I agree with a lot of people here, that the show's quality treads somewhere between as bad as the critics' say and pretty good. I think, essentially, the show has a lot in common with many other failed NBC sitcoms, Conrad Blooms, Stark Raving Mad, Jessee, Naked Truth, Working, etc. Characters are cliched, jokes too obvious sometimes, but it's not THAT bad, the chemistry between the characters and the writing is enough to keep us tuned into next episode. What also kept us tuned into season 1 was the whole Jake/Dylan thing, he liked her, and it was a good move to have them get together by season 2 cause while at times that suspense, was enough to keep us interested to see what happened, it couldn't have realistically gone on forever, like Daphne/Niles or any other long-running crushes. So that was a good move, another good move, was getting rid of the right characters and keeping the wrong ones, the latino Cuban host, the grandma, and the flying nun needed to go. The ones that stayed all add something to the show, Frank's Jere Burns has played a lead before, he's one-dimensional in his patheticness but it's improving, Penny's definitely likeable, Gavin's finding his niche, Mark Fuhrestein's not bad, and Dylan's pretty charming. I think, essentially, this is a show that's takena w hile to find it's footing, and I'm glad NBC kept it for a second season, cause it could very well take-off, it hasn't happened yet, but it could go int he right direction. Also, Jillian Barber's kind of fun, too.
