Dads (I) (2013–2014) User Reviews

Horrible laugh track in unfunny show

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 8 October 2013]

Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi are 2 guys with their successful video gaming company. Seth is the bachelor and his grumpy dad Peter Riegert moves into his pad. Giovanni Ribisi is married to Vanessa Lachey and his flaky dad Martin Mull moves in with them. Brenda Song works at their company.

This is not funny. The laugh track is annoyingly loud. Brenda Song does get a couple jokes in. I love the 4 male actors, but they have major problems.

Giovanni Ribisi is not a comedian. In fact the only true comedian in the 4 male leads is Martin Mull. The problem with Mull is that he's stuck doing his act against Ribisi. And Vanessa Lachey is impossibly unfunny. She's like a blackhole of comedy.

Seth Green is an amiable guy but it's impossible to laugh with Peter Riegert being so angry. What they have here is 6-7 main actors, and only 1-2 of them who make their living doing jokes. There is no way this show will be renew.

Sorry, no. If you do geek culture, do it properly.

[badoli · 4/10 · 16 May 2016]

This series obviously tries to score with the installed nerd and geek base from "The Big Bang Theory". Only problem: The writers didn't embrace their topic in the slightest.

As a geek and nerd myself i could laugh a lot about all the TBBT-punches and quips, because in the end nerd culture was taken seriously. As such the characters felt believable.

"Dads" on the other hand doesn't go to that length. The whole geek part is superficial. As a sitcom about two game developers there is a hilariously low understanding for game culture present and even less about game development. This makes the jokes feel more like your dad making quips because he doesn't understand your hobby. Which is ironic, because that's what the show-dads are supposed to do. But if the main protagonist already are a joke, it's just silly to make jokes about them. It was cringingly painful at times.

Which is such a missed opportunity! Game culture is so rich with possibilities to make great fun of, as the Xbox-vs.-Playstation- episode of TBBT already hinted. And with Seth Green they have one person featuring a proved "Geek Culture" track record with his critically acclaimed "Robot Chicken". But alas, all is wasted for rather cheap shots and a shallow (but kinda funny) "father-son"-dynamic.

So yea, it's a geek sitcom for non-geeks. If you're into that, you might have fun. I, as part of the target audience, did not.

Same Difference

[kindredparadox · 6/10 · 19 September 2013]

I won't say this show is not entertaining. Not surprising, I was rather enjoying it and didn't feel that "Dads" was fully wasting my time. The problem is that "Dads" is just some, same difference. I couldn't turn off my brain from thinking where this scene is from? Alas, yeah, can't not remember.

Acting was good, the actors are the troupers. The evil is in the script. This show has a potential, it could go south or north depending on the script. No holes if only a little on the accuracy in relation to the premise or characters. Though it lacks the freshness and crispiness of Modern Family or Happy Endings, or the sincerity of "Friends". It felt "Dads" is more on the minimalism side, maybe that could be the success angle to where this show going to last.

I Like it...

[uryon-adams · 19 October 2013]

This is the only actual sitcom that made me laugh out loud. To me, personally, I'm glad Seth MacFarlane made this show. One of those dumb reviews said that there is room for improvement, and I totally agree. Giovanni Ribisi and Seth Green have really stepped it up, by the way, because by the fifth episode (Oldfinger), I was cracking up. And I love the maid; she's like a Consuela that appears in every episode. This and the Big Bang Theory are my favorite sitcom shows that feature a overly used laugh track (that is the only thing that annoys me), and I hope to see many more seasons of Dads in the future. Maybe an episode where Seth MacFarlane guest stars will crank up some views. All I really know is that people love Seth MacFarlane.

Such a Waste of Great Talent

[susan-317 · 3/10 · 17 September 2013]

Four men, all so funny in various individual roles, yet, somehow, not at all funny when collocated in one show. I could yak for hours about the talent of Giovani Ribisi and Seth Green.

What happened? It was not simply that the script was bad. It wasn't only the lack of reality in the relationships or even the premise. It was just bad.

There is a laugh track. For some reason, the laugh track commenced at the end of every line and every piece of business from every actor. But I only laughed once. When the lovely Asian-American assistant appeared in a special outfit.

