Truly original pilots are tough to find this season, with the schedule stocked with yet more sexy doctors, sexy lawyers, a sexy nurse or two, plus brooding cops (who are sexy and/or Canadian). A few sitcoms intrigue—like NBC’s Community—and there’s a networkwide search for the elusive family comedy, with Modern Family perhaps the strongest contender.
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(Photo: Courtesy of NBC) |
NBC
The Jay Leno Show 
Leno at ten? It’s so crazy, it just might work!
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(Photo: Courtesy of NBC) |
NBC
Parenthood 
I love the movie; I like Ron Howard, Peter Krause, and Maura Tierney. But oy with the corny clichés in the trailer.
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(Photo: Carin Baer/Courtesy of Fox) |
FOX
Glee
Musical, only witty! Freaks and Geeks, but singing! Absolute crack for drama geeks.
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(Photo: Greg Gayne/Courtesy of Fox) |
FOX
Brothers
A grim family sitcom with ex-Giant Michael Strahan tooth-gap jokes, and a trapped-looking CCH Pounder.
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(Photo: Eike Schroter/Courtesy of CBS) |
CBS
The Good Wife
It’s nice to see Julianna Margulies—and the scorned-political-wife plot is timely.
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(Photo: Robert Voets/Courtesy of CBS) |
CBS
Accidentally on Purpose
A Knocked Up ripoff with cougar gags, plus Jenna Elfman mugging ferociously.
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(Photo: Ron Tom/Courtesy of ABC) |
ABC
Flash Forward and Modern Family
A Lost-ish thriller and a smart, documentary-paced sitcom with fresh rhythms.
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(Photo: Cichael Desmond/Courtesy of ABC) |
ABC
Cougartown
Sorry, Courteney Cox: If I never hear that “Rrowr!” sound again, I’ll die a happy woman.
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The Transformation of TV Into an Art Form
The Draw of Dream Worlds in Film
Gosselin, Prince of the Professional Nobodies
A Decade of Defining Moments in Pop-Culture
The Invention of New York's Local Cuisine 
Thirty-Five Short-Lived Looks of the Decade
Two Views of a Swath of the Upper West Side
An Older Generation Moves Into Williamsburg
Ten Years That Changed Everything
A Generation of Overparenting
The Sports Rivalry of the Decade
What Is the Point of the United States Senate? 
