Updating Nielsens: Sitcoms survive, cop shows won't die

ABC's "Freddie" launches at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, marking an official end to the start of fall. It's an appropriately so-so show.

Unlike 2004, when "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" burst on the scene, no freshman series this year has become a quick fixture of late-night talk, magazine covers or the Nielsen Top 20.

That's not altogether a drag. The industry's pulse may rise on novelty, but network executives — like viewers — prefer a warm, steady throb. The lack of big hits has been accompanied by an absence of widespread failure, except at NBC.

Still, some newcomers have done better than others, offering us an early glimpse of the public mood.

Consider, for example, comedy. After much hand-wringing, the solution apparently wasn't reinventing the form — it was recognizing that the brittle, misanthropic style of "Seinfeld" and "Frasier" had petered out with the 1990s.

Accordingly, three warm-hearted, fairly traditional and well-done sitcoms merit their full-season pickups: NBC's "My Name is Earl," UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris" and CBS' "How I Met Your Mother." Fox's domestically incorrect "The War at Home" is not far behind.

On the drama side, tastes are somewhat scattered. The WB's ghost-busting "Supernatural" has just been green-lighted for the rest of the year, while ABC's political fantasy "Commander in Chief," the ingenious Fox thriller "Prison Break" and CBS' "Ghost Whisperer" and "Criminal Minds" also are emerging as solid performers.

A few shows await traction. CBS' "Close to Home" opened weakly despite a general thumbs-up. Fox's erratically watched "Bones" needs a boost from future lead-in "American Idol" come January.

(By the way, here is where I remind you that Fox's baseball playoff schedule will wreak havoc with the network's prime-time schedule until November. DO NOT PANIC.)

Some shows have started well and then faded. NBC's "E-Ring" couldn't sustain its Jerry Bruckheimer buzz. ABC's "Invasion" has slipped ominously since a spectacular debut.

In fact, the alien sci-fi wave is a washout. "Threshold," which got pretty good reviews, is the weakest of CBS' Friday lineup. ABC's "Night Stalker" is deservedly on cancellation watch. Defying the laws of physics if not taste, NBC's "Surface" is sinking.

That leaves "Supernatural" and "Ghost Whisperer," which are about coming to grips with the personal past rather than wrestling with the global future. Could it be Americans just aren't interested in foreigners, no matter how exotic their origins?

On the other hand, we're mad about backyard security. Against odds — and certainly counter to my hopes — the police procedural hasn't lost its charm.

This is evident in new and old series alike. Nielsen's most recent Top 20 list, for Sept. 26 through Oct. 2, again ranks "CSI" No. 1 among television households — a position it's likely to hold despite occasional forays by No. 2 "Desperate Housewives."

The rest of the list includes "Without A Trace" (3), "CSI: Miami" (6), "Cold Case" (8), "Law & Order: SVU" (10), "Law & Order" (11), "NCIS" (12) and "CSI: NY" (17).

Apparently, there's room for more. Although "Close to Home" faltered against "Law & Order" and a steadily reviving "Boston Legal" (20), the Mandy Patinkin-starring "Criminal Minds" has run a healthy second to "Lost" on Wednesdays.

Above all, the list indicates a strong attachment to returning shows: "Lost" (4), "Grey's Anatomy" (5), "Survivor" (9), "House" (10), "ER" (14) and "Medium" (15).

The lone new series was "Commander in Chief," which curtsied at No. 7. Yet it bears the advertiser's equivalent of a scarlet "A," thanks to lopsided tune-in by older female viewers, not the most coveted demographic. Let's hope ABC doesn't start pumping up story lines about the teenage kids.

For series that missed the Top 20 cut — i.e., most — announcements of success or failure are premature. Even so, nervous show runners will want to remind network executives that "Everybody Loves Raymond" barely survived its first year.

In a few cases, the sands have run out. Fox's "Head Cases" is gone and "Kitchen Confidential" is on hiatus. NBC has yanked "Inconceivable" (for now) and production has halted on UPN's "Sex, Love & Secrets." None promised to be a "Raymond."

Oh, yeah — "Freddie"

The first episode of "Freddie," airing at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, actually isn't. Or to put it another way, the pilot is so bad, ABC is starting the second episode first and vice versa.

Good idea. What you get with "Freddie II" is a middling family sitcom about a successful chef (Freddie Prinze Jr.) whose efforts to have a love life are thwarted because the female relatives that raised him have all moved in, bringing more female relatives.

The series is loosely inspired by Prinze's youth and his moments of sincerity ring true. The ethnic flavor — Jenny Gago plays Freddie's caustic Puerto Rican grandmother — makes the show a copacetic lead-out from "George Lopez."

Also starring are Jacqueline Obradors as Freddie's sister, Brian Green as his clueless pal and Madchen Amick as his sister-in-law. The cast chemistry is adequate.

Now, the bad: The cast at times delivers material with a strident urgency that is the death of all comedy except "Benny Hill." Relax, people. Sink into your characters. Soft-pedal the weak lines, play for sincerity and you'll get more laughs.

P.S. And ABC, just kill that pilot. Really.

Kay McFadden: kmcfadden@seattletimes.com