Now That’s What I Call Network TV Part 2: The Sitcoms
While network dramas are enjoying a renaissance moment thanks to the success of Matlock and High Potential and the not-success-but-undeniable-batshittery of Doctor Odyssey, the four new fall network sitcoms are largely attempts to capitalize on known quantities. Only one of them, Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage, is a direct extension of a previous show, but Poppa’s House and Happy’s Place (Poppa’s Place? Happy’s House?) are both designed primarily as showcases for established comedy stars. And to be fair, that model works — Reba McEntire and the Wayans family can walk onto a set and create energy without breaking a sweat, and that’s enough to make both these shows feel strong off the jump.
The biggest question of the year is St. Denis Medical. It has the most room for growth, especially given the bona fides of creators Eric Ledgin and Justin Spitzer and its onscreen talent. But its mockumentary format feels a little plug-and-play, and it has not yet nailed the combination of interpersonal warmth and laughing into the void of corporate America that defined Spitzer’s earlier series. Still, that gap between the reality and the potential is what makes St. Denis the most exciting new sitcom of the fall. It’s not great yet, but it could be.
Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage
Network: CBS
Premise: Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage is the third oil well CBS has drilled into the Sheldon Cooper Sitcom Reservoir. This one is a sequel to a prequel — after the events of Young Sheldon, Sheldon’s older brother Georgie marries his 12-years-older girlfriend Mandy after getting her pregnant. They have a new baby named Cece, and they’ve moved in with Mandy’s parents while Georgie builds his career at a tire company.
What it will remind you of in a good way: Anyone with a carry-over fondness for the Cooper family will have some inherent good feelings toward Georgie. It will also remind you, fondly, that good sitcoms are hard to make.
What it will remind you of in a bad way: Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage may call to mind the unfortunate challenges of the Star Wars cinematic universe, where one or two beloved characters have somehow created a series of canon events that hem in every other attempt to build stories within the same family tree.
Notable features: For a sitcom made by Chuck Lorre, it’s surprising how stilted the first several episodes are. Pauses that should be tense comedic moments instead feel like accidental hiccups. It is also deliberately, willfully nostalgic, to the point of having a bit of a chip on its shoulder. In the opening scene, Mandy’s father Jim (Will Sasso) watches TV and talks about how much he prefers shows that have laughter in them so that he can know when the show is being funny. That’s a fun little comment on Young Sheldon, which was a single-cam (thus no laugh track), but it’s not to Georgie and Mandy’s benefit that there are other new multi-cams this season where being funny is not as much of a struggle.
How long it should run: One season
How long it will run: It’s a spinoff of Young Sheldon. Presumably, we’ll have plenty of time to witness the end of this first marriage and hang on through many more marriages to come.
Happy’s Place
Network: NBC
Premise: Reba! It’s Reba. The premise is Reba McEntire returning to network sitcoms, and Happy’s Place is a valiant effort to create a show to support that central goal. She plays Bobbie, a woman grieving her father while also looking forward to taking full control of the tavern he owned. Except, surprise, she has a much younger half-sister named Isabella, who’s inherited half of the titular Happy’s Place bar. They’re strangers, but they’re also sudden sisters and business partners.
What it will remind you of in a good way: Reba McEntire’s good at being on television. She’s even better when the cast around her can play their roles with her level of ease, and this show has not gotten there yet. But Happy’s Place has the familiar multi-cam cadences of a classic ’90s sitcom.
What it will remind you of in a bad way: It’s tough going when the star and premise of your sitcom instantly evokes two beloved older shows: Reba and also Cheers.
Notable features: Because Reba is Reba, Happy’s Place is really defined by its other leads and secondary characters. Melissa Peterman’s Gabby lets the show do a Reba reunion, and it’s to her significant credit that comparative newbie Belissa Escobedo isn’t instantly swallowed up by the Reba/Peterman duo. But none of the minor characters feel distinctive enough yet. Emmett the cook (Rex Linn), Steve the accountant (Pablo Castelblanco), and Takoda the waiter (Tokala Black Elk) are little more than ornamental flourishes at this point, and the show won’t feel lived-in until those characters become more than just a collection of quirks.
