'Better With You' Premiere Episode

Better With You is a harmless and forgettable comedy about relationships, with stock characters and a bland approach. It has some likable stars, but nothing new or funny to say about the various stages of love and romance.

Created by former Friends writer and producer Shana Goldberg-Meehan, Better With You feels like a throwback to the era of that popular show, but not in a particularly appealing way. Instead, it resembles the copycat urban 20-something comedies that came along in the aftermath of Friends, with only a few slight tweaks. We get two young urban couples in sisters Maddie (Jennifer Finnigan) and Mia (JoAnna Garcia) and their respective boyfriends, but we also get their parents, so Better With You has more of a multi-generational appeal and perspective. But at least at this point, the show is primarily about the younger characters, and their romantic travails are certainly nothing new.

Garcia, who’s bounced around a few short-lived TV series, is a lot of fun as the impulsive Mia, who gets engaged after only knowing Casey (Jake Lacy) for seven weeks, and the other familiar faces in the cast are generally appealing as well. Nothing here rises above the level of basic competence, though, and the themes are laid out and then underlined over and over again, with quickly diminishing returns. Other new comedies this season are worse, but Better With You is the blandest and most generic, feeling instantly dated even though it’s all-new. It looks like ABC will probably have to keep searching to find a clever and distinctive show to fill out its popular Wednesday-night comedy lineup.

Disclosure: A review screener was provided by the network. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.