9JKL

OK, I thought that due to a very talented cast lead by Mark F. that this would be a really funny show. The premise was cute and I thought it wouldn't take a lot to make it funny. I was as wrong as I could be as it may be the worst show I have ever watched. It was a waste of 30 minutes that I will never get back. The canned laughter made it even worse. It was just a continual laugh track. I mean, the laughing never stopped. I can't believe a test audience thought this was good. The simplest line, gets huge laughs. "Do we have ketchup?" was followed by ten seconds of laughter. Don't waste your time. Just awful TV. This sure ain't Modern Family.

9JKL has a likable cast, some sporadically pleasant comedy moments, and a concept that is decent (albeit not very original), but the plots are not brilliant and the hilarity bar is not set very high. However, the paucity of great (or even consistently good) jokes, quips or scenarios is exacerbated by the fact that the show is overwhelmed by regular and riotous canned laughter to the point that I suspect Homer Simpson's button pecking bird was in charge of it. As such, the laughter track barely stops, even when characters are not really doing or saying anything that could elicit such roars of comedy approval. So, if 9JKL was a parody of 90s sitcoms it would be a work of postmodern genius, but sadly, it isn't.

The overly intrusive mother and interfering, judgmental family thing has been done to death and by actors who made it both funny and believable. Linda Lavin and Elliott Gould may be very nice people, but whoever cast them as the parents may not have actually read the script or attended the auditions.

From the effort being put in by the rest of the cast, I get the impression they've already concluded this thing is going nowhere.

Great cast in a really funny show. Some say it's like Everybody Loves Raymond and there's nothing wrong with that. Linda Lavin, Eliot Gould and Mark Feurstein shine in this show about family togetherness. Great comic situations and great potential. Don't understand all the negative reviews at all. This is a laugh out loud comedy!

Okay, the sitcom is a work in progress. The show has potential especially with Elliott Gould and Linda Lavin as parents of adult sons in New York City. They all live in the same apartment building together in New York City. Josh returns home to New York City after living in Los Angeles, California. I'm watching the series for Lavin and Gould who are comic professionals. This series was based on Mark Feuerstein's own family life. Josh is a single man living alone. His brother, Andrew, is married to an Asian American pediatrician, Eve, with their baby son. The sitcom has great potential if they focus more on the parents.