PILOT REVIEW: Mixed-ish

MIXED-ISH

Starring: Tika Sumpter, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Christina Anthony, Arica Himmel, Ethan William Childress, Myka-Michelle, Tracee Ellis Ross and Gary Cole

Created by Kenya Barris, Peter Saji & Tracee Ellis Ross
Teleplay by Kenya Barris & Peter Saji, Story by Kenya Barris, Peter Saji & Tracee Ellis Ross, Directed by Anton L. Cropper

There are only a couple sitcoms in history that can boast that they have had multiple spinoffs. The ones that come to mind are The Andy Griffith Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers, All in the Family and Happy Days. That's a pretty iconic list of shows and not a list that I am convinced Black-ish deserves to be a part of. But here we are and Black-ish has spun-off a second show. This time, it's a prequel set in the 1980s and starring Young Bow (Arica Himmel).

The episode started with a longer than necessary scene featuring the characters from Black-ish. I know it's purpose was to connect the two shows and set up the plot to Mixed-ish but I would have made it about half as long. It felt like I was settling in to watch an episode of Black-ish instead of a new show that really is quite different. It actually has much more of a similar feel to The Goldbergs, not just with its 80s setting but also with its sentimentality. With that much Black-ish (there was also a short scene at the end), I felt like Mixed-ish got short changed in an episode that already only runs about 21 minutes.

I really do have a soft spot for ABC family sitcoms. They have given me many happy hours of TV watching over the last decade. But I sometimes feel as if they're all just incredibly similar. There are things I love about Mixed-ish and I'll get to that in a moment, but I also am starting to feel like these are as formulaic as a crime procedural. That makes me a little sad but maybe it's a sign that I need to start cutting a few of them out of my lineup. Anyway, enough soul searching and back to Mixed-ish. I really like the idea of where Bow came from being a story because I think the idea of mixed race kids from a commune is pretty clever. I hope we get to see more of a glimpse into the commune in future episodes because I think there's a lot of comedy to be mined from that.

There are some strong performances. Arica Himmel seems to be well-cast as Young Bow even if her siblings (Mykal-Michelle Harris and Ethan William Childress) are a little bit obnoxious, though Harris got a couple funny lines. Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Tika Sumpter are strong as Bow's parents. I think Gosselaar is a good actor who has been saddled with a lot of flops recently so I hope this one works out for him. Gary Cole seems like a potential scene stealer as Bow's rich grandfather. All the elements are there for Mixed-ish, but what will make it stand out among the ABC family comedies?

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Yes. Maybe something's gotta give with my ABC family comedies, but this definitely deserves more than one episode.