''Almost Family'' is an American

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

television series based on the Australian television series ''

Sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent 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 r ...

'', developed by Annie Weisman which aired from October 2, 2019, to February 22, 2020, on Fox. In March 2020, Fox canceled the series after one season.

Premise

When it is revealed that fertility doctor Leon Bechley (

Timothy Hutton Timothy Hutton (born August 16, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He is the List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees#Youngest winners 4, youngest recipient of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he ...

) had used his own

sperm Sperm (: sperm or sperms) is the male reproductive Cell (biology), 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 ...

to conceive at least 100 children throughout his career, Julia Bechley (

Brittany Snow Brittany Anne Snow (born March 9, 1986) is an American actress. She came to prominence for her role 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 o ...

) unites with two of her half siblings—including childhood friend Edie Palmer ( Megalyn Echikunwoke), 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 Gi ...

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

Cast

as Julia Bechley, a communications director for her father's fertility clinic * Megalyn Echikunwoke as Edie Palmer, Julia's childhood friend and one of Julia's half siblings 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 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, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represe ...

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, 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 division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...

and

Fox Entertainment Fox Entertainment is an American entertainment company owned by Fox Corporation known for television production and distribution. The company was formed in 2019 after The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, with offices in ...

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

and Victoria Cartagena 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 and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

, ''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 an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, 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 LGBTQ-related drama television series 2010s American medical drama television series 2019 American television series debuts 2020 American television series endings 2020s American LGBTQ-related drama television series 2020s American medical drama television series American television series based on Australian television series Fox Broadcasting Company television dramas Television shows about human pregnancy Television series by Endemol Television series by Fox Entertainment Television series by Universal Television