Today is not a good day to be in Kelsey Grammer’s shoes. For today, the popular actor will spend the next few hours taking to the airwaves, chatting with media outlets around the world in an effort to drum up some much-needed publicity for his new ABC show HANK. A show that finds itself on the brink of cancellation thanks to the not-so-perfect storm of both poor reviews and ratings. How do we know this you ask? Well, your very own TV Addict just had the opportunity to pepper the actor with a few tough questions of our very own. And we have a feeling, we went easy on him!

The TV Addict: Why do you think HANK hasn’t connected with viewers in the same way in which FRASIER or CHEERS did?
Kelsey Grammer: In previous years there was more of a willingness to allow a show to grow, find an audience, get its sea legs. Now, you have to pretty much hit it out of the park, right out of the box. Which certainly is not easy. Especially when you’re well known for a previously somewhat successful character, the American audience specifically has a lot of trouble adjusting to a beloved actor of a beloved character making a change. With both the character of Hank, and Chuck from BACK TO YOU, audiences always ask, “Where is that loveable wonderful man that was Frasier?”

Aside from the obvious disappointment, what was your reaction to last week’s news that every Wednesday night comedy on ABC was picked up with the exception of yours?
Yes, well that certainly was an interesting signal to get. Obviously there is a little bit of of a reluctance in that we are the only multi-camera show on ABC. And while some people object to the laugh track, but just been replaced by musical rhythms in other shows. Same device, different sound. We’re just doing our best to make a great show and hopefully they’ll [ABC] sees the wisdom in keeping us around. We just hope we get a chance.

Why should audience give your show another chance tonight?
Well, this episode is funny. Arguably in the pilot you introduce the characters and hope for a couple of laughs, the subsequent show reminds people what the show is about, while the third episode (Tonight on ABC at 8PM) gets to finally divert a little bit. It’s the way we did it with FRASIER and CHEERS. Tell ‘em, remind ‘em, then start to do different things. Tonight’s episode focuses on Hank’s daughter Maddie (Jordan Hinson) who Hank thinks should get a job at the mall. Thinking it will help, Hank gets a job working with her where both Hank and Kelsey get to make a bit of a fool of himself collectively, it’s a silly show and a lot of fun.

Oops GLEE did it again, and by that I mean, continued to cost me money on iTunes by delivering not one, or two, but rather four show-stopping numbers (See: Maybe This Time, Last Name,  Alone and Somebody to Love) Seriously, last night’s episode was so good that this TV Addict didn’t even blink when our spectacular (or as some have called it, Emmy-worthy performance) as “Audience Member #24″ was left on the cutting room floor to make room for some chick named Kristin Chenosomethingorother!

That noise you just heard? This TV Addict breathing a deep sigh of relief over MODERN FAMILY’s phenomenal second outing. That other noise? Me furiously banging my head on my desk as I try to decide which story-line was my favorite. In fact — between Ty Burrell’s Phil teaching his son Luke a valuable (and hilarious) lesson about responsibility by inadvertently transforming himself into the neighbourhood bike thief, Cameron and Mitchell’s attempt to seamlessly blend into their straight-laced ‘Mommy & Me’ play-group, and Jay’s (Ed O’Neill) half-hearted effort to connect with his stepson Manny that had me both laughing (“The only way Manny’s Dad is anything like Superman is that they both landed in this country illegally.”) and tearing up (“Ninety percent of being a dad is just showing up.”) — the only thing I’m sure of is that creators Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd best be making room on their shelf for an Emmy (or two!) this time next year.

Just as I was beginning to question my commitment to moving into COUGAR TOWN, along comes Beyonce’s Single Ladies and an unforgettable slideshow of an increasingly inebriated Courteney Cox. Proof that as long as our favorite ex-FRIEND continues to do anything for a laugh, I’ll be there for her.

And finally, here’s our problem with HANK in a nutshell: It’s one thing to continue to play the same variation of a character your entire career, but another thing entirely to subject audiences to a storyline they’ve already rejected. As eleven highly rated season of FRASIER clearly proved, audiences can’t get enough of Kelsey Grammer’s pompous blowhard of a TV alter-ego. Unfortunately, what they can get enough of — as FRASIER’s disappointing sixth season clearly indicated — is a downtrodden and unemployed pompous blowhard. Which naturally begs the question: Just whose bright idea was it to base an entire series around what was Grammer’s least successful story-arc ever? Well, we’re listening.

