Friday

Fox's 'Luis,'
WB's 'Like Family'

'Luis' has potential, but 'Family' is too bland

By John Rash

“Luis,” Fox, Friday at 8:30 p.m.

The concept of a Puerto Rican Archie Bunker in a Spanish Harlem doughnut shop should make for crisp comedy. But a sorry script creams Luis Guzman as the pilot's pens serve up a baker's dozen worth of predictable gags and resulting punch lines.

What does work, however, is the subtle, slow burn of Luis as he tries to make peace in a neighborhood that resembles the member states of the United Nations. Fox is reportedly bringing in a new writing team led by the talented Matt Goldman to rescue Guzman and “Luis.” Which is good news, since a rewritten Luis could be a sweet treat when paired with Wanda Sykes' "wake up and smell the coffee" persona on “Wanda at Large,” “Luis'” lead-in program.

“Like Family,” WB, Friday at 8:30 p.m.

Just like the American family at large, “Like Family” recognizes that diversity is changing the melting pot into a gorgeous mosaic. Denying this demographic destiny is not only bad politics (the nets narrowly averted a NAACP boycott a few years back) but bad strategy, as viewers like to see their experiences reflected on screen - witness the racial response to UPN's Monday night comedies or Fox News' every night commentary.

Perhaps in response, the WB has cast not just one, but two sitcoms featuring blacks and whites living under the same roof. The first one is “Like Family,” the second, "All about the Andersons." So "Like Family" is perhaps politically correct. But "Like Family" isn't, like, funny, and that's still the point of most comedies. Instead, it plays like a version of ABC's TGIF lineup, with the standard jokes about standard sitcom situations (and in the pilot, too many jokes about an American Standard toilet). And by so carefully avoiding any talk of race in a race to move beyond the issue, “Like Family” misses some cultural clashes that could be comic fodder.
Overall, “Like Family” is an earnest attempt to discover the diversity already happening in the WB's viewers' lives. And despite the poor execution, “Like Family” should be able to convince enough Nielsen families, as the show follows “Reba,” the WB's lone comedy hit.

For past Media Life reviews of the new fall shows, click below.

ABC's "Threat Matrix"

UPN's "All of Us," "Rock Me Baby"

UPN's "Eve"

WB's "All About the Andersons"

WB's "Steve Harvey's Big Time"
WB's "Run of the House"
UPN's "The Mullets"

UPN's "Jake 2.0"

NBC's "Whoopi"
NBC's "Happy Family"

A.J. Livsey's fall season overview

- John Rash is the director of broadcast negotiations for Campbell Mithun in Minneapolis and teaches Mass Media and Popular Culture at the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism and Mass Communications. His program commentary is excerpted from "Media Impressions," his analysis of the new fall TV season.

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