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Sons & Daughters
SERIES: ABC, Tuesday 9:00p (30 minutes)
Starring
Fred Goss,
Gillian Vigman,
Jerry Lambert,
Alison Quinn,
Max Gail,
Dee Wallace,
Amanda Walsh,
and
Desmond Harrington
This ensemble, semi-improvised comedy from Fred Goss ("Significant Others") follows the trials and tribulations of an extended family.
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
| CREATED BY: |
Fred Goss
Nick Holly
|
| FIRST AIR DATE: |
March 7, 2006 |
| ALSO ON: |
A second epiosde airs Tuesdays at 9:30p |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker
Sons & Daughters offers such a fresh, funny take on family life that it could be a landmark comedy.

90
Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm
This sparkling saga of an extended dysfunctional family has more laughs than regular characters.

90
TV Guide Matt Roush
When a new comedy shows up as fresh, original and painfully hilarious as Sons & Daughters, at first I want to cheer. And then I start to worry if it can survive. Call it Arrested Development syndrome.
88
USA Today Robert Bianco
There's something terribly real and awfully funny about this engaging little sitcom, which takes the sweetness of Parenthood and adds its own slightly bitter touch.

88
New York Daily News David Hinckley
It has a sprawling cast, but even before the pilot is over, because of the clever way it's written, directed and acted, you'll know, and like, every single character.

80
LA Weekly Robert Abele
The looseness of the interchanges gives the humor an anti-writers’-room freshness without losing the harshness we’ve come to expect in this Everybody Loves Raymond/Arrested Development age of clashing relatives.

80
Los Angeles Times Paul Brownfield
It's very well-acted and meanwhile, when it can stand it, kind of tender, although it's far more interested in "Curb"-like moments of uncomfortable confrontation.

80
San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum
Definitely worth your time.

75
Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman
It starts out a little cutesy but quickly finds laughs in crisp writing and really strong (and blessedly not-overblown) acting.

70
Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
"Sons & Daughters" is a sitcom whose method -- a script embellished by actors at play -- celebrates the unexpected comedy that can emerge among talented people.

70
Miami Herald Glenn Garvin
This sitcom is a loving embrace of convulsive domestic eccentricity.

70
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland
"Sons & Daughters" is supposed to feel like a heightened version of your own family, and in many ways it succeeds.

70
Wall Street Journal Nancy DeWolf Smith
Some viewers, accustomed to less-original TV fare, may miss having stock gags and situations rammed down their throat. "Sons & Daughters" is a savory for more discerning palates.

70
Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron
The improv style when done well, as it is here, doesn't generate sidesplitting laughter, but it does produce a steady stream of deliciously enjoyable moments.

70
The New Yorker Nancy Franklin
Compelling, if not quite riveting.

70
Washington Post Tom Shales
"Sons & Daughters" turns the banalities of family life upside down and inside out and finds something new, and even something cherishable, in many of them.

70
Time James Poniewozik
The show's conversational improv rhythms and realistic, documentary style make Sons and Daughters worth adopting.

60
PopMatters Maura McAndrew
Those who enjoy Sons & Daughters enjoyed Arrested Development more, and the same viewers put off by the latter's off-the-wall humor will also be put off the new show.

60
Variety Brian Lowry
A half-hour firmly ensconced in the "witty" zone that seldom crosses all the way over into funny.

60
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen
Personally, I found "Arrested" funnier, but "Sons & Daughters" has its moments.

60
The New York Times Alessandra Stanley
"Sons & Daughters" is a milder, more humane version of Fox's canceled "Arrested Development" -- it milks the humor of absurd people and brutally frank conversation.

60
Chicago Tribune Sid Smith
Crowded, confusing and unafraid to be dull, "Sons & Daughters" also holds tremendous promise.

50
Entertainment Weekly Henry Goldblatt
For a show that's supposed to be all loosey-goosey, too many of S&D's visual and aural cues are rigidly staged. [10 Mar 2006, p.53]
30
Salon Heather Havrilesky
The improvised dialogue is sometimes smart, but it often leads to scenes where the main characters repeat their intentions over and over again -- you know, like in a really bad improv class.

25
New York Post Linda Stasi
Vulgar and incomprehensibly unfunny, "Sons & Daughters" is a clear attempt to be a hip hybrid of "Arrested Development," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "The Office." Instead, it's just a mostly superb cast being thrown to the wolves with ugly dialogue.

20
Newsday Diane Werts
Most of the cast stammers its way through sentences as if awaiting a lightning strike of inspiration. When it doesn't come, the actors have to say something anyway, and that meandering search for structure is what winds up filling 30 shapeless minutes.


The average user rating for this tv show is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 59 User Votes
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