Ranking Every New Network Comedy Trailer

We’re always excited about new comedy shows, particular shows putting the spotlight on some of our favorite stand up comedians. Network comedies don’t normally play to our sensibilities, but there have been a few great ones of the years so we are always hopeful.  Here is a ranking of the newly greenlit network comedies, ranked in order of those we’re most interested in seeing- from first to worst

 

REL (Fox)

Sitcoms based on the lives the comedians who star in them can lead to gigantic success or huge fails, and one of the latest in the genre is a new series inspired by the life of comedian Lil Rel Howery.  You know Lil Rel from The Carmichael Show, and from his break out role in the hit movie Get Out.  His new multi-camera comedy follows Rel post-divorce after he caught his wife having an affair with his barber. Set in Chicago, the series stars Howery along with Sinbad, Jess Moore and Jordan L. Jones. Rel is a gigantic talent, and there are some major names working on his show. We can’t wait to see it! 

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THE NEIGHBORHOOD (CBS)

Three words: Cedric the Entertainer.  The trailer is right on the nose here, what will make this special is Cedric.
What happens when the friendliest guy (think live action Ned Flanders) in the Midwest moves his family to a neighborhood in Los Angeles next to a family that’s a bit….crankier?  Cedric the Entertainer stars as Calvin Butler, a blunt next door neighbor, who isn’t very neighborly. Consensus: Could be a hit. And a good one.

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I FEEL BAD (NBC)

From Amy Poehler comes a series that has a solid chance of resonating with moms in 2018. Not heavy on comedian personalities – although you might recognize Zach Cherry from HBO’s Crashing. Perfect supermom-boss-wife-friend-daughter Emet lies at the center of the series who shows that everyone fucks up. Sarayu Blue, Paul Adelstein, James Buckley, Aisling Bea and Johnny Pemberton are also in the cast. Nothing feels bad about the series from the trailer, but nothing feels particularly exciting either other than that the series comes from Amy Poehler.  That alone buys our attention.  Consensus: Our jury is out on this one, but we’ll give it a chance.

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THE COOL KIDS (Fox)

The chances that The Cool Kids will actually be great are slim.  We’ve seen too many attempts to gather a large group of legendary talents- particularly in their later years-  fail.  The name isn’t great, the trailer narration feels like a parody sketch and the premise feels like bad news. The multi-cam series takes place in a retirement community, where the badass gang who rule the retirement home get unseated by a newcomer.  So the premise, eh.  But when one of the talents is Martin Mull, and he’s working with Vicky Lawrence, and David Alan Grier is on board, we are definitely interested. Charlie Day is in the EP seat.  There might be a chance.  Consensus:  Not optimistic, but hopeful.

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HAPPY TOGETHER (CBS)

Damon Wayans Jr. and Amber Stevens West are a happily married couple who realize they’ve lost something when a hot young pop star has to hide out and asks if he can move in with them while the heat dies down.  If this sounds like the premise of a Flintstones episode, you’re probably right.  Consensus: This has potential to hit with network audiences but we’re not feeling it. 

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MURPHY BROWN (CBS)

No trailer yet, but this little mini-documentary is enough to make us have some interested in the Murphy Brown reboot.  We get to see interviews with Murphy Brown, Frank Fontana, Miles Silverberg and Corky Sherwood as they tell us why they’re coming back to FYI. Do we need a return to Murphy Brown? Maybe not, but damn everyone looks and sounds great.  We’d rather see new shows, but if we’ve got to put up with reboots, Murphy Brown is a good one to go with.  Consensus: We’ll check it out. 

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SINGLE PARENTS (ABC)

SNL’s Taran Killam co-stars with Brad Garrett in this school-based sitcom about single parents who stick together trying to navigate raising their kids. Taran Killam’s character has lost sight of his manhood while raising his daughter alone. He’s the new kid in town.  Leighton Meester, Kimrie Lewis, Jake Choi, and Marlow Barkley co-star in the ensemble comedy. Consensus:  Feels trope-y. We’ll sit this one out. 

 

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THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT (ABC)

Does this feel like something that already exists?  Yeah, it does.  Working class parents in an Irish-Catholic family trying to raise their kids in the 70’s.  Narration full of “remember when we used to…”.  We’ve seen it all before and done better. Consensus: No.

 

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RETURN OF LAST MAN STANDING (ABC)

Tim Allen as Mike Baxter, a married father of three girls, keeps the “man being manly” shtick going for Allen. The series ran for six years, got the boot, and then got pulled out the trash compactor once Roseanne started to hit. The series also stars Nancy Travis, Jonathan Adams, Amanda Fuller, Christoph Sanders and Jordan Masterson.  Consensus: Pass.

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Two other comedy series have yet to get trailers.  Fam, a multicamera comedy for CBS  stars Nina Dobrev whose dream life gets disrupted when her trainwreck half sister comes to live with her. Tone Bell co-stars as Nina’s man.  The Goldbergs spinoff Schooled will star AJ Michalka, Tim Meadows and Bryan Callan for ABC.

 

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