Teen angst at mall hot-dog stand? We'll bite

Yes, no, maybe — a viewer may get dizzy from the mix of raised hopes and dashed expectations that come from watching "Life on a Stick."

Debuting at 9:30 tomorrow, Fox's new sitcom was created by Victor Fresco, who briefly yanked the network out of its wacky family obsession with the brilliant and canceled "Andy Richter Controls the Universe."

This time around, Fresco has made adjustments. Fox plainly doesn't want anything as risky as "Andy Richter" — it only kept "Arrested Development" after critical praise and an Emmy — but the network does have a model of its ideal workhorse comedy: "That '70s Show."

For years, "That '70s Show" has plodded along in a pleasant, banal muddle: never great, never awful. But now the aging juveniles from Wisconsin are outgrowing their decade and our interest.

"Life on a Stick" might well be called "That Oughts Show." It features Laz (Zachary Knighton) and Fred (Charlie Finn), two 18-year-old best buddies whiling away their time at the local shopping mall behind the counter of a place called "Yippee, Hot Dogs."

Also working there is the object of Laz's affection, red-haired Lily (Rachelle Lefevre), a softer, girlier version of Laura Prepon from "That '70s Show." The group enemy is boss Mr. Hut (Maz Jobrani) equipped with a Fez-like accent for the role.

In short order we meet the rest of Laz's family: father Rick (Matthew Glave) and stepmom Michelle (Amy Yasbeck) looking just a notch older than their kids; precocious little brother Gus (Frankie Ryan Manriquez); and 16-year-old stepsister Molly (Saige Thompson), the requisite sulky oddball.

To this formulaic folderol is added little — tomorrow. The setups are predictable and the few plot lines so overworked, you'd hear them wheezing were it not for the loud laugh track.

But critics have to stick around to screen future episodes. Chances are many viewers will, too, if only because "Life on A Stick" airs right after "American Idol."

I'm glad I did. What emerges in subsequent weeks of "Life on a Stick" is Fresco's subversive impulse to tweak sitcom convention to the point of absurdity. Seems a little bit of "Andy Richter" survived after all.

It's especially evident in three areas: the baroque dialogue, deadpan delivery and moments when characters break out of the TV box to address the audience directly.

In one scene, Laz says of Lily, "I'd deep-fry the organ I hold most dear to please her" — a declaration that both relishes and disdains its overstatement. Later, Laz finds himself championing Oprah Winfrey and snaps out of it to say, "How did I get on this side of the argument?"

These self-conscious interludes are a superior replacement for the first-person narrative that was all the rage a couple of seasons ago. When befuddled Fred — the most fully realized character — recounts his dating experiences, he pauses, stares into space and adds, "There's that wave of sadness again."

Unfortunately, other characters aren't as effective or fleshed-out. The teenagers all look too old for their assigned ages, particularly Knighton as Laz. Many of the actors are skilled without sufficient material on which to hang their talents.

And for every one plot riff that seems inspired — I love episode two's corn dogs-for-barter idea — there are three that are either dull or flogged to death, like Molly's effort to avoid having a surprise birthday party.

The sum result is frustrating. "Life on a Stick" rings the bell just enough to make me salivate; now it's up to Fresco and his writers to put more food in the bowl.

Kay McFadden:kmcfadden@seattletimes.com