"While many critically-lauded programs depict men engaging in bad behavior due to psychological or medical ordeals, This Is Us is one of the few series that intentionally centers and sensitively examines men’s mental health struggles — and in the past two seasons going into the third, each of its four lead male characters experiences problems ranging from addiction and trauma to anxiety and depression," says Robyn Bahr. "NBC’s time-spanning, multi-generational drama portrays the wholesome but troubled Pearson family, a middle-class clan whose members face everything from the complexities of transracial adoption to obstacles associated with obesity. Some critics sneer that This is Us is a timey-wimey sentimental cry-fest (and rightfully censure creator Dan Fogelman’s one-note female characters), but exposing the raw nerve of men’s mental health is vital for audiences to witness; after all, sunlight is the greatest disinfectant."
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TOPICS: This Is Us, NBC, Men and TV