"Extended Family"

Time for the very-much delayed new season.  There isn't a lot of meat here.  Only three new shows up on network TV and none of them are particularly original.  They aren't bad, they just aren't remarkable.

First up is "Extended Family."  I love Jon Cryer and Donald Faison.  Both have serious comedy creds and know how to work a moment.  I would watch Jon Cryer walk across a room (which he does, hysterically, in at least one episode of this new sitcom).  And Donald Faison has a lovely way of finding the perfect "level" -- not too little, not too much.  He hits just the right note and the irony is unmistakable.  Even Abigail Spencer, new to the genre, manages to match Cryer and Faison's wry humor.  It's a good threesome.  But that's about it.  The show is standard sitcom and has little to no depth.  The children don't impress (and, I've noticed, have appeared less and less in each successive episode).  The concept is good and the whole thing is ... unoffensive.  But it doesn't break through on any level.  I like watching it but wouldn't miss it if it were gone.  Hopefully, as things progress, it will find some layers -- minimal though they might be.  It's shows like this which make me really miss Chuck Lorre.  He only has two shows left ("Bob Hearts Abishola" and "Young Sheldon") and both of those end this Spring.