TV Talk

Fall TV Sneak Preview: ABC (Part 1)

'Sup, fellow bloggers. It was a busy weekend for me. Which means I only found enough time to watch two of ABC's new shows. Although I'm on vacation this week, I'll get to the rest later today or tonight. I promise.

Betty the Ugly: More like Betty the Unfunny. You know a show's in trouble when the person who's watching it asks, "Is this supposed to be a comedy?" America Ferrera (The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants) stars as Betty, a slightly overweight, Plain Jane, braces-wearing woman with a hideous fashion sense. How hideous? I'm talking garish ponchos and black -- black! -- stockings! Now, none of that would be a problem for Betty, but since she's a lowly editorial assistant at a Glamour-like fashion mag where everyone's ridiculously gorgeous and a size minus three, well, our plucky heroine becomes a source of ridicule. While Ferrera is a winningly appealing lead -- you can't help but root for her -- her show rarely makes you laugh -- or chuckle. And that last time I checked, that's what a comedy is supposed to do.

Let's Rob...: The perfect title since ABC is blatantly robbing from NBC's wonderfully kooky My Name Is Earl. A long-time janitor (Grounded for Life's Donal Logue) is tired of his dead end job. So, he does what most frustrated employees do: he recruits a band of affable misfits to rob Mick Jagger so he can finance his dream of opening a bar. They even wear T-shirts and call themselves "The Knights of Prosperity." Let's Rob...isn't as funny or charming as Earl. No show could duplicate Earl's loopy craziness. But Let's Rob...gives it a good shot and is worth a look.