ABC (Fridays, 9 p.m. ET)
D+
The similarity to Kate & Allie is obvious: Instead of two single moms in a sitcom, we have two single dads—Barry (George Washington) Bostwick and Carl Weintraub—raising their kids under one roof. There the similarity dies. Kate & Allie is funny, even witty. Dads is dull and whiny. Bostwick and Weintraub are such incompetent parents they make Alan Thicke look like Dr. Spock. They spend an entire show trying to reason with three beastly children over doing dishes, cleaning rooms, running errands and performing other chores the Beaver would have done without the slightest hesitation. Unlike the successful family sitcoms on TV now—Kate & Allie, Cosby, Family Ties—Dads fails to see that bad children and powerless parents don't make good jokes; they make juvenile delinquents.
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