ruffles5 Horrible. This is the Golden Age of television (in Cable), but the networks are blind and atrociously obtuse to the opportunities that are given to them every day and which they consistently reject for bland shows that don't take any risks and, because of this, are doomed for cancellation. As more people turn to cable and experience (finally) great television, the networks' shows (especially the comedies) will suffer. "Growing Up Fisher" is a perfect example. The idea of the show is great, but the execution is deeply disappointing. Everything is dumbed down, the jokes feel forced, the narration is ridiculous! If this is really about the creator's childhood, he did an excellent job to skirt any pain, for pain in comedy is always what works best. I love television and hope lackluster shows like these disappear to make room for better creators and writers, and also complicated characters that let actors really act.

kaceho17 It is not often that NBC has a good show to play, but this is the best show they have had in a long time. It is funny, witty, and just an overall good show.It is a show that has caught my attention week after week, this is not an easy task (I have the attention span of a gnat) to grasp my attention. The only other show I had seen J.K Simmons in was The Closer, it is nice to see him trying to branch out and try new things, he makes a great comic for a comedy. His voice and dialect is just witty. It is amazing that producers are getting new talent, i.e. Henry and Runyen, to play in these types of shows; instead of using people who have been in many of shows. Props to these producers for giving new actors a chance in their shows.One of the best things I can think of about this show is the opening, with the song "Tell the World" by Eric Hutchinson, it is a great song to go along with this opening. If it were up to me, I would renew this show in a heartbeat. Too bad it is in the hands of the critics.I have said it before and I stand by it, this is the best show that NBC has had in a long time, there are only two shows I watch on this network: Parenthood and Growing Up Fisher. NBC has a winner with this show, could be around for a long time if they can stay out of the teeth of the critics.

HerbsReviews "Are you sure you should be driving?" NBC is currently trying a couple of new family centered series of which this is one and the other being About A Boy. Unfortunately, the premise is relatively thin and the show quickly abuses the abilities of the protagonist, Mel Fisher. The premise revolves around Mel Fisher, a blind lawyer, who goes about his life fooling everyone into believing he can see. The protagonist can apparently chop down trees with a chainsaw, teach his daughter to parallel park, leap over other lawyers with a simple bound. The comedy would need to be irreverent and edu for this to have the slightest shot at success. 'instead, it goes for a sappy, feel-good vibe with a voice-over by Jason Bateman. Despite it being based on the creator's actual childhood, the element of truth doesn't make it any less absurd or any more worthy of being a TV show. Just as it's hard to keep up with how many failed sitcoms there have been during mid-seasons, I'm losing track of how many mawkish, barely funny sitcoms these days are drawn from the writer's own family experience and upbringing. Creatively, the story of Me is an awfully stifling place to start. Memoir has its place beyond the page, but sitcoms are usually not it - for the same reasons that family stories you think are so table-poundingly hilarious are difficult to convey to any audience larger than a dinner party. Network execs need to stop indulging this strange habit and ask writers and producers to look for pilot pitches someplace other than their home movies and photo albums: it just isn't funny. For these reasons Growing Up Fisher gets a 2/10.

mbv-934-190763 We were pleased to see that NBC has tried a couple of new family centered series of which this is one and the other being About A Boy.We think the star in this series will turn out to be young Henry (Eli Baker). He is a fresh young talent and we think he has great potential.J.K. Simmons as Mel Fisher the Dad is an enjoyable character. It was especially nice to see how Henry listens to everything Dad says and there are many large underlying "teachable moments" in this first episode. Mel is a good Dad.Jenna Elfman is someone we enjoy seeing anytime, and here in her role as Joyce she was true to type. We enjoyed this episode and will tune in again next week. Growing Up Fisher and About A Boy are a welcome relief from watching NCIS Los Angeles on that other network. That means it fills a time slot where the market is hungry for something new and in this case NBC did it.Keep up the good work and we may tune in to NBC for more than Grimm.