The Chris Gethard Show

If your family drama cannot be "Modern Family" or "Brothers and Sisters," then what can it be? It almost inevitably will be NBC's "Parenthood," a mid-season, post-Olympic experiment boldly launched in February, 2010. The "Parenthood" experiment tests the hypothesis that good writers and actors can find the middle ground between "Modern Family's" understated but outrageous satire and "Brothers and Sisters'" intensity. Producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are re-working the basic premise of Parenthood, the 1989 movie starring Steve Martin as a frazzled father trying with all his might to do the right thing for everyone he loves. The New York Times accurately observes, "'Parenthood,' with its polished scripts and beautifully shot exteriors, seems like a last gasp of television past," big-big production values and a cast of small-screen all-stars including Craig T. Nelson, Bonnie Bedelia, and Lauren Graham. "Parenthood's" plots and dialogue exploit the irony in everyday family life, winning empathetic laughs and wry smiles where other teams might push too hard for punchlines. Some of the dialogue has the same brilliant serrated edge that distinguished "Gilmore Girls," but, as Lauren Graham points out, "I do not have to talk so fast." Like all good comedy, the teasing and quirkiness are fundamentally good-natured, and every episode features at least one weep-worthy segment. Because "Parenthood" is not "Modern Family" or "Brothers and Sisters," it has become the rarest of rare productions at NBC"”a hit.

For all the right reasons, "Community" has become one of the mainstays in NBC's comedy line-up. During its first season, "Community" focused on attorney Jeff Winger, disbarred after the accreditation committee discovered his undergraduate degree was from Colombia the country, not the university. Determined to win reinstatement in his old profession, Winger enrolls in community college, forming a Spanish-class study group which includes, among others, a cynical divorcee and a mid-life millionaire who made his money in moist towelettes. "Community" bravely exploits the ethnic and economic diversity in the study group, showing its gifts as an equal opportunity satirizer. The writers also have courage to wring big laughs from realistic representation of life and attitudes in "junior college." During the second season, "Community" had large and loyal enough following to encourage writers' development of plots centered on characters other than Winger, and they developed some of their best material by focusing on the dynamics of the group itself. Every member of "Community's" all-star ensemble cast has impeccable comedy or small-screen credentials: Chevy Chase's resume, of course, reads simply "legend." Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Yvette Nicole Brown, and the rest of the cast bring a combined gazillion years of small-screen experience into the mix, and they have imprinted their distinctive styles on their roles. Similarly, all the partners in the production team boast high-powered Hollywood pedigrees and trophy cases full of Emmys. If "Community" had gone dark after the first thirteen episodes, television sets all over North America would have gone straight to test-patterns, because NBC writers and producers would have abandoned all hope for traditional sit-coms' futures.

NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly features musical performers, interviews with well known celebrities, plus some topical documentary style programming, all within a half hour format. It has been delegated to super late night (actually early early morning viewing) and follows after a strong lineup which includes The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. This is Daly's 11th season of late night entertainment and some recent guests include Make Believe The Black Angels, Adam Blackstone, Adam Pally, and Ben Schwartz. While Leno and O'Brien have switched their time slots Carson Daly has been solidly in place and earning even more ratings points thanks to discourse between other late night hosts. The documentary segments take Daly out of the studio and on the road to places like Tom Green's home in the Hollywood Hills or on a motorcycle road trip along historic Route 66. Musically and documentary style is a visit to the famous Whiskey Bar and visit with Kings of Leon (Grammy award winning band).

"Psych TV Show" features slick psychic crime-fighter with no psychic gifts. Unlike most basic cable networks, USA has generated many of its own hit shows on the strength of excellent characters and situations enhanced by exceptional writing. As bigger networks go into hibernation between seasons, USA wisely introduces its powerhouse programming. Among the network's original scripted dramas, "Psych TV show" has become one of the favorites. Walking the margin between crime drama and satire with tongue very deeply in cheek, "Psych TV series" stars James Roday as a fast-talking, exceptionally observant private investigator who manages to persuade the Santa Barbara police that he actually is a psychic. The backstory shows the tension between father and son, and it emphasizes how dad trained Shawn to pay attention to the most minute details, coincidences, and anomalies in everything he observes. Acute powers of observation easily pass for mystic revelations, and a healthy dose of wise-cracking charisma seals the deal. Over the objections of his disapproving police officer father, law enforcement officials reluctantly hire Shawn Spencer, psychic, to assist with solving their most challenging cases. Of course, Spenser and his reluctant sidekick Gus, brilliantly brought to life by Dule Hill, succeed where others fail.

Broad City is a television series that aired on Comedy Central from 2014 to 2019. The show was created by and stars Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, who also wrote and directed many of the episodes. The series follows the misadventures of two best friends, Abbi and Ilana, as they navigate their 20s in New York City.

Returning to television as the star of ABC's "Mr. Sunshine," Matthew Perry faces two formidable challenges: First, he must out-grow, live-down, or crawl out of his intimate association with Chandler, his legendary "Friends" persona. Second, Perry and co-star Allison Janney must inspire their audience to forget "Mr. Sunshine" replaces Courtney Cox's hit "Cougar Town." Perry and Jenny benefit from writers' and producers' wonderfully quirky visions of their characters and unusual situation. Perry plays Ben, a character potentially as memorable as Chandler but with far greater depth and much richer melancholy mid-life undertones. Operations Manager of The Sunshine Center, a run-down San Diego arena, home of the circus and lingerie football, Ben learns on his fortieth birthday that his girlfriend is leaving him because he is so thoroughly self-involved he has no love left over for anyone else. Jenny plays Crystal, the arena's pill-popping owner who could become America's next favourite villain on the strength of her thinly veiled racism and despise of children, except that Jenny's consummate skill as an actress redeems her. One Los Angeles reviewer wisely concludes, "["Mr. Sunshine"] isn't perfect; and it won't change the landscape of comedic television right away, even though it's part of a game-changing three-hour comedy block for ABC. But it is taking all of the important steps in the right direction." If "Mr. Sunshine" seems a little wobbly at first, viewers should remember "Cougar Town's" first-episode identity crisis, allowing lots of latitude for Perry's and "Mr. Sunshine's" rapid evolution.