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The Kids Are Alright (ABC) - This is only the second time ever (and first since 2012-13) that my favorite comedy is one that was cancelled. The Kids Are Alright was another one in the ABC sitcom machine, but it had a great voice and spirit about it, especially as the season went on. While I'm not devastated to see it go, I do wish I could have seen more adventures of the Clearys in the future. It was set in the 70s, but not as overtly about the decade as The Goldbergs is about the 80s or Schooled is about the 90s. There were perhaps too many kids in the family for the show to develop all the characters, but the ones they did were pretty funny.
RUNNER-UP: Schooled (ABC) - I was pretty skeptical of the 90s-set spinoff of The Goldbergs because the main characters weren't my favorites on the parents series. But AJ Michalka, Tim Meadows, and Bryan Callen are actually better here and the show is little bit of a love letter to teachers, which I like.
Worth Mentioning: Single Parents (ABC)/The Neighborhood (CBS)
Taran Killam, Single Parents (ABC) - Single Parents had its ups and downs in season one, but one of the best parts consistently was Taran Killam as super single dad Will Cooper. In a role that was tailor-made for the SNL alum, Killam shined as a character who is always eager and happy but also showed some depth as the season went along. He developed a great relationship with his on screen daughter, played by Marlow Barkley as well as having some real chemistry with Leighton Meester. The biggest reason Single Parents worked as much as it did was because of Killam.
RUNNER-UP: Cedric the Entertainer, The Neighborhood (CBS) - I thought The Neighborhood would be terrible and it wasn't. It was a standard CBS sitcom, but with better characters and performances. Cedric the Entertainer is pretty restrained in this role and bounces off of Max Greenfield surprisingly well.
Worth Mentioning: Dax Shepard, Bless This Mess (ABC)/Tim Meadows, Schooled (ABC)
Mary McCormack, The Kids Are Alright (ABC) - Mary McCormack's Peggy Cleary was the next great ABC sitcom mom in the tradition of Frankie Heck, Beverly Goldberg, Jessica Huang, and Katy Otto among others. Unfortunately, we won't get to see more of Peggy since The Kids Are Alright lasted only a season. But McCormack made the most of her one year with some truly funny deliveries as the exasperated mother of eight boys. Her dead pan delivery and complete disdain for certain actions of her children made her delightfully funny. She was the best part of The Kids Are Alright.
RUNNER-UP: AJ Michalka, Schooled (ABC) - I was never a huge fan of AJ Michalka's Lainey Lewis on The Goldbergs but as her character was fast forwarded to the future in Schooled, I liked her a lot more. She has a funny rapport with the other teachers and the students and gained some depth to her character.
Worth Mentioning: Leighton Meester, Single Parents (ABC)/Lake Bell, Bless This Mess (ABC)
Brett Dier, Schooled (ABC) - The only "new" character in a four member lead ensemble of Schooled, Brett Dier's CB Brown is a great addition. One of the "saner" members of a zany teaching faculty at William Penn Academy, Dier keeps the show grounded and plays the "nice guy" role well. He plays equally well off of AJ Michalka and their "will they or won't they" dance as he does with the more outrageous Bryan Callen. He truly seems like a young and eager teacher who doesn't know it all yet, but means well.
RUNNER-UP: Neil Flynn, Abby's (NBC) - Neil Flynn has clocked 18 straight seasons on a network sitcom. Though the streak will likely end with Abby's very unlikely to continue, the alum of The Middle and Scrubs brought his consummate professionalism and charm to a show that only got some things right.
Worth Mentioning: Devin Trey Campbell, Single Parents (ABC)/Jack Gore, The Kids Are Alright (ABC)
Pam Grier, Bless This Mess (ABC) - I haven't been completely into Bless This Mess yet, but there are elements I really like. The strongest character through the first couple episodes is Pam Grier as Constance Terry, the "Andy Taylor" of the small Nebraska town portrayed in the series. With a "take charge" attitude but also a midwestern warmth, she serves the role of the smartest one in a town with newbies (like the two main characters) and oddballs (like the rest of the town). If I keep watching Bless This Mess, one reason will be Pam Grier.
RUNNER-UP: Marlow Barkley, Single Parents (ABC) - As the precocious Sophie Cooper, Marlow Barkley was part of a very strong group of young kids on Single Parents. While being the least of a "type," she was the most natural and funny of the group.
Worth Mentioning: Beth Behrs, The Neighborhood (CBS)/Tichina Arnold, The Neighborhood (CBS)
Rel (FOX) - There were a bunch of stinker sitcoms that came on in the fall this year that either felt tired or wildly unfunny or both. Rel was the worst of the bunch. Despite coming from people with some solid credits, Lil Rel Howery's sitcom tried way too hard. The addition of Sinbad to the cast was a bad idea because he has always overacted and now seems to be doing it even more as he gets older. Buried at the end of the FOX Sunday night lineup, not many people saw it after its initial post-NFL preview. I didn't either. Maybe it got better, but I doubt it.
RUNNER-UP: The Cool Kids (FOX) - The other FOX newbie this fall was almost as bad as Rel and perhaps more disappointing given the cast. With a bunch of sitcom veterans set in a retirement home, the show was dumb and shrill. I also couldn't give this more than an episode before giving up on it.
Worth Mentioning: I Feel Bad (NBC)/Happy Together (CBS)
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