Sullivan & Son

Just watched the pilot and second episode and we really enjoyed them! We've always found Steve Brynes' standup funny and thought he did really well in a sitcom role as well. Steve's mother, played by Jodi Long, steals the show. She is flipping hilarious and had us cracking up the entire time she was on screen. As a child of the 80s, I was thrilled to see Dan Lauria as his dad (I always loved him as the dad in the Wonder Years!!). Christine Ebersole is fabulous as the slutty, drunk mom of one of Steve's friends. Rounding out the cast is his neurotic, jealous sister and a group of loser friends from his past ;) everyone's got some of those, right? Really looks like it has some potential to be a good new show!!

I've read a lot of reviews online that don't particularly like the show. It's been labeled as a generic, recycled version of "Cheers." I say...so what? Cheers was a good show. There's so much crap on TV these days, so it's nice to have a show that hearkens back to the old days. You might not fall out of your seat laughing at the jokes on this show, but they'll give you a good chuckle. The plot may be somewhat predictable, but it's still pretty entertaining.

It's like my mom said a few weeks ago...you don't watch Dumb and Dumber to be intellectually stimulated, you don't go see Magic Mike for some life-changing revelation, and you don't watch Sullivan & Son and expect to be amazed. You watch all those to be entertained. And they are entertaining.

At any rate, this show is a CRAP TON better than "Men at Work," TBS's other original sitcom.

I really wanted to like this show. I am a fan of Steve Bryne. He is a very funny guy if you have not seen his stand up check it out on youtube...but I just could not get into the show. I gave it three episodes and gave up. Here is the problem with this show the writers are missing the second act. There should be a first act, a second act, and a third act but with Sullivan and Son there is no second act. They completely skip it sometimes there is not even a third act. For example there was an episode with Steve's best friend where the bar is shut down and he goes off to get a real job. This could be interesting if you actually see him actually working and trying to be a real adult but you really don't see any of that. This is pretty much what happen... hey guys I have a real job now and end of the show hey guys that job was not for me......whats the point of even having that as a storyline if you are going to go in detail with it. Just so you can use it to have a few semi funny one liners? The show does not do enough or involve you enough with the characters and the story for you to enjoy the show.

I was in Austin and saw an advance screening of the pilot. And it's hysterically funny, and it's nice, it's a family run bar, so it has real emotions and laughs. Found myself rooting for all the characters, laughing, and even teared up a little in the end. Great show.

Steve Byrne as the lead, is charming, and one of the better stand-up actors I have seen, when he says, "I want a good life," you believe him and it's moving, rare for a sitcom these days. It has Dan Lauria, the father from Wonder Years, who is great in this, he's the dad you'd want, if he ran a bar. The mother, Jodi Long, is priceless as the Korean mother. Her and the sister Susan get some of the best laughs.

Valerie Azlynn is so cute, sweet, and tough, nice strong woman combination, and she's hysterical. The jokes are funny, and it's daring comedy with the barfly Christine Ebersole as the former groupie, and Brian Doyle-Murray as the old white racist.

All of the friends and patrons of the bar are great too, can't wait to see more.

I grew up on Cheers and Sullivan and Son seems like a failed attempt at that. The only focal point is centered on what's going on in the bar, the character that's always there until closing, the dim-witted character, the guy that knows everything, etc). It has all the makings of Cheers without any of the pizazz and well-thought out characterization.This show would be fine if it was a carbon-copy because Cheers is an iconic show and having a modern version would be great, but there's something severely lacking in this rendition. It's either the fact that we have to be reminded of Steve Byrne's biracial identity (literally each episode, the mother or father will say, "oh but you're half"), the flat punchline, the obnoxious laugh track, or the bad line delivery/bad timing that make this show mediocre at best. Bad timing especially is the show's weakest link.

With other shows you get to know the characters and so when they're suddenly forced into a new situation, it's hilarious because it's so alien. In this show however, they skim the surface of every character and then force them into a situation as if we've known them for years (for example, Owen, the not-so bright character does these amazing things when the bar closes down, but it happens all in one episode. It'd be more witty and satisfying for the audience to see him in each episode come in in different attire. Like, one day he's dressed in a suit and says, "I work for the bank now." or another day he's a post-man, another he's working at the homeless shelter, etc. While I appreciate a show that has an interracial setting (the first of its kind, I think), the script seems rehashed and flat.