We're going a little more mainstream with this news item than is typical here on AST, but this new ABC sitcom has been getting a lot of positive reviews in the press (with the L.A. Times saying that it "may have single-handedly brought the family comedy back from the dead").
The show is shot single-camera, faux-documentary style (a la "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation") and deals with three parts of a larger family clan. "Married . . . With Children"'s Ed O'Neill plays Jay, an older retiree married to a young Colombian woman, Gloria (Sofia Vergara). Jay's daughter Claire (Julie Bowen) is a stressed-out, overworked, over-scheduled mother trying to keep her teenage daughter from following in her own apparently wanton footsteps and her two youngest children from killing each other. Helping not at all is her husband Phil (Ty Burrell), aiming to be the coolest dad on the block, despite his outdated slang, very bad back and general air of obliviousness.
Meanwhile, Jay's son Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) has just adopted a baby girl from Vietnam along with his partner, Cameron (Eric Stonestreet). High-strung by nature, Mitchell is suddenly torn by feeling they are too gay to raise a child -- and furious at anyone who might possibly feel the same way.
The show was created by two "Frasier" vets, Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan. Levitan was also a writer for "The Larry Sanders Show" and created the '90s sitcom "Just Shoot Me". Let's hope that it is given a chance by ABC, which has a habit of cancelling promising shows after one season ("Cavemen", "Carpoolers"), but has recently shown they are willing to support more offbeat projects with their surprising renewal of "Better Off Ted".
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Originally Posted by BillBrasky
