"Sean Saves the World" and "Super Fun Night"

I'm still trying to catch up on the recent premieres. I watched two episodes of each new sitcom, though my opinions would be the same if I'd only watched the pilot episodes. And here we go.

"Sean Saves the World," NBC's latest Thursday night offering starring Sean Hayes feels like a sitcom from the mid-90s. It's a standard multicamera show with limited sets and very broad characters who stick to their own very specific shtick in each episode. Hayes plays a gay divorce who has recently become a full time dad to teenage daughter Ellie (Samantha Isler) after her mother moved away. He's helped out by his intrusive mother Lorna (Linda Lavin). At work, he and his friends Liz (Megan Hilty) and Hunter (Echo Kellum) commiserate over their unpleasant new boss, Max (Thomas Lennon), who regularly makes unreasonable demands.

The show feels immediately familiar. Sean mixes jokes about being gay with jokes about being middle-aged. Liz is the oversexed party girl bestie. Hunter is the too-cool black friend. Lorna is the overfamiliar, nitpicking parent that every middle-aged sitcom character used to roll their eyes at on similar NBC shows. The cast already feels settled into their roles, particularly Sean Hayes, who does a good job of reminding us of what was so fun about his work on "Will & Grace." I did get a few chuckles out of these episodes, and that was almost solely due to his animated performance. He can still pull off a lot of physical comedy, and there's an old-shoe comfort to his screen presence that does beg the question why NBC didn't give him his own series years ago when it would have been more timely.

While there's nothing new about "Sean Saves the World," that's not a bad thing. The structure works. It's funny. When necessary, it can do heartfelt. It does the generic old formula well enough that you could mistake it for a show that's been around for multiple seasons. There's room for growth. Most importantly, it's a lot easier watching Sean Hayes than Michael J. Fox or Robin Williams, who both have new sitcoms on the same night, and both still need some time to settle back into television. I wouldn't be surprised if Hayes manages to outlast both of them.

I'm far less optimistic about Rebel Wilson and the cast of "Super Fun Night," which was given the post- "Modern Family" slot over on ABC. Wilson plays single gal, Kimmie Boubier, a young attorney who works for a very nice partner named Richard (Kevin Bishop), and is rivals for his attentions with a man-eating mean girl, Kendall (Kate Jenkinson). Kimmie has two roommates, Marika (Lauren Ash) and Helen-Alice (Liza Lapira), who she's been friends with since childhood. All three of them are oddballs who are very unlucky in love, but they go out every Friday night together for their "Super Fun Night." So far, their outings have included a piano bar karaoke competition and a group date.

Now I'm rooting for Rebel Wilson, who was so much fun in "Pitch Perfect" and pretty much everything else I've seen her in. The first two episodes of "Super Fun Night" give her a chance to show off her physical comedy chops, her vocal skills, and a ridiculous impersonation of a Russian high-fashion model, and she's great. The show, however, has yet to find its footing. They're staying away from fat jokes and focusing on Kimmie's self esteem and personal growth, which I appreciate. However, despite her video journal and her spanx, Kimmie's single life in New York doesn't feel remotely genuine to a post- "Girls" television universe.

The roommates are fine, and I like Ash and Lapira so far, though they haven't been given much to do. However, making Kimmie a lawyer is not convincing at all. Her character's immaturity, social anxiety, and general lack of sophistication wouldn't seem out of place in another profession or even another position within a law firm, but as an attorney it doesn't ring true. I have to wonder how she ever got hired in the first place. I also don't see the comedic potential of the Bishop or Jenkinson characters, who so far seem to have been acting out a very simplified version of "Ally McBeal."

Rebel Wilson's comedic persona is usually much more boisterous and raunchy, and it's disappointing to see her in something so safe and bland and far from "super." She's the best part of "Super Fun Night" by a wide margin, but this doesn't feel like a Rebel Wilson vehicle. It feels like something written for a much sweeter actress that Wilson got shoehorned into. There's room for some improvement, but only up to a point. And I can't help wondering what "Super Fun Night" would have looked like on FX or HBO.
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