Poppa's House

Poppa’s House works because both Wayans Sr. and Jr. lean into what makes each of them funny, and are great together. The more standard sitcommy parts will get better the longer the show stays on the air.

The series is definitely rough around the edges in a way you might not expect from any of the seasoned professionals both in front of or behind the camera—numerous Wayans, including Kim as a co-executive producer, are also in the writers’ room, as well as part of production—but that’s actually part of its charm. .... For all of that charm, Poppa’s House, while it may not be reinventing the comedy wheel, is worth it.

They [“Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” “Happy’s Place,” and “Poppa’s House”] do the job they set out to do; each offers a number of satisfying, sometimes very satisfying, performances from actors who gives their characters individual life and more than enough jokes that work. The worst they can be accused of, apart from some characters being as annoying as they’re meant to be, is that they borrow from the deep well of sitcoms that have preceded them.

A lot of the humor lands well and the pilot’s end-credit bloopers are a scream. The show gets retooled in episode two with the radio station disappearing as Poppa starts recording from home; we’ll see what impact that has on the series.

Narratively flimsy but thoroughly proficient, the CBS multi-cam serves as a worthy-ish complement to its Monday night cohort The Neighborhood.

“Poppa’s House” isn’t a home run. The show takes several episodes to find its stride, and bits of the comedy are overdone, leaning toward slipstick, which will undoubtedly deter some viewers from sticking around.

It does manage to find a few laughs when Wayans and Wayans Jr. are just riffing and one-upping each other; in fact, I’d rather watch Senior and Junior cutting it up off-camera. Instead, we’re left with lots of silly voices, a few crude Neanderthal views… and not a lot of substance.