Extended Family

Laughs emerge, amid crime-soaked Tuesdays

So you’re looking for a little fun on a Tuesday. You flip on your TV at 8 p.m. and find – well, the FBI … and the GBI … and some drug-dealers.
Clearly, there’s a void here for NBC’s only comedies to fill. “Night Court” (shown here) and “Extended Family” face CBS’ “FBI,” ABC’s “Will Trent” (a Georgia Bureau of Investigation cop) and Fox’s “The Cleaning Lady.” Alongside that tough turf, we get: Read more…

Cryer’s back in his lane, playing a divorced dad

By now, Jon Cryer should be expert on divorce, with all its potential for comedy or drama.
Like many people, he’s a child of divorce and an adult who divorced. Unlike most, he has a mother who wrote a musical partly about divorce. Also, he spent a dozen years playing a divorced dad on CBS.
Now he’s back and in full comedy mode. “Extended Family” (shown here) debuts at about 8 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 23), after football, on NBC, becoming the first show in TV’s staggered, post-strike comeback..That opener reruns at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, with new episodes starting a week later.
This is a tale of a modern-day, amicable splits. Jim (Cryer, right) and Julia (Abigail Spencer) alternate weeks at their home, allowing their daughter and son to stay put. Read more…