Welcome to a new Wildcard Wednesday! This week, I’m looking at another short-lived Modern Family-era network sitcom also featuring a regular gay character…
THE McCARTHYS (October 2014 – July 2015, CBS)
Premise: The adult gay son of a sports-loving Boston family takes a job working with his basketball coach father.
Cast: Tyler Ritter, Laurie Metcalf, Jack McGee, Joey McIntyre, Jimmy Dunn, Kelen Coleman, Jessica St. Clair
Writers: Brian Gallivan, Mike Sikowitz, Gabe Miller & Jonathan Green, Tom Hertz, Kate Purdy, Becky Mann & Audra Sielaff, Jim Brandon & Brian Singleton, Josh Greenberg
Thoughts: One of the most promising multi-cams of the 2010s, The McCarthys is a low-concept family sitcom with shades of Everybody Loves Raymond, as it’s also centered around the relatable but occasionally dysfunctional dynamic between adult siblings who live near their parents. Notably, however, it begins with a focus on supposed black sheep Ronny — played by John Ritter’s son Tyler — who is different from the rest of this Boston clan not merely because he’s gay, but because he’s a touchy-feely guidance counselor with absolutely zero interest in sports. This really puts him at odds with his father, a high school basketball coach, and the pilot is all about establishing a status quo where the two become unlikely colleagues, making Ronny a fish out of water both at home and at work. But the show slowly moves away from this Ronny-centered set-up after a handful of episodes, minimizing it as the central dramatic thread, for it soon becomes clear that Ronny isn’t exactly an outcast at all. At least, not when it comes to his mother, with whom he has a special bond, particularly in comparison to the family’s lone daughter, who actually proves to be the afterthought (with her out-of-wedlock pregnancy arc only exacerbating mom’s disregard). Said mother is Marjorie, played by Laurie Metcalf, a material-elevating sitcom queen who energetically becomes the focal point of the series, naturally usurping Ronny’s centricity, and because of Marjorie’s relationship with him, she guarantees that the original conception of the situation must be tweaked.
With her at the helm, Ronny (and his bond with dad) becomes just one aspect of this broader family dynamic, and the rest of the leads then get more chances to be fleshed out and nuanced — particularly the twin brothers, who begin to become more distinct. Most helping this is the debut of one twin’s recurring fiancée Katrina, whom Marjorie really loathes (furthering the Raymond comparisons even more). In the back half of this truncated first (and only) season, their rapport starts to become a narrative tentpole, as the series’ situation comedy progressively distinguishes itself with big-laugh writing and increasingly well-defined leads. Accordingly, The McCarthys is a show that was doing what all good low-concept relationship-based family sitcoms do: refining over the course of a freshman season. Had it had more time, I’m confident it would have improved even more — expanding its horizons away from the initially narrower Ronny premise, and contextualizing him as just one unique element inside a larger funny family, full of familiar but individualized conflicts. All headed by the great Laurie Metcalf to boot. But alas — it never got to develop beyond these 15 episodes, my favorites of which are cited below.
Episode Count: 15 episodes produced and broadcast.
Key Episodes: #2: “Love, McCarthys Style” (11/06/14) – best “Ronny as outsider” ep
#8: “Red Sox Swap” (12/18/14) – X-mas ensemble ep is series’ best
#9: “Sister Act” (01/08/15) – Jane Kaczmarek as Metcalf’s sis (as on Malcolm)
#11: “The Ref” (01/29/15) – Ronny dates a referee (gag of being “ref-ist”)
#12: “Gerard’s Engagement Party” (07/04/15) – Jean Smart as in-law
#13: “Cutting The Cord” (07/04/15) – all about kids’ dynamics with mom
#14: “Family Therapy” (07/11/15) – on-the-nose fam dysfunction
#15: “End Games” (07/11/15) – pure Marjorie vs. Katrina
Come back next week for another Wildcard! And stay tuned Tuesday for The Middle!