Laugh Track

As Claire on "Six Feet Under," Lauren Ambrose stole many a scene with her low-key, mordant style. She was the depressed artist who could be so humorously underwhelmed by people. Ambrose's Claire embodied the show's blackly comic outlook so perfectly that, in the series finale, the story lines all came down to her point of view. With her soft deadpan and her renegade vibe, the red-haired actress doesn't belong within a mile of a laugh track. And yet tonight, on the new Fox sitcom "The Return of Jezebel James," Ambrose has a laugh track practically sitting on her shoulder blasting its cackles out to the world.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (Comcast Movies: All Movies) DreamWorks animation boldly turns to Viking territory for comedy, casting Jay Baruchel as Hiccup, an adolescent would-be warrior who’s useless in a fight, but an unlikely success as a dragon whisperer. The frenetic action is well done, if intense, but the standout moments are the lyrical ones of Hiccup and pet “Toothless’’ in flight. (PG; runs through March 31) TOM RUSSO TADPOLE (Encore on Comcast)

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (Comcast Movies: All Movies) DreamWorks animation boldly turns to Viking territory for comedy, casting Jay Baruchel as Hiccup, an adolescent would-be warrior who’s useless in a fight, but an unlikely success as a dragon whisperer. The frenetic action is well done, if intense, but the standout moments are the lyrical ones of Hiccup and pet “Toothless’’ in flight. (PG; runs through March 31) TOM RUSSO TADPOLE (Encore on Comcast)

Recycling is good and all, but, alas, not when it comes to comedy. Recycled comedy only junks up the TV environment, needlessly increasing our DVR footprint. Two seasons ago, sitcom stalwarts Kelsey Grammer of “Frasier’’ and Patricia Heaton of “Everybody Loves Raymond’’ doubled up for a comeback on Fox’s short-lived “Back to You.’’ The series, with Grammer and Heaton simply replaying their classic TV characters with different names, was so full of stale gas that Greenpeace almost went after it for fouling the atmosphere.

Ever since the emergence of YouTube, the grown-up networks have done backflips trying to capture the buzz and spirit of Web video. Bravo has aired a weekly digest of fuzzy homegrown footage. CNN solicits user videos, as does VH1's "Acceptable TV. " ABC News is currently airing "i-CAUGHT," a newsmagazine about Internet video. It all feels useful but a little desperate, as if TV executives are scrambling for a magic potion that will deliver TV to the future. The impressive thing about "iCarly," the Nickelodeon tween sitcom that premieres tonight at 8, is how relatively natural it feels.

"Sex and the City" continues to be a convenient descriptive touchstone for critics. As in, "This new show is 'Sex and the City' with lesbians," or "That new show is 'Sex and the City' in Birkenstocks. " That's because so many TV writers and producers still use the classic HBO series as a model around which to design their potential Nielsen hits. Yeah, they clone it. Which brings us to "Emily's Reasons Why Not," the new ABC sitcom starring Heather Graham. It's not half bad, but then it's not even a quarter original.

Nicole Sullivan is a lighter version of Kathy Griffin, whose raw humor defines the D-List. Like Griffin, the "Mad TV" alum is a redheaded ham who's eager to sacrifice her dignity for the sake of a good self-mocking joke. On her new ABC sitcom, "Hot Properties," she plays a desperate urban single to the hilt, vanity be damned. Her character, Chloe, is a needy mess of insecurity who believes breast-augmentation surgery will solve all her romantic ills. Also, she admits to having instigated a few men-stalking incidents in her day. Chloe is an appalling caricature,...

"The Loop" is a television artifact through which we can examine a classic case of Male Post-College Struggle Syndrome, a phase during which the young adult mind is drawn to intellectual pursuit and the illusion of financial stability while the body and soul simultaneously gravitate toward retrogressive behaviors as a protective defense mechanism against the inevitable disappointments of maturity and its primary byproduct, responsibility. Not. "The Loop" is a dumb, though not dull, Fox sitcom premiering in the cushy position after tonight's "American Idol" results...

Recycling is good and all, but, alas, not when it comes to comedy. Recycled comedy only junks up the TV environment, needlessly increasing our DVR footprint. Two seasons ago, sitcom stalwarts Kelsey Grammer of “Frasier’’ and Patricia Heaton of “Everybody Loves Raymond’’ doubled up for a comeback on Fox’s short-lived “Back to You.’’ The series, with Grammer and Heaton simply replaying their classic TV characters with different names, was so full of stale gas that Greenpeace almost went after it for fouling the atmosphere.

If you follow TV buzz, because it certainly follows you, you might already be a little burnt out on "My Name Is Earl. " It's the latest comedy the critics have been lavishing with advance praise all summer -- you know, the next "Arrested Development" that you absolutely must watch or be doomed to a life of shame, despair, and aesthetic inferiority. But if any sitcom can overcome your resistance to excessive hype, it will be "My Name Is Earl," which premieres tonight at 9 on Channel 7. The NBC sitcom is so unpretentious and original, it will probably win you over...

