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A new crew: 'Fam' blends two families together on CBS

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Author: 
Sarah Passingham / TV Media
Nina Dobrev stars in "Fam"

Nina Dobrev stars in "Fam"

A bright new comedy brings another unconventional, dysfunctional family to television screens. A brand new episode of CBS's freshman sitcom "Fam" airs Thursday, Jan 17. The series begins with Clem's hard-fought-for, nearly-perfect life being turned upside down upon the arrival of her wild, 16-year-old half-sister, Shannon. Escaping the home of their disaster of a father, Shannon ends up at Clem's door.

Clem, portrayed by "The Vampire Diaries'" Nina Dobrev, is eventually persuaded by her fiancé, Nick (Tone Bell, "Disjointed"), that her "perfect" family includes not only them and his parents, but Shannon as well. Clem seizes the opportunity to show Shannon, played by Odessa Adlon ("Nashville"), how to avoid all of the mistakes she herself made, and invites her to live with them.

Though she's perhaps best known for portraying the undead, Dobrev's hiatus from television following six seasons of "The Vampire Diaries" has seen the actress stacking her resume with comedic roles on the silver screen, including "The Final Girls" (2015) and "Crash Pad" (2017). The change in direction was a welcome one for Dobrev, though she was in part motivated by fear to move from television to film, telling Harper's Bazaar in 2017 that she "needed to feel the fear of 'Oh, my God, what if I never get a job again?' ... to make sure that didn't happen."

Dobrev's acting credits span the genres from action, drama, comedy and romance. She notably starred alongside her "Fam" co-star Bell in the 2018 film "Dog Days," in which the two played characters who are brought together by their furry friends and eventually fall in love. You'll have to tune in to "Fam" to find out if Clem and Nick's meet-cute also features pets.

Rounding out the cast are some veteran actors of stage and screen as Nick's parents. Sheryl Lee Ralph portrays Nick's mother, Rose, in "Fam." Known for her recent appearances in "Claws" and "Ray Donovan," Ralph is arguably most well known for portraying step-mother and principal Dee Mitchell in teen sitcom "Moesha." Nick's father is portrayed by Broadway star and "Mr. Robot" actor Brian Stokes Mitchell. Both actors happen to have a background in voice acting. Ralph lent her voice to the 1988 animated film "Oliver & Company" as Rita, and Mitchell voiced many characters in "The Addams Family" cartoon, among other voice acting credits.

Nick, Rose and Walt make up just the sort of well-adjusted, successful family that Clem has longed to be a member of since her own rocky childhood. Nick's family warmly welcomes Clem as one of their own, giving her the stable family she's always wanted. Though her upbringing was far from ideal, Clem has arrived at a place in her life where a disruption like Shannon's unexpected arrival quickly becomes an opportunity to blend Clem's chosen family with the one she was born into.

Tone Bell as seen in "Fam"

Tone Bell as seen in "Fam"

Even though when we meet Clem, she's already achieved many of her life goals, it's not long before her past rears its ugly head in the form of her half-sister. Clem's journey from the bottom is yet to be fully revealed, but like her other CBS sitcom sisters, it's understood that she's had a rough go of it. There's been a series of incredibly popular female-led sitcoms from the eye network that see the protagonists build their lives up from the bottom and use comedy to brighten the dark places they start in. "Mom," for instance, follows a single mother of two and her own estranged mother as they reunite to embark on the journey of sobriety together, and "Two Broke Girls" told the stories of two young women with only pennies to their names managing to scrape by and build a business of their own.

"Fam" series creator and executive producer Corinne Kingsbury, formerly a writer on the acclaimed drama "The Newsroom," is no stranger to the family sitcom game. Her credits include, among other on-screen and behind-the-scenes appearances, a writing credit for the series "Back in the Game." Like "Fam," "Back in the Game" put estranged family members in close quarters. The sitcom placed a newly divorced mother back at her has-been father's house while she reluctantly coached a youth baseball team.

The dysfunctional family sitcom trope, though not a new one, is thriving at the moment. "Fam" is among good company not only just on CBS but across other networks, including the always popular "Modern Family" as well as the newly reworked "The Conners" and "Last Man Standing," which have kept audiences tuned in enough to demand revivals. Don't miss a new take on the dysfunctional family with a new episode of "Fam," airing Thursday, Jan. 17, on CBS.