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.

I appreciate that the big three networks (NBC, CBS & ABC) are in an increasingly difficult position to produce unique and entertaining content. That said there are some shows, like 9JKL that are just bad. No sorry, its awful. Its plays on tired clichés, simply isn't remotely funny and is at times offensive. Sure there can be surprise hits but who watched the pilot of 9JKL and thought "wow, this is amazing, people will love it"?

No it won't get better with time because the basic premise of the show isn't original or funny. Its tired and hack.

Loved Cliff Calley on The West Wing. Really loved Hank Lawson on Royal Pains. Not loving 9JKL, although Mark's charm and Linda Lavin's quintessential stereotype of the Jewish mother are occasionally fun, in a kind of cringe-moment way. Elliott Gould adds a sweet if bumbling touch as the henpecked dad.

But sad to say that this sit com is the kind of insult to intelligence that made me leave broadcast channel shows years ago. The brother and sister in law are superfluous. Not sure of the purpose for the door man, although the reality check kid is useful. It must be really hard to write good 22 minute comedy.

I'd much rather see Feuerstein bring his charm and humor to another hour long drama that has something significant to say. Sorry, Mark, this show just isn't worthy of your talents.

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.

I'm writing this review after I watched 8 episodes.

This is a SitCom with a fake laugh track, basically about an oppressively loving mother who lives (with her husband) next door of her two 40-ish sons (9J 9K and 9L is the adjacent apartments) and who suffocates with her love the one (and single) son played by Mark Feuerstein.

OK. So it is what it is. That's the TV genre. IMDb is filled with one star reviews because of this. If you hate it (especially the canned laugh), don't watch it. It isn't for you and go watch something else.

BUT for its genre and its format and its typicality... isn't that bad. Isn't great, and by the definition of canned-laugh-sitcoms groundbreaking, but it is an OK show to spend 21 minutes without really caring about deep meanings. The jokes are mild and the situations typical and you can see them coming from a mile away but ...again... that's the genre.

Overall: A mother who suffocates with caring her adult "child" is the epitome of ALL SitComs. So, this is one of those. Not great, not bad either.