Parker Young, left and Adhir Kalyan star in the new...

Parker Young, left and Adhir Kalyan star in the new sitcom "United States of Al." Credit: CBS/Robert Voets

THE SERIES "United States of Al"

WHEN | WHERE Premieres 8:30 p.m. Thursday on CBS/2

WHAT IT'S ABOUT Riley (Parker Young) is a Marine veteran of the war in Afghanistan, who has returned home to Ohio with the Afghani who served as his unit's driver and interpreter, Alwalmir, aka Al (Adhir Kalyan). But navigating the homefront is tricky for both of them: Riley's dad, Art (Dean Norris) and sister Lizzie (Elizabeth Alderfer) are amused and puzzled by this earnest new arrival, but they're also worried about Riley, who drinks too much and has split up with his wife, Vanessa (Kelli Goss). The show comes from Maria Ferrari and Dave Goetsch, production veterans of "The Big Bang Theory."

MY SAY "The United States of Al'' is a fish-outta-water buddy sitcom with an unusual twist — a geopolitical one, in fact. On May 1, the remaining 2,500 U.S. troops are scheduled to be withdrawn from Afghanistan, leaving behind thousands of Afghani support personnel like this show's fictional Alwalmir. The U.S. State Department has allocated 26,500 "special immigrant visas" for them but the process of securing one is complicated and takes time.

Will they have the time? Whether they do or not, retired Gen. David Petraeus told CBS News recently for a story about this series, "It's really a moral obligation that we have to those who have essentially served alongside and sacrificed and shared risk with our men and women in uniform."

If that weren't buzzkill enough, there's more: The show has already drawn some social-media heat for casting Kalyan in the role of Al. Born in South Africa and of Indian heritage, Kalyan may be a talented and funny actor — he is here — but as those critics have pointed out, he's not Afghani. True enough but this is a sitcom, otherwise known as make-believe. None of it's real.

Or is it real? Some of it? Balancing answers, or trying to, you don't need to know much about CBS sitcoms to see the swamp "United States of Al'' has wandered into. Every frame is haunted by that geopolitical backdrop, while every gag, joke, punch line and setup is measured against it. Watch Al learn to drive in America. They sure don't drive like that back in Kabul! Watch him buy shorts. Shorts? What are "shorts?" He doesn't drink alcohol or eat pork: There's some obvious material for the obligatory scene around the dinner table. As a buddy sitcom, "Al'' doesn't attempt to subvert convention either — just a couple of guys who forged their improbable brotherhood under fire while back stateside, they're still brothers, but now both fish out of water.

"Al '' does want to tell viewers about the plight of thousands of Afghani refugees, while drawing attention back to a forgotten war and some of its lingering consequences. It wants to but ultimately can't. No boilerplate CBS sitcom possibly could. The tragedy is simply too great.

BOTTOM LINE Its heart's in the right place, it's the comedy part that's not.

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