The sitcom The United States of Al returns for its second season Thursday. The show follows an Afghan interpreter and his Marine Corp buddy, and is very much influenced by the Taliban's recent rise.

“United States of Al” writers include Afghan American standup comic Fahim Anwar, whom Goetsch and Ferrari knew from seeing his routine. “Dave and I were just fans of his work,” Ferrari said.

United States of Al producers already had another story planned for the Season 2 premiere. But the current situation in Afghanistan caused them to rewrite the script.

In truth, “United States of Al” is much darker than the creators of the show probably intended it to be. The show plays off a truly brutal war as a harmless blunder, and its only non-white cast member ...

‘United States of Al’ Wants to Be Likable, Forgets to Be Interesting: TV Review The new CBS sitcom works so hard to make its Afghan protagonist palatable that it neglects to give him any ...

“A story about Al [Kalyan] getting a dog was fine for February, but it’s not fine for now,” she said. United States of Al begins its second season Oct. 7 on CBS.

Yet it’s possible to come away thinking “United States of Al” has its heart in the right place, and still conclude, strictly in TV terms, that it simply isn’t very good.

“United States of Al” has been gaining an audience on Thursday nights at 8:30 p.m. in the slot after “Young Sheldon” and finding its comic voice as the series works out what to do with the ...

Chuck Lorre's "United States of Al" is trying very hard. Maybe a little too hard. The new CBS sitcom (premiering Thursday, 8:30 EDT/PDT, ★★ out of four), about the friendship between an ex ...

"United States of Al," created by Chuck Lorre, David Goetsch and Maria Ferrari, premieres Thursday (April 1) at 8:30 p.m. on CBS and stars Parker Young as Riley and Adhir Kalyan as Awalmir -- aka ...

“United States of Al” is not a breakthrough masterpiece, but it is a step toward mainstreaming Middle Eastern and Muslim narratives. There’s plenty to interpret as offensive if that’s what ...