Sons of Tucson

     I am mad at Fox's new Sons of Tucson, which premiered last night, and here's why.  There was a fantastic show on the air for two seasons on the CW called Reaper, where three guys helped capture souls for the devil, and one of the stars was Tyler Labine.  Reaper was canceled well before its time, and while there were rumors that it was being shopped around to other networks, including cable, nothing came of it.  I do not have any proof that the reason, or part of the reason, was that Labine was already attached to a new pilot and possibly would not be available, but were I a network considering the series, I would have considered not picking it up if Labine was not in it, as he was definitely a necessary component for making it work.
     That being said, Sons of Tucson is not completely awful.  I certainly can't call it great.  The show revolves around three kids whose dad is in jail and mom is gone.  Worried about being sent to separate foster homes, they pay a dolt named Ron (Labine) to pretend to be their father and enroll them in school.  Labine does it for the money, then negotiates his way into their home, or rather, the shed behind their home.  Better than sleeping in his car right?
     There were funny moments.  Labine basically plays the same character he played on Reaper, but without the other guys to balance him out.  In the pilot, at least, the kids' personalities were not really apparent.  They all sort of seemed the same.  Hopefully this will be corrected if the series continues, which I find unlikely if it is kept during the Animation Domination Sunday lineup.  The last time a live action sitcom was inserted there (The Winner, three years ago), it was quickly pulled off the air.
     I've been hedging around the bush, but the show really isn't very good.  I can't in good conscious recommend it, even though Labine is funny.  I will continue to watch, for now for that reason, and hope it improves drastically.  Sons of Tucson airs Sunday nights at 9:30pm on Fox.