Extended Family - General Discussion

[AnimeMania]

Extended Family is a 13 episode Comedy TV Series airing on December 23, 2023 on NBC at 8pm, before moving to it's regularly scheduled day and time of Tuesday, January 2, 2024 at 8:30pm for episode 2.                       

Jim and Julia, after an amicable divorce, decide to continue to raise their kids at the family home while taking turns on who gets to stay with them. Navigating the waters of divorce and child-sharing gets more complicated for Jim when Trey, the owner of his favorite sports team, enters the picture and wins Julia’s heart.

Donald Faison as Trey, a MIT graduate, owner of the Boston Celtics (Jim's favorite team) and Julia’s new fiancé

Abigail Spencer as Julia, the successful owner of a crisis management firm

Jon Cryer as Jim, a good-natured, sarcastic, yet sincere, corporate compliance officer who gets along famously with everyone, even his ex-wife

Sofia Capanna as Grace, daughter of Jim and Julia

Finn Sweeney as Jimmy Jr., son of Jim and Julia 

[AnimeMania]

S01.E01: Pilot

Jim, a recently divorced dad, seeks the help of his ex-wife and her boyfriend in regards to a mishap with a pet goldfish. The unexpected results of this trio’s solution deepens the bonds of their still forming, unconventional co-parenting arrangement.

Premiere Date: Saturday, December 23, 2023     NBC    8pm 

Next New Episode: (Regular Timeslot): January 2, 2024      NBC    8:30pm              

[Johannah]

Didn't they do this show already where the parents took turns sleeping in the garage or something?

Doesn't really sound that good, but, you know, yay? , new show?  I'll give it a try.

[SoMuchTV]

Eh, maybe I’m just in a mood, but I’ll admit I laughed. 

[Cress]

The goldfish story was ok, if silly for a 13 year old. But the rambling backstory about Trey and his "redheaded stepchild" comment was stupid. Plus I hate the group addressing the camera.

[DanaK]

On 12/25/2023 at 9:28 AM, Cress said:

Plus I hate the group addressing the camera.

Definitely hate that

[ams1001]

Not sure how I feel about this show...all I could think was, "that fishbowl is way too small....and moving it around so much can't be good for the fish, either."

 

Edited December 27, 2023 by ams1001

[ams1001]

On 12/25/2023 at 9:28 AM, Cress said:

Plus I hate the group addressing the camera.

Was there a reason given for that? Reminded me of Modern Family but what is the purpose of it?

[DanaK]

12 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Was there a reason given for that? Reminded me of Modern Family but what is the purpose of it?

They seemed to suggest they were doing it for people to learn from it, but it wasn't clear if they were addressing us the viewing audience or making a video or ongoing series of videos to some audience that is eager to learn from their mistakes. I didn't really like it and I didn't particularly like any of the principals. I'll watch another episode to see how it goes, but it's already on shaky ground as to whether I'll stick with it

[ams1001]

1 hour ago, DanaK said:

They seemed to suggest they were doing it for people to learn from it, but it wasn't clear if they were addressing us the viewing audience or making a video or ongoing series of videos to some audience that is eager to learn from their mistakes. I didn't really like it and I didn't particularly like any of the principals. I'll watch another episode to see how it goes, but it's already on shaky ground as to whether I'll stick with it

Same here...

 

[quirkygal]

I'm not sure how this show got picked up.

The script felt like something an edgy high school senior would write in a screenwriting class at the adult ed center in town.  The script was written for a grading rubric - student utilized all proscribed plot points in text book, characters fit the archetypes from readings, linear development despite the characters not behaving like anyone anybody has ever met in real life, unrealistic apartment/home for city, etc.

I can't imagine it getting worse but I fully believe it's possible.

[chitowngirl]

I can’t stand the over the top laugh track. Yes, there was a lot of funny going on, but every line was not that hilarious. 

[chediavolo]

Well my POS Spectrum is failing to record this. But by the posts here, I didn’t miss much. 

[Yeah No]

On 12/30/2023 at 6:07 PM, quirkygal said:

I can't imagine it getting worse but I fully believe it's possible.

Unfortunately, I can imagine it.

[AnimeMania]

S01.E02: The Consequences of Making Yourself at Home

For Grace's birthday, Trey gets a reservation at the best sushi restaurant in Boston, upending the annual family tradition of dinner at a red sauce joint and inadvertently hurting Jim's feelings.

