TV Review: Cliched, Generic TBS Sitcom ‘Are We There Yet?’

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CHICAGO – Very loosely based on the Ice Cube movie (and featuring occasional cameos by the Executive Producer himself), TBS’s “Are We There Yet?” feels more like a product of the recently-passed era of generic family sitcoms like “According to Jim” or “My Wife and Kids.” With a predictable laugh track and obvious punchlines, “Are We There Yet?” doesn’t take enough chances and isn’t nearly creative enough, but a better-than-average cast keeps the show from complete disaster.

Television Rating: 2.5/5.0

Nick (Terry Crews of “Everybody Hates Chris”) and Suzanne (Essence Atkins of “Half and Half”) have recently married and poor Nick is learning how to face the complexities of fatherhood on the job. Suzanne has two teenage children named Lindsey (Teala Dunn) and Kevin (Coy Stewart) and both seem to love the idea of torturing their new stepdad, calling him “Dad” only when they want something. As for supporting characters, Nick has a wise-cracking friend named Martin (Christian Finnegan) and an overprotective mother (Telma Hopkins) while Suzanne shares secrets with girlfriend Gigi (Keesha Sharp). Ice Cube will appear sporadically as Suzanne’s brother.

Are We There Yet?
Photo credit: Williams and Hirakawa/TBS

Family sitcoms follow a pretty simple formula and “Are We There Yet?” is not designed to break any rules. It looks like every episode will feature Nick and Suzanne dealing with one or two crises regarding their newly-formed family and the supporting characters will offer pun-filled commentary. In the first episode, Nick and Suzanne fight over whether or not she’ll take his last name or stick with a hyphenated one. In the second episode, the former football player father copes with a stepson who likes soccer more than the pigskin.

Are We There Yet? Photo credit: Eric Leibovitz/TBS

To call “Are We There Yet?” cliched would be an understatement. It’s a purposeful part of the structure; the comfort food model of television sitcoms. There used to be a block of sitcoms on Friday nights on ABC called TGIF. After a long five days at work, audiences want to see something familiar and they could gravitate to a show like this one on hump day of a tough week.

But it should be better. The cast of “Are We There Yet?” are a talented bunch with Crews displaying perfect comic timing, VH1 regular Finnegan proving talented in a sidekick role, and Atkins and Sharp clicking in an often-funny way. But the writing never lives up to the cast. Just because a show offers cliched, generic laughs, do they have to be SO predictable? Plenty of shows have offered comfort food laughs without being so by-the-numbers as “Are We There Yet?”

The only unusual thing about this very usual show is the writers’ odd obsession with name-dropping. The first episode features references to Halle Berry, Tyler Perry, P. Diddy, The Rock, Rebecca Romijn, Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise, Beyonce, Jay-Z, and more, as if they mention enough people that the viewer likes then they’ll like this show too.

The sad thing is that there are a lot of likable cast members in “Are We There Yet?” and the marketplace needs a family sitcom every once in awhile. It just needs one that’s a little more “there.”

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com