Among the many family comedy series that has taken over television, "Life in Pieces" is the newest entrant. The CBS show is much in the same vein as "Modern Family" and the plot follows the lives of John Short (James Brolin), his wife Joan Short (Dianne Wiest) and their three kids: Matt (Thomas Sadoski), Heather (Betsy Brandt) and Greg Short (Colin Hanks). Each couple battles different problems throughout the 30-minute episode and as all family dramas go, the script makes you emotional and sappy about the importance of family.
In the promo for episode 1, the Short family's patriarch celebrates his 70th birthday party. The theme? A funeral. A visibly drunk Josh Short tells a cringing party "Welcome to my funeral. This is such cool birthday party." This is followed by a slew of scenes that depict what's happening in the other Short members' lives.
Matt Short has a very uncomfortable dating life with Colleen, who has just called off the wedding with her fiancé. Jordan Peele, who plays the role of her ex-fiancé creates trouble for Matt.
In another scene, Greg and his wife Jen (Zoe Lister-Jones) are seated in a car looking confused and dazed at their just born child.
The episode ends with everyone assembled at John's birthday, who struggles with midlife crisis at the age of 70, but the patriarch does disseminate a bit of wisdom gathered through the years. He says, "Life is about these moments that flash by but stay in your heart forever."
If you are a fan of family comedy drama and a stellar cast, the CBS series might touch a cord.
"Life in Pieces" season 1, episode 1 premiers on Monday, 21 September at 8.30pm on CBS. You can live stream it on CBS Live TV.
You can watch the trailer here:
