Growing Up Fisher

I'm giving this 2 more stars than I probably should, simply because when this show hits the mark there's nothing else like it. It's too bad it didn't run for more than 13 episodes; then again I can see why it failed to find a large audience - or even consistently appeal to the audience that it found.

JK Simmons has an incredible amount of charisma, even though he doesn't have the classic "pretty boy" good looks of a lot of male stars. He makes the most of it here. All of the actors are very good, especially the one who plays the son (i.e. He's supposed to be the narrator).

Although the series starts out with the blind attorney doing amazing things - most people don't even realize he's blind - they somewhat drop or reduce this premise as the series moves along. I wish they'd stayed with it. Sure it wasn't entirely realistic, but it's a comedy.

In fact, a lack of continuity is a big problem in the show. At the end of the first episode, Mel Fisher says he's going to build a pool for his family, but there's no follow-up of building the pool in later episodes. And as I mentioned, his "superpower" of being aware of things around him despite being blind seems to diminish a bit over the episodes. He meets an attractive female neighbor at one point, they seem to hit it off, but then she's gone for a few episodes. They may have had multiple writers for this show, but they should have at least had an overall guide to keep things more consistent. Maybe the show was rushed into production.

I disagree with a couple of comments regarding Jenna Elfman's character being too young to believably be married to Fisher (Simmons). Simmons was 59 at the time, Elfman was 42, sure that's a big gap. And presumably they married at ages 40 and 23, something like that (based on the daughter's age). But when you realize that Elfman's character is flighty and unsure of herself, it becomes more believable that she'd marry the charismatic and wise older man for stability.

You could even go a step further and imagine that since she's a very attractive woman, she had gotten a lot of attention from men just for her looks. With Mel being blind, she got attention simply for her personality, which may have been important for her at that point in her life.

It's also more believable that she'd divorce him, with her flighty personality and now that she's become middle aged (but now with a man pushing 60, despite his still-strong charisma). And yes, maybe Elfman looks younger than 42, while Simmons looks fully 59, but when you know the actors true ages and understand the characters, it makes sense well enough to enjoy.

Bottom line, this series was great in concept, but ultimately fell apart due to some weak scripts along the way. As well as a lot of inconsistency. Not entirely a missed opportunity though; this show is very rewarding in its own right, it's just that it could have been incredible. Definitely worth a look if you are considering it.

Mel Fisher (J.K. Simmons) is a blind lawyer who often tries to pass. He is divorcing his wife Joyce (Jenna Elfman). Their kids Henry (Eli Baker) and Katie (Ava Deluca-Verley) have to deal with the divorce and their unique family. The show also gets into Henry's best friend Runyen (Lance Lim).

This show started awkwardly with blind Mel passing for seeing. It's filled with stories from writer's life with his blind dad. Even though it may be real, it just sounds fake without being funny. Then there is Jenna Elfman. I don't want to be mean but she's too young and hot for Simmons. I love the guy but Jenna looks 30s even although she's in her 40s. Also the divorce is possibly the nicest one around. It feels like a lot of rough edges got rounded out. The kids are fine and the best character has to be the best friend Runyen. He's the funniest one in the whole cast. This is a functional network TV family sitcom. It's a mid season replacement show that got canceled after its half season run.

"Are you sure you should be driving?" NBC is currently trying a couple of new family centered series of which this is one and the other being About A Boy. Unfortunately, the premise is relatively thin and the show quickly abuses the abilities of the protagonist, Mel Fisher. The premise revolves around Mel Fisher, a blind lawyer, who goes about his life fooling everyone into believing he can see. The protagonist can apparently chop down trees with a chainsaw, teach his daughter to parallel park, leap over other lawyers with a simple bound. The comedy would need to be irreverent and edu for this to have the slightest shot at success. 'instead, it goes for a sappy, feel-good vibe with a voice-over by Jason Bateman. Despite it being based on the creator's actual childhood, the element of truth doesn't make it any less absurd or any more worthy of being a TV show. Just as it's hard to keep up with how many failed sitcoms there have been during mid-seasons, I'm losing track of how many mawkish, barely funny sitcoms these days are drawn from the writer's own family experience and upbringing. Creatively, the story of Me is an awfully stifling place to start. Memoir has its place beyond the page, but sitcoms are usually not it - for the same reasons that family stories you think are so table-poundingly hilarious are difficult to convey to any audience larger than a dinner party. Network execs need to stop indulging this strange habit and ask writers and producers to look for pilot pitches someplace other than their home movies and photo albums: it just isn't funny. For these reasons Growing Up Fisher gets a 2/10.

It is not often that NBC has a good show to play, but this is the best show they have had in a long time. It is funny, witty, and just an overall good show.

It is a show that has caught my attention week after week, this is not an easy task (I have the attention span of a gnat) to grasp my attention.

The only other show I had seen J.K Simmons in was The Closer, it is nice to see him trying to branch out and try new things, he makes a great comic for a comedy. His voice and dialect is just witty.

It is amazing that producers are getting new talent, i.e. Henry and Runyen, to play in these types of shows; instead of using people who have been in many of shows. Props to these producers for giving new actors a chance in their shows.

One of the best things I can think of about this show is the opening, with the song "Tell the World" by Eric Hutchinson, it is a great song to go along with this opening.

If it were up to me, I would renew this show in a heartbeat. Too bad it is in the hands of the critics.

I have said it before and I stand by it, this is the best show that NBC has had in a long time, there are only two shows I watch on this network: Parenthood and Growing Up Fisher. NBC has a winner with this show, could be around for a long time if they can stay out of the teeth of the critics.

Horrible. This is the Golden Age of television (in Cable), but the networks are blind and atrociously obtuse to the opportunities that are given to them every day and which they consistently reject for bland shows that don't take any risks and, because of this, are doomed for cancellation. As more people turn to cable and experience (finally) great television, the networks' shows (especially the comedies) will suffer. "Growing Up Fisher" is a perfect example. The idea of the show is great, but the execution is deeply disappointing. Everything is dumbed down, the jokes feel forced, the narration is ridiculous! If this is really about the creator's childhood, he did an excellent job to skirt any pain, for pain in comedy is always what works best. I love television and hope lackluster shows like these disappear to make room for better creators and writers, and also complicated characters that let actors really act.