TVSquad

ABC has a certified hit with their big sprawling look at an American Modern Family. But this isn't their first foray into a big family sitcom. In 2006, they aired a partially improvised comedy about a big, sprawling American family.

Sons & Daughters was barely on a month, but it sunk its talons into me and still hasn't let go. With mostly improvised dialogue, there was something very honest about the language they spoke, complete with the stammers and stutters that make up real conversation. The show was honest, heartfelt and funny. And with a massive cast, it felt like we were constantly on the verge of total chaos somewhere.

It looks like Sons & Daughters was ahead of its time, hitting the air when Americans were touting the sitcom as a dying format. Goss needed to hold out until this season, somehow. Now we're taking a hard look at the sitcom again, and finding that we do like it. It just has to be good. Sons & Daughters was good.

Carey played Officer Carl Levitt on the classic sitcom Barney Miller (remember, James Gregory would always call him "Levine?"). He died Tuesday in Los Angeles after suffering a stroke.

Besides that role, Carey appeared in several other TV shows, including Benson, Alice, Lucky Luke, and the New Love American Style. He was in a bunch of movies too, including High Anxiety, Johnny Dangerously, History of the World, Part 1, Fatso, and The Out of Towners (the original). His last role was in the 1999 movie Food For Thought.

His real name was Ron Cicenia and he stood 5 feet 4 (hey, I'm only 5 feet 5, so it's always good to see other short guys become a success!).

I am so conditioned to seeing a 22-episode television season, that I keep forgetting that Sons & Daughters is now only one episode away from the end of its current run. Maybe it was the back-to-back airings that threw me, too. But the order was for only 11 episodes, and we saw numbers nine and ten tonight. But maybe it's just as well; the show's hitting its creative stride, and that is something that might have gotten blunted by having to fill 22 episodes. Maybe the Brits, with their limited series runs, have the right idea.

Anyway, both these episodes were very funny, and the second, "The Homecoming" was unexpectedly touching, as well.

For two guys who have never written for TV before, Fred Goss and Nick Holly are off to a fast start. Their new ABC comedy, Sons & Daughters, which airs Tuesdays at 9 ET, has been universally praised by critics (including me), and the first two episodes gave the network better ratings than it's had in that timeslot.

Goss, who also stars on the show as Cameron Walker, mostly had acting and editing credits before this project, most notably on the Bravo comedy Significant Others. Holly, believe it or not, was a literary agent who partnered with Goss to create this and other pilots. As they pitched their ideas around, demand for their services increased; an ABC executive actually pitched them the idea for this show, for instance.

There's a good reason for that, though: the show's improvisational style and realistic extended family dynamic have hit a nerve with everyone... including Arrested Development fans, of which Goss seems to be very aware. The AD issue and others came up last Friday as the two spoke to me by phone from their office in Los Angeles.