A Family Circle Spins Around the Oval Office.

There is something funny about “1600 Penn,” but mostly in the sense of odd. It’s an NBC sitcom on Thursday about a fictional first family that the network is promoting as a blend of “Modern Family” and “The West Wing.” Actually “1600 Penn” seems more like a time capsule of the presidencies of Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan and period sitcoms like “Growing Pains.” . .

In almost every other way “1600 Penn” is an old-fashioned comedy in which every bad turn ends with a smile. Bill Pullman is Dale Gilchrist, the reserved but kindly president, who has an adoring second wife, Emily (Jenna Elfman), and four children from his first marriage who get into hairbrained scrapes — particularly Skip (Josh Gad). Skip is a young Billy Carter figure, a goofy, gaffe-prone college dropout (after seven years Skip is still three credits short) who combines the infantility and clumsiness of Jerry Lewis with John Belushi-style hedonism. . .

“1600 Penn” has charm and some funny riffs, but it’s a 2013 sitcom that at times seems like it was written in 1983.

1600 Penn

NBC, Thursday nights at 8:30, Eastern and Pacific times; 7:30, Central time.

http://tv.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/arts/television/1600-penn-on-nbc-with-pullman-gad-and-elfman.html