The influence of NBC’s canceled “The Carmichael Show” can be felt on two CBS series debuting tonight. Like “Carmichael,” “The Neighborhood” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) uses the old-fashioned three-camera format to explore touchy questions of race and class while sticking to punchline-driven humor.
“The Neighborhood” features a naive and pleasant Midwestern couple, Dave (Max Greenfield) and Gemma Johnson (Beth Behrs), who relocate to a Los Angeles neighborhood that happens to be pretty much all black.
Cedric the Entertainer plays their gruff neighbor, Calvin Butler. He’s none too pleased to meet the Johnsons, particularly after just assuming that they were black because of their last name.
Calvin is clearly portrayed as Archie Bunker, right down to the well-worn armchair that no one else dare use. Unfortunately, the Cedric-as-Archie premise must have used up all the oxygen in the writers’ room because no other character even approaches three-dimensional status.
This is particularly tragic in the case of Tichina Arnold, who plays Calvin’s wife, Tina. Her performance in “Everybody Hates Chris” was so powerful because she was given a wide range of personal tics and weird obsessions that breathed life into her formidable character.
Here the conversation is reduced to awkward small talk about racial sensitivities, and Calvin is given all the good lines.
Damon Wayans Jr. and Amber Stevens West (“The Carmichael Show”) star in “Happy Together” (8:30 p.m., CBS, TV-PG). They play Jake and Claire, married 30-somethings who are very settled down. Much like the couple in Amazon Prime’s “Forever,” they express intimacy with nerdy little games and inside jokes. Are they happy or stuck?
As an accountant, Jake’s clientele includes celebrities. One night, pop sensation Cooper James (Felix Mallard) shows up at the couple’s doorstep. Besieged by the media after a nasty breakup with a vain celebrity, the very young Australian singer couldn’t think of a safer, more out-of-the-way hiding place.
Cooper’s arrival brings some awkward moments. He sees Jake and Claire as surrogate parents, but they insist they are still young and cool enough to be his peers. Wayans and West make the most of this delusion. In contrast, Cooper revels in normalcy and seems relieved to shed the frantic A-list life for the sublime joys of toaster pastries.
In some ways, “Happy Together” is “The Man Who Came to Dinner” for the age of TMZ and Buzzfeed. But that tale of a media celebrity imposing himself on a “normal” family was a three-act 1939 Broadway play and a 1942 movie with a beginning, a middle and an end. It’s really hard to see how “Happy” stays interesting beyond three episodes.
Tonight’s other highlights:
— Money talks on “The Resident” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
— The documentary “Queen of the World” (8 p.m., HBO) profiles Queen Elizabeth II.
— “Magnum P.I.” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) may be the worst reboot since ABC’s “Charlie’s Angels” crash landed in 2011.
— First responders scramble after an earthquake on “9-1-1” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
— Jimmy and Kim hash it out on “Better Call Saul” (9 p.m., AMC, TV-MA).
— Jury duty calls on “Bull” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— The passengers remain closely watched on “Manifest” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
— Shaun intervenes to save a janitor on “The Good Doctor” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
— The “POV” documentary “Dark Money” (10 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) examines the impact of the Citizens United decision.
— It’s “Band Night” on “Lodge 49” (10:18 p.m., AMC, TV-14).
Kevin McDonough can be reached at [email protected].
