Her ex-fiance and dog are struggling to come to terms with the break up.

The single-camera comedy follows different members of the Short family: Dianne Wiest and James Brolin em *kid, and what are they gonna do with her. Each vignette includes shouting, exasperation, accidental hurt feelings, and a shred of contempt. There’s a nonzero amount of throwing up.

While the first episode of “Life in Pieces”, premiering Monday at 8:30 p.m.in the plum post-“Big Bang Theory” slot, doesn’t immediately inspire the same confidence as the ABC series does, what it does have in common with it is a big, ludicrously talented cast who elevate the pilot material in ways that a lesser ensemble couldn’t have managed. And the youngest, Greg (Colin Hanks, “Fargo“), has just welcomed his first child with wife, Jen (Zoe Lister-Jones, “New Girl“).

Web series have shown us that you do not need long to tell a comical story, and Adler sets up his episodes-within-the-episode with efficiency, with just enough business between premise and punchline to suggest the bigger world that contains them. A joke about dad forgetting Jen’s name would lampshade this-if there was anyone other than Wiest around to call Brolin “John”. But on the micro level that makes it unique, it’s keenly calibrated. (So they’re new parents.) Elsewhere, the school-age Shorts reach personal milestones in rapid succession, while Heather and Tim fumble with the fact that there are no bedrooms to send their kids to when the family’s staying in a hotel.

It’s set just around the point where a more whimsical “Parenthood” would meet a less caustic “Modern Family”, and focuses on three siblings, their parents, and their children. Even at its most outrageous, “Life in Pieces” feels padded with foam.

The good news is there is palpable chemistry and affection among the actors, who all have impeccable comic timing. And making the most out of limited time-onscreen or with your family-is what Life In Pieces is all about.