Netflix's Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! is a throwback sitcom that is soothing in its predictability

Variety

The sitcom starring Jamie Foxx and Kyla-Drew inspired by his relationship with real-life daughter (and executive producer) Corinne Foxx "isn’t exactly trying to reinvent the multi-cam sitcom wheel," says Caroline Framke, adding: "Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! sticks to the multi-cam basics. There’s no joke that can’t be followed with a slapstick exclamation point, nor any point that can’t be emphatically underlined with an exaggerated reaction from an unseen audience. Characters even turn to the camera to address the viewer directly — a device the show uses either sporadically or constantly, depending on the episode. There’s almost something soothing about how predictable it is, right down to the dusty punchlines threaded throughout every scene...Even when the jokes are weak — and they most often are — they’re straightforward enough to let the cast, particularly the consistently good Grier, riff in a halfway compelling way." But Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!, she adds, could've been less desperate to skip to the guaranteed laughs for more poignant moments.

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• Jamie Foxx might have signed on because he missed goofing around, but even that has its limits: "Foxx’s chameleonic turns are finely detailed and go-for-broke physical, but they’re not charming or fresh enough for DSEM! to feel like anything more than a wan throwback," says Inkoo Kang. "The star and his daughter, Corinne Foxx (an executive producer here), reportedly mined their intergenerational conflicts for the series, but nary a scene feels true-to-life, let alone resonant." She adds: "Brian and Sasha take turns talking to the camera, sharing their perspectives with the viewer, but DSEM! never doesn't feel like The Jamie Foxx Show 2, with the showboating actor sucking up all the energy in the room despite having little character or plot developments to tackle. It doesn’t help that the series looks about as cheap and sparse as a WB sitcom, with conspicuous product placement clogging up the screen."
• Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! is a tonal mess: "Played like a broad pre-teen Disney sitcom where people get sprayed with foam fire-extinguishers, its references to thots and the deployment of the word 'sh*t' weirdly make it inappropriate for that audience," says Gary Ryan. "It falls into the trap of trying to be shrilly funny all the time rather than developing characters people can identify with and letting the humour flow from truth. Emotional beats (the lifeblood of a traditional, family-set multicam sitcom) feel shoehorned in rather than earned, as the script clunks endlessly along from one physical comedy set piece (Foxx struggling about in skinny jeans for example) like a tin can being kicked down an Escher staircase."
• The show has a warmth that accrues with each episode, making the densely packed gags almost incidental: "It comes from multiple sources: from Kyla-Drew, who shows the confidence to go toe to toe with her TV dad; from Grier, shameless as an unapologetic pothead (Pops actually did time for possession back in the day); from (Jonathan) Kite, the long-faced cop with growing doubts about his profession. All revolve around Foxx, who brings to bear personae from throughout his career, from the slapstick of In Living Color and Booty Call through subsequent years of more dramatic roles. Foxx is so good at mugging for the camera that it doesn’t come across as chewing the scenery, and he’s quick enough to switch to the concerned dad role at the drop of a hat. You can easily imagine another show with this rough outline; Dad You’re Embarrassing Me! works because of the specifics, namely its easy way with topicality. It feels both old and new. It has a charm that doesn’t go out of style."
• David Alan Grier had no problem playing the father of Jamie Foxx, his In Living Color co-star, despite their 11-year age difference