Premiere Date: Tuesday, January 2, 2024      NBC    8:30pm          
Lenny Clarke as Bobby

[DanaK]

Tonight’s episode was a little better than the premiere but it’s still pretty annoying

[Yeah No]

9 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

S01.E02: The Consequences of Making Yourself at Home

For Grace's birthday, Trey gets a reservation at the best sushi restaurant in Boston, upending the annual family tradition of dinner at a red sauce joint and inadvertently hurting Jim's feelings.

Premiere Date: Tuesday, January 2, 2024      NBC    8:30pm          
Lenny Clarke as Bobby

Was this supposed to be the description for episode 2?  Because that's not what it was about.  And it still sucked.

Edited January 3 by Yeah No

[DanaK]

Some of the dialogue sounds like it’s part of a stage play, it doesn’t feel natural. And who writes a constitution to make rules and treats it as such with all kinds of procedures? Jon Cryer’s character comes off the worst, as someone way too fussy and high strung. I know the idea of keeping the kids in the same house while the parents switch actually exists, but given this couple does not get along and makes things harder than they need to be, it would be better to have separate houses, but then there wouldn’t be a show

[Yeah No]

59 minutes ago, DanaK said:

And who writes a constitution to make rules and treats it as such with all kinds of procedures? Jon Cryer’s character comes off the worst, as someone way too fussy and high strung. 

Sheldon Cooper on "Big Bang Theory" would do that and be that way, but Jon Cryer's character is no Sheldon and here it's anything but funny, while there it is.

[AnimeMania]

S01.E02: The Consequences of Making Yourself at Home

When Trey spends his first night at the Nest, he discovers evidence that Jim and Julia once had a more adventurous relationship than he imagined, and he must erase it.

Premiere Date: Tuesday, January 2, 2024      NBC    8:30pm          
Lenny Clarke as Bobby

This description is for a later  episode:

S01.E04: The Consequences of Sushi

For Grace's birthday, Trey gets a reservation at the best sushi restaurant in Boston, upending the annual family tradition of dinner at a red sauce joint and inadvertently hurting Jim's feelings.

Possible Premiere Date: Tuesday, January 16, 2024      NBC    8:30pm

[Bumblebee84047]

The writing is horrible, but I really like Jon Cryer and Donald Faison so I'll give it another chance or two.

[quirkygal]

So much for my plans of never watching this again.

My parents "taped this" on the DVR machine so we could watch it together. They remember how much I liked that Dickie guy from the movies (John Cryer as Duckie) and actually sat through Superman III in the theatre because he was in it (and Christopher Reeves because I'm not blind).

Anywhooo, enough with the tales of my misspent youth.

Ahem...

This episode was better but that's like saying my cat did better by hacking up a hairball that only landed partially in my shoe.

The cast is very talented but the writing is absolutely awful.

And why is Cryer's character so obsessed with rules and Constitutions? Is he a cop? Lawyer? History teacher? Budding serial killer?

[ams1001]

This appears to be a pretty big house...seems like maybe each parent should have their own room if possible instead of mom and new fiancé sleeping in the same bed where they know dad sleeps naked? I mean, I'm sure they change the sheets each week (I'd hope) but if I was the fiancé I'd feel a little weird about that.

Also, what's going to stop a new Daddy Divot from forming?

Also also, how would he not notice all the growth chart marks on that door?

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, ams1001 said:

Also also, how would he not notice all the growth chart marks on that door?

Because he handed somebody some money to do the painting for him. I thought he was just going to paint that spot on the wall, but I guess it makes more sense just to tell someone to paint the whole room and make it look exactly like the original.

What I find hard to believe is that they were living in the same place before they had kids as they did when they had kids. Usually you start small and expand when your family expands.

[bluegirl147]

20 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

What I find hard to believe is that they were living in the same place before they had kids as they did when they had kids. Usually you start small and expand when your family expands.

Logic and realistic situations are not going to be part of this show.

On 1/3/2024 at 10:16 PM, Bumblebee84047 said:

The writing is horrible, but I really like Jon Cryer and Donald Faison so I'll give it another chance or two.

I used to like Jon Cryer but he did such a good job of playing Alan Harper, a character I absolutely loathed, I can't see him in anything else without feeling like I need to loathe that character as well.  

[SoMuchTV]

I do have to give this show credit for one thing. As cheesy as it is, they do have opening credits with a song that explains how they got where they are. Because otherwise I would have a lot of questions. 

[Yeah No]

I know nobody probably cares by now but in case anyone here didn't read the media thread, this show was thankfully canceled after one season so we won't have to suffer through another one (not that most of us would have, anyway).

Edited October 7 by Yeah No