9JKL Coming to CBS
9 JKL is a series that will be featured on the CBS network and CBS All Access as part of their new Monday night prime time line up. The show will start at 8:30pm / 7:30pm central and will premiere on October 2nd .
The show stars Mark Feurstein and a cast that includes Elliott Gould, Liza Lapira, Linda Lavin and David Welton.
The multi-camera, half hour sit-com is based on personal stories that happened to Mark Feurstein and his wife Dana Klein while he was filming Royal Pains on USA. It tapes at CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles, CA. Pam Fryman is the director and also one of the producers. Liscolaide Productions, Kapital Entertainment and CBS Television Studios also produce it.
Mark’s fictional character, John Roberts, is fresh off the divorce train and between acting projects. He decides to move back home to New York to get his bearings, but soon realizes that being surrounded by family is not ideal. In one apartment are his parents, who, even though they have good intentions, are too over-bearing for their adult son. His brother and sister-in-law, who are in the medical field, are on the opposite side. They are a bit better at putting up boundaries with their parents, but not so much with John, especially with a new infant in the picture.
There are some actual events that happened with Mark and his current wife that will make their way into the series. This is according to an interview that TV Guide had with Mark at the NBC upfronts on May 18th, 2017. Mark also admitted too that even though his family inspired the show, the show overall has started to develop a life of its own, especially in regards to the actors in how they develop the characters.
It’s lead-in on the pilot episode will be The Big Bang Theory and will take the place of Young Sheldon for it’s premiere. It will go up against four hour-long shows including the reality / talent competitions: Dancing with the Stars on ABC and The Voice on NBC. The other competition include the dramas, Lucifer on Fox and Supergirl on the CW.
It appears this is an attempt to pull in more of the 18 to 49 demographic by putting it after the Big Bang Theory lead and following it with Kevin Can Wait. Kevin…, however, ended the season with a 1.1 rating in adults 18-49 and wasn’t able to lift CBS out of third place on Mondays according to Variety. Perhaps the Eye is hoping with 9JKL in the mix they can achieve that feat. Or with the third place ratings, it may drag 9JKL down with it.
This show may be a reprieve for those who may be fatigued by talent shows or bode well with a younger demographic who tend to tune into comedies more frequently than dramas. However, Supergirl on the younger skewed CW, may take in those viewers over another middle-aged man sitcom.
Royal Pains fans may follow Feuerstein over, but he is not a comedic actor and his comparisons to Ray Romano’s show, as Deadline.com compared it to, may not hold true. Even on Royal Pains he plalyed the straight man.
Critical reviews so far are not positive, so it will be interesting to see where the show is headed.
Here’s a view of what’s to come…
9JKL Preview