The Kids Are Alright is an American television sitcom created by Tim Doyle for ABC, inspired by Doyle's own childhood. The series is a single-camera comedy about an Irish Catholic family raising eight sons in suburban Los Angeles from 1972 to 1973, navigating the trials and tribulations of the era.
The series stars Michael Cudlitz and Mary McCormack as parents Mike and Peggy Cleary, with Jack Gore, Sam Straley, Caleb Foote, Sawyer Barth, Christopher Paul Richards, Andy Walken, and Santino Barnard starring as their first seven sons. The series received a put pilot commitment at ABC in September 2017, with a pilot ordered in January 2018. The Kids Are Alright was ordered to series by ABC in May 2018, and it was picked up for a full season of 22 episodes in November 2018. ABC ordered an additional episode in December 2018, bringing the order to 23 episodes. Filming for the series took place primarily in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles.
The series premiered on October 16, 2018, and received generally positive reviews, a 2019 Best Comedy Episode nomination from the Writers Guild of America for its pilot script, and a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite these accolades, on May 10, 2019, ABC canceled the series after one season.
Contents
Cast and characters
Main
Mary McCormack as Peggy Cleary, Timmy's mother
Jack Gore as Timmy Cleary, Mike & Peggy's fifth son
Sam Straley as Lawrence Cleary, Timmy's oldest brother
Caleb Foote as Eddie Cleary, Timmy's first older brother
Sawyer Barth as Francis "Frank" Cleary, Timmy's second older brother
Christopher Paul Richards as Joey Cleary, Timmy's third older brother
Andy Walken as William Cleary, Timmy's younger brother
Santino Barnard as Patrick "Pat" Cleary, youngest brother
Tim Doyle as the narrator, voice of adult Timmy
Michael Cudlitz as Mike Cleary, Timmy's father
Recurring
Sawyer and Jax Laucius as Andy Cleary, Timmy's infant brother
Kennedy Lea Slocum as Wendi Falkenberry, Eddie's girlfriend
Paul Dooley as Father Cecil Dunne
Markie Post as Helen Portello, Peggy's friend and nemesis
Jojo Nwoko as Father Bootaan Abdi
Thomas Barbusca as Davey, Joey's best friend
Michael Cornacchia as Boxcar Benji
Sarah Benoit as Sister Euphemia
Martha Boles as Jenny, Wendi's classmate
Galadriel Stineman as Fiona, Lawrence's girlfriend
Production
Development
Series creator Tim Doyle grew up in an Irish Catholic family in Glendale, California, near Los Angeles, in the 1970s, making the show semi-autobiographical. The series is produced by ABC Studios.
ABC officially ordered the series to pilot on January 19, 2018. In February 2018, Randall Einhorn signed on to direct and executive produce the pilot. On May 11, 2018, ABC ordered the show to series and announced that the series would be titled The Kids Are Alright. On November 7, 2018, the series was picked up for a full season of 22 episodes. On December 14, 2018, ABC ordered an additional episode of the first season, bringing the order to 23 episodes.
Casting
On February 13, 2018, Michael Cudlitz was cast as Mike Dwyer. A few days later, Mary McCormack was cast as Peggy Dwyer. By the end of the month, Sam Straley had joined the cast as Lawrence, along with Caleb Foote as Eddie, Christopher Paul Richards as Joey, and Jack Gore as Timmy. In early March 2018, Sawyer Barth was cast as Frank. That month, it was also revealed that Andy Walken and Santino Barnard had also joined the series. With the series order in May, the family name was changed from the Dwyers to the Clearys.
Music
Siddhartha Khosla served as the primary composer for the series.
Broadcast
The series premiered on October 16, 2018, on ABC in the United States, and on CTV in Canada.
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 82% approval rating with an average rating of 6.62/10 based on 17 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "The Kids are Alright is a surprisingly poignant, thoughtful show with a classic sitcom feel." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 71 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".