Common Sense Media Review
By Joyce Slaton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Schticky sitcom wastes appealing actors on shrill laffs.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Working the Engels
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
When her lawyer husband dies, leaving her with a mountain of debt, Ceil Engel (Andrea Martin) is WORKING THE ENGELS, with her whole clan pitching in to help run the family law firm. Said clan includes Jimmy (Benjamin Arthur), a ne'er-do-well best known for stealing $12K from the family's coffers; Sandy (Azura Skye), a former drug addict turned life coach and born-again Christian; and Jenna (Kacey Rohl), who's just quit her big lawyer job. The Engel firm isn't looking for any miracles; they're willing to take on cases from hair salon clients or the personally injured, so long as they can keep the business and their family together.
Is It Any Good?
Watching Working the Engels is exhausting, because the family members never act normally when sitcom-schticky antics are possible. In the show's pilot, Ceil breaks a leg falling off the family's first-story house in a failed suicide attempt. Later, her son is bringing her home from the hospital, with her crutches propped across her wheelchair, and he runs her into the side of the house and the side of the car, she drops a crutch and runs over it, and on and on. Sigh. Andrea Martin is a genius, and she deserves better. In fact, all the actors on the show are appealing and have good comic timing; the problem is, they're called upon to act like frantic sitcom characters, spitting out weak jokes at a machine-gun pace, rather than real people. What a pity.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why family dynamics are such a popular theme for sitcoms. What are some other family-based sitcoms you can think of? Is Working the Engels similar? Different?
The Engels are in debt, but what social class would you say they belong to? Are they rich or poor? Are they well-educated? What about the way they're presented brings you to these conclusions?
Would Working the Engels be a different show if the family were trying to run a grocery store? What about a hair salon? Or an investment bank? How would the show change if the circumstances changed?
TV Details
- Premiere date : July 14, 2014
- Cast : Andrea Martin , Kacey Rohl , Azura Skye , Benjamin Arthur
- Network : NBC
- Genre : Comedy
- TV rating :
- Last updated : March 13, 2020
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate