ABC's Wednesday night sitcom block (as of 2015) formula

[TMC]

The shows in question (in case you're wondering) are The Middle, The Goldbergs, Modern Family, and Blackish:
They have arguably the same 2 or 3 plots: Parent is wrong about something and doesn't learn it until after some comical hijinks; kid in family has romantic interest they have to win over and usually do so in the end; family celebrates some sort of occasion until dysfunction nearly ruins its true meaning before resolving it at the end.

My main point is that really seem to all follow the same formula except the families are all various levels of social class. And have you noticed that every single one of these shows has a narrator (not counting the mockumentary-style Modern Family)?

[tlc38tlc38]

My favorite ABC Wednesday night block was...

Grace Under Fire
Coach
The Drew Carey Show
Ellen

[TMC]

ABC seems to have a cookie cutter template when it comes to their mid-week comedies (this now includes Fresh Off the Boat and The Real O'Neals). (a) have someone narrating, or at least "setting up" the action (b) have three kids in the family, with the youngest being a misfit or a nerd (c) have a wacky older brother, a clueless dad, (d) sometimes a goofy grandfather or grandmother, and (e) have a dominating, powerhouse of a mom. Oh, and toss in the fat neighbor and you're good to go.

[IllinoisTVFan]

It works, so why change? I watch the Goldbergs and to me what sets it aside is because it's set many years ago.

[TMC]

Has anybody noticed a certain formulaic tendency in recently launched sitcoms on ABC?

• Black family: Black-ish
  Jewish family: The Goldbergs - In fairness, the Goldbergs may be a Jewish family, but the show barely ever touches on religion or cultural heritage in any way (or at least, it's nowhere near as ethnically identified as Black-ish and FotB), so I wouldn't count it as rooted in identity politics at all. It's essentially The Wonder Years in an 1980s setting.
  Chinese immigrant family: Fresh Off the Boat
  Irish-Catholic family + gay kid (two-fer!): The Real O'Neals
  Lower-middle-class upper-midwest family: The Middle

And coming in the fall:

Family with handicapped kid: Speechless

Is this just ABC riding a trend (not that there's necessarily a huge problem with this otherwise), or did they have a meeting where they decided to check off all the demographic boxes?

And note that these three are more-or-less based on real life. (The Real O'Neals is sort of based on the childhood of Dan Savage, Fresh Off The Boat is based on the life of Eddie Huang and The Goldbergs is based on the life of Adam Goldberg.)

Meanwhile the families on Modern Family are pretty well identified ethnically too -- by white privilege. There was an episode this past season in which Claire noted that her teenage son Luke had been arrested twice in the past year (for underage drinking, I think). The fact that this was a joke, that she could talk about this in an annoyed and whimsical manner rather than a fearful or enraged one, just screamed of whiteness. And don't forget about Haley getting arrested for underage drinking and assaulting a police officer. Other than getting kicked out of a college she was going to flunk out anyway the worst thing that happened to her was spending an picking up garbage by the side of the road. And she found jewelry on the side of the road to boot.

[WatcherofOldTV]

I give ABC a lot of credit for trying to bring sitcoms and different types of family nights back to television. This is the first time in possibly almost 20 years that I have watched an original network channel when the show is actually on its real time, (and not via DVR).

However, it's obvious that they are trying not to be politically correct. Every show doesn't have to be of a different ethnicity or to make a statement. It should just be...

[liane60]

Originally Posted by TMC

ABC seems to have a cookie cutter template when it comes to their mid-week comedies (this now includes Fresh Off the Boat and The Real O'Neals). (a) have someone narrating, or at least "setting up" the action (b) have three kids in the family, with the youngest being a misfit or a nerd (c) have a wacky older brother, a clueless dad, (d) sometimes a goofy grandfather or grandmother, and (e) have a dominating, powerhouse of a mom. Oh, and toss in the fat neighbor and you're good to go.

I hated the o'Neals right from the start. It seems like a stupid knock off of the Goldbergs. I watch the Goldbergs because nothing else is on, but it's just like Everybody hates Chris. A lot of sit coms you watch are basically the same show with just a different name. If one of the grandparents doesn't live with the family then they are in the families lives. I do believe if it works why change it but the same thing over and over does get on your nerves. I'm not really a big fan of shows that have a narrator in the background and I really hate when the person sits there and talks into the camera like with Modern Family. It also happened on the Office although I did like that show. I never understood what the point of that was. I know we are talking about ABC shows, but now since 2 and a half men and Mike and Molly are off the air I sure hope Chuck Lorrie can come up with another show, because his shows are always funny. I watched 2 and a half men the whole 12 years and I still never tire of the reruns.