Heartwarming Comedy Series With Fan-Favorite Star Is Disappearing
Tyler Labine—known for his roles in Tucker and Dale vs Evil, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Deadbeat—is a great actor. He’s often compared to Jack Black, Zach Galifianakis, and Chris Pratt. However, even with his great acting, he couldn’t keep the amusing Sons of Tucson from being canceled after just a few episodes and thanks to its initial poor reviews and lack of a fan base, the series is now disappearing from streaming platforms.
The Premise
Sons of Tucson tells the story of three young boys, Gary Gunderson (Frank Dolce), Brandon Gunderson (Matthew Levy), and Robby Gunderson (Benjamin Stockham), who find themselves on their own when their dad ends up in prison.
Needing a parent to help them sign up for school and not get separated and sent away, they decide to hire a random man to help them out.
They choose the hopeless and rather homeless Ron Snuffkin (Tyler Labine) who is desperate for a place to live and a little money. Together, the four establish ground rules and play perfect father and sons.
Burning Off
Unfortunately, Sons of Tucson didn’t do well. After Fox rearranged the season’s timeslot a few times, they declared the show canceled.
The show only aired four episodes before the announcement was made, and the rest of the first season was quickly aired in a process known as “burning off”–sometimes airing episodes back to back, or in different time slots to meet contractual obligations.
Not Well Received
While Sons of Tucson had an amusing premise, it wasn’t received well. The pilot of Sons of Tucson was seen by 4.514 million viewers and unfortunately only received a score of 2.1 out of 5. It was the least viewed show of the night for Fox.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the audience’s average score is 40 percent, while the critics gave it 33 percent. Part of the problem seems to be the series doesn’t have much originality going for it.
Nothing Could Save It
For those who enjoyed Reaper, another TV show featuring Tyler Labine, this series had similar kinds of humor. Labine himself even plays a similar character in both shows–a man without much going on in his life, but who keeps a fairly upbeat and amusing personality alive through it all.
Unfortunately, Tyler Labine’s fun acting just wasn’t enough to make a story. The overarching premise is somewhat novel, with a man having to pretend to be a father to a group of rich kids.
However, neither the jokes, the snotty rich kids, nor the loser main character who’s supposed to pretend to be a dad while still dealing with his own problems were able to win over audiences.
Stream It Now
REVIEW SCORE
Sons of Tucson is getting harder and harder to find, and it was already pretty impossible due to its bad initial release. Currently, it’s not available on any streaming service unless you pay an additional cost. However, even then, it’s not on many platforms. Right now, it’s only available on Amazon and AppleTV.
