Lucky 7's: Fall Comedies

By Steven Zang

If laughter really is the best medicine, then prime-time is working hard to be your weekly prescription.

This fall, networks like NBC, CBS and Fox are ready to introduce a new line of comedy formats that promise to tickle your fancy, from twists on American history to a primitive being that’s animated for a live-action world. Nevertheless, if television corporations have taught us anything nowadays, it’s that shows can air a finale as quickly as a pilot, constantly cancelling and holding out for what they hope to be the next “Friends” or the next “Big Bang Theory”.

Whatever that choice may be this upcoming fall season, it provokes us, the audience, to be vigilant with the shows that we start to fall for. We do not want to become emotionally-tangled with a family of troubled characters, only to lose them with the drop of a dime. It’s an unnerving factor that makes it difficult to even enjoy prime-time in the first place; why give your time and support to something that might leave you in the long run?

And that’s where we come in.

Here are the “Lucky 7” fall comedies that might actually win us over for 30 minutes each week, as well as build a sturdy-enough foundation against the turbulence of prime-time’s scrap season:

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7) Kevin Can Wait

Even though this show might make it through the slimmest cracks of cancellation, it’s all for one reason and one reason only: Kevin James. Ever since the wildly-popular sitcom The King of Queens came to a gratifying end back in 2007, James has been absent from the small screen, making notable appearances in a sturdy string of Adam Sandler’s more recent comedies. Nevertheless, he is back (and better than ever) in this comedy about a retired cop’s misadventures as a full-time patriarch in Long Island. Hence, don’t you worry; Kevin seems to be worth the wait.

6) The Mick

This comedy appears to be one of this upcoming fall’s “underdogs”. Its biggest star is actress Kaitlin Olsen, a veteran of FX’s cult-followed It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Just finishing up its critically-acclaimed 11^th season, it’s a no-brainer for Fox to have her at the helm of the wheel. Developed by Dave and John Chernin (also vets of Sunny), this offbeat show focuses on the rough and unpleasant Mackenize Murphy as she takes on babysitting her gold-digging sister’s three spoiled children. The Mick seems to stray off the beaten path of the standard sitcom, similar to the show that it claims to branch out of. And it’s for this reason that I believe that things look more than sunny for this new series.

5) Making History

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the brains behind The Lego Movie and Fox’s much-beloved The Last Man on Earth, have two new series on their slate for Fall 2016. However, out of the two, this one moves prime-time forward by bringing itself back in time. The comedy focuses on Dan Chambers (Adam Pally), a computer science professor from Massachusetts who develops a duffle bag-gone-time machine to go back to the American Revolution. However, when he begins to rearrange history for the sake of his colonial girlfriend (played by Leighton Meester), he brings on history teacher Chris Parish (Yassir Lester) to help him set things straight. It’s a stint of creativity that allows for a wide range of humor for an even wider audience (not just your typical history buff). Thus, it might not make history, but it definitely might make it to season 2.

4) Speechless

Let me start by saying that ABC is a sucker for targeted family sitcoms. While Fresh Off the Boat tackles the average struggles of an Asian-American immigrant family, the widely-popular Blackish follows similar suit for African Americans. However, Speechless is unique in its own special way. Starring TV/film veteran Minnie Driver and newcomer Micah Fowler, it sheds a comedic light on the daily obstacles of a family with a special-needs child. What makes this sitcom stand out is how it uses humor to leave you forgetting about the show’s main focus. It’s not depressing or degrading in any way, shape or form. In actuality, it draws sympathy in how this family stands as a beacon of unconditional love and support, which is why I believe that it stands a chance against ABC’s standardized norm. Without being too tacky, it’s truly enough to leave you speechless.

3) The Great Indoors

Joel McHale, known for his memorably off-branded humor on both E’s The Soup and NBC’s Community, stars as an acclaimed reporter for an outdoorsy magazine who is forced to manage the office’s stereotypical tech geeks after an unexpected injury. Even though Joel McHale is a selling point in this sitcom, what is to be expected is a brand of comedy that meshes contemporary dependency on technology with cynicism to spare. It’s sarcastic. It’s dry. And it’s one of CBS’s best contenders for renewal.

2) Son of Zorn

If Fox is attempting to “push the envelope” with their upcoming slate of fall sitcoms, then Son of Zorn is most certainly the cherry on top. Being Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s third project for the network, the single-camera comedy follows Zorn, a fantasy-driven brute who wants to rekindle his relationship with his conventionally-civilized son. The twist? Zorn is animated among a completely live-action cast. With Zorn being voiced by SNL alumni Jason Sudekis, the show finds a distinctive personality in this format, taking notes from 1988’s monumental Who Framed Roger Rabbit and throwing in a barbaric spin. Even just based on the trailer, Son of Zorn is equally as quick-witted as it is original. It has the credentials to be highly successful, putting itself on a primitive pedestal among the other rivals in this category.

1) The Good Place

This fall, NBC is taking on the afterlife with a more complex afterthought: Who’s to say that it’s the right place?

Michael Schur, the creator/writer for some of the most memorable and hailed sitcoms of all-time, including The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, is stepping back from mockumentary-style comedy to bring audiences the newest addition to his repertoire, The Good Place. This ingenious comedy tests both our morals and our ability to laugh, following a young woman named Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) who is sent to the “good place” after being struck by a tractor trailer. Nonetheless, when her guide Michael (Ted Danson) mentions her selling points for being accepted to the good place, she quickly realizes that she has been confused with someone of the same name. This sitcom follows Eleanor’s journey towards self-mindfulness and how she must decide between playing this other justly woman or come clean with her flaws.

The Good Place has everything you’d want from a new comedy: a clever concept, even more clever wordplay, a hilarious cast, and the perfect producer to back it up. It’s enough to shake up NBC’s Thursday night line-up, as well as put our worrisome minds at ease. In other words, this one is in too good of a place to be going anywhere.