Laugh Tracks
Hoping for a merry mid-season
Reports of the death of the TV sitcom were, thankfully, premature. New critical hits like
My Name Is Earl,
Everybody Hates Chris and the steadily improving
The Office have set a high bar for the new and returning comedies that entered the fray this month. Just getting
Scrubs back on the air after an inexcusable fall hiatus is reason enough to celebrate, while some of the newbies hope to fill the romantic-comedy void left by
Sex and the City and
Friends. Here’s my quick take on the mid-season comedy crop. (I dismissed NBC’s generic buddy romp
Four Kings in an earlier column.)
Scrubs
Tuesdays, 9 pm/ET, NBC
Heard it before? Thankfully, yes. The antics are as fresh as ever now that this endearingly irreverent medical comedy has returned — finally — with back-to-back episodes of bawdy slapstick and barbed verbal wizardry. Amid the belly laughs, the show still wears its heart on its scrub sleeves, sneaking in lump-in-the-throat epiphanies.
Worth watching? When hasn’t it been? At least we now have the chance.
Crumbs
Thursdays, 9:30 pm/ET, ABC
Heard it before? Never quite like this. As a closeted gay Hollywood writer, Fred Savage learns the perils of going home again when confronted with a half-mad mom (Jane Curtin) seeking revenge on her cheating ex (William Devane). Curtin’s bravura hysterics and Devane’s expert mugging give bite to an offbeat show that veers between wacky and truly poignant extremes.
Worth watching? Not such a crazy idea.
Jake in Progress
Mondays, 9:30 pm/ET, ABC
Heard it before? Actually, seen it before. And this tepid bachelor-in-the-city comedy wasn’t very funny last spring, either. John Stamos’ considerable charms are wasted on this familiar, uninspired sex farce, which at least has amped up the supporting cast with a hunky buddy and, more promising, an alluring ex-girlfriend (Charlotte Ross) whom Jake can’t get out of his head.
Worth watching? Sorry, can’t commit.
Emily's Reasons Why Not
Mondays, 9 pm/ET, ABC
Heard it before? Yeah, but someone had to fill Carrie Bradshaw’s shoes. And Heather Graham is adorably dizzy as a looking-for-love book editor in the city whose best friends include a wisecracking cynic and a gay sidekick. They help Emily interpret the warning bells that seem to go off with each new potential soul mate.
Worth watching? Why not? It’s painfully derivative, but we’ve seen worse.
Courting Alex
Mondays, 9:30 pm/ET, CBS
Heard it before? A million times, but rarely this drab. The ever-appealing Jenna Elfman is trapped in the tiresome role of a lawyer who can’t see her dates for her cell phone. She’s Greg in a show without a Dharma. Alex’s idea of a free spirit is a carefree bar owner (Ed’s Josh Randall) who tries to get Alex to be spontaneous while she’s trying to close a deal to demolish his bar.
Worth watching? First you’d have to stay awake.