I do not understand why the show felt so contrived and stilted, as though it were a stage play. The laugh track sounded like a track, not a live performance. I hope to see all these actors in different, better productions soon. This show filled me with sadness.

No, no, no! Not another laugh track!

[Narce · 1/10 · 20 September 2013]

In the first few seconds of this show, I noticed that the "audience" laughed at every line and gesture as if it was the funniest thing they had ever heard. That was enough for me to relegate this show to my "don't ever watch it again" bin. I never even made it to the end of the show.

Show producers, haven't you noticed that the laugh track has been consigned to the trash bin? Unless you are actually filming in front of a live audience, just forget it. It doesn't make lame jokes funnier, just more obvious. Look at the successful comedies currently on TV, like Modern Family - no laugh tracks, because they don't want to look and sound like re-runs of Gilligan's Island (which was funnier than Dads, by the way).

This show can be good

[korodymatyas · 7/10 · 25 September 2013]

I was trying to be optimistic about this show, and I succeeded. The 4 main actors are seem to be very talented, especially the fathers. I was really happy to see Martin Mull on screen, he is my favorite actor in many movies and shows, including Two and a Half Men. The problem in this show might be the family guy dudes. I never really liked them, they are trying to be funny by being disgusting or vulgar. It worked really good in family guy, but thats not a Tuesday night sitcom on Fox. The Ted was also ordinary movie, with Mila Kunis, other hoes and with a crap in the middle of the room. And of course, with a good idea. Because this show is - at least I think it is- a really good idea. It has a huge amount of possibilities in it, and if they can figure out better jokes, make the father sons relationships a little bit more realistic, but not too much (I'm thinking of something like the Harper brothers and their mother in two and a half men) it could be a great show. I will definitely give a chance to this show, and hope for the best. Sorry for my English, I only started to learn it yesterday.

Unintelligent, Unoriginal, Unnecessary, Offensive.

[joshua-halstead · 1/10 · 17 September 2013]

"Dads" is yet another excuse for Seth MacFarlane to be vulgar, racist, sexist, crude, and incredibly rude to everybody and everything. Now, I am not a fan of Family Guy, American Dad, or The Cleveland Show, but Dads trumps them all. Not only is it far more controversial, MacFarlane seems to have forgotten that you cannot be as vulgar and rude in a live action production as in a cartoon because in a cartoon you do not actually watch the actors make the joke. A really big issue with the show is that it isn't even funny. There is not a single laugh in the entire pilot. The show portrays fathers as racist, sexist, unintelligent, crazy old men. The entire show is over the top and the plot is incredibly bland. As far as I'm concerned Seth MacFarlane, Seth Green, Giovanni Ribisi, and every other person who is involved in the sad, pathetic, filthy, ridiculous excuse for a show is welcome to just stop attempting to be funny, or create, or act in anything ever. This show is exactly the kind of low-brow, unoriginal, formulaic, offensive, crap that makes TV and film so terrible and for the most part unbearable to watch. Not worth anything.

Slow start but getting there

[insoumis31 · 8/10 · 29 October 2013]

I would have agreed with other reviews about how terrible this show is but I had to give it time. I LOVE Seth Green, Giovanni Ribisi, and Peter Riegert and refused to believe they could produce something so god awful.

While it isn't the best show out there, with each passing episode I can see the characters settling into themselves. I will say the Dads more so than the Sons as of now but the comedy IS getting better!

Seth Green's maid is definitely a show stealer. I'm impressed by the writers for never translating what she says in Spanish. It adds a special comedy for me since I am bilingual. I feel as of now the two strongest characters are Peter Reigert and the maid. Their relationship is hilarious!

I am also particularly impressed by Brenda Song. While most would discard her as a former Disney actress, her role in this show really speaks to her talents. Her character is a strong and smart, constantly keeping the boys in line and pretty much responsible for the continued success of the company.

Blame it on nostalgia if you must but I really want to see this show continue and develop into something greater.

