Daddio

Daddio, a situation comedy about a smart and fun stay-at-home dad, is mildly progressive-minded in its set-up and comfortably old-fashioned in all other facets of its execution. One is easily forgiven for wishing the laugh lines had a little more sparkle, and it's a less than ideal companion series to the bawdy "Friends," which airs before it, but the premise and the cast are solid enough to expect future improvement and a decent prime-time run. [23 March 2000, p.L5]

It's all pleasant enough, Chiklis' noise notwithstanding. But hardly fresh or funny and never insightful about the roles of males and females in the year 2000. [23 March 2000, p.56]

we are willing to put up for a while with the clichés because Chiklis has always seemed to be essentially a family man even when he was shooting people.

Too often, however, Daddio‘s humor is the equivalent of taking candy from a baby — jokes about breast-feeding, telemarketers, and poopy diapers. And the cast couldn’t be more generic.

Chiklis' misguided approach to comedy is to overemphasize his lines, in hopes that will make some of them seem funny. It doesn't work, but no one else is even trying. [23 March 2000]

The territory's familiar and the jokes too tame and infrequent to give Daddio the heigh-o. But it doesn't deserve the heave-ho, either - especially if the laughs increase. Chiklis' warm-hearted character is hard to dislike, the kids are cute, and, bottom line, we like this show more than the show that's usually on at this time, Jesse. [23 March 2000]

Most of the time, Daddio keeps the amiable focus on family friendly fun and the jovial mug of Chiklis. [23 March 2000, p.5G]

The situation seems hackneyed from the start, and so do the characters. [23 March 2000, p.E-5]

Wedged between Friends and Frasier in Jesse's primo time slot, Daddio has a shot at hit-dom. Its chances would be improved if the producers can find a way to increase the show's chuckles-to-groans ratio. [23 March 2000]

Chiklis seems to be enjoying the transition from "Commish" to "Sitcommish," but Daddio isn't likely to go down as the first great family comedy of Y2K. [23 March 2000]

It's a personable cast, but the series, created by Matt Berry and Ric Swartzlander, is trying too hard to be wacky rather than funny.

It's pretty stock stuff. [23 March 2000]

This is a sitcom so generic it should have a bar code instead of a title. You get the feeling that Ozzie Nelson could pop up and not look out of place. [23 March 2000]

Chiklis is saddled with a series that would need months of polishing just to be mediocre. The subtitle could be, "When Bad Shows Happen to Good People." [23 March 2000, p.6E]

It's not a horrible show, but it's so familiar that it makes for a particularly unmemorable half-hour. [23 March 2000]

"Daddio is far from the season's most original sitcom; there's even an oddball neighbor, Rod (Kevin Crowley), who seems destined to be its version of Cosmo Kramer. The pilot includes some gentle laughs, and Chiklis gives it his all -- sometimes perhaps too much, as though he's determined to make the show a hit through sheer force of will.

Maybe "Mr. Mom: The Series" would have been revolutionary back in 1983 when the Michael Keaton movie was released, but 17 years later the concept is as fresh as month-old milk.

To sum up, we have an improbable comedy filled with hard-to-like characters mouthing lines that didn't get funnier after rewrites. Daddio, heck. Oh, brother! [23 March 2000]

Too contrived and agreeable, Daddio plays it safe all the way. From hugs to lessons, the usual narrative suspects are alive and well, in case anyone forgets that this is supposed to be good-for-you entertainment. It’s almost blasphemy that it bows on a night still associated with “Seinfeld”; must-see TV used to mean something.

Michael Keaton set the standard for stay-at-home dads in the funny 1983 movie "Mr. Mom." But Daddio is no "Mr. Mom" (it also doesn't look and sound like any of today's sophisticated, edgy and smart comedies), and Chiklis is no Michael Keaton.

Daddio and Battery Park are wisps of shows, so slight and feeble that they're not ready for prime time. They're not ready for anything, really. Lumping them with Friends and Frasier only makes them look punier.

Numbingly unfunny. [23 March 2000, p.49]

The studio audience roars and laughs so loudly, for no apparent reason, at every scene in "Daddio" - especially the allegedly emotional climax - that you begin to suspect a mind-altering gas was pumped into the studio as this pilot was taped....Which, come to think of it, would explain the lethargic performances of the cast members. [23 March 2000]

Baddio, saddio and very old-hattio. [23 March 2000, p.C01]

It also lacks something you expect in a comedy, but rarely get these days: Laughs. Daddio is cry-out-loud lousy.