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The Top 10 Television Shows of 2015: No. 4. 'Life in Pieces'

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No. 4. Life in Pieces: Call It a Sit-Dram

I’ve never been much for sitcoms. They’re just too…sitcommie. That changed a bit with Modern Family, which has been willing to put aside a good joke in favor of a character driven moment.

CBS ’s Life in Pieces took that good idea a step farther. This extended family is, at least on the surface, kinda boring. No gay couple. No hot Latina step-mom to spice things up. And that's a good thing. The structural conceit--the Pieces part-- is that each episode consists of four interrelated set-pieces, which allows the writers to avoid that sitcom trap of over-stretching an amusing bit--Betsy Brandt can’t get her hairdresser to listen, so she tells her that she’s moving to another country and now her mom, Diane Wiest, has to live that lie--to fill and episode. There's hardly a joke that isn't better when it's four minutes long than 22.

But what truly separates Life in Pieces from the rest of those half-hour shows is the quality of the acting. The cast is chock full of drama pros—Brandt, Wiest, Colin Hanks from Season 1 of Fargo, James Brolin. The stakes aren’t particularly high--forget about life and limb, the only thing that's at stake here is hurt feelings--but it feels real. Call it a Sit-Dram. Or just call it good.

(Check back after Christmas for an revealing--and just plain delightful--interview with Life in Pieces star, Besty Brandt, who talks about how she landed a whole series of plum roles after Breaking Bad.)

Next : 3. Fargo: Bloodbath? You Betcha

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