Nice

[SanteeFats · 7/10 · 9 October 2013]

Wow I read lolawants review. She finds Mom and Brooklyn 99 funny but not Dads!!?? I am just the opposite. I think 99 is moronic and Mom stupid. Maybe its a guy thing judging by her username. Anyway, I find this show pretty funny. Martin Mull (Ribisi's dad) and Peter Riegert (Seth's) play the two fathers. I do find Mull's character to be annoying and am not sure why but Riegert I find very funny. I have always liked Seth Green and he does well in this one. The maid is assertive and funny especially with Seth's father who is very abrasive and unPC, both of which which I like. People who are too caught up in correctness are usually up tight and obnoxious even holier than thou. Brenda Song is the smart, capable, assistant. She is as hot as ever and has some good lines and does a good job in this role. It is nice to see her get a role where she does not play the idjit like in Suite Life. I realize that this is based on only a few episodes but as long as the writing and acting holds up I will be watching this series.

the jokes aren't offensive, the lack of funny is offensive!

[lolawants · 1/10 · 26 September 2013]

I find it hilarious that some people are saying this show is SO offensive... Because it IS, but not how they mean it. Sure, there are mildly politically incorrect jokes sprinkled throughout, but those were the only teeny tiny chuckles I ever emitted watching this truly BAD pilot. The show is offensive to any viewer with a brain, for having to watch even a minute of this drivel.

There is a difference between GOOD live studio audience & BAD shows- laugh track, single cam, or live studio audience. I just watched Brooklyn Nine Nine & Mom... Both were funny, Mom had a live studio audience that laughed appropriately at FUNNY stuff. When I saw who was in Dads, I was excited- I really have tuned out Network TV for many years for the most part because I am almost always disappointed but I thought these 3 seemed promising.

I watched the pilot of Dads with my mouth agape in absolute shock- it was SOOOO BAD. If that wasn't a laugh track, then they told the audience to cackle at every stupid, mundane line, & it was VERY distracting (though I must say, the sheer train wreck of the laugh track was the 'funniest' thing about the show). The show looked cheap, the writing/situations were so lame, it was like a satire of the worst sitcoms without the intelligence or awareness (like if I was going to put an over-the-top exaggerated bad sitcom on a TV screen in a Robot Chicken skit).

I was literally at a loss for words & my brain was scrambling trying to understand how something like this was produced with these players! And it was a helluva lot of work to get through it's 22min. I think the reason these bad shows last longer than the single camera ones is the same reason we get more reality shows than quality television: It is WAY cheaper to produce. And there is still a chunk of the American audience who grew up on network TV *only* who have been trained to lower their standards & just watch what is on TV. They come home from work & want to numb out with something that requires zero brain function to watch. This definitely fits that criteria.

While watching this I thought the only person I know who could stand to watch this at all would be my 73yr old mother who has never had cable or DVR.

For the record it would be a travesty to put this in the same category as brilliant groundbreaking shows like All In The Family, Cosby Show, Seinfeld, et al. Just another reason (like I needed one) to tune out network shows... The vast majority of their fare is truly an insult to their viewing audience & brain cells in general (exceptions being Modern Family, Parks & Rec, etc).

Dads Is Hilarious

[TVshow_Junkie · 10/10 · 27 October 2013]

I honestly don't understand why people don't like this show, i think its the funniest new show on TV. It's got a great cast and chemistry and the writing and situations that the dads put them in is Hilarious. Heres hoping it goes on for years to come. People complain about the laugh track but it is recorded in front of a live audience and i prefer the multi camera sitcoms myself. most of the new shows on TV are goofy and not really relatable with likable characters. Dads does not have this problem Seth Green and His Friend are Hilarious and the Dads are even better please don't listen to the haters and check out this show for yourself and make up your mind. If you like Ted and Family guy you will love Dads

Noble Eskimo We Stole Your Snow

[amyromine-565-217049 · 7/10 · 26 September 2013]

Noble Eskimo we stole your snow All of our warming made your igloo melt You are left with just a Walrus pelt Noble Eskimo we stole your snow… - Dads on FOX

This is why each show gets three chances to hook me. Along with the above simplistic and yet catchy pot song, the second episode made me laugh out- loud. It is rare this happens and so I will give credit where it is due. In the second episode of Dads a pot laced brownie is eaten by one father and then tried on the second father. While both of the sons think their Dads are clueless the episode rounds out with a pot-off. Hilarious!!

