Pilots (Part Two): Laugh-track No More

March 02, 2007

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Thanks to the successes of shows like "30 Rock" and "Ugly Betty," there are a growing number of single-camera comedies on the slate. Though there may be a shortage of cameras in the world that we’re not aware of, we think that the quicky humor this type of show is really taking root in TV. And not a moment too soon. Is this a sign that American viewers may finally be outgrowing the laughtrack?

ABC starts its contestants off with “American Family,” the tale of a seemingly perfect family who are desperately trying to hide the fact that they’re not. “Family of the Year” focuses on another stressed-out family, this time one that worries their chance of being named their town’s “Family of the Year” again will be taken away by the new guys on the block. “Carpoolers” follows a group of guys who ride to work together. And so does “The Call.” Except instead of heading to an office “The Call” follows a team of paramedics who are better at saving other than themselves. “The News” shows the weirder side of working in a Phoenix newsroom.

CBS isn’t about to be outdone. It’s offering “1321 Clover Street” which looks at the family who lives there. A writer moves into a Hollywood apartment more famous than he is in “The Captain.” But we’re really looking forward to when Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor appear on the small screen in an as yet untitled show about a young woman who defines the phrase “multi-tasker.”

Fox turns its focused to the dads of the world. Their show “Hackett” stars a Casanova-type professor who’s forced to leave his job at Yale for a high school teaching post in Ohio. “The Rules of Starting Over” finds a 35-year-old man thrown back into the dating scene after being 10 years out of practice. Two different groups of grown-up siblings find out they all share the same dad in “Two Families.” Not to mention the Rob Roy Thomas show, staring a man who unintentionally wins a Congressional election.

NBC bring us “Area 52,” an office comedy set in a secret military base; and yes, there is an alien. If that’s not your fare, try “Business Class” and follow a sales duo who might never make it back to the office again. They also have “Zip” a show similar to “The Riches” about a con-artist dad in Beverly Hills.

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