CBS's new comedy The McCarthys is well written and terrifically cast. Star Tyler Ritter is effortless in his delivery and grounds the comedy that can take family bonding to extremes.

The McCarthys--good-natured, old-fashioned, unchallenging--isn't a bad sitcom, just an obvious one.

That the show itself feels like a bit of a throwback doesn't have to be a bad thing: It's a throwback to a time when millions more people watched shows like this.

A loud, old-school comedy with Laurie Metcalf ("Roseanne") as mom Marjorie and Tyler Ritter (look-alike younger son of the late John Ritter) as gay son Ronny.

When the show is focused on Mr. Ritter and Ms. Metcalf, The McCarthys rises above the usual sitcom slop that it feels like whenever the other characters get screen time.

The central mother-son dynamic and its moments of warmth can’t overcome the weariness that permeates the rest of the show and cast.

At the end of the day, The McCarthys feels like an incredibly dated concept done incorrectly. If it's not the worst new comedy of the fall, it's certainly giving the others a run for their money.

This show is turning out to be quite good. The first couple of episodes were on less than solid ground, quality-wise. But the show has been rallying to excellence with the past two or three episodes. I'm happy to have hung in there.... I was turned off by the summertime pre-season promotions about a ~Boston sports-oriented family~. The show is not about that at all. It *is* about the intra-relations of a family, and the love among those family members. Yah, sports is a secondary theme. The writing is up to the task, and the cast seems to have that spark that makes for a successful comedy ensemble. They truly seem to have fun working together. I like this show.