You’re probably going to hear a lot about how this fall is the year of the comedy: of all the fall pilots, comedies are heading the pack in terms of buzz and praise. And ABC, who’s been a stranger to a hit sitcom for quite awhile now, is betting on a full-on Wednesday night blitzkrieg, scheduling five new shows back to back without any ratings support from an established hit. It’s the kind of high risk, big rewards gambling that seems so relevant given the…state of broadcast sitcoms.

Too bad the Alphabet Network’s opening salvo threatens to ruin the whole thing: HANK (debuting next Wednesday September 30 at 8PM), where Kelsey Grammer plays his umpteenth iteration of a blow-hard, seems so out of touch (with the national sentiment, what’s funny, what’s stupid, you name it), you’d be tempted to give up with it and just call the whole thing off.

The premise – Grammer’s title character moves his family back to Virginia after he’s booted from his own company and loses his fortune – seems only topical for the sake of mockery. How could a recession-weary viewer ever relate (or laugh) to Hank as he walks into his new, disheveled house (complete with broke-down stovetop sitting in the middle of the entry way), and spouts, “This is exactly what we needed!” No, it isn’t.

Instead of suffering through HANK, I suggest you start your Wednesdays with Julia-Louis Dreyfus on THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE. After which flip back to Patricia Heaton and THE MIDDLE (debuting next Wednesday September 30 at 8:30PM), where the former EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND star does furrowed-browed and frazzled mother hen much better than Ray Ramano’s wife ever did.

As Frankie Heck, she’s a saleswoman in her town’s last remaining car dealership, where she considers herself “a matchmaker people and vehicles,” but can’t seem to sell any. Heaton is great, and the rapport between her and Neil Flynn (SCRUB’s Janitor, beguiling out his Sacred Heart garb) as her husband is refreshingly genuine, their relationship rife with sarcasm and understanding.

The kids are generic (the disinterested teen, the untalented sister), save for the wunderkind youngest Brick (Atticus Shaffer), who’s got nasally timing down at a young age. Besides somewhat pointed Midwestern riffing, the only real worry is wondering just how far it go to make Frankie exasperated without making it cartoonish or over-the-top.

The main and best draw of the night is MODERN FAMILY (debuting tonight at 9PM), which has, hands-down, the best pilot of the fall. And if you somehow don’t already know the twist ending of tonight’s premiere, then skip (ABC told critics not to spoil, then went ahead and did it anyways in promotional ads).

As one, big extended family, you couldn’t ask for one any better (or funnier) than this: Claire (Julie Bowen) and Phil (Burrell) are the traditional family with three raucous kids; Phil (MARRIED…WITH CHILDREN’s Ed O’Neill) and Gloria (Sofia Vergara) are the May-December relationship turned second marriage, complete with sensitive 11-year-old Manny (Rico Rodriguez); and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) are a gay couple who just adopted their daughter from Vietnam.

It manages to juggle three unique story lines for each family, but also cohesively brings them together, criss-crossing comedic styles for greater effect. The performances are all top tier, especially Ty Burrell as the helplessly awkward Phil, the father who so desperately wants to be hip for his kids, he creates even greater divide between them.

MODERN FAMILY (at least from this pilot, which is all anyone has seen thus far) is, in short, hilarious, because it doesn’t for a second take for granted all the nuances that make being family a comical experience.

And if you choose to not change the channel afterwards, you’ll either find COUGAR TOWN (debuting tonight at 9:30PM), created by SCRUBS’ own Bill Lawrence and starring Courteney Cox as a 40-something divorcee Jules, endearingly funny, or just plain repugnant. I am of the former, though I wasn’t expecting at all to be so.

As the title would imply, it is indeed about Jules getting back into the dating game (the title also makes reference to a high school football team), and it’s a downright raunchy affair. This isn’t The Hangover by any means, but the pilot ranges from “You are hotter than balls!” to implied fellatio – sex-crazed would be putting it lightly.

For all its salaciousness it ends up being funny in the same inappropriate way SCRUBS is and Courteney Cox seems willing and game to go for it, modifying her performance to resemble an older, friskier Monica from FRIENDS. But it isn’t all innuendo and double entendres, beneath it is a charming mother-son relationship headed by Cox and Dan Byrd (ALIENS IN AMERICA), who plays her son with the driest delivery.

EASTWICK (debuting tonight at 10PM) is the only new show in ABC’s Wednesday night lineup that is not a half-hour, straight-up comedy. And yes, that’s EASTWICK as in Witches of – I don’t think John Updike intended any of the characters from any of his novels to be played by Rebecca Romijn, but then again I never knew the guy.

