Word: apatow
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...UNDECLARED (FOX) The characters are freshmen, but the comedy is far from sophomoric. Producer Judd Apatow (of the much mourned high-school drama Freaks and Geeks) got a well-deserved, and more commercial, second chance with this college sitcom. Undeclared, starring Jay Baruchel, above, takes the eccentric sensibility of Freaks and applies it to smart, sharply observed coming-of-age stories of self-discovery, romance and beer...
From there, the network announced Judd Apatow's college comedy "Undeclared" and Barry Sonnenfeld's superhero spoof "The Tick." Fine comedies both. And I can say that with conviction because I've seen them already - "The Tick" was sent to critics last summer and "Undeclared" this winter, both with plans to run midseason. Taking your time to debut shows is fine, of course - it just tends, again, to undercut those claims about your vaunted sitcom development...
...piece that could be a more commercial descendent of past moody Fox dramas like "Profit." An additional encouraging sign: the creator turns out to be Mike White, the writer and creepy star of last summer's haunting "Chuck and Buck." (Also a former "Freaks and Geeks" writer, which with Apatow makes two "F&G" alums - always a good sign for a fall schedule.) Final encouraging sign: The cast includes Martin Donovan and Phillip Baker Hall, who are sure to up the series' charmingly skeevy and regally threatening components, respectively...
...mini-streak of sitcom success in the past couple of years with risk takers like Malcolm and Titus (as well as with That '70s Show, laugh track and all). And it has two appealingly unusual and very different sitcoms on the way. Undeclared, from producer Judd Apatow (another Sanders alum), is a laugh-track-less coming-of-age comedy that, like Apatow's Freaks and Geeks, relies less on zingers than low-key humor and well-drawn characters. The Tick is an outlandish spoof (based on a comic-book series) about an inept superhero (Seinfeld's Puddy, Patrick Warburton...
...which is also developing a series about a bunny puppet who lands a starring role in a children's show. But the networks are hardly abandoning the traditional sitcom. ABC is hedging its bets this spring with two very conventional-looking ones, starring Damon Wayans and Joan Cusack. Even Apatow says, "I like cinematic comedy, but I still think the best show on TV is Everybody Loves Raymond. When the writing and the cast are that good, you don't need to do any tricks...