1 star is 1 too many

[guiding_fright · 1/10 · 1 October 2013]

Have you ever had to flip back to a show only because after the first 5 minutes of watching you actually needed to go back and re-evaluate whether or not what you had just viewed could possibly be televised on a major network or any network for that matter. This show is an absolute disaster and it's almost enjoyable to sit back and laugh at the ridiculous laugh track and play a game of oddsmakers as to how many more episodes will be televised before they take all of the tape of this show and catapult it out to the pacific ocean. Do yourself a favor and watch an episode... well as much of one episode as you can because in a short period of time this will disappear, and when it does, it will disappear forever. When a conversation arises about the worst show you've ever seen, you'll have your answer.

Tl;dr - This show is garbage.

A Failure on All Levels...

[ClaytonDavis · 18 September 2013]

Read More @ The Awards Circuit (http://www.awardscircuit.com)

I really do enjoy Seth MacFarlane. I think he's a funny dude, capable of capturing the hilarious antics of the now as he demonstrates on "Family Guy" on FOX. His Executive Produced show "Dads" starring the talents of Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi is an atrocious and unfunny take on the father-son dynamic that has been beat to death over the years of raunchy, family sitcoms.

Scribes Maggie Mull, Alec Sulkin, and Wellesley Wild have no concept of what can possibly make these characters interesting. They're almost relying on slapstick comedy to carry the audience through but forgot to put in the slapstick. It falters on every level from the introduction of Eli (Green) and Warner (Ribisi) to their Dads (Martin Mull and Peter Reigert), the only chuckle that emerged from me was a bit about "punch the Puerto Rican" and how it should be the name of a new video game that Warner was working on. And we're talking about a light chuckle.

Why is Vanessa Lachey on this show? She seems so above something like this for some reason. How did this get the green light from FOX? Well, we know exactly why but still, could they not see this was a train wreck waiting to happen? They bridge this live action show with the same humor that makes "Family Guy" so successful with dried movie references along with Mexican cleaning jokes. This works for cartoons, not real life. One note, is the eye candy that is Brenda Song, who you may remember as Andrew Garfield's psycho-girlfriend that sets fire to his room in "The Social Network" – she's fine to look at. Unfortunately, when this show inevitably gets canceled in 30 days time, she'll need to look for her next venture. I much enjoy her stint from time to time on FOX's "New Girl" as Winston's girlfriend.

The show is a disaster. Ribisi is a fine actor, that works well in comedy from time to time as we saw in MacFarlane's "Ted" but subjected to the amateur comedy that is displayed here has to make him rethink his choices in work.

Too bad for words. The first episode is available on FOX's website.

GRADE: ½ (half a star)

ugh Dads

[lbowles639 · 1/10 · 18 September 2013]

A horrible satire on fathers. Seth Green is obnoxious and has forgotten how to act. Martin Mull what can one say but ugh!! The rest of the cast are incapable of acting and show go back to waiting on tables. The story line is so bad it should have been thrown into the shredder. Seth Macfarlane has once again proved to be an incredible stupid, obnoxious and down right sick writer. Never again will I submit myself to trash like this. It is hard to write ten lines on this sitcom. There is not one thing that is good about this show. Hard to believe it was even allowed to air. Hopefully, it will be taken off the air before the next show.

poor writing

[joshyu85 · 2/10 · 23 September 2013]

i'm going to premise this with the fact that i'm very lenient with sitcoms. if they make me laugh, i don't mind the stupid, pointless, and empty plots. I actually kind of like seth green and a am a fan of some of his work. also, i'm gonna ignore the racism/ignorance, that's another story and not getting into that (again, sitcom). with that said, very poor writing, simply put,not funny. It wasn't even a problem with the acting. Somebody had an idea that sounded OK, and the network thought it sounded OK, but, they misjudged the writing. everyone makes mistakes, and this happens to be one of them. it's plain crap grade poor. this show needs to get off the air.

I like this show but....

