The World's Common Tater

Welcome to the first of a possible regular feature where I do a really bad job reviewing new TV shows. This will be good for me as I can then tell my wife that my afternoons watching TV is “for work.” Also, when I say new it might just mean new to me. I am sometimes behind in watching shows. Today, I watched the two new BC shows that premiered last night: Young Rock and Kenan.

Young Rock

The premise – The Rock is running for president in 2032 and is being interviewed by Randall Park about his life.

We see snippets of three time periods: elementary school Rock who just wants to hang with his dad and his friends, high school Rock who wants to fit in in high school where his classmates think he’s a narc because he looks like an adult, and college Rock who is on the football team at Miami I enjoyed each of the different eras. All three actors do a good job as a young Rock. I was a fan of wrestling when I was a kid, so I really enjoyed the elementary school part with versions of Andre the Giant and The Iron Sheik. I wish any one of the eras was the show. As it stands it feels like four shows in one with current Rock cut in between the other three. I hope later episodes focus on one era at a time with limited cut ins to current Rock. It has potential to be a decent show, but it could also turn into a mess where we never get a full story in one show.

Kenan

The premise: – Kenan is a widower with two young daughters. Don Johnson is his father in law who has moved in to help. Chris Redd is his brother who also loves with them.

The first episode deals with Kenan’s inability to deal with his grief. He hosts a morning talk show and his inability to deal with his grief is affecting the show and its ratings. We meet the kids, the father in law, the brother and the people at work. We see a clip of when he met his wife when she played his mom on a TV show even though she was only three years older than him. It is pretty It is pretty much a standard sitcom. The good news is I still like standard sitcoms of they are actually funny and this one was funny enough to keep me watching. As in SNL, Kenan is funny even when given lesser material. The ensemble is great. I like Johnson and Redd. Kimrie Lewis was in one in Single Parents, a show canceled way too soon and I’m happy to see her back as Kenan’s boss. I have faith that Kenan will deliver laughs each week and that’s what I’m looking for in a sitcom.