Set in a coastal town (so everybody knows everybody, duh), three women all in need (of sex and fortune, backbone and courage, love and care) are granted their wishes after mysterious coins fall from the sky. After making a wish together in the town fountain, the women in question are imbued with magical powers and become fast friends.

Their wish fulfillment calls forth the mysterious Darryl Van Horne (the perfectly devilish Paul Gross), who swoops into town, buying up real estate and making his mark among the trio. Story of (literal) female empowerment? Not so much. It’s more like SEX AND THE CHARMED LIPSTICK, because when these women raise their martini glasses, you know Carrie and co. would have done (and said it) better. So if comes between this middling drama and an early bedtime, hit the hay.

Hank: D+; The Middle: B; Modern Family: A-; Cougar Town: B+; Eastwick: C-

Last week the five major broadcast networks outlined their new fall schedules and previewed clips of new series for advertisers at their annual Upfront presentations. After taking a look at these clips myself, I’ve compiled a list, divided into what’s most promising, what’s roughly in the middle, and what looks horrible. These aren’t reviews per se, they’re just immediate reactions to very brief footage – I’ll reevaluate after I’ve screened the pilots later this summer.  First up, least promising of the bunch… Alex O’Loughlin fans, please don’t hurt us.?

100 QUESTIONS (NBC)
Buzz was that NBC was high on this comedy before its Upfront presentation and that it was being touted as “the next FRIENDS.” Highly doubtful, and I’m pretty sure the laugh track was the only thing laughing during the dreadfully unfunny trailer.

BROTHERS (FOX)
Starring former New York Giant Michael Strahan…plays former NFL player Mike Trainor, who returns home to help his brother’s struggling restaurant business. CCH Pounder from The Shield and Carl Weathers also star as their parents. Strahan does fine, but what would really be great is if the whole thing didn’t feel so strained and dated.

THE DEEP END (ABC)
GREY’S ANATOMY with lawyers. Because it refuses to stop.

THE FORGOTTEN (ABC)
A band of amateur detectives work to identify victims and solve their murders. Looks like a COLD CASE lookalike CBS passed on – and with good reason.

HANK (ABC)
Kelsey Grammer plays a CEO who loses everything in the stock market, forcing him and his family to relocate to suburban Virginia. It’s the recession comedy of the year: humble, and kind of cheap.

HAPPY TOWN (ABC)
I demand a moratorium on prefacing previews with “from the network that brought you [insert cult favorite here].” Just because you mention TWIN PEAKS, doesn’t make this murder mystery set in a town Where Bad Things Don’t Happen Twin Peaks. Got it?

MELROSE PLACE (The CW)
Sydney Andrews, of the original Melrose, inexplicably survived her seemingly fatal death and has returned to collect rent from a whole new gaggle of tenants, which include Ashlee Simpson-Wentz in her return to TV. Like the 90210 remake, it seems to lack the balance of soap and melodrama. Needs a Heather Locklear sooner than later.

PAST LIFE (FOX)
Honestly, it’s the silliest sounding show I’ve heard in a while. About “an unlikely pair of past-life detectives who investigate whether what is happening to you today is the result of who you were before,” I couldn’t decipher from the clips previewed whether this reincarnation drama was a joke or a sadly mistaken idea for a procedural.

THREE RIVERS (CBS)
MOONLIGHT’s Alex O’Louglin is a star dammit! It’s great CBS is so enamored with him, but could they find a role any more thankless than as a surgeon at a organ transplant hospital? I don’t even like him that much I know he deserves better than this.

TRAUMA (NBC)
It’s THIRD WATCH, with a bigger budget (so more explosions) and about paramedics. Already I’m feeling medical drama fatigue.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (The CW)
Twilight = icky. Twilight x Dawson’s Creek’s Kevin Williamson = slightly less icky, but still pretty icky.

THE DEEP END
According to the official ABC description: Sterling Law is one of L.A.’s most prestigious law firms. Each year it recruits four new young lawyers from the finest law schools worldwide. It will nurture, guide and shape these recruits into the best damned lawyers they can possibly be — or else.

According to this TV Addict: It’s GREY’S ANATOMY meets L.A. LAW. Which is something we’d usually be far more critical of, except for the fact that these lawyers include JACK & BOBBY’S Matt Long! VERONICA MARS’ Tina Majorino! TITANIC’s Billy Zane! And Broadway’s Norbert Leo Butz! (TV Addict note: Gratuitous use of exclamation marks denotes our off-the-charts level of excitement for this series)

COUGAR TOWN
According to the official ABC description: Co-executive produced by Courteney Cox and Bill Lawrence (SCRUBS), COUGAR TOWN is the single-camera comedy that dares to tell the truth about dating after divorce. Juggling a teenage son with her thriving career and budding love life isn’t easy, but before you know it, Jules will have you cheering, “Go Cougars!” 

