There have been a lot of trend stories printed lately about the death of the traditional silly sitcom.
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Teletrivia
What was Walter Cronkite's famous sign-off line during the years he anchored “CBS Evening News”?
Answer below
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Lies, all lies.
Proof that the formula sitcom – complete with braying laugh track – is alive and well will be there for all to see tonight when Fox trots out “Happy Hour,” a prime example of the not-quite-extinct species.
“'Til Death,” which stars “Everybody Loves Raymond” alum Brad Garrett, also fits the format, though it's a little bit smarter.
“Happy Hour,” about a loose-knit gaggle of young singles with the average IQ of a miniature schnauzer, adds up to a dumbed-down version of “Friends.” (What's that you say? No, I didn't think it was possible, either.)
Henry (John Sloan) and the rest of the bunch all live in the same Chicago apartment building. As the pilot begins, his girlfriend, Heather (Brooke D'Orsay), is saying goodbye. “Things just kind of weren't awesome any more,” says Heather. “I can't help it, Henry. I'm blossoming.”
Heather says she's “a butterfly coming out of my cocoon,” which D'Orsay pronounces “cuke-coon.”
True, Heather is a featherbrain. But Henry's noggin would also float to the ceiling if it weren't fastened to his otherwise useless carcass.
In classic dumb-sitcom fashion, Henry moves to a different apartment in the same building, where he rooms with Larry. Larry's previous roommate, Brad (Nat Faxon) has moved out to be with his fiancée, Tina (Jamie Denbo). But, like Heather, they're still in the building, still popping in to see Larry and Henry every five minutes or so.
Larry, a wild and crazy guy, puts on a Dean Martin CD every afternoon at 4 and mixes up a batch of martinis. “This is happy hour,” Larry announces.
There is one thing to be said for “Happy Hour,” though. It offers a bit of reassurance for those who fear that the world is changing too fast, that the universe is spinning wildly out of control.
Some things don't change. The dopey sitcom will always be with us.
The same kind of retro comfort is to be found in the marginally more interesting “'Til Death.” Garrett and Joely Fisher star as Eddie and Joy Stark, whose last name seems to describe the state of their marriage after 24 years. (If they have children, either young or grown, they're not mentioned in the pilot.)
A pair of cuddly-wuddly newlyweds, Jeff and Steph Woodcock (Eddie Kaye Thomas, Kat Foster), move in next door. Jeff is the vice principal at the same high school where Eddie teaches history.
Eddie proceeds to teach Jeff what's really what in marriage, which, from his point of view, amounts to: “Men want to have fun. Women want to walk that fun deep into the woods and shoot it dead.”
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Teletrivia Answer
 “That's the way it is.”
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Jeff wants a pool table. His wife is fine with that. Eddie predicts she'll soon change her mind. She does. Complications follow, all of them predictable as sunrise.
Still, thanks to the comically dour presence of Garrett, who turns grumpiness and pessimism into an art form, and Fisher playing Alice Kramden to his blustery Ralph, “'Til Death” could turn out to be something worth watching.
Robert P. Laurence: (619) 293-1892;
bob.laurence@uniontrib.com. See past columns at
www.sosd.com/tvradio.
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