‘Sheldon’ tops CBS parade of sitcoms
CBS is lucky to have “The Big Bang Theory,” because it is such a ratings stalwart, the network can move it almost anywhere and viewers will follow. The show has been shifted around so much, it should be on roller skates.
CBS will use “Big Bang’s” 11th season premiere on Monday, Sept. 25, as a lead-in for one of its new comedies, the “Big Bang” spinoff “Young Sheldon.” Then, after a few weeks, both shows will move to Thursdays.
“Young Sheldon” is the strongest of three comedies premiering on CBS Sept. 25 and Oct. 2. It is, of course, a prequel of the network’s enduring ensemble hit, giving us a look at uber-nerd Sheldon Cooper when he was just a super-intelligent kid in East Texas. Narrated by Jim Parsons, the sitcom was created by
Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro and stars impossibly adorable Iain Armitage as a 9-year-old in 1989 who is about to enter high school, much to the displeasure of his older jock brother, George Cooper Jr. (Montana Jordan).
Just like the annoying but likable misfit he’ll become in a few years, young Sheldon can’t resist pointing out that his classmates have not followed the dictates of the school dress code and that his female teacher has a faint mustache.
There is a distinct tonal difference between “Young Sheldon” and “Big Bang.” The new show is much more a traditional family-focused show, and the humor is accordingly cleaner. Although there’s no question that Sheldon is often the dominant member of the “Big Bang” core, the show is still an ensemble effort and, frankly, we might have had our fill of Sheldon a long time ago if someone hadn’t had the brilliant idea to cast Mayim Bialik as his long-suffering love interest.
“Young Sheldon” is nicely cast, but it’s even more about the title character, and young Armitage acquits himself well, not to mention he’s cute as a bug. Also notable is Zoe Perry as Sheldon’s mother, Mary. If she sounds a lot like a younger version of Laurie Metcalf, who plays Mary in guest spots on “Big Bang,” it’s because she’s a good actress and Metcalf ’s real-life daughter.
“Me, Myself & I” is lucky to have as a lead-in “Kevin Can Wait,” returning for its second season on Sept. 25, because it may take a while, if ever, for it to click with audiences. Created by Dan Kopelman, it attempts to capture the lightning in the bottle that is NBC’s “This Is Us,” but in a smaller bottle.
The concept of the show is that we follow Alex Riley as a kid, a young man and an older man. He is played by Jack Dylan Grazer at 14, Bobby Moynihan as a newly divorced 40-yearold trying to get his life together again in the present day, and John Larroquette as an older, wiser businessman and inventor some time in the future.
The pilot episode skips back and forth from one Alex to another like a three-way tennis match, making it challenging to get a purchase on the half-hour sitcom in one sitting. Added to that is the fact that you never quite shake the idea that there’s no way Grazer would age into Moynihan, or either of them would age into Larroquette.
There’s another problem with the structure: It’s hard to worry about whatever challenges young and middle-aged Alex will face because we know how he will turn out. “Me, Myself & I” is — or should that be “are”?— overthought.
The CBS Monday game plan will be complete, for now, when “9JKL” premieres on Oct. 2. If there were more interesting content in “9JKL” to hook my attention, I might not be obsessing on how you actually speak the name of the show. I want to say “Nine Jekyll” so badly, but I know each letter and the one number are to be pronounced individually.
The show has a great cast and good intentions. Mark Feuerstein and Dana Klein, married in real life, created the show based on their dating experience when Feuerstein lived in an apartment between his parents’ place and his brother’s.
Feuerstein plays Josh Roberts, an actor who had an early success playing the title role in a TV show called “Blind Cop” but who has given up looking for work in Los Angeles and has moved back to New York City. His parents are overjoyed, not to mention overbearing. His mother, Judy, (Linda Lavin), treats him as though he’s a 15-year-old. His father, Harry (Elliott Gould), dithers around in a state of minor befuddlement all the time, asking inappropriate questions in the company of others and allowing various parts of his nether regions to unfurl in the wind because he doesn’t bother with trousers all the time.
Josh’s brother, Andrew (David Walton), is a successful surgeon and married to Eve (Liza Lapira), so that just makes Judy all the more determined to get her other son hitched to someone mama approves of.
The show’s premise is that Josh reunites with Christine (Klein), whom he knew from college. They hit it off, but dating is challenged by the constant, meddling presence of his parents and brother.
The show has promise, but as great as Gould and Lavin are, there’s too much of them in the pilot. The show is out of balance and needs to broaden its playing field to become more of an ensemble. Granted, sharing a scene with either Gould or Lavin, or both, is going to be a challenge for any actor, but the show has promise.
By the way, when did Elliott Gould become Jack Gilford?