Sons & Daughters

Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker

Sons & Daughters offers such a fresh, funny take on family life that it could be a landmark comedy.

Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm

This sparkling saga of an extended dysfunctional family has more laughs than regular characters.

TV GuideMatt 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.

USA TodayRobert 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.

New York Daily NewsDavid 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.

LA WeeklyRobert 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.

Los Angeles TimesPaul 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.

San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesCharlie McCollum

Definitely worth your time.

Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman

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

Boston GlobeMatthew 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.

Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin

This sitcom is a loving embrace of convulsive domestic eccentricity.

Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland

"Sons & Daughters" is supposed to feel like a heightened version of your own family, and in many ways it succeeds.

Wall Street JournalNancy 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.

Hollywood ReporterBarry 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.

The New YorkerNancy Franklin

Compelling, if not quite riveting.

Washington PostTom 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.

TimeJames Poniewozik

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

PopMattersMaura 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.

VarietyBrian Lowry

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

Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen

Personally, I found "Arrested" funnier, but "Sons & Daughters" has its moments.

The New York TimesAlessandra 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.

Chicago TribuneSid Smith

Crowded, confusing and unafraid to be dull, "Sons & Daughters" also holds tremendous promise.

Entertainment WeeklyHenry 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]

SalonHeather 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.

New York PostLinda 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.

NewsdayDiane 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.