Fall TV Preview: ‘The McCarthys’ is funny … at least so far

The McCarthys -Welcome to another edition of our Fall TV Preview series, where we go through one of the shows coming on the air this fall by trailer, and at least present an opinion as to whether or not this show is worth your time.

We’re running through all of the CBS series first, and this includes on this occasion “The McCarthys,” a multi-camera comedy that features a big family with big opinions and a few issues that they need to work through.

Logline – “Story about a big Irish Catholic, sports-crazed Boston clan and the gay son whose greatest sin is not his sexuality but his desire to spend less time with his family.”

Cast – Jack McGee, Joey McIntyre, Laurie Metcalf, Jimmy Dunn, Kelen Coleman, and Tyler Ritter.

Producers – Brian Gallivan (writer / executive producer), Will Gluck (EP), Richie Schwartz (EP), Mike Sikowitz (EP)

Timeslot – Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. Eastern. In theory, not a bad place to be. It has “Two and a Half Men” as a lead-in, and that show may draw better ratings following its final-season announcement. However, “Scandal” is moving up an hour and will be competition, and if it makes it to February, so will “The Blacklist.”

Our take – We admittedly laughed more than we thought that we would, mostly because these characters all feel at least grounded in some sort of reality. Yes, the trailer is insanely predictable since there is no way Tyler Ritter’s character moves to Rhode Island. The prestige of another Ritter in a comedy is big, and the only major negative we have here is that given that this show feels like “The Goldbergs” and “The Millers” rolled into one, there is a pretty low ceiling in a sea of saturated family comedies. Even with having a gay main character the show feels very safe, and will really need to do something to have people talking about it months into the season.

Are you excited for “The McCarthys”? Let us know below, and head over here to see some other articles in our Fall TV Preview series. Also, be sure to sign up now for further TV updates courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: CBS

 

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