Fam

CBS for the most part still clings to over-active laugh tracks and broadly played scenes and situations. Still, this is a nicely clicking ensemble that gets sharper as the show goes on.

It’s all pretty predictable--isn’t that why you’re here?--and, again, the cast is good. It works often enough; a beachhead has been established.

Fam is exhausting.

The show feels like it cobbled together pieces of other shows--especially The WB’s “What I Like About You”--to become its own perfectly pleasant sitcom Frankenstein. Even when it doesn’t do much to distinguish itself, it’s just fine, and maybe that’s enough.

Fam is a largely witless family comedy with one bright spot. Gary Cole shines as Freddy Banks, a homicide detective who’s fond of playing the horses.

It’s a technically proficient, otherwise promising sitcom that wastes these merits on the disastrous decision to let trauma become the driving force of its comedy.

There is a great comedy that could be made with this cast and, despite the game efforts of said cast through the first three episodes, Fam is not that comedy.