American Auto

A comedy that picks up the socially conscious sense of humor from “Superstore” and transplants it to the auto industry in Detroit. “American Auto” is a smart, promising show, presuming anyone still watches comedy on network TV.

It’s “Veep” at a car company. You could do worse. The cast is strong and the characters become clear in the opening episodes. ... Early episodes are a bit loose, but creator Justin Sptizer knows workplace comedies.

Like Gasteyer, the rest of American Auto's cast—including Harriet Dyer (The Invisible Man) as a promiscuous publicist, Jon Barinholtz (Superstore) as a corporate heirhead and Tye White (NCIS: Los Angeles) as a bemused assembly-line worker yanked up into management so there will be at least one person there who knows something about cars—is uniformly hilarious.

Funny and fast-paced, this single-camera comedy is worth a test drive.

Though Katherine’s people skills are sorely lacking, Gasteyer is likable and has a light touch. ... The rest of the cast – including Harriet Dyer, Tye White, and Michael Benjamin Washington – are talented, even if we’re still getting the hang of who they all are, and what their characters do.

While “American Auto” feels like it’s having some early engine trouble, it's worth taking this new ride into the shop for a tune-up.

There are plenty of funny character-based situations, and the cast is displaying good chemistry in the first two episodes. But the “been there, done that” feeling of American Auto is pervasive, even if the first two episodes have some funny moments.

It’s easy to conceive of either American Auto or Grand Crew, or both, becoming the next broadcast show to attract a steadily growing cadre of defenders, like ABC’s Single Parents or CBS’ The Unicorn did in recent years. It’s also quite possible to imagine either or both of these shows failing to ever quite find their gear, and getting relegated to the dustbin of little-remembered sitcoms.

It’s Gasteyer who represents the most compelling reason to watch this show, which over its first two episodes is in the process of finding its voice.