On The Air: Kenan (2021)

 NBC's new Tuesday sitcom, Kenan, has been compared to an old ABC series, Full House, except there's two fewer kids at the start of the series.

Kenan Williams (Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live) is a widower raising his two daughters with the help of his brother, Gary (Chris Redd, Saturday Night Live), and his father-in-law (Don Johnson, ex-Miami Vice, Nash Bridges). But because the loss of his wife is still fresh in his memory, it's threatening to tear Kenan's life apart both at home and at work, where he hosts a morning show.

NBC is hoping that Kenan, coupled with Young Rock, will give them a formidible 1-2 punch in their Tuesday block, ahead of This Is Us, which, oh, by the way, gets referenced in the opener.

Now in his 18th season on SNL, Thompson is branching out, as he doubles as executive producer for the new series, along with SNL frontman Lorne Michaels, whose production company, Broadway Video, produces both SNL & Kenan, along with the outgoing Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Let's take a look at a trailer:

With modern comedies eschewing the laugh track, it's hard to gauge if a gag works on this show. You tend to feel some sympathy for Kenan as he struggles to adjust to life as a single father.

After more than 25 years on television, starting with Nickelodeon's All That, we've watched Kenan Thompson grow up before our eyes. What we're seeing now is a demonstration that the modern sitcom dad is human, after all.

Rating: B.