From its breakout hit “Married … With Children” to the recent success of “Malcolm in the Middle,” Fox has long been the Dysfunctional Family Channel.

Although it’s not up to either of those standard-bearers, there is an amusing new entry in this category, “Grounded For Life,” which debuts at 8:30 tonight. It replaces the short-lived John Goodman starrer “Normal, Ohio.”

The Finnerties are like far too many families in America. Right out of high school, Sean Finerty (played by Donal Logue) got his girlfriend Claudia (Megyn Price) pregnant.

Now, at 32, Sean finds himself as the father of a 14-year-old daughter and two younger boys, and he’s conflicted. He’s trying to be responsible, yet he still yearns to be one of the boys. As he puts it, “I don’t want to be the guy who’s always scolding his kid for getting drunk at Action Mountain. I want to be the guy getting drunk at Action Mountain.”

Sean and Claudia are also trying to be different from their authoritarian parents. They want to be their kids’ friends while still guiding them in the right direction. Sean’s judgmental father, Walt (Richard Riehle), looks askance at such a parenting style. Not helping matters is Sean’s ever-present and juvenile brother Eddie (Kevin Corrigan), who often leads his brother astray.

It’s great that “Grounded For Life” has a subject that many can relate to. But like the show it replaces, “Grounded For Life” has a strong cast and an interesting concept which is not even partially developed.

Sure, young parents often find themselves flying by the seat of their pants. Yet this is the millionth show which has the children being actually wiser than the parents.

Is there something new or fresh for this series to say on this topic? Perhaps so, but with “Ed” and “Welcome to New York” on other networks, nobody is going to hang around to find out.