Premieres on Wednesday, Sept. 30 (8/7c) on ABC
Kelsey Grammer's got a new sitcom. After the failed Back to You, which ran for a season before being cancelled, the former Frasier star was devastated, and eventually had a heart attack, which he attributed to stress which came from Back to You's cancellation.
Back to You was a fairly decent show, but if Grammer wants his new comedy, Hank, to stay alive, it's going to have to be much better than that. Hank follows the typical sitcom fish-out-of-water fare, in which Wall Street executive Hank Pryor becomes a victim of the recession. "Canned" from his job as a CEO, Hank and his family are forced to move back to River Bend, Virginia, a small town also occupied by his in-laws. Obviously awkward situations will ensue.
Starring in Hank (which was originally titled Awesome Hank and PRYORS) is Kelsey Grammer as the titular Hank Pryor, as well as Melinda McGraw as Hank's wife Tilly, and Jordan Hinson and Nathan Gamble as their two children. Hank's brother-in-law Grady will be played by the always-reliable David Koechner, who is once again typecast as a hillbilly.
Hank's premise doesn't seem to promise anything really new or innovative, and it faces some fierce sitcom competition with shows like Modern Family, Cougar Town, and The Middle. I hope for both the show's sake and the sake of Kelsey Grammer's health that it can stick around.
Below is the full synopsis provided by ABC.
Sometimes scaling back is the best way to get ahead. A legendary entrepreneur in the sports retail world, Hank Pryor (Kelsey Grammer) and his wife, Tilly, have been living the high life in New York City. That is until Hank is forced out of his CEO job and has to downsize and move his family back home to the small town of River Bend, Virginia.
A self-made man, Hank is used to being the boss. But now that he’s lost almost everything, is he up for the even bigger challenge of being a husband and father? While Tilly regrets having to leave the glitz of New York City to move back to her hometown, Hank is gung-ho to relaunch his career in the place where it all began for him. Unfortunately this also means having to spend way too much time with his brother-in-law, Grady, who delights in Hank’s recent misfortunes. Hank struggles to find common ground with his kids -- offbeat son Henry, who would rather play with action figures than toss a baseball with his dad, and daughter Maddie, a hip, New York City teen in whose eyes Hank can do no right. But every great businessman knows that the key to success is to turn setbacks into opportunities. It may take a while for this corporate giant to figure out how to mingle with the little people -- like his family -- but Hank’s up for the challenge, a man who feels he is destined to return to greatness. And he is. It’s just not the greatness he imagined.
Starring Kelsey Grammer, this hilarious family comedy mixes genuine, heart-warming moments with Grammer’s trademark blustery humor. The series is written by “Everybody Loves Raymond’s” three-time Emmy Award-winning Tucker Cawley, and co-executive produced by Grammer along with Mike Clements (“The Life & Times of Tim”) and Emmy Award-winning producer Tom Werner (“The Cosby Show,” “Roseanne,” “Grace Under Fire”).
“Hank” stars Kelsey Grammer as Hank Pryor, Melinda McGraw as Tilly Pryor, David Koechner as Grady Funk, Jordan Hinson as Maddie Pryor, and Nathan Gamble as Henry Pryor.
