To View or Not to View: ‘Life in Pieces,’ and ‘You’re the Worst’

In the war zone that is the fall TV season, it’s important to pick out the gems hidden in the media mesh. Each week, A&E columnist Sebastian Torrelio will profile one new show and one returning show that share a connection, detailing how they may make those after-school hours more meaningful.

“Modern Family” was kept away from the crown jewel of TV funny business for the first time in its six seasons.

This year, the Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding comedy series went to “Veep,” an HBO sitcom that isn’t afraid to use vulgarity and quick wit to bend the expectations of what “sitcom” means in the 21st century. This is good for two reasons: First, it signals that the comedy landscape is visibly changing, and second, the award finally escaped the grip of the tiresome Dunphy family.

As the quality of “Modern Family” slowly teeters away from the hilarity it once had, the field for viewers’ attention becomes much more competitive, and like “Veep,” more abstract in the process.

It’s strange, then, that one of the most promising sitcoms in the coming months is, in many ways, a “Modern Family” clone.

“Life in Pieces,” a new addition to CBS’ Monday night lineup, hits all of the same notes: a large, bumbling family that, though separated in their daily lives, frequently comes together to share their biggest memories and most cherished events. In fact, that’s how every episode of the show works, laid out as three short stories detailing the family’s individual adventures and a fourth in which the group assembles for a big climax.

The fourth act of each episode will probably be the most jam-packed, and even the most fulfilling, but that’s not to say that it will be the most important. Each act, separated by commercial breaks, is its own short story that allows for endless quips and short story experimentation within the breakneck pace of network television.

“Life in Pieces” is weird, but thankfully not overly weird – just “Modern Family” with a formatting twist. Tweak audience expectations, little by little, and you may end up with something that’s both great and tolerable to boot.

However, what happens when you tweak it in the opposite direction?

A lot of clues can be found in “You’re the Worst,” a sitcom that’s currently running through its second season on FXX. “You’re the Worst” seems to be the antithesis to “Modern Family” – two self-destructive individuals, Jimmy and Gretchen (Chris Geere and Aya Cash), hook up and hang out with no intention of dealing with each other romantically. Like many 21st century adults, they’ve retained their youthful need to keep away from the mundanities of life, letting responsibilities descend into chaos instead of facing them.

At first glance, the spirited characters of “You’re the Worst” would appear to be the type that follow the familial sitcom cycle: Here’s a man and a woman who are impossible to deal with, but play off of each other’s personality anyway. They are the best individuals on television to pull off the “romance doesn’t really lead to happiness, romance is for chumps” vibe.

Yet, as Jimmy and Gretchen discover each other’s imperfections, the subtleties of their bond breach the chronic pessimism – it’s all the sweetness that “Modern Family” can deliver with a lot more bite.

One of the four acts in the pilot episode for “Life in Pieces” follows a couple, played by the talented Colin Hanks and Zoe Lister-Jones, who come home from the hospital with their first child. In several scenes, they quietly admit their lack of assurance with the whole ordeal. Where do you learn how to take care of a baby? Can romance really continue after something that impactful?

The lives of Hanks’ and Lister-Jones’ characters could be Jimmy and Gretchen’s future. If family and courtship aren’t the answer to everything, then maybe reliability in one another is. Both shows take the same cautious and mature approach to romance, but they are molded to different periods in the lives of a couple.

“Modern Family” broke ground in a world lacking in silly sitcom diversity, but in a landscape that’s already as diverse as today’s, it might be time to rely on the newcomers to tread the way forward. “You’re the Worst” and “Life in Pieces” are two good places to start.

– Sebastian Torrelio