The series addresses these full events about the life of a cohesive family of Chicago with Catholic roots. This family tries to strengthen their family ties when they discover that their son is gay and everyone may begin to take on an unusually different path.
The first couple of episodes were directed by Todd Holland, whose work on Malcolm in the Middle reminds you that he knows how to be clever with broad material, but here, the scripts fail his talent.
Give it some time. ABC has had such a killer record with shows like this (The Goldbergs, The Middle, and even the ageing Modern Family are all equally excellent) that I can't imagine this won't find its groove.
Like The Middle or The Goldbergs, the show is a sunny, single-camera comedy with occasional flights of fancy, but like Black-ish, it's not afraid to go after tougher issues in a funny way.
ABC's new comedy The Real O'Neals isn't as biting or controversial as conservative protesters would have you believe, but it works perfectly fine as a typical family sitcom.
It's not the hippest or the most cult-ready show to hit the airwaves, but The Real O'Neals is upbeat, silly in all the right ways, and serves as another example of ABC's quiet takeover of broadcast comedy.
By ABC standards, as well as modern conventions, the O'Neals couldn't be more normal. It's just too bad that they're not as distinct as their show thinks they are.
