Dads

Four men, all so funny in various individual roles, yet, somehow, not at all funny when collocated in one show. I could yak for hours about the talent of Giovani Ribisi and Seth Green.

What happened? It was not simply that the script was bad. It wasn't only the lack of reality in the relationships or even the premise. It was just bad.

There is a laugh track. For some reason, the laugh track commenced at the end of every line and every piece of business from every actor. But I only laughed once. When the lovely Asian-American assistant appeared in a special outfit.

I do not understand why the show felt so contrived and stilted, as though it were a stage play. The laugh track sounded like a track, not a live performance. I hope to see all these actors in different, better productions soon. This show filled me with sadness.

Speaking as a Brit, I like American TV, and I particularly like American sitcoms. I'm not just talking 'The Big Bang Theory' here... I'm talking 'Bilko', 'M*A*S*H, 'Frasier'. Many years, many hours of fun.

This is dreadful. I am bemused that a show like 'Better Off Ted' gets cancelled, and a show like this even gets 1 episode broadcast. Presumably, the networks believe there is an audience for mean-spirited and juvenile 'humour', which has just enough characterization to satisfy a committee of 'executives' who think cynicism is funny.

The Middle is old fashioned and predictable. It is also authentic, well made, beautifully acted... and funny. All of which qualities are not only absent from this show... but are even absent from the idea of this show.

I have only one good thing to say about it... All of a sudden, I have acquired the belief that I could write for television. Thank you to the people responsible for this rubbish, for thinking I can do better than people who get good money for writing poor television.

just a simple silly show that gives a laugh or two hope it is not canceled. no hidden message or agenda in this show take it as it is reminds me of how married with children was in the beginning. hope the show stays compared to what is out there it is good enough to stay on. with all he reality shows and junk on TV it is a relief for there to be some shows that are not politically correct.which to me is refreshing. yes the laugh tracks are a bit much but with all the simple minded people who tweet and believe everything online they need to be reminded when to laugh. so take the show as i is simple and enjoyable for 30 minutes. also martin mull really helps and the character Edna needs a little more lines.

First let me say that I am a huge fan of Macfarlane's Family Guy. Maybe I am a bit tainted but frankly I think that I would like to give this show a bit of a lead and watch a few more episodes. It is obvious that many of the bad reviews posted were the result of the pilot episode. I watched that episode as well and was more than a bit underwhelmed. However, I just finished watching episode 5 and am having a hard time coming down! That episode was hysterical!. I didn't have the opportunity to watch episodes 2 thru 4 thinking I wasn't missing much but now I will use my "On Demand" and get caught up in a hurry. The first thing that struck me was the announcement at the top of the show that it was filmed in front of a live audience. Secondly, MacFarlane's humor was quite evident. This episode could have easily been transposed to a very funny Family Guy moment! Perhaps Seth found it necessary to make his presence known a bit more? Perhaps not? But in any event, I do look forward to getting caught up. If only to see if episode 5 was a fluke!

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I really do enjoy Seth MacFarlane. I think he's a funny dude, capable of capturing the hilarious antics of the now as he demonstrates on "Family Guy" on FOX. His Executive Produced show "Dads" starring the talents of Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi is an atrocious and unfunny take on the father-son dynamic that has been beat to death over the years of raunchy, family sitcoms.

Scribes Maggie Mull, Alec Sulkin, and Wellesley Wild have no concept of what can possibly make these characters interesting. They're almost relying on slapstick comedy to carry the audience through but forgot to put in the slapstick. It falters on every level from the introduction of Eli (Green) and Warner (Ribisi) to their Dads (Martin Mull and Peter Reigert), the only chuckle that emerged from me was a bit about "punch the Puerto Rican" and how it should be the name of a new video game that Warner was working on. And we're talking about a light chuckle.

Why is Vanessa Lachey on this show? She seems so above something like this for some reason. How did this get the green light from FOX? Well, we know exactly why but still, could they not see this was a train wreck waiting to happen? They bridge this live action show with the same humor that makes "Family Guy" so successful with dried movie references along with Mexican cleaning jokes. This works for cartoons, not real life. One note, is the eye candy that is Brenda Song, who you may remember as Andrew Garfield's psycho-girlfriend that sets fire to his room in "The Social Network" – she's fine to look at. Unfortunately, when this show inevitably gets canceled in 30 days time, she'll need to look for her next venture. I much enjoy her stint from time to time on FOX's "New Girl" as Winston's girlfriend.

The show is a disaster. Ribisi is a fine actor, that works well in comedy from time to time as we saw in MacFarlane's "Ted" but subjected to the amateur comedy that is displayed here has to make him rethink his choices in work.

Too bad for words. The first episode is available on FOX's website.

GRADE: ½ (half a star)