A teenage boy, struggling to be himself, accidentally comes out of the closet. Another boy, missing for ten years, suddenly reappears in his family’s life. What do these two have in common? They are the main characters of two of ABC’s newest television shows.
“The Real O’Neals” is about the O’Neal family, obviously, and they get real. All joking aside, the first episode featured a church fundraiser that Eileen O’Neal organized. During this fundraiser, each family member accidentally reveals something about themselves and, unknown to them, everyone at the fundraiser can hear them through the thin walls. The main character’s name is Kenny O’Neal who comes out as gay to his family (and his church). Each episode revolves around Kenny’s journey through life as a newly out gay kid.
I honestly think this show is ridiculous and over-the-top, but that doesn’t stop it from being funny! I don’t think it’s as strong as some of ABC’s other comedies like “Modern Family” and “The Middle,” but it does make me laugh pretty much every episode. One of the funniest characters isn’t even one of the five main family members: Aunt Jodi’s life is a mess, but she’s so optimistic about everything, and her sass and support of her family makes me smile.
“The Family” is a drama and is much darker. It begins with the Warren family functioning well, 10 years after the youngest member Adam suddenly went missing and was assumed dead. One night, though, Adam returns and is reunited with his mayor mother, author father, drunk brother, and religious sister. Everything is not as it seems, though, when people start to suspect that Adam isn’t the real Adam. As the police try to find who kidnapped this boy, the family and those around them are faced with many challenges.
Without saying much to spoil the plot - because, honestly, if I say much more, there will be major spoilers - I would just like to say that “The Family” has definitely kept my interest for the most part. The seventh episode was almost a low point because it seemed that the major question of “Is he or isn’t he?” was finally answered. I wondered how on earth there could be five more episodes because there was only one plot point that wasn’t clear. The eighth episode turned everything around, though, and renewed my faith in the show. With just three episodes remaining at the time of this writing, there are still so many questions that I have and I am sure the show will continue to surprise its viewers.
Overall, I genuinely enjoy both shows for completely different reasons, mostly because of the different genres. I enjoy “The Real O’Neals” because the comedy is spot on and I like “The Family” because, except for the one episode, I have been interested in knowing what happens next and whether or not all of the questions will be answered.
However, whether or not I continue watching the shows depends on a few different factors. “The Real O’Neals” deals with some controversial topics, especially revolving around Catholicism and Christianity. There have been a couple of “jokes” that I found almost offensive, so I will probably continue to watch unless there are more jokes that I think are unnecessary. With “The Family,” I will most definitely finish watching the season, which ends on May 15, but if the show gets renewed, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stand watching another season that probably won’t be as good as the first. I do recommend both shows, though, so let me know what you think in the comments below.
