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Critic Reviews
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With a talented cast and writing staff and a truly original premise, it might really turn into something exceptional—if the American Taliban doesn't put it to death first.
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There’s a refreshing sweetness to both the guys and their friendship that’s more pronounced than in some other Lorre sitcoms on CBS. Whether there’s enough story to draw from culture clashes and Al’s wide-eyed innocence (a little too wide-eyed at times) remains to be seen but the likability of the characters is never in question.
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The cross-cultural confusions like in Chuck Lore's most recent hit Bob {Hearts) Abishola, are mostly endearing, even when some of the jokes land too hard. [29 Mar - 11 Apr 2021, p.9]
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Treads so softly upon the issues it half-raises that it may as well be “Punky Brewster” (see below). ... Scenes feel more put on than lived through. On the other hand, when it spends quality time with Riley’s sister Lizzie (the excellent Elizabeth Alderfer), quietly off the rails since the death of her helicopter pilot fiancé — death again! — it finds weight and realism the rest of the show doesn’t quite achieve.
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Because a) there’s the seeds of a good character-driven sitcom there, and b) Lorre and his writers have a track record of improving their shows. They’ll get every chance in the world to make it a decent show, but it’s not one right now.
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"Al" has the feel of an idea that sounded better during the pitch than in the execution, with the laughs ending up lost in translation.
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"Al" certainly has good intentions. But good intentions aren't enough to make the show a worthy representation of a culture or even a good sitcom. There has to be something more substantial to back them up, and "Al" just doesn't have it.
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United States Of Al keeps its titular figure in a mold. It does take a couple more steps forward than TBBT in this case, by showing slightly more empathy to Al’s freakout over the shorts than just dreary innuendos. ... But for touting itself for its representation, the show offers this tenderness mostly to its white characters, though even jokes that don’t involve Al simply fall flat.
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Its heart's in the right place, it's the comedy part that's not.
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Nothing is really funny in the pilot, and I was three or four episodes into United States of Al before I began to see where the good show was here. Unfortunately, it's the one built around Young, Norris and Alderfer. So what you have is a series that isn't nearly as bad or as offensive as knee-jerk Twitter reactions suggested, but also a series with an Afghan protagonist who isn't played by an Afghan actor and a series that would probably be better without that character entirely. That's bad in its own way.
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Nothing about these first four episodes, though, suggests a willingness to move past the predictable pork/alcohol/sex jokes and into grappling with how a Middle Eastern and Muslim immigrant who spent years surrounded by war would adjust to American life. ... All this show can generate for Al is to call him an “optimistic little dude,” and that patronizing pat on the head is pretty much the whole vibe of the arduous “United States of Al.”