Zap2it Fall TV Preview 2008: CBS' New Shows

Worst Week (CBS)
Comedy

Premieres: Monday, Sept. 22
Airs: Mondays at 9:30 p.m. ET

The Pitch: An adult version of "Alexander's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day"

Unwed couple Sam (Kyle Bornheimer) and Melanie (Erinn Hayes) have a baby on the way. Now they just have to tell Melanie's parents (Kurtwood Smith, Nancy Lenehan), which would be a lot easier if they didn't hate Sam and if Sam didn't keep screwing up the mood in the most elaborate ways possible.

What They Got Right: Bornheimer is a good sport, which is helpful since the amount of humiliation his character undergoes in the pilot is more than any normal person could probably take. Or probably be expected to take. Erinn Hayes has always been a wonderfully funny leading lady in search of a proper vehicle, while Smith and Lenehan are old pros working in familiar territory. The pilot tries awfully hard to make you laugh, pushing its single-camera hijinx to the extreme with a frantic pace.

What's Oh, So Wrong: "Worst Week" is often more exhausting than it is funny. Nothing it does seems effortless and even when the the punchlines land -- and the cast is good enough that they sometimes do -- it still feels a little desperate. How they can they sustain the pace for an entire season? And would viewers even want to watch that much humiliation? And how will a single-camera comedy fit in amongst CBS' more traditional Monday sitcoms?

Recommended If ...: You require a Monday night dose of schadenfreude to get you through the week.