[canadaiscold · 7/10 · 21 November 2013]

Dads is one of those so close shows. The writing is a little dry, but I assume that is due to Network TV restrictions being so ridiculous. The true enemy to this show is Peter Riegert, he is a terrible actor and he doesn't have the credibility or likability to play such a character. He has zero chemistry with Seth Green, but luckily Seth Green can carry the scenes. I personally think the rest cast is stellar.

Sadly, they are going to have to add Implausible relationship story lines over the facade of their former show, like The Big Bang Theory, to attract coveted female viewers. Females as a majority don't like intelligent writing, good jokes or wit. They only want the exact cookie cutter romance smut story told over and over. "Let's make Romeo a vampire this time."

Most horrible sitcom I've seen in ages

[showmonkey · 1/10 · 27 September 2013]

I don't really need to repeat what all of the other negative reviews have written - this show is not only incredibly offensive ( forget if it's trying to be ironic), but it's just plain not funny. (To give you context, I do find Family Guy funny, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and love comedians like Louis CK, George Carlin, Eddie Murphy, etc) I mainly came here to do my part to keep the ratings for this show as far down as possible and just be one more person to voice extreme disapproval for the show. I'm disappointed in Giovanni Ribisi. Wow, IMDb just said that I need to make this review longer so here goes; this show is sexist, racist, ageist, really stupid; the jokes are completely unintelligent and there is nothing interesting about the premise at all.

dads

[davewebb-919-660231 · 10/10 · 18 December 2013]

just a simple silly show that gives a laugh or two hope it is not canceled. no hidden message or agenda in this show take it as it is reminds me of how married with children was in the beginning. hope the show stays compared to what is out there it is good enough to stay on. with all he reality shows and junk on TV it is a relief for there to be some shows that are not politically correct.which to me is refreshing. yes the laugh tracks are a bit much but with all the simple minded people who tweet and believe everything online they need to be reminded when to laugh. so take the show as i is simple and enjoyable for 30 minutes. also martin mull really helps and the character Edna needs a little more lines.

At Least watch Episode 5 -- OLD FINGER!!! Ha hahahaha ;D

[midnitepantera · 7/10 · 20 August 2021]

This isn't the greatest show I've seen, but it did have quite a few hilarious moments and even the annoying characters were likable and cracked me up. WAY BETTER than 99% of stupid so called Reality TV garbage.

If nothing else, try to find episode 5, called Old Finger and watch it. It was the Funniest Episode of the whole season. :D.

This show is /bad/.

[imdb-9866 · 1/10 · 26 September 2013]

With all the talent of Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi, this show is just god awful.

The jokes are flat, it offers nothing but lame one-liners that aren't even slightly funny, (despite the constant idiotic laugh track -- it's 2013, can we ditch these please?), the characters aren't likable, there's no semblance of a plot anywhere, and it provides no laughs whatsoever.

I haven't even so much as smirked at a single joke in this show.

Another huge swing and a miss for Fox. I suppose this means they'll renew it for another 7 seasons.

Much better than I expected

[danabunner · 9/10 · 27 October 2013]

I don't like many network comedies. In fact, I'm not regularly watching any of them. I accidentally tuned in to the first episode of "Dads" as it came on after one of the playoff baseball games. It had me laughing hard.

I had seen one commercial for it and hadn't been impressed. Had no intentions of viewing it. But now I'm going to try to catch some more episodes.

Yes, it was silly , and even juvenile in places. But the acting was very good and they pulled off scenes which lesser actors would have died on.

gone too soon

[harobike · 7/10 · 18 July 2021]

This show shouldnt have been cancelled, it could have lasted a good 3 or 4 seasons probably.

So so so bad

[alphatango241 · 1/10 · 6 November 2013]

This is really a horrible show. The actors are not even trying. The "jokes" are plain and just old stereotypes played again and again.

This Seth guy should stay behind the scene and let real actors work. He cannot act! In a fair world, this show would have been canceled a long time ago. Can someone explain why "We are men", which was an original concept talking about a subject rarely seen on TV with really good actors, is canceled after two episodes and this junk stays?

The racism of the show is a point that I find specifically despicable. They seem to work hard to create a shock that would generate some media attention and improve their ratings. I think the best to do is just to stop watching and let it die on its own.