Abby's

A boring, predictable sitcom with a distracting laugh-track. It got a couple of short, sharp puffs of air out my nose with a few good one-liners, but that was the extent of my enjoyment.

A fill-in show for the mid-season, from Josh Malmuth, known for New Girl and Superstore, and not much else.

The lead, Natalie Morales, has been on a number of shows and movies, some comedy, some dramas. I remember her most from the twelve episode run she had on White Collar.

It is slightly confusing, since there is another Natalie Morales, who is best known as one of the co-anchors of the Today show, and a co-host of Access Hollywood

Unfortunately, there is not a lot of humor here. They waste the talents of Neil Flynn, who deserves a show of his own.

As someone else noticed, the laugh-track is very annoying. It has the effect of underscoring that the jokes aren't that funny.

'The Orville' is a repeat again next week, so I may give the show another try.

A generous 5, hoping they will improve.

They appear to have already shot all thirteen episodes. It will be interesting if they all make it to air in this time-slot.

Abby's boasted a strong ensemble cast and a loose vibe that promised regular shenanigans. Some of said shenanigans paid off- the sprinkler chair, the bar's constitutional amendments, and Tuna Pope were just a few of the good moments- and the banter around the bar was generally worth sticking around for. If they'd committed harder to the wackiness, this show could have run for 4 or 5 seasons as a laid back, lovable, goofy, Undateable-ish sitcom.

Instead, what sunk Abby's was its focus on the boring and awkward Bill (Nelson Franklin) as the character with a story arc. That gave us insultingly predictable boilerplate plots about crushes, ex-wives, dorky white guys, and relative levels of 'woke'. This is a bad thing in any context, but when there's a perfectly good cast of misfits sitting right there just waiting to perpetrate nonsense at the drop of a hat (or a still-burning grill), it's all too obvious that the showrunners misused every tool in their toolbox. That's why this exactly-average sitcom gets a below-average rating from me.

Cut the laugh track, it's disturbing other than that good start.

Less than five minutes into the pilot and I was bored. Forced jokes - it feels like very other sitcoms from the 80's. A bit unique in that it is filmed "before a live outdoor audience." So why does it feel the laughs are canned like sitcoms from the 70's?

I would like this show to succeed - we need some good comedy shows, but I'm afraid this will need major retooling.