The premise: The story of a 10-year-old girl Dawn Harper (Lizzy Greene) whose sibling rivalry with her three brothers Nicky (Aidan Gallagher), Ricky (Casey Simpson) and Dicky (Mace Coronel) is heightened by the fact that they are quadruplets. (Source: Wikipedia)

First, hats off to the return of Brian Stepanek to the world of teen television.  We all remember him as Arwin on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody!  Unfortunately, the excitement for NRD&D ends there.

NRD&D is clearly aimed at children of maybe the age of 10 – maybe, if they were clueless.  Showrunner and writer Matt Fleckenstein has quite a pedigree – Family Guy and a slew of Dan Schneider teen-coms – but even he shouldn’t be proud of this show.

We know Dawn is the girl.  Nicky, Ricky and Dicky are interchangeable – during the first episode, I couldn’t figure out which one was which (and I didn’t really care) so I called them Nerdy Boy, Sunglasses, and Neuroses.  All stereotypes.  Nerdy Boy was focused on his grades and school work (that’s not a bad thing); Neuroses seemed to live in fear of being hurt (even once when he gets hit in the face, he says “I deserved that.”  Really?); and Sunglasses was quite the ladies man (Do you know any 10 year old who acts that way).  But since the show is focused on the pre-tween audience, I suppose having somewhat identifiable characters might be a good thing…I think.

The parents – played by Stepanek and Munn – seem either surprised still that they have quadruplets – or dismayed.  Naturally, NRD&D’s “unique personalities” lead to conflict and, at the end of the pilot episode, we have the quintessential, “we can work as a team” moment.  That earns a big “Awwww” from the studio audience.

Let’s talk about the pilot. No name dad receives his sought-after signed Brownie Wilson football jersey – which is the highlight of his life (even more than his wedding or the birth of his kids).  Local pet adoption person enters the store and NRD&D adopt a dog.  Could anyone possibly guess that the dog would somehow ruin the shirt?  Could anyone possibly guess that, in their attempt to fix the problem, NRD&D would make it worse?  Heck no, never saw that one coming at all.

Treat kids like the mature individuals they are.  Thirteen weeks may be too generous of an order for NRD&D.