''Surviving Jack'' is an American sitcom that aired as a mid-season replacement 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 ("brush"). Twelve species ...

as part of the 2013–14 American television season. On May 8, 2013, Fox placed a thirteen-episode order for the

single-camera In filmmaking, television production and video production, the single-camera setup or single-camera mode of production (also known as portable single crew, portable single camera or single-cam) is a method in which all of the various shots and c ...

comedy. The pilot is written by

Justin Halpern Justin Samuel Halpern (born September 3, 1980) is the American author of the Twitter feed " Shit My Dad Says" and the best-selling book ''Sh*t My Dad Says''. He was also the co-writer and co-executive producer of a CBS television situation come ...

and Patrick Schumacker, and the series is based on Halpern's autobiographical book ''I Suck at Girls''. On October 25, 2013, the order of episodes was cut to eight, due to scheduling restrictions. On May 7, 2014, Fox canceled the series after one season, and 7 episodes broadcast, leaving a single episode unaired, and the remaining episodes have never been circulated. They later aired the last episode, episode eight, in New Zealand on TV2.

Synopsis

Set in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, the

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

centers on Jack Dunlevy, an ex-

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

man and no-nonsense guy who becomes a full-time parent when his wife decides to go to law school. He takes an unorthodox approach to keeping his kids, a boy, Frankie and a girl, Rachel, in line.

Cast

Christopher Meloni Christopher Peter Meloni (; born April 2, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for portraying NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC legal drama series '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (1999–2011, 2021–present) and its spin-off '' ...

as Dr. Jack Dunlevy, a blunt talking, former military man, now a doctor, who, after many years, is assuming the parent responsibilities now that his wife is going back to law school. *

Rachael Harris Rachael Harris (born January 12, 1968) is an American actress and comedian. The accolades she has received include nominations for an Independent Spirit Award and a Saturn Award. In film, Harris has had lead roles as Susan Heffley in the ''Dia ...

as Joanne Dunlevy, a loving wife and mom, who is going back to law school. She longs to have her home be the neighborhood "hangout house." * Connor Buckley as Frankie Dunlevy, a typical, awkward freshman teenager, who is usually the focus point of all of Jack's parenting mistakes. * Claudia Lee as Rachel Dunlevy, a super conceited, over confident, super popular senior in high school. She can't stand any of her brother Frankie's friends. * Kevin Hernandez as George, Frankie's best friend since 2nd grade. He has a huge crush on Rachel. * Tyler Foden as Mikey, one of Frankie's best friends, who comes from a broken home. This is his second year as a freshman. * Mell Bowser as Craig

Critical reception

Review aggregation website,

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 ...

gives ''Surviving Jack'' a score of 68% average rating of 6.2 out of 10, based on 31 reviews. The website’s consensus reads: "Christopher Meloni's comedic chops help sell ''Surviving Jack'''s fresh twist on gender roles and the traditional sitcom formula, even if the show falls a little flat in other areas."

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 ...

gives the show a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on reviews from 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Episodes

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 2395482 2010s American single-camera sitcoms 2014 American television series debuts 2014 American television series endings American English-language television shows Television shows based on books Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television series set in the 1990s Television series set in 1991 Television shows set in California Fox Broadcasting Company sitcoms