ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Family Tools (ABC) - Series Premiere: Synopsis and Review

Updated on May 2, 2013
Source

On Wednesday the 1st of May, ABC’s newest comedy series ‘Family Tools’ premiered. The show centers around Jack Shea (Kyle Bornheimer, ‘Worst Week’) who takes over his father’s hardware-handyman business after his dad, Tony (J.K. Simmons, ‘Law and Order’), suffered a heart attack. ‘Family Tools’ is based on the British sitcom ‘White Van Man’, created by (Adrian Poynton), who is also the co-creator of ‘Family Tools’.

The episode begins with Tony lying on the floor having a heart attack, which seems to happen a lot, while his sister Terry (Leah Remini, ‘King of Queens’) refuses to let the EMTs in until her brother promises he will stop working and let his son take over. Tony’s son, Jack, has just been kicked out of seminary school, just like he’s been kicked out of a lot of schools. This time, all he did was suggesting they make the bible ‘a little less long and preachy’. When he receives a text from his dad saying ‘I need you’ he sees it as the perfect opportunity to finally make his dad proud. Too bad it was his aunt who sent him the text.

Nonetheless, Jack is willing to take over his father’s business, even though his dad would rather he did not. However, Jack has to work with Darren Bichette (Edi Gathegi, ‘House’), an irresponsible guy who has no faith in Jack. Furthermore, Darren seems to think that, now Tony is no longer running the business, he no longer has a boss. Unfortunately for Jack, his first job isn’t going very well, so Darren seems to be right about him.

Seeing as how Darren is annoying him a lot and isn’t taking things seriously, Jack wants to fire him. However, his father won’t allow it, so Jack takes his aunt Terry’s advice to ‘drive him away’. When Darren’s sister starts talking to Jack in a flirty manner, Jack notices Darren doesn’t like it very much. So, Jack starts to flirt with her on the phone while Darren is working.

In the meantime, Tony refuses to let go of the business so he keeps popping up to check up on Jack, even though Terry does everything in her power to keep him at home and resting. Tony is able to sneak out however, and catches Jack and Darren at the perfect time: Jack has just accidentally shot himself in the foot with a nailgun, and Darren is throwing up because of it. Once again, Tony has a heart attack, and he is rushed off to the hospital along with Jack.

In the ambulance Terry forces Jack and Tony to talk about why they don’t get along. She asks Jack why he doesn’t seem to like the job, and Jack says he doesn’t like going home to live in a basement while helping his dad who doesn’t even seem to like him, but seems to love Darren. All Tony can say is that it’s different because Jack is his son.

When they’re back home, it seems like nothing has changed. Jack decides to give up on making his dad like him. But when he gets back from finishing his first job, his dad and Darren are in the basement fixing the place up for him.

During the first five to seven minutes I thought this wasn’t going to be a show I would love. I honestly thought it would be just another mediocre comedy, with a chuckle here and there and that is it. I came around quickly though. Granted, I still wasn’t laughing very hard, but I enjoyed watching the show. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is that made me like this show, but there are a few things that may have done the trick. For one, I like the story. It’s relatable, and it leaves room for funny situations. Furthermore, the way Edi Gathegi portrays Darren is hilarious. All in all, the show wasn’t amazing, but it has the potential to become something quite funny.


Family Tools airs Wednesdays at 8:30/7:30c on ABC

What did you think about 'Family Tools'?

See results
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)