''Almost Family'' is an American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

television series based on the Australian television series ''

Sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

'', developed by Annie Weisman which aired from October 2, 2019, to February 22, 2020, on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

. In March 2020, Fox canceled the series after one season.

Premise

When it is revealed that fertility doctor Leon Bechley (

Timothy Hutton Timothy Tarquin Hutton (born August 16, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He is the youngest recipient of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at age 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in ''Ordinary People ...

) had used his own

sperm Sperm is the male reproductive cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one). Animals produce motile sperm with a tail known as a flagellum, whi ...

conceive Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a new individual organism or offspring and initiate its development. Proce ...

at least 100 children throughout his career, Julia Bechley (

Brittany Snow Brittany Anne Snow (born March 9, 1986) is an American actress. She rose to prominence after appearing in the CBS soap opera ''Guiding Light'' (1998–2001), for which she won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress and was nominated for two ...

) unites with two of her

half sibling A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separat ...

s—including childhood friend Edie Palmer (

Megalyn Echikunwoke Ebubennem Megalyn Ann Echikunwoke ( ; born May 28, 1983), also known as Megalyn E.K., is an American actress, known primarily for her roles in television and film. Born in Spokane, Washington, she was discovered while performing in a theatri ...

), and retired Olympic athlete Roxy Doyle (

Emily Osment Emily Jordan Osment (born March 10, 1992) is an American actress, singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Osment began her career as a child actress, appearing in numerous television shows and films, before co-starring as Gerti ...

)—as they deal with issues that have been affecting their lives.

Cast

as Julia Bechley, a communications director for her father's fertility clinic *

as Edie Palmer, Julia's former friend and one of Julia's

s who is a criminal defense attorney *

as Roxy Doyle, a retired gymnast and one of Julia's half siblings * Mo McRae as Tim Moore, Edie's husband who is also a criminal defense attorney at the same law firm and Julia's ex-boyfriend * Mustafa Elzein as Dr. Isaac Abadi, an employee of the Bechley clinic and Leon's trusted second-in-command *

Victoria Cartagena Victoria Luz Cartagena is an American theater, film, and television actress. Cartagena is known for her role as Zoe Lopez in ''The Bedford Diaries'', and for portraying Renee Montoya as series regular in the first season of '' Gotham'' and the t ...

as Amanda Doherty, the woman that Edie is cheating on her husband with and the

assistant district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a loc ...

assigned to prosecute Leon *

as Leon Bechley, a fertility doctor and Julia's father, accused of fathering dozens of children without his patients' knowledge or consent

Production

Development

On October 16, 2018, it was announced that Fox had given the production, then titled ''Sisters'', a pilot production commitment. The pilot was written by Annie Weisman who was also set to executive produce alongside

Jason Katims Jason Katims (born November 30, 1960) is an American television writer, producer, and playwright. He is best known as the creator of several television series, including '' Relativity'' (1996), '' Roswell'' (1999–2002), '' Friday Night Lights' ...

, Jeni Mulein, Imogen Banks, Sharon Levy, Leslye Headland (also the director). Production companies involved with the pilot include

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predeces ...

and

Fox Entertainment Fox Entertainment is an American production company owned by Fox Corporation. The company was formed in 2019 after The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of 21st Century Fox. The programming is created for the Fox Broadcasting Company, MyNetwor ...

. On February 13, 2019, the production officially received a pilot order. On May 9, 2019, it was announced that Fox had given the series order. A few days later, it was announced that the title of the show had been changed to ''Not Just Me''. A day after that, it was announced that the series would premiere in the fall of 2019 and air on Wednesdays at 9:00 P.M. In June 2019, Fox changed the title from ''Not Just Me'' to ''Almost Family''. The series debuted on October 2, 2019. On March 2, 2020, the series was canceled after one season.

Casting

In February 2019, it was announced that

and

had been cast in the pilot's lead roles. In March 2019, it was reported that

and

had joined the cast.

Episodes

Release

On May 13, 2019, Fox released the first official trailer for the series.

Reception

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, ''Almost Family '' holds an approval rating of 28% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 4.40/10. The website's critical consensus states, "An appealing cast can't make up for ''Almost Family'' appalling premise." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, it has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

Ratings

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title 2010s American drama television series 2010s American LGBT-related drama television series 2010s American medical television series 2019 American television series debuts 2020 American television series endings 2020s American drama television series 2020s American LGBT-related drama television series 2020s American medical television series American television series based on Australian television series Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Pregnancy-themed television shows Television series by Endemol Television series by Fox Entertainment Television series by Universal Television