THE MCCARTHYS: Thursday 9:30PM on CBS
THE FACTS: Ronnie McCarthy (Jake Lacy) is part of a lovingly smothering Boston Irish-Catholic family, who are just fine with him being gay but embarrass him at every turn anyway. The series was created by Brian Gallivan, a relative newbie, so the showrunner will be Mike Sikowitz, of Rules of Engagement and many other sitcoms.
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Mere gayness can’t stand in the way of a down-the-middle multi-camera CBS family comedy. Everybody insults everybody else, but they’d all take bullets for each other, and hey, the (sweetened) studio audience thinks they’re hilarious.
WHAT IT’S REALLY SAYING: The Millers plus a gay character, and without the starry cast. If you think it’s hilarious that a gay man wouldn’t know that Miami’s basketball team is called the Heat but can’t bear to miss an episode of The Good Wife live–welcome home.
THE OUTLOOK: The final season of 2 1/2 Men will provide a sturdy lead-in, but this feels like another timeslot success, without anything to make it distinctive enough to carry an hour on its own. Post-Modern Family, there’s no particular excitement about having a gay brother in a family sitcom. Still, while not the breakout comedy CBS really needs, it’s a role-player, and could serve a purpose as such.
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About the Author
Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."
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