New sitcoms don't offer much to laugh about

‘Til Death’
Viewers still regretting the unkept promise of a Robert-centered “Everybody Loves Raymond” spin-off have been thrown a bone titled “Til Death”  (FOX, Thursdays, 8 p.m. ET).

Brad Garrett, who played Raymond's brother for that show's lengthy run, stars as Eddie. He's a deeply cynical high school history teacher married for decades to Joy (Joely Fisher, who really really deserves a hit show), whom viewers meet just as she is forcing him to look at her paper cut. It’s an authentic old-couple moment.

The romantic newlyweds moving in next door (Kat Foster and former “American Pie” kid Eddie Kaye Thomas) immediately challenge Eddie’s hardened views on life, the universe and marriage. Eddie gets to deliver long, dark yet comical lectures, and whether he is proven right or wrong drives the plot, which has as many twists as an old mystery novel and nearly as many clichés. (One scene especially is an embarrassing "Seinfeld" rip-off.) Yet “Til Death” works for what it is: amusing, a little peevish but generally reassuring. Like a long-lived marriage.   —Wendell Wittler

‘Happy Hour’
You never realize just how unimportant the alcohol consumption was in “Cheers” until you’ve seen “Happy Hour” (FOX, Thursdays, 8:30 p.m. ET). “Forty years ago, every man in this country was half-drunk by sundown. It was a gracious, golden time” says central provocateur Larry (Lex Medlin) as he begins the politically incorrect makeover of new roommate Henry (John Sloan). 

Henry’s ex-girlfriend Heather has just messed up his life on a whim, and Larry’s determined to build a better version of ex-roomie Brad, now engaged to and henpecked by the formidable Tina. Providing the guys less-than-moral support is Amanda, who bounces from smart and savvy to insecure and needy like a rubber ball (appropriately, since her funniest yet excruciatingly embarrassing scene involves balls).

These are characters to laugh at, not relate to. Writers Jackie and Jeff Filgo, veterans of “That ‘70s Show,” and the mostly unknown cast bring the funny, even if they sometimes have to knock it unconscious first. Think of “Happy Hour” as “That ’70s Show” with martinis instead of pot and Dean Martin instead of Cheap Trick. Or “Friends ... From Hell.” Or “How I Met Those People I Keep My Kids Away From.”    —W.W.