29 new shows are headed for your TV

Four guys who car pool to work every day come to savor their commute as the only safe time to commiserate about jobs, families — and secrets. Even though "what happens in the car pool stays in the car pool," they'll go beyond the boundaries of this fast-moving commuter confessional to get involved in each other's lives and develop friendships.

Gracen (Fred Goss of "Sons & Daughters") is sort of the leader of the group. Unbearably neurotic, he's got a great life and a great wife (Faith Ford of "Murphy Brown"), but he just can't let himself be happy.

Laird (Jerry O'Connell of "Crossing Jordan") is an abrasive, in-the-middle-of-a-divorce playboy/dentist who is Gracen's best friend and whose arrogance masks his inner pain. He delights in heckling Doug (Tim Peper of "Guiding Light"), the happily married newlywed who wants to fit in with the guys.

Rounding out the group is Aubrey (Jerry Minor of "Mr. Show"), a nice guy who's so unremittingly henpecked by his wife that driving back and forth to work is the highlight of his day.

The pilot is all about the stupidity that ensues when Gracen learns his wife makes more money than he does. He and Laird are so unlikable they act like anchors to sink the show as soon as it sets sail.

What's to like? Nothing. This is the single worst new show on any of the broadcast networks this fall.

What's not to like? Everything. It's not just unfunny, it's painfully unfunny. What passes for humor here is Gracen's twentysomething, slacker son (T.J. Miller) walking around all day wearing his tighty-whitey briefs.

Will it work?No.

Debuts: Tuesday, Oct. 2

REAPER (Tuesdays, 8 p.m., CW/Ch. 30) is about a slacker, Sam (Bret Harrison of "The Loop"), who makes a startling discovery on his 21st birthday — his parents sold his soul to the Devil (Ray Wise) before he was born. (There's actually a reasonable explanation so that you don't hate them.)

Satan doesn't drag Sam down to hell, he puts him to work. In addition to his low-level job at the local Work Bench home-improvement store, Sam is now a bounty hunter, retrieving souls that escaped from hell. He gets help from his pals, including Bert "Sock" Wysocki (Tyler Labine of "Invasion") and Ben (Rick Gonzalez of "Coach Carter").

"Reaper" is a bizarre mix of off-the-wall goofiness, sly humor and supernatural action that, at least in the pilot, somehow works.

What's to like? The humor, Harrison and Wise, who's perfectly cast as the Devil.

What's not to like? As with all shows like this, the big question is whether future episodes will be anywhere near as good as the pilot. And there's a fine line between being the comedy relief and being annoying — a line Sock crosses at times.