Crumbs

As a comedy, Crumbs builds off a foundation that could have been pitched as a Lifetime movie on the heartbreak of child loss, the sorrow of unfaithful spouses, and the pride of a family struggling to move on. (Laughing yet?) But rather than creating a tear-tempter, the writers try to put the "fun" in dysfunctional—unfortunately, with lean scripts, they barely pull off the "functional." On the eve of his mother's (Jane Curtin) release from the nuthouse—due to an infidelity-induced breakdown—Mitch Crumb (Fred Savage) heads back home to mend familial bonds with his nimrod brother and cheating dad, while also working up the courage to step out of the closet. Jokes miss their mark, owing mostly to Fred no longer resembling that big-eyed dreamer from The Wonder Years, and the show is doused with a laugh track insulting enough to force you to withhold your own applause button when a true cackle is justified. Savage once got by with a little help from his friends, and now in his next attempt at shedding the Kevin Arnold persona, he and his family get by with a little help from therapy and lithium. The rest of us will have to resort to tequila.