Elisha Cuthbert

CHICAGO – With so many laughless sitcoms premiering this season on ABC, it’s tempting to overpraise a show that actually manages to be funny. “Happy Endings” has already received a good deal of praise from Hollywood Chicago for its top-notch ensemble and vibrantly witty banter, though it’s not quite in the same league as the shows it wishes to emulate, particularly “Friends” and “Arrested Development.”

CHICAGO – It’s a good thing ABC’s sitcom “Happy Endings” is only 20 minutes, since the frenzied pace of its gags run the risk of exhausting its audience. With so many rapid fire punch-lines bouncing off the screen, one quickly suspects that the perpetually hyper energy level is a sign of desperation. Sampling any given moment from this show could easily repel potential viewers.

CHICAGO – ABC’s new sitcom “Happy Endings” is undeniably yet another “Friends” rip-off, an attempt to make a pal-com about relationships, misunderstandings, and good buddies. I’ve seen enough of these things that I automatically get a bit defensive when they appear on my desk. If you sat through junk like “Traffic Light” and “Perfect Couples,” you would too.

CHICAGO – 2011 will be an undeniably different year on the television landscape as it will be the first in some time with no “Lost” and no “24.” When the history books are written about the most-influential and important programs of the first decade of the new millennium, they would be incomplete without a chapter on Jack Bauer and the incredible success of FOX’s “24.” The final season is now available on Blu-ray and DVD, closing an important program with a comparably-lackluster installment but a great BD.

CHICAGO – Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) returns tonight in the eighth season premiere of one of the most influential shows of the ’00s, the often-brilliant “24”. At its best, FOX’s “24” is visceral entertainment, an adrenalin-pumped hour often unmatched by its many copycats.