Abby's

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.

I haven't enjoyed a sitcom in years, but watched this by chance and was intrigued. It started bumpy, but by the end seems like it will make for a good show, assuming the producers CAN whomever is forcing the CANNED laughter.

I'll give it another one or two episodes, as I want to like it, but the only genuinely laugh-out-loud funny moment occurred during the credits roll.

Has potential, with a different twist to the typical filmed at a bar sitcom, with a looming protagonist. Refreshing concept, assuming they can let the jokes flow a little better next episode, since the really tense mood should be gone, or at least significantly less looming.

BUT FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY, THE CANNED LAUGHTER MUST GO. THIS WILL KILL THE SHOW SO FAST.

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.

So many good actors yet the story is so forced it's uncomfortable. I love Neil Flynn and have seen Franklin Nelson in many failed pilots. I really like him, but we can't seem to get him in a series that sticks. The outdoor setting is interesting, but when will Hollywood stop with the laugh tracks. Stop telling us when we should laugh and write something we will laugh at! I gave it two full episodes to convince me, but I don't think it's worth my time.

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.