The Kids Are Alright (TV series)

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 circa 1972, navigating the trials and tribulations of the era.

The Kids Are Alright
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Tim Doyle
Starring	Mary McCormack Jack Gore Sam Straley Caleb Foote Sawyer Barth Christopher Paul Richards Andy Walken Santino Barnard Tim Doyle Michael Cudlitz Sawyer Laucius Jax Laucius
Narrated by	Tim Doyle
Composer	Siddhartha Khosla
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	23
Production
Executive producers	Tim Doyle Randall Einhorn
Producer	Kris Eber
Cinematography	Craig Kief
Editor	Casey Brown
Camera setup	Single-camera
Production companies	Mr. Bigshot Fancy-Pants Productions Inc. ABC Studios
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	October 16, 2018 (2018-10-16) – May 21, 2019 (2019-5-21)

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.^[1]

Cast and characters

Main

• Mary McCormack as Peggy Cleary, mother
• Michael Cudlitz as Mike Cleary, father
• Jack Gore as Timmy, fifth son
• Sam Straley as Lawrence, first son
• Caleb Foote as Eddie, second son
• Sawyer Barth as Frank (Francis), third son
• Christopher Paul Richards as Joey, fourth son
• Andy Walken as William, sixth son
• Santino Barnard as Pat (Patrick), seventh son
• Sawyer and Jax Laucius as Andy, eighth son, an infant
• Tim Doyle as the narrator, voice of adult Timmy

Recurring

• 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

Guest

• Aidan Wallace as young Lawrence
• Gracen Newton as young Eddie
• Connor Cain as Bobby (S1, E5)
• Nat Faxon as Tom, Peggy's brother (S1, E8)
• Ken Jeong as Grover Young, Mike's co-worker (S1, E9)^[2]
• Dara Renee as Melissa, Wendy's classmate (S1, E10)
• Jason Rogel as Mailman
• David Alan Smith as The Great Pepe (S1, E12)
• Ray Porter as Ernie (S1, E15)
• Danny Bonaduce as Boris and Danny Partridge (archive footage) (S1, E17)^[3]
• Emma Meisel as Angela, Frank's love interest (S1, E20)
• Josh McDermitt as Mr. Crane, Mike's boss (S1, E21)
• Jeff Holman as Terry, Mike's co-worker (S1, E21)
• Mary Passeri as Marybeth (S1, E21)
• Jim Meskimen as Johnny Carson (voice) (S1, E21)
• Hal Alpert as Mr. Franklin (S1, E20)
• Jo Farkas as Rita (S1, E20)
• Carol Gutierrez as Darlene (S1, E20)
• Regan Burns as Tex O'Shaughnessy (S1, E22)
• Nancy Berggren as Mrs. Ava Greenblatt (S1, E22)
• Jenny O'Hara as Aunt Tess (S1, E22)
• Willie Tyler as himself (S1, E23)

Episodes

No.	Title [4]	Directed by	Written by	Original release date [4]	Prod. code [4]	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"Pilot"	Randall Einhorn	Tim Doyle	October 16, 2018 (2018-10-16)	101	6.52[5]
2	"Timmy's Poem"	Randall Einhorn	Lisa K. Nelson	October 23, 2018 (2018-10-23)	102	5.08[6]
3	"Microwave"	Randall Einhorn	Rob Ulin	October 30, 2018 (2018-10-30)	104	5.39[7]
4	"Peggy's Day Out"	Matt Sohn	Tom Hertz	November 13, 2018 (2018-11-13)	105	4.60[8]
5	"Boxing"	Randall Einhorn	Jim Brandon & Brian Singleton	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)	103	4.22[9]
6	"Behind the Counter"	Matt Sohn	Tom Hertz	November 27, 2018 (2018-11-27)	106	4.58[10]
7	"Little Cyst"	Randall Einhorn	Joey Gutierrez	December 4, 2018 (2018-12-4)	108	4.25[11]
8	"Christmas 1972"	Randall Einhorn	Vijal Patel	December 11, 2018 (2018-12-11)	107	4.23[12]
9	"The Love List"	Jay Karas	Joey Gutierrez	January 8, 2019 (2019-1-8)	111	4.56[13]
10	"Show Boat"	Randall Einhorn	Lisa K. Nelson	January 15, 2019 (2019-1-15)	109	4.21[14]
11	"Mailbox"	Kirk Thatcher	Paul O'Toole & Andy St. Clair	January 22, 2019 (2019-1-22)	110	4.40[15]
12	"Vietnam"	Rebecca Asher	Jeanne Darst	February 5, 2019 (2019-2-5)	113	3.67[16]
13	"Valentine's Day"	Randall Einhorn	Tim Doyle & Ellen Svaco Doyle	February 12, 2019 (2019-2-12)	115	3.20[17]
14	"Happy Cecil"	Bill Purple	Rob Ulin	February 19, 2019 (2019-2-19)	114	3.43[18]
15	"Nine Birthdays"	Randall Einhorn	Ryan Willison	February 26, 2019 (2019-2-26)	112	3.33[19]
16	"Wendi's House"	Rebecca Asher	Tom Hertz	March 19, 2019 (2019-3-19)	116	3.09[20]
17	"Low Expectations"	Bill Purple	Jessica Ambrosetti	March 26, 2019 (2019-3-26)	120	3.01[21]
18	"Peggy Drives Away"	Jay Karas	Paul O'Toole & Andy St. Clair	April 9, 2019 (2019-4-9)	117	2.91[22]
19	"Mass for Shut-ins"	Lea Thompson	Ian Murphy & Riley Ettinger	April 16, 2019 (2019-4-16)	118	3.10[23]
20	"Timmy's New Hobby"	Jay Karas	Emily R. Wilson	April 30, 2019 (2019-4-30)	119	3.28[24]
21	"Mike's Award"	Matt Sohn	Jim Brandon & Brian Singleton	May 7, 2019 (2019-5-7)	121	3.03[25]
22	"Whales"	Victor Nelli	Vijal Patel	May 14, 2019 (2019-5-14)	122	2.85[26]
23	"Irish Goodbye"	Matt Sohn	Joey Gutierrez & Gracie Charters	May 21, 2019 (2019-5-21)	123	2.96[27]

