United States of Al

The series follows the friendship between Riley, a combat veteran, and Awalmir (Al), an interpreter from Afghanistan who helped the former while he served in the Marines. As they readjust to their normal lives in Columbus, Ohio, Al moves in with Riley and meets his father Art. He later learns Riley is going through a divorce with his wife Vanessa, who has custody of their only daughter Hazel. Trying to help his friend, who is also dealing with PTSD, Al decides to make it his mission to get Riley and Vanessa back together. ==Cast and characters==

Main • Adhir Kalyan as Awalmir Karimi, an interpreter from Afghanistan (born in Kandahar and moved to Kabul) who also goes by Al • Parker Young as Riley Dugan, a Marine combat veteran trying to readjust to civilian life in Ohio • Elizabeth Alderfer as Lizzie Dugan, the daughter of Art and the younger sister of Riley • Kelli Goss as Vanessa, Riley's estranged wife and the mother of their daughter • Dean Norris as Art Dugan, a veteran and the father of Riley and Lizzie • Farrah Mackenzie as Hazel Dugan, Riley and Vanessa's daughter Like her father, she is a rebellious tomboy who aspires to be a Marine when she grows up. Recurring • Brian Thomas Smith as Freddy, Vanessa's Canadian boyfriend • Rachel Bay Jones as Lois, Art's new love interest • Azita Ghanizada as Ariana (season 2; guest season 1), Kasim's daughter and Al's love interest • Amanda Payton as Holly, Riley's girlfriend • Blake Clark as Wayne (season 2), Riley's therapist and fellow veteran • John Ross Bowie as Professor Brett Williams (season 2), Al's university professor and Lizzie's love interest • Jayma Mays as Cindy (season 2) Guest • Patrick Cage as Michael, Lizzie's late fiancé • Zarmina Hamidi as Gul Bashra, Al's strict mother • Wali Habib as Zubair, Al's cousin • Sitara Attaie as Hassina, Al's sister • Riki Lindhome as Chloe, a car dealership manager who sells Al a car • Zadran Wali as Kasim, the owner of a restaurant Al visits • Nikki Crawford as Barbara, Art's date • Patrick Fischler as Clint, a rude client • Fahim Anwar as Mo (season 2) • Clyde Kusatsu as Doctor Tanaka (season 2) • Myko Olivier as Todd (season 2) • Johnny Ray Gill as Badger (season 2) • Erica Hanrahan as Lyla (season 2) • Dayne Jarrah as Danny (season 2) • Angel Laketa Moore as Mrs. Ro (season 2) • Artoun Nazareth as Luke (season 2) • Ahan Das Chowdhury as Sanjay (season 2) ==Episodes==

Series overview Season 1 (2021) {{Episode table| background=#0000FF |overall=5 |season=5 |title=16 |director=11 |writer=29 |airdate=11 |prodcode= |viewers= |country=U.S. |episodes= Season 2 (2021–22) ==Production==

Development and casting On October 10, 2019, it was reported that a television pilot titled United States of Al from Chuck Lorre, David Goetsch, and Maria Ferrari had received a large production commitment from CBS. with Dean Norris, Kelli Goss, and Elizabeth Alderfer joining the series the following year, and Farrah Mackenzie being cast soon after. On joining the comedy series after his main role in the drama series Breaking Bad, Norris explained that he had met Lorre while working on six episodes for The Big Bang Theory. In November 2020, on Veterans Day, CBS gave the project a series order, scheduling it to premiere on April 1, 2021, for the 2020–21 United States network television season. On creating the show, executive producer Reza Aslan said: In May 2021, Brian Thomas Smith was cast in the first recurring role confirmed for the series. That same month, Deadline Hollywood predicted that the chances of the show being renewed depended on the status of B Positive, another CBS series from Lorre. On May 15, 2021, CBS renewed both B Positive and United States of Al for second and final seasons. In June, it was announced that Rachel Bay Jones would star in a recurring role. In October, it was reported that Azita Ghanizada had been promoted to recurring. The second season premiered on October 7, 2021. On May 11, 2022, CBS canceled the series after two seasons. Filming United States of Al was filmed at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, but it is set in Columbus, Ohio. ==Reception==

Critical response On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 31% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The website's critical consensus states, "United States of Al is well-meaning in its ambitions, but its limp humor and the one-dimensionality of its titular character proves that the road to dud sitcom can be paved with good intentions." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". In initial contemporary reviews, United States of Al received mostly negative feedback. However, the Los Angeles Times journalist Lorraine Ali examined reviews from several critics, and summarized them as illustrating "the minefield that exists around good-intentioned efforts to diversify scripted television" due to their ignoring of the cultural representation of the main character and the show's attempts to diversify television, calling the reviews "damaging to future representations of Muslims". Daniel Fienberg, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, shared his dislike for "the writers' choices for Al", referring to it as "a bad mixture". From TV Guide, Diane Gordon gave the show only 2 out of 5 stars; her criticism leaned toward the show's fish out of water attempts at comedy she found to be "cheap and half-hearted". Roxana Hadadi from RogerEbert.com criticized the series and its creators' in using antiquated tropes in attempting to be comedic. Caroline Framke from Variety also gave remarks to the show's writing, stating that the show "works so hard to make its Afghan protagonist palatable that it neglects to give him any complexity." Afghan journalist Ali Latifi shared his criticism of the show in an op-ed for Business Insider and said "it's all flat characters, and cheap, uninspired jokes." The Afghan-American Foundation criticized the show's casting of the lead role while they also applauded the show's inclusion of Afghan-American writers as "commendable and unprecedented," hoping the show leads to further thoughtful representations of Afghan-Americans. Ratings Overall Season 1 Season 2 ==Notes==