Extended Family – Season 1 Episode 1 “Pilot” Recap & Review

Pilot

Extended Family is the story of the Kearny family. Jim and Julia recently ended their 17-year-long union. Their kids, Grace and Jimmy, have had a tough time adjusting to the new changes, especially the former. Jim and Julia had a “Reverse wedding ceremony” to cement their divorce, almost as if it was a celebration. However, the separated pair still look after the kids like the old days. They want to ease their transition into adolescence to remove any chances of friction or grudges.

In Episode 1, Grace is away at summer camp. The parents bought a goldfish for her, whom they named Googles. Jim has been sending Grace videos of the fish while she isn’t home. However, he discovers that he has accidentally killed it by overfeeding. He seeks advice from his father, Bobby, who tells Jim to lie. Even though this isn’t Jim’s first option, he sees reason in the argument. Bobby cites how he lied to Jim about his cat, Rusty died when he was young.

Jim finds Julia at a hotel using “Family Tracking.” She is offended and opts out of the tracking. Julia is upset to learn the news. However, she also agrees that replacing Googles with another fish and lying to Grace is the best option.

Julia is currently in a relationship with Trey, the handsome and rich owner of the Boston Celtics.  They met when Trey had to deal with a faux pas. He made some unfortunate remarks about redheads that offended a large portion of his fanbase.

Julia, who is a crisis manager, swooped in to manage the situation but ended up falling in love with him. Trey had a differing opinion on the matter. He did not think that lying to Grace was fair to her intellect. She has already had a tough time handling the divorce. And this new interruption in her life would be even more baggage. While they’re discussing the issue, Grace is already in the building elevator. Jim quickly hides the fish in the freezer. Grace doesn’t notice the new fish until Jimmy points it out.

Against expectations, Grace isn’t mad about the fish dying. She explains that the real reason for her sadness is that their family is now broken. Grace feels left out and misses their togetherness. She also alludes to what happens to neglected kids from broken families. They turn to vices like drinking and doing drugs.

Another reason why she isn’t happy is how the couple have been recording videos, painting divorce in a positive light.  Julia and Jim realize where they have gone wrong. They apologize to Grace and hope to stick together in the future.

The episode ends with Trey inviting the entire family to a Celtics game. 

The Episode Review

Episode 1 is such a drab. NBC’s Extended Family certainly fails to impress with its meek pilot that misses the mark. In this day and age, listening to that loud and obnoxious laugh track is punishment enough. But the writers had to go ahead and find a derivative version of almost every dated, generic sitcom joke that lead to the setup’s downfall. While the cast looks believable in their roles – especially David Faison – they never stand a chance with the poor creative choices made.

The characters resemble caricatures; the set design is horrendous; and the writing is going nowhere. I still do not know what the opening episode is about. The creators try to tie it up with the goldfish incident. But it all turns out to be woefully bad. 

We saw earlier this year how That 90s Show struggled to impress its core fanbase, many of whom grew up in the sitcom era. There are many instances in this pilot where the blocking looks awkward and the falsity is more than apparent. All the failings of the bygone genre plague the show’s opening episode. I am afraid this tradition cannot be revived and Extended Family will turn out to be one of its final casualties.