'Life in Pieces' Review: Another dysfunctional family sitcom, but you know what -- it's good

This week has seen the premieres and debuts of a number of television series. CBS' new sitcom, Life in Pieces, which was heavily promoted over the summer, had its premiere this Monday and I already feel a grand success coming on. 

When I first saw the commercial for Life in Pieces, I thought, "Oh great, just another one of CBS' crappy attempts at a hit family sitcom." In the past two years, they've tried both The Millers and The McCarthys, both of which have been cancelled because, let's face it, they were nothing special. And at its premise, Life in Pieces isn't anything special either. But the writing is sharp and the actors are quite good, namely Dianne Wiest, who was the perfect pick to play the family matriarch. 

It's quite obvious this is CBS' attempt at a competitor for ABC's hit family sitcom Modern Family, which is entering its seventh year, and maybe that's okay. Modern Family's premise as well as its single-camera setup and lack of laugh track made it quite unique, so much so that it was almost surprising that no other network had come up with something to counter it. I'm kinda glad CBS has finally taken a shot at it. I'm eager to see what's ahead for Life in Pieces, as not only does it have an accurate portrayal of all the different phases of adulthood, the characters themselves are quite different and hilarious, which makes everything better. Catch it Mondays at 8:30/7:30c on CBS.