A new sitcom from a bunch of SNL vets, including writer Lewis Morton (“NewsRadio,” “Futurama,” “Big Lake”), writer-actor Rob Schneider and producer Adam Sandler (“Rules of Engagement”), “¡Rob!” is about a non-Latino who marries into a huge Mexican-American family. Claudia Bassos is hotter than Sofia Vergara and Eva Longoria combined. Cheech Marin is in this too, as is ubiquitous El Paso native Lupe Ontiveros.
... lame and tin-eared. ...
... the fusty banality of the dialogue and the hoariness of the characters. “Rob” is so retrograde and unimaginative that it makes Mr. Schneider’s 1996 sitcom “Men Behaving Badly” look sophisticated. ...
... weirdly offensive to just about everyone, especially comedy lovers. ...
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... needs to evolve into a smarter, less formulaic show before it's worth watching. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... The humor in "Rob" is broad, occasionally rollicking, not very clever or sophisticated, but some of it works well enough to keep the show going, especially since it shares the hour with "Big Bang Theory" …
... mediocre ... CBS has churned out yet another lowest-common-denominator sitcom. …
... there's hardly a moment or performance in Rob that doesn't reek of the leftover and the second-rate. ...
... the show's ethnic stereotypes are less offensive than its triteness …
... The only explanation for Rob is that CBS executives simply are not paying attention anymore. Perhaps they believe -- with history as a sorry-ass guide -- that whatever they throw on the network will succeed, no matter how poorly executed. It's the only reason anyone could have read the Rob script and thrown money at it for a filmed pilot. … …
8:30 p.m. Thursday. CBS.
