Single Parents

SNL alum Taran Killam is a riot as Will, a hopelessly dorky single dad who gets taken in by a battle-tested clique of single parents who want to shake him out of his world’s-best-dad funk. The kids are cute, the one-liners have plenty of zing and the cast feels like a well-oiled ensemble already.

The kids are more than all right, and the grownups aren’t bad either in the new sitcom Single Parents. So maybe ABC has something here. ... The kids so far are stealing the show--and this time it’s a pleasure watching them do so.

The first episode may not be perfect — Killam has some work to do honing his exaggerated sketch of a human being — but it quickly builds a set of charming characters, exhibits sharp comic timing, and the surprisingly expansive cast of children are (even more surprisingly) all funnier than they are adorable. I

Single Parents...ranges from silly to dumb, and I also don't use that description dismissively. I laughed out loud, a bunch of times, at its jerky, disgruntled moms and dads who love their kids but genuinely want to kill the martinets who run their progressive school like a posse of smiley-faced Nurse Ratcheds.

While Killam is ostensibly the lead, Single Parents teases a promising ensemble comedy that follows its own premise by giving everyone a chance to shine. Meester especially steps up to the plate, showing off the sharp comic timing that she’s brought to more dramatic roles throughout her career.

The premise lends itself to potentially funny moments, but the pilot available for review is bogged down in haggard-parenting gags that are older than Hulu and Netflix lifespans combined.

Single Parents feels like a comedy that goes for simple snark and believes it's a little more clever than it really is, but then had a bunch of network notes stuck to it about softening those right angles.