29 new shows are headed for your TV

What's not to like? This is the most disappointing new show this fall — and a perfect example of why sitcoms are out of favor with viewers. It looks like it was built out of pieces of shows we've seen a thousand times before. Grammer and Heaton have no chemistry. And it's just not funny. There's a "big surprise" that Fox doesn't want us to tell you about, so I won't — but if you can't figure it out for yourself long before the "reveal," you've never seen a sitcom before. Maybe I'm being too hard on this show because I had high expectations of not only the stars but of the writers/producers — whose credits include "Frasier" and "Don't Shoot Me." But the pilot is painfully unfunny.

Will it work? I doubt it. Maybe it will be around for a while, but it's hard to imagine it becoming a big hit. And not just because it's not good, but this show is also completely out of place on Fox. It might fit on CBS's Monday-night lineup, but a show where the combined age of the two leads is 101 is not what the Fox audience is looking for.

Debuts: Wednesday, Sept. 19

PRIVATE PRACTICE (Wednesdays, 8 p.m., ABC/Ch. 4) has one big advantage no other show on any network has this fall — it's a spin-off of the hugely popular "Grey's Anatomy." And the starting point is one of the best characters (and one of the best actors) from the parent show — Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh).

As "Grey's Anatomy" fans saw back in May, Addison reunites with old friends in a "Private Practice" in Los Angeles. Naomi (Audra McDonald) and Sam Bennett (Taye Diggs) are divorced but still work together.

The practice also includes Dr. Cooper Freedman (Paul Adelstein of "24"), a pediatrician who's always attracted to the wrong women; Dr. Violet Turner (Amy Brenneman of "Judging Amy"), who's sort of equally messed up and is barely hiding her attraction to Cooper; Dr. Pete Wilder (Tim Daly), who practices alternative method and is still mourning the death of his wife eight years ago; and William Dell Parker (Chris Lowell), the receptionist/resident young, hot guy who wants to be a midwife.

And, since that episode of "Grey's" aired, they've added Dr. Charlotte King (KaDee Strickland), the chief of staff of a nearby hospital who comes into frequent conflict with the doctors in the "Private Practice."

What's to like? It's a great cast — Kate Walsh is one of the most appealing actresses on TV. And there are moments that are sweet, touching and funny.

What's not to like? Whatever magic "Grey's Anatomy" has seems sorely lacking in "Private Practice." Granted, the season premiere has to reintroduce the characters, but it's pretty run-of-the-mill medical-show stuff. It's not bad, but it's not particularly good, either.