www.treeofnuts.com and
click on each character to view a clip or read about
them.
As for ratings, I think the show will do decent
enough. It will follow According to Jim the first few
weeks and the only real competition will be Fox's
House. I think it will beat NBC's competing comedy
Scrubs. The promos for this show have been very good
and I think it captures the show very well. The pilot
runs just over 23 minutes, at least the version I saw.
Hopefully nothing is cut out when it premieres,
because every scene is very important.
Conclusion:
"Mommy's all right, daddy's all right, they just seem
a little weird! Surrender! Surrender! But don’t give
yourself away, away!"
While I am more of a traditional sitcom lover, this
show is flat out good. I watched the show first in
June '05 when the other 2005-06 pilots arrived, and
this show was for "mid-season," so I didn't really pay
much attention to it until just now and it hit me that
this show is REALLY good. If you love shows like
Arrested Development and My Name is Earl, you will
flat out love this show. The show is partially
improved which makes it more risky and fun, I think.
And unlike other improv shows, this show is not about
someone famous or anything, it is just about a large
family living in Cincinnati. The show is from Lorne
Michaels, who of course is the Emmy Award-winning
producer of SNL. Can ABC finally get a sitcom hit,
which they have not for a few seasons? Will Sons &
Daughters mark good numbers in the Nielsens, while
other one camera sitcoms (Arrested Development) mostly
couldn't? Tune in every Tuesday starting March 7 for
back-to-back episodes of this hilarious new style of a
sitcom! And after you do, check out Fred Goss' blog:
http://blogs.abc.com/outonalimb/
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Watchability: 5/5
Funniness: 4.5/5
Overall: 4.5/5
-- Reviewed by pavanbadal on 03/03/06
Related Links:
Tree of Nuts - Sons & Daughters Family Tree
Out On A Limb (Fred Goss' Blog)
ABC.com Official Site
TV.com
Internet Movie Database
Sitcoms Online Message Board
Sitcoms Online Photo Gallery
Video Clips:
Clip #1
Clip #2
Clip #3
