| Genre: | Sitcom |
| Composer: | John Swihart |
| Country: | United States |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 7 |
| Language: | English |
| Producer: |
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| Cinematography: |
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| Editor: |
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| Camera: | Single-camera |
| Runtime: | 22 minutes |
| Channel: | Fox |
The Goodwin Games is an American sitcom series that aired as a midseason replacement on Fox from May 20 to July 1, 2013.[1] The show was created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas (creators of How I Met Your Mother) alongside Chris Harris.
The series revolves around a trio of estranged siblings living in New Hampshire, the Goodwins: Henry, the oldest child, is an overachieving surgeon with an overabundant ego; Chloe, the middle child, is a former child mathematical prodigy who became popular in high school and abandoned academia (and her friends) for a career as a struggling actress; and Jimmy, the youngest child, is a career petty criminal with a string of convictions who has to sneak into his pre-teen daughter's bedroom at night to visit her. The siblings return home for their father's funeral. His attorney (one of Chloe's abandoned childhood friends) April Cho informs them that their father's will awards them $23 million, but only if they agree to compete in a series of games of their father's devising. The games are designed to force them to confront their personal failings, recall their childhoods, and bring them together as a family once again. When the siblings resist, April informs them that their father anticipated their reaction, and therefore a fourth individual will be involved in the games, a complete stranger named Elijah, who collects part of the remaining inheritance every time the siblings fail to follow their father's instructions.
On May 9, 2012, Fox placed a series order for the comedy[5] that was expected to premiere during the 2012–13 television season as a mid-season entry.[6] On June 7, 2012, it was announced that T. J. Miller was replacing Jake Lacy in the role of Jimmy.[7] On November 2, 2012, it was announced that Fox cut the episode order from thirteen to seven.[8]
The series premiered in Australia on Eleven on May 20, 2014.[9]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an aggregate score of 38% based on 6 positive and 10 negative critic reviews. The website consensus reads: "The Goodwin Games is simply unimpressive in the most uninteresting ways."[10] On Metacritic, the series has a score of 57 out of 100 based on 17 critic reviews, indicating "Mixed to Average"[11]