The Real O'Neals

The Real O’Neals may be soft and gooey at its center, but it’s the hard, tart outer shell that gives it its unique flavor.

The Real O’Neals has some fun with Catholicism, but faith isn’t the butt of the joke in the show, which is ultimately an endearing story about a family that loves and supports one another. Go figure.

The quiet rage behind Plimpton's quest for normalcy--"You still have that?" she asks Kenny with hope, a day after he's announced he's gay--makes the series something really special.... The Real O'Neals, though less polished, does something similar [to blackish], pitting evolving norms against a family unit fundamentally resistant to change.

ABC made four episodes available for review. All have their moments, some of them cloying, others amusing.

It’s built a world teeming with fresh, absorbing issues that manage to avoid being squeamishly topical. Now it just needs to make the characters facing those issues feel as real as the issues themselves.

To be blunt, it’s just not funny enough. There are moments in the premiere that seemed promising, but the next three available for press just kind of sit there. I kept waiting for it to be edgier, smarter, and just funnier.

The trouble is they are just normal--and not very funny.