Bloodlines have blessed Freddie Prinze Jr. with a famous name and swoony good looks. But, as he rolls out his new sitcom Wednesday night, he may discover that a curse came along as part of the deal: one of impossible expectations.
Like its namesake, the henpecked-bachelor sitcom “Freddie” is amiable, good-looking and makes you smile. But it may be crushed by the weighty reputation of Prinze’s father, whose suicide 28 years ago sank “Chico and the Man.”
“Freddie,” which airs at 7:30 p.m. on ABC, is not going to rewrite the history of TV comedy. But that shouldn’t distract critics or audiences from the fact that it’s a pleasant, enjoyable sitcom with plenty of room to grow.
Prinze plays Freddie Moreno, the hot young Puerto Rican head chef at a trendy Chicago restaurant, who was enjoying the fast-lane single life until death and divorce sent three generations of female relatives into his apartment.
They run the gamut in age and vehemence from his grandmother (Jenny Gago, “Mi Familia”), who’s been kicked out of every Indian casino in the Midwest for putting curses on dealers, to teenage niece Zoey (Chloe Suazo), who believes 13 is well past the starting point for bared midriffs and exposed bra straps.
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In between are his widowed sister-in-law Allison (Madchen Amick, “ER”), popping so many pills for depression over her husband’s death that “my street value went up,” and his divorced sister Sofia (Jacqueline Obradors, “NYPD Blue”), as bossy as when they were teenagers.
“I’m the older sister,” she snaps during an argument. “As long as I’m under your roof, you’ll do what I say.”
Add to the mix Brian Austin Green of “Beverly Hills, 90210” as Freddie’s best friend, Chris, a trust-fund slacker who trolls laundromats in an eternal quest for “a chick that’ll do anything for a burger,” and you have a pinata ready to burst.
“Freddie” is a series of collisions–between generations, sexes, ethnicities and perhaps most of all between youthful Latin macho and imperious Latin matriarchy in the struggle to rule the house. “Freddie” comes from the same production team behind “The George Lopez Show” and, just as that sitcom did when it started three years ago, keeps its ethnicity out of your face. The single, and very welcome, exception: Grandma, who refuses to speak English. Her ranting insults are even funnier and more cutting in subtitles.
But as time passed and its ratings strengthened, “The George Lopez Show” has become more ambitious, not only in treating Latin themes but in exploring touchy topics like learning disabilities and teenage promiscuity.
“Freddie” might do the same, if we give it “un momento” or two to develop.