• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, July 21, 2023

Fall is coming early to The CW as the Nexstar network premieres three of its fall comedies later this month, in the middle of summer.

In a CW news conference May 18 in New York during Upfront Week, the three shows -- all imports from Canada -- were positioned as part of The CW’s fall lineup.

In addition, they were slated for Tuesday nights, along with a fourth one.

But the summer premieres are all on Monday -- two next week (on July 24) and the third on the following Monday (July 31).

All three of them are family comedies -- two of them based in Canadian suburban locales.

The two premiering on Monday are “Son of a Critch” with two back-to-back episodes at 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Eastern, and “Children Ruin Everything” at 9.

The title of “Son of a Critch” is made possible by the name of the show’s creator, Mark Critch, a Canadian comedian.

The show is an ’80s-based comedy about the creator’s life as a socially awkward 11-year-old Canadian schoolboy growing up in St. John’s, Newfoundland. 

Like other shows of its kind, the story is told mainly by the young Mark Critch character who narrates the whole thing.

Young Mark is played by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (above photo, left). The real Mark Critch plays the fictional Mark Critch’s father.

Veteran actor Malcolm McDowell, 80, plays the boy’s outspoken grandfather (above photo).

“Children Ruin Everything” is a family sitcom about harried parents, a theme common to many TV comedies over the years. In this one, a Canadian couple copes with raising their two small children while remembering how easy and enjoyable their lives were before the kids came along.

A week later, it’s back to the ’burbs with “Run the Burbs,” about families living as neighbors in a Canadian cul-de-sac.

The Pham family is the focus of “Run the Burbs.” In the press material for the show, the Phams are described as “instigators” and gossips.

“Often the instigators of community events and always the first to know what’s going on in the neighborhood, the Phams have become the heart of their cul-de-sac,” The CW says. “Together, nothing can beat phamily [sic].”

All three shows premiered in Canada in January 2022.

CW evidently feels that these Canadian family sitcoms will resonate with Americans who also live the suburban family life.

After all, we’re all North Americans, right?