Our TV Endorsements: How are they doin'? (The Comedies)

Time for a midseason (an optimistic term, I know, given the WGA strike) check on the 4 shows I endorsed at the beginning of the fall TV season. Are these 4 series living up to my endorsement? Do I regret putting my halfway-decent name behind them before seeing a single episode of their new seasons?

How I Met Your Mother: I believe the biggest cultural crisis facing America today is not race relations, the politics of divisiveness, or class differences. No, it's the fact that a funny, inventive sitcom airs each Monday night on CBS, and it's not Two and a Half Men, yet the numbers for this particular show are merely "eh." Have you figured out what show I'm talking about? Did the boldface give it away?

In its third season, this comedy still goes right to the edge of being too cute or trying too hard to be clever. In a world when Judd Apatow's movies are lauded for having "heart," HIMYM quietly chugs along each week with its combo of likable characters and sharp jokes. I don't know if the strike makes the prospect of a fourth season more or less likely, but if the support for this doesn;t pick up, historians in the future may divert their attention from analyzing what went wrong in Iraq to the far more vexing question of why a catchphrase-makin', hip-seemin', laugh-inducin' show couldn't last longer.

In other words, I stand by my endorsement. The show hasn't been as consistently good as in its first two seasons, but it delivers at least something good each week.

Everybody Hates Chris: Talk about underappreciated sitcoms; this one is so under the radar it makes How I Met Your Mother look like a 747. I confess that because this is scheduled opposite Heroes and Mother, and my DVR has but two tuners, I have only seen a few episodes this season. But what I saw indicated this show is still solid, even as the threat of shark-jumping looms as the kids age. One thing we know is there are plenty more new half-hours coming, as this series shot its entire season before the strike.

Tomorrow, I'll take a look at two hourlong dramas I vouched for at the beginning of the season.