It’s always a slippery slope for TV shows traveling the ABC Afterschool Special-type “message” route and navigating around the precipice of preachiness. That can quickly alienate viewers, who don’t like to be hit over the head — repeatedly — with someone else’s moral convictions.
It’s even trickier for a sitcom with a message to deliver: Can it keep its audience entertained for 22 minutes a week while, at the same time, subtly infusing its “life lesson” into the comic mix?
“Growing Up Fisher,” premiering Feb. 23 on NBC, succeeds on both counts. And while it doesn’t rewrite the sitcom playbook, it does boast a winning cast (both human and canine) and keeps things light without spiraling into saccharine sentimentality.
The likable, reliable JK Simmons (“Juno,” “Oz” and those Farmers Insurance commercials) stars as Mel Fisher, a successful attorney with a wife and two kids (Katie, around 16 and Henry, 12) who’s going through a divorce from his good-natured wife, Joyce (Jenna Elfman). The rub here? Mel has been blind since the age of 12, a fact he’s kept (mostly) hidden from his clients — and the rest of the world — through clever social choreography (it’s unrealistic, but it’s a TV show, so . . .)
And Mel hasn’t let his blindness hinder his fatherly duties. He’s a loving dad who’s raised his kids with admiration and respect — teaching Katie (Ava Deluca-Verley) how to drive, playing football with Henry (Eli Baker) and, armed with a chainsaw (and goggles), even chopping down some trees to make room for the family swimming pool.
The series is told from Henry’s perspective — courtesy of voiceover narration from “Arrested Development” star Jason Bateman (also an executive producer) — so we quickly learn that Mel shares a special bond with his son. Henry prides himself on being his father’s “human guide dog” — until Mel and Joyce announce they’re (amicably) divorcing and Mel gets himself a real guide dog, a loyal yellow Labrador Retriever named Elvis. This throws Henry into an emotional tailspin, feeling he’s “been outsourced to a dog” and has to prove himself worthy of his father’s love.
The liberated Joyce, meanwhile, starts to sow her oats, attempting — gasp! — to become besties with her teenage daughter, who’s horrified that Mom wants to buy the same pair of jeans so they can look alike. It’s that kind of humor.
There’s more — Henry’s annoying Korean best friend, Runyen (Lance Lim), Mel’s law partner, Ken (sitcom vet Bill Fagerbakke, the voice of Patrick in “SpongeBob SquarePants”) and Henry’s teenage crush, Jenny (Isabella Moner). After a while it starts to feel a bit like “The Wonder Years,” with Baker in the role played by Fred Savage and Bateman as that show’s unseen narrator Daniel Stern, commenting sagely on how Mel and Joyce’s divorce has brought the family closer together in so many different ways.
Still, “Growing Up Fisher” has potential, and Simmons tackles his role with good-natured authority, without descending into glibness — no mean feat, given what could be a show-offy sort of role in the hands of a less reassured actor.
Definitely worth sampling.