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.^[28] The series is produced by ABC Studios.^[29]

ABC officially ordered the series to pilot on January 19, 2018.^[30] In February 2018, Randall Einhorn signed on to direct and executive produce the pilot.^[31] On May 11, 2018, ABC ordered the show to series and announced that the series would be titled The Kids Are Alright.^[29] On November 7, 2018, the series was picked up for a full season of 22 episodes.^[32] On December 14, 2018, ABC ordered an additional episode of the first season, bringing the order to 23 episodes.^[33]

Casting

On February 13, 2018, Michael Cudlitz was cast as Mike Dwyer.^[34] A few days later, Mary McCormack was cast as Peggy Dwyer.^[35] By the end of the month, Sam Straley had joined the cast as Lawrence,^[36] along with Caleb Foote as Eddie, Christopher Paul Richards as Joey, and Jack Gore as Timmy.^[37] In early March 2018, Sawyer Barth was cast as Frank.^[38] That month, it was also revealed that Andy Walken and Santino Barnard had also joined the series.^[39] With the series order in May, the family name was changed from the Dwyers to the Clearys.^[29]

Music

Siddhartha Khosla served as the primary composer for the series.^[40][41]

Broadcast

The series premiered on October 16, 2018, on ABC in the United States,^[42] and on CTV in Canada.^[43]

Reception

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of The Kids Are Alright

No.	Title	Air date	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total (18–49)	Total viewers (millions)
1	"Pilot"	October 16, 2018	1.4/6	6.52[5]	0.5	1.49	1.9	8.01[44]
2	"Timmy's Poem"	October 23, 2018	1.1/5	5.08[6]	0.4	1.39	1.4	6.46[45]
3	"Microwave"	October 30, 2018	1.3/6	5.39[7]	0.2	0.99	1.5	6.38[46]
4	"Peggy's Day Out"	November 13, 2018	1.0/5	4.60[8]	0.3	1.10	1.3	5.70[47]
5	"Boxing"	November 20, 2018	0.9/4	4.22[9]	0.3	1.12	1.2	5.34[48]
6	"Behind the Counter"	November 27, 2018	0.9/4	4.58[10]	0.3	1.02	1.2	5.60[49]
7	"Little Cyst"	December 4, 2018	0.8/3	4.25[11]	—	—	—	—
8	"Christmas 1972"	December 11, 2018	0.9/3	4.23[12]	0.3	1.05	1.2	5.28[50]
9	"The Love List"	January 8, 2019	1.0/4	4.56[13]	—	—	—	—
10	"Show Boat"	January 15, 2019	0.8/4	4.21[14]	—	—	—	—
11	"Mailbox"	January 22, 2019	0.8/4	4.40[15]	—	—	—	—
12	"Vietnam"	February 5, 2019	0.7/3	3.67[16]	0.3	1.13	1.1	4.80[51]
13	"Valentine's Day"	February 12, 2019	0.7/3	3.20[17]	0.3	1.07	1.0	4.27[52]
14	"Happy Cecil"	February 19, 2019	0.7/3	3.43[18]	0.3	0.97	1.0	4.40[53]
15	"Nine Birthdays"	February 26, 2019	0.8/4	3.33[19]	0.3	1.00	1.1	4.33[54]
16	"Wendi's House"	March 19, 2019	0.7/3	3.09[20]	0.3	1.06	1.0	4.15[55]
17	"Low Expectations"	March 26, 2019	0.6/3	3.01[21]	0.3	1.08	0.9	4.10[56]
18	"Peggy Drives Away"	April 9, 2019	0.6/3	2.91[22]	0.3	0.97	0.9	3.88[57]
19	"Mass for Shut-ins"	April 16, 2019	0.6/3	3.10[23]	0.3	1.01	0.9	4.11[58]
20	"Timmy's New Hobby"	April 30, 2019	0.7/3	3.28[24]	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
21	"Mike's Award"	May 7, 2019	0.6/3	3.03[25]	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
22	"Whales"	May 14, 2019	0.6/3	2.85[26]	0.2	1.00	0.8	3.85[59]
23	"Irish Goodbye"	May 21, 2019	0.6/3	2.96[27]	0.2	0.93	0.8	3.77[60]

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."^[61] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 71 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[62]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2019	Writers Guild of America Awards	Episodic Comedy	Tim Doyle for "Pilot"	Nominated	[63]