"Kath & Kim" is an instructive mistake. The new NBC sitcom is built of such sturdy components, it really ought to be good TV, and a fitting Thursday night companion to "The Office. " Star Molly Shannon is the rare comedian who, like Steve Carell, can balance cringe comedy with lovability. And like "The Office," "Kath & Kim" is based on a proven blueprint from overseas, a fierce Australian sitcom about a mother and daughter locked together in a circle of hell, a "Gilmore Girls" gone very wrong.

As Claire on "Six Feet Under," Lauren Ambrose stole many a scene with her low-key, mordant style. She was the depressed artist who could be so humorously underwhelmed by people. Ambrose's Claire embodied the show's blackly comic outlook so perfectly that, in the series finale, the story lines all came down to her point of view. With her soft deadpan and her renegade vibe, the red-haired actress doesn't belong within a mile of a laugh track. And yet tonight, on the new Fox sitcom "The Return of Jezebel James," Ambrose has a laugh track practically sitting on her shoulder blasting...

BUFFALO - The Bruins have a pretty good grasp of defense, no longer skating helter-skelter through all three zones looking like so many distant, dismal sons of the Ice Follies that turned last season into a laugh track. But when it comes to offense, or simply sustaining pressure on the net . . . "We just can't put that little black thing in the net," said veteran winger Glen Murray. "No doubt, it's frustrating. " The lack of scoring once again brought the Bruins asunder last night at HSBC Arena, where the Sabres, unable to muster much offensive sizzle themselves...

Ever since the emergence of YouTube, the grown-up networks have done backflips trying to capture the buzz and spirit of Web video. Bravo has aired a weekly digest of fuzzy homegrown footage. CNN solicits user videos, as does VH1's "Acceptable TV. " ABC News is currently airing "i-CAUGHT," a newsmagazine about Internet video. It all feels useful but a little desperate, as if TV executives are scrambling for a magic potion that will deliver TV to the future. The impressive thing about "iCarly," the Nickelodeon tween sitcom that premieres tonight at 8, is how...

CINCINNATI -- It was the week in which Tom Brady's body language became the official dialect of Patriot Nation. National television commentators talked about it. Scribes wrote about it. Fans looked at the game films after the Denver debacle and dissected Brady's every gesture. Nonstop nuance. Forget about body surfing, body painting, body politic, body by BALCO, and Jesse "The Body" Ventura -- we were immersed in Brady's body language. And it wasn't just in New England. The New York Times said Brady was paying the price for being a management tool.

The odd thing about "Help Me Help You" is the lack of a laugh track. Ted Danson's new series is written as a classically broad sitcom, with neurotic adults doing the zaniest things over and over again. You keep waiting for the jokes to be punctuated by prefabricated guffaws and Franken-cackles. But instead they are met with a high-risk Hollywood commodity: silence. The laughs are . . . gulp . . . left up to the viewers. But you probably won't be filling in the laugh gaps on "Help Me Help You," which premieres tonight at 9:30 on Channel 5. The show isn't a...

The odd thing about "Help Me Help You" is the lack of a laugh track. Ted Danson's new series is written as a classically broad sitcom, with neurotic adults doing the zaniest things over and over again. You keep waiting for the jokes to be punctuated by prefabricated guffaws and Franken-cackles. But instead they are met with a high-risk Hollywood commodity: silence. The laughs are . . . gulp . . . left up to the viewers. But you probably won't be filling in the laugh gaps on "Help Me Help You," which premieres tonight at 9:30 on Channel 5. The show isn't a debacle, but it's a disappointing...

"Kath & Kim" is an instructive mistake. The new NBC sitcom is built of such sturdy components, it really ought to be good TV, and a fitting Thursday night companion to "The Office. " Star Molly Shannon is the rare comedian who, like Steve Carell, can balance cringe comedy with lovability. And like "The Office," "Kath & Kim" is based on a proven blueprint from overseas, a fierce Australian sitcom about a mother and daughter locked together in a circle of hell, a "Gilmore Girls" gone very wrong.

"The Loop" is a television artifact through which we can examine a classic case of Male Post-College Struggle Syndrome, a phase during which the young adult mind is drawn to intellectual pursuit and the illusion of financial stability while the body and soul simultaneously gravitate toward retrogressive behaviors as a protective defense mechanism against the inevitable disappointments of maturity and its primary byproduct, responsibility. Not. "The Loop" is a dumb, though not dull, Fox sitcom premiering in the cushy position after tonight's "American Idol" results show, at 9:30...

"Sex and the City" continues to be a convenient descriptive touchstone for critics. As in, "This new show is 'Sex and the City' with lesbians," or "That new show is 'Sex and the City' in Birkenstocks. " That's because so many TV writers and producers still use the classic HBO series as a model around which to design their potential Nielsen hits. Yeah, they clone it. Which brings us to "Emily's Reasons Why Not," the new ABC sitcom starring Heather Graham. It's not half bad, but then it's not even a quarter original.