How long it should run: Two seasons? Enough time to be fond of it but also to let this idea run its course.
How long it will run: As long as Reba McEntire wants it to run.
Poppa’s House
Network: CBS
Premise: Damon Wayans is a radio DJ who gets stuck with a new (female!) co-host in order to revitalize his show — and they have to be podcasters now. Damon Wayans Jr. is his son, who’s stuck working for his father-in-law’s foam-roller company even though he longs for a Hollywood career. Cross-generational misunderstandings and lessons take place via multi-cam format.
What it will remind you of in a good way: TV comedies just love a radio host, don’t they? Poppa’s House is not at original Frasier-level radio-hosting level, but it does make it up to Frasier-reboot level.
What it will remind you of in a bad way: If you’re a TV watcher who enjoys cultish network comedies of the last 15 years, it is impossible to watch Damon Wayans Jr. in a sitcom and not long for the halcyon days of Happy Endings. There’s no way around it; we all just have to celebrate what we once had and accept that it was too good to last.
Notable features: The big draw of Poppa’s House is the chemistry between Wayans and Wayans Jr., and it is a legitimate draw — the hardest thing about a sitcom is developing good chemistry in the early episodes, and the father-son dynamic here has am ease that allows Poppa’s House to muscle its way through the awkward expositional beats inevitable to a sitcom’s first several episodes. Essence Atkins and Tetona Jackson both make strong counterparts to the respective Wayanses, and Jackson in particular is able to pull off the rhythm of a sitcom scene in a way that feels human and lived-in.
How long it should run: This one could hang out for a while! It’ll need to introduce more conflict than it currently has, because right now, it’s coasting mostly on Goofy Wayans Interactions, but if it can figure out a deeper well to tap into occasionally, it could hang out for three seasons.
How long it will run: It’s a CBS sitcom! This thing could go for five years or more if they wanted it to.
St. Denis Medical
Network: NBC
Premise: Employees in the emergency department at a small, underfunded hospital in Oregon are perpetually frustrated by the lack of resources and stressed by life-or-death circumstances, but they’re also just regular people dealing with mundane workplace nonsense. Allison Tolman is a workaholic nursing manager; David Alan Grier is one of the senior emergency-department physicians; Wendi McLendon-Covey is the hospital administrator.
What it will remind you of in a good way: You know how you loved Superstore, and maybe you were also one of the few people who watched American Auto? (Which was finally finding its feet before being canceled, sadly!) St. Denis Medical is also from creator Justin Spitzer and shares a lot of the same DNA — it’s a mockumentary, and it’s a workplace show heavily inflected with commentary on contemporary corporate dynamics.
What it will remind you of in a bad way: You know how you loved Superstore? And a lot of what you loved about it was how long those characters were stuck together, and how fun it was to see their dynamics shift and grow over time? St. Denis has not had that kind of time yet, and it has not fully gelled. It could! American Auto was very fun by the end of its first season. But it’s not there yet.
Notable features: Allison Tolman! David Alan Grier! Kaliko Kauahi! Mekki Leeper, whom you’re going to look at and think, Now, where do I know him from? (Probably Jury Duty.) St. Denis has all the qualities necessary to become a great network sitcom, but its tonal balance hasn’t quite clicked yet. The magic of a show like Scrubs, which is another one of the big “what it will remind you of” comps, was in its ability to swing fully absurdist and emotionally heavy within the same scene. St. Denis is going for a more grounded approach, but it’ll do better when it can lean more fully into some wild emotional swings.
How long it should run: It’d be so, so nice for a show like this to actually have enough runway to relax, wouldn’t it? Four seasons? Lots of wiggle room?
How long it will run: This feels like an on-the-bubble season-two renewal show. Let’s hope it makes the leap.
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