According to the TV Addict: While we’re certainly not cheering for this cliché-ridden preview, we are willing to give any Bill Lawrence show the old college. Especially one that features an ex-FRIEND (Cox) and ALIENS IN AMERICA alum Dan Byrd in starring roles.

FLASH FORWARD
According to the official ABC description: A mysterious global event causes everyone to black out simultaneously for two minutes and seventeen seconds, and each person sees a glimpse of their lives six months from now. When they wake up, everyone is left wondering if what they saw will actually happen. 

According to this TV Addict: While creators David Goyer (THE DARK KNIGHT) and Brandon Braga (STAR TREK, 24) certainly have the proven track-record to make this high concept serialized drama work, this TV Addict can’t help but feel that ABC should have pressed pause on what will surely be a mythology-laden show until LOST ends its run next season.

HANK
According to the official ABC description: Sometimes scaling back is the best way to get ahead. Wall Street legend Hank Pryor (Kelsey Grammer) and his wife Tilly have been living the high life in New York City. That is until Hank is forced out of his CEO job and has to move his family back home to the small town of River Bend.

According to this TV Addict:  If Kelsey Grammer insists on playing yet another variation of his now iconic FRASIER character, the least he could do is bring co-stars David Hyde Pierce, Jane Leeves, Peri Gilpin and John Mahoney to up the LPM [Laughs per minute].

HAPPY TOWN
According to the official ABC description: From the executive producers of OCTOBER ROAD and LIFE ON MARS, comes the enthralling new drama, HAPPY TOWN. In the sleepy little hamlet of Haplin, Minnesota, not all secrets have been put to rest. 

According to this TV Addict: It’s what OCTOBER ROAD might have looked like if Physical Phil turned out to be a crazed killer. Color us intrigued.

THE MIDDLE
According to the official ABC description: Forget about athletes, movie stars and politicians. Parents are the real heroes — but Frankie Heck (Patricia Heaton), well she’s some kind of superhero. A loving wife and mother of three, she’s middle class in the middle of the country and is rapidly approaching middle age. 

According to this TV Addict: Patricia Heaton is no Jane Kaczmarek and if you’re asking us to choose between MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE retreads, our vote, with apologies to SCRUBS’ Janitor (Neil Flynn) goes to FOX’s SONS OF TUCSON.

EASTWICK
According to the official ABC description: Single-handedly, housewives accomplish astonishing things… and together, watch out. In the seaside village of Eastwick, this might just be evidence of their inner-witch rising to the surface. 

According to this TV Addict: Desperate Housewitches, really? Is it too late to bring back LIPSTICK JUNGLE?

V
According to the official ABC description: Today, the world woke up to find spaceships over every major city. The Visitors claim to have come in peace, bringing gifts of medical miracles and technological breakthroughs. They promise to do no harm. They’re lying.

According to this TV Addict: Professionalism be damned… OMG! OMG! OMG!

THE FORGOTTEN (Check back soon for a preview)
According to the official ABC description: Gone but not forgotten. That’s what they say. But what if a killer took your life — and your name? Every city has its share of unidentified murder victims. When standard police procedure fails to give them a name, that’s when the Identity Network steps in. 

According to this TV Addict: THE FORGOTTEN gets are pick for the fall’s most accurately titled show as come November, forgotten is exactly what this generic Jerry Bruckheimer procedural will be.

MODERN FAMILY (Check back soon for a preview)
According to the official ABC description: When the Pritchett, Delgado and Dunphy families agree to be interviewed by a documentary crew, they have no idea just how much they’re about to reveal about themselves. Jay Pritchett met the stunning Colombian Gloria when she bartended in a bikini at the pool party he threw for himself the day his wife left him.

Now Jay and Gloria are married and Jay tries hard to keep up with his much younger and hotter wife and her passionate teenage son, Manny. Claire Delgado is having a hard time raising her own family. Her husband Phil is great, except for the fact that he thinks he’s “down” with their teenage kids, much to their embarrassment. Mitchell Dunphy and his enthusiastic partner Cameron have just adopted Lily, a precious little baby girl from Vietnam. This engaging new comedy offers a ‘mockumentary’ view into the complicated, messy, loving life of three unique families.

According to this TV Addict: Although we have yet to see the official trailer for MODERN FAMILY, we’re finding very little not to love about THE OFFICE: Family edition.