A Million Little Things

If you believe in the treacle-down theory when it comes to NBC’s rip-roaring success with “This Is Us,” then you’re ready for ABC’s drama about the emotional entanglements of a group of four Boston men (Ron Livingston, Romany Malco, David Giuntoli and James Roday) feeling all the feels that bros can feel when their best bro jumps from his skyscraper office balcony in the middle of a workday, without leaving a note. A Million Little Things comes on a tad too strong in its setup.

Call it feel-bad feel-good TV, or uncomfortable comfort food. And, more often than not, Things is a little comforting.

It's a good ensemble, but the whole exercise feels too conspicuously like a throwback to a certain kind of ABC drama that, frankly, has seen better days, and which has begun yielding diminishing returns.

The soapy drama turns out to be a bit too much, and if that’s what the creators think is necessary to sustain the show, it might hint at structural flaws that a TV series can’t overcome.

Projecting male sensitivity through drama scripts seems to be a difficult task for any writer who isn’t Shonda Rhimes, but this series is an example of how not to do it, in that it links men having feelings to crisis and misery. Relationship ennui and marital bed death are low-key obstacles here, but even worse is the way the premiere capitalizes on the disconnect between the four main characters and the wives and girlfriends in their lives.