New Fall TV: So far, so blah (Comedies)

Here are some brief thoughts on shows about which I want to comment without doing a full "Should you watch" post. Today, let's look at the new network comedies.

Mike and Molly: Somewhere in this Chuck Lorre sitcom is a sweet if not all that hilarious romantic comedy about two overweight people who meet and fall in love. Unfortunately, it's buried under a barrage of crude gags. The fat jokes received all the attention from critics, but the pilot also rewarded viewers with lines about flatulence, oral sex, and pot smoking.

You can make a funny show with that kind of humor (I'm sure Chuck Lorre has a vanity card in the works explaining that this IS the funny show), but you need sharper jokes and a funnier cast. The leads in this show are likable but don't seem capable of carrying a sitcom without help--help they're not getting.

Better with You: I was stunned at how UNterrible the pilot was. The series was firmly ensconced in my "10 most annoying new shows" list, but in retrospect, perhaps judging the cast based on their smarmy appearance at an ABC fall premiere hype event wasn't the best gauge of the show's quality.

This isn't the most sophisticated relationship comedy, but it is funny. The editing rhythms of the dialogue feel very 1990s, but that's almost a breath of fresh air right now. It'll be interesting to see if the show continues the gimmick it emphasized heavily in the pilot: Comparing and contrasting 3 couples in various stages of relationships. I may find out soon because I'll watch this week, and I may add this to my lineup. The fact that it's on the same night and network as "Modern Family" might help keep it on my radar.

Raising Hope: I think this garnered some critical praise, but I don't see much here to make me revisit it. It reminded me of creator Greg Garcia's previous "My Name Is Earl," and that's not a good thing. I think there's place on TV for working-class comedy--I sure want there to be, anyway--but does "Raising Hope" love its characters or ridicule them?

Oh, there was a nice "aww" moment near the end of the pilot as Martha Plimpton's grizzled "suddenly a grandma" character serenades the baby her son has brought home determined to keep and raise. But it seemed contrived, calculated to inject "heart" into the show (every crude comedy has to have "heart" now with the exception of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"), when you consider other moments.

For example, Plimpton's character is a maid. It's good to establish that early, but must it be with her telling another, "You do realize we're cleaning toilets, right?" as they carpool to work? Or when the lead character and new father brings a shopping cart to a grocery store, he tells a cashier his family uses it as a grill (among other things). Ha ha ha, but then later when the cart is missing, his cousin interjects with disappointment that he was gonna make burgers that night. It's more like overkill than a clever callback.

This one's not for me.

Running Wilde: Another FOX comedy with a punning title, another disappointment. The pedigree behind this one--from the people who brought you "Arrested Development" may have Raised Hope, but the finished work quashed it. It's ridiculous premise could be acceptable with funnier writing, but the main problem is the decision to build a sitcom around Will Arnett. The guy is acceptable, even effective, in smaller doses, but there's no way he, not to say his by-design-unlikable character, will hold up over a whole season of being the lead. Keri Russell is cute, but the show expects us to believe that her ultraliberal goody-two-shoes would fall hard for Arnett's self-absorbed privileged rich son. The chemistry doesn't support it so far, and I won't be coming back to see if it develops.