'United We Fall' Premiere Review: Can double episodes and iconic guest stars save the quirky sitcom?
Spoilers for 'United We Fall' Episodes 1 and 2
Right at the onset of its debut season, halfway into the pilot itself, ABC's new sitcom 'United We Fall' uses the whole crisis amid the gags trope with the central family's young daughter having a prolapsed rectum. Now, while the whole crisis is averted the messiest of ways, the signature plotline is explored, it is to be noted that the comedy differs from mainstream sitcoms in ways more than one when it comes to grabbing the viewer's attention. Perhaps that's because there's already a slew of comedies that have arrived during the summer slate and have failed to last, but Julius Sharpe and ABC's sitcom seems to be aiming for the stars as it puts a family of four through a global crisis, an eagle-eyed mother-in-law and an insufferable brother who just can't seem to leave anyone alone.
In Episode 1 of the double-episode premiere, we see the family's crisis tackled by their go-to family doctor and the dynamics established suggest incidents like these are very common. In the second episode, titled 'The Bitter', the titular reference is regarding the kids' school teacher who adores kids but vehemently dislikes parents. Such are the elements of crisis in this sitcom where the core essence of the plot is putting up a united front in the face of any crisis - external or internal. It doesn't matter if you stumble and fall through the process because, in the end, you'll find yourself discovering you somehow did a pretty neat job anyway.
Will Sasso and Christina Vidal Mitchell play parents Bill and Jo respectively, who are trying their best to avoid family crisis, one after the other, by last-minute solutions. Their kids Emily and Lulu are as adorable as far as sitcom children go, and the half-hour comedy series explores the family ties as the parents try to be good at their prime gig - parenting - fumbling through the way, barely scraping by, but eventually coming out as victorious. The family of four is joined by Bill's mother Sandy (Jane Curtin) and Jo's brother Chuy (Guillermo Diaz) both of whom are constantly scrutinizing the parents, judging them and snooping on their parenting as the stereotypical sitcom antagonists and there's nothing much else to add to the plot.
But annoying as they might be, this mother and brother from the two opposite sides of marriage kind of help viewers empathize with Bill and Jo. Both Curtin and Diaz's comedic genius goes unrecognized and suppressed with forced laughter and jokes that are honestly beneath their illustrious work in the genre, but at least it makes us feel bad for the main characters whose cliched tropes would otherwise become a drag honestly. The whole fiery Latina aspect is a bit too heavily relied on to make Jo funny and that's a gross understatement about all the menial ways this comedy tries to stand out.
If it weren't for the fact that viewers have been cooped up for way too long and network television has signed off earlier on this year's run owing to halted productions way too many times, there would be no reason why someone would spend prime telly time on this comedy that even though tries to be different with its crisis and interlopes, still falls prey to the same structure that has been done and dusted over the years. And even guest appearances by Marc Evan Jackson and Gloria Calderon Kellet can't fix that.
'United We Fall' premiered on July 15 and will air on Wednesdays at 8/7c on ABC.