Ties That Bind

I voted 7 because I just can't stand Jackie. The "recovering" alcoholic mother with the annoying enabling teenage daughter (Mariah) and that says a lot for the actors because I work in the mental health/substance abuse field and those people could walk in to my office any day, that's how accurately they play their parts. I just love this show, I never miss it (thank goodness for our DVR/genie) and I sure hope they will have a 2nd season at least. I enjoy the whole thing, the family setting, Allison's patience and toughness, Matt's occasional outbursts of humanness (as when he had to give up his office for the queen of me-me-me Jackie) the slow change in Cameron, the loveliness and kindness of the resident teenagers. Thank you UP for giving us this series, I usually wait for the Sunday night movies, this was a pleasant surprise. Please give us a season 2.

I found this show by looking up cop show on Amazon. The best way I can describe this show is a crime, family, and high school drama show all in one, and it does all of these kind of meh. The kids are not that likeable. The Titular Detective McLean is okay and for once a cop show main character who isn't divorced or has a rotating line of love interests. The dad is fine, if not just a plot device for the main character to confide in and the kids to make his life miserable. The crime part is perfectly average and I've seen much worse, but the drunk mom. She is just so annoying. When she comes in she ruins almost everything. I hate her. Everything else is perfectly average. If you were to ask me if you should watch it I would say its good to kill time, but if you want a riveting story that makes you excited for every new thing I would avoid.

I enjoyed this show as it isn't perfect, as is life. It proves shows can depict the gritty side of true life without being overly graphic. A perfect balance of the good and the bad. I especially appreciate the problem solving and the way the McLean family takes responsibility of the niece and nephew, giving them some stability in their lives. I also appreciate the fact that things don't always turn out the way you want them to, and there are not always happy endings, as we would like, but shows how you take what is dealt and work your way through it. I wish there were more shows like this. This show was unpredictable, and best of all, DECENT for the entire family. I get so tired of these shows where every other word is bleep, bleep bleep! Thanks so much.

We tried this show on a streaming service because Kelli Williams was solid in Lie to Me, not because we were looking for "family values" programming - but we would have been fine without the cheap gimmicks of modern TV. Problem is, the first couple of episodes were so painful to watch that we had to stop. The scripts were clumsy, nothing even slightly subtle. Every line seemed to be delivered at a different camera angle, with exaggerated facial expressions. The sulky teen boy is record-breaking awful, and the star's husband is not much better. What a sad waste of money and talent.

We just picked this up on Hallmark and are bummed that there is no second season. It will leave you hanging. I can't believe they would not find a way to do season 2. It has real life situations with real answers, not having to pollute the air with bad language or stunts to keep it interesting. Bring it back!!!!