United States of Al

United States of Al is an American television sitcom created by David Goetsch and Maria Ferrari. Starring Adhir Kalyan in the title role as Al, an interpreter from Afghanistan, the series follows his life as he moves to Columbus, Ohio with his friend Riley (Parker Young), a veteran of the United States Marine Corps he helped during his service. From Warner Bros. Television Studios and executive producer Chuck Lorre, it also stars Dean Norris, Elizabeth Alderfer, Kelli Goss, and Farrah Mackenzie.
A television pilot of the same name was announced in October 2019, with production beginning the following year. In November 2020, CBS gave the project a series order, scheduling it to premiere on April 1, 2021. Released to mixed reviews, "United States of Al" was criticized for its humor, use of antiquated tropes, and casting of an Indian actor to play an Afghan lead with an inauthentic accent. However, the show was praised by some for its attempts to diversify television, and for the cultural representation of its main character.
In May 2021, the series was renewed for a second season of 13 episodes.
Premise.
The series follows the friendship between Riley, a combat veteran, and Awalmir (Al), an interpreter from Afghanistan who helped the former while he served in the Marines. As they readjust to their normal lives in Columbus, Ohio, Al moves in with Riley and meets his father Art. He later learns Riley is going through a divorce with his wife Vanessa, who has custody of their only daughter Hazel. Trying to help his friend, who is also dealing with PTSD, Al decides to make it his mission to get Riley and Vanessa back together.
Production.
Development and casting.
On October 10, 2019, it was reported that a television pilot titled "United States of Al" from Chuck Lorre, David Goetsch, and Maria Ferrari had received a large production commitment from CBS. In December, Adhir Kalyan and Parker Young were cast as the leading characters on the show, with Dean Norris, Kelli Goss, and Elizabeth Alderfer joining the series the following year, and Farrah Mackenzie being cast soon after. On joining the comedy series after his main role in the drama series "Breaking Bad", Norris explained that he had met Lorre while working on six episodes for "The Big Bang Theory". In November 2020, on Veterans Day, CBS gave the project a series order, scheduling it to premiere on April 1, 2021, for the 2020–21 United States network television season. On creating the show, executive producer Reza Aslan said:
In May 2021, Brian Thomas Smith was cast in the first recurring role confirmed for the series. That same month, "Deadline Hollywood" predicted that the chances of the show being renewed depended on the status of "B Positive", another CBS series from Lorre. On May 15, 2021, CBS renewed both "B Positive" and "United States of Al" for a second season.
Filming.
A co-production between Chuck Lorre Productions and Warner Bros. Television Studios, the first season of "United States of Al" began production in a television studio located on 4000 Warner Boulevard in Burbank, California. Filming for the pilot took place in October 2020 with director Mark Cendrowski, while later episodes were filmed simultaneously with its broadcast a few weeks in advance.
Controversy.
Prior to airing, some of the show's promotional material received negative feedback. In particular, critics called out the casting of a South-African-born Indian actor to play an Afghan lead and his use of an inauthentic accent. Aslan defended the show on social media, stating in his response that the show has two Afghan-American and one Afghan writer, as well as two Iranian-American producers. Goetsch added that the show's development included extensive interviews with Afghan refugees and U.S. veterans.
Reception.
Critical response.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 33% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 4.42/10. The website's critical consensus states,""United States of Al" is well-meaning in its ambitions, but its limp humor and the one-dimensionality of its titular character proves that the road to dud sitcom can be paved with good intentions." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
In initial contemporary reviews, "United States of Al" received mostly negative feedback. However, the "Los Angeles Times" journalist Lorraine Ali examined reviews from several critics, and summarized them as illustrating "the minefield that exists around good-intentioned efforts to diversify scripted television" due to their ignoring of the cultural representation of the main character and the show's attempts to diversify television, calling the reviews "damaging to future representations of Muslims".
Daniel Fienberg, writing for "The Hollywood Reporter", shared his dislike for "the writers' choices for Al", referring to it as "a bad mixture". From "TV Guide", Diane Gordon gave the show only 2 out of 5 stars; her criticism leaned toward the show's fish out of water attempts at comedy she found to be "cheap and half-hearted". 
Roxana Hadadi from "RogerEbert.com" criticized the series and its creators' in using antiquated tropes in attempting to be comedic. Caroline Framke from "Variety" also gave remarks to the show's writing, stating that the show "works so hard to make its Afghan protagonist palatable that it neglects to give him any complexity."
Afghan journalist Ali Latifi shared his criticism of the show in an op-ed for "Business Insider" stating "the Chuck Lorre production is a show from another era: it's all flat characters, and cheap, uninspired jokes." While giving praise to Lorre's television series "The Big Bang Theory", he also shared a quote from a conversation with Afghan-American social rights activist Mariam Wardak, who he quoted as saying "rather than showing Afghan interpreters as brave men who are putting their lives on the line and are risking being ostracized in their community, we have a short, scrawny awkward brown man standing next to this GI Joe."
Despite its negative reviews, the show was praised by Major Garrett, a correspondent for CBS News who described it as a sitcom that encourages its audience to engage with a larger issue. While the Afghan-American Foundation criticized the show's casting of the lead role, they applauded the show's inclusion of Afghan-American writers as "commendable and unprecedented," hoping the show leads to further thoughtful representations of Afghan-Americans.