I am – Hercules!!
It’s a new Fox sitcom, from writer-producers Chris Lloyd (“Frasier”) and Steve Levitan (“Just Shoot Me”), about a local TV news anchor who returns to his old Pittsburgh station after failing to take hold in the more lucrative Los Angeles market. It stars Kelsey Grammar (“Cheers,” “Frasier”), Patricia Heaton (“Everybody Loves Raymond”), Ayda Field (“Studio 60”) and the incomparable Fred Willard, secret weapon of all the incomparable Christopher Guest movies. The “Back To You” pilot made me laugh aloud, a surprisingly rare feat with sitcoms, and I liked the stuff with the daughter of Heaton’s character. Grammer, of Frasier Crane and Sideshow Bob and Hank McCoy fame, demonstrates yet again that he know how to sell the comedy. Pity it airs against “Pushing Daisies,” which is also funny and doesn’t feel like something we’ve seen a zillion times before. Pity also that “Back To You” is paired with the far less accomplished Brad Garrett sitcom “‘Til Death.” (Then again, maybe none of this matters in this era of downloads and DVRs, where one can effortlessly pry sitcoms free of their lesser half-hour partners.) USA Today gives it three stars (out of four) and says:

… Back does give you hope that it could be just what we need — a reliably funny, brashly self-confident sitcom. Now if only it were at its best more often. Don't blame the stars, who make almost every line work — though at times they work awfully hard to do so. … even when Back is faltering, you flash back to the skill of its stars and to moments when the show succeeds in making you laugh out loud. …

Entertainment Weekly gives it a “B-plus” and says:

… an old-fashioned, studio-audience, irony-free sitcom. …

The Wall Street Journal says:

… it might not matter. What "Back to You" lacks in bite, it compensates for with chemistry and pure talent. …

The New York Times says:

No one is better in the role of preening gasbag than Kelsey Grammer (“Frasier”), and Patricia Heaton (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) has no equal when it comes to holding a look of long-suffering asperity. Together Mr. Grammer and Ms. Heaton lift “Back to You,” a comedy that begins tonight on Fox, into a surprisingly amusing half-hour. …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… Willard is just one of many reasons "Back to You" is so solid a comedy it seems somehow nostalgic. …

The Chicago Tribune says:

It's not the most innovative TV show of the fall , nor the most buzzed-about. So what? Very few new programs will bring viewers more pleasure than the comedy "Back to You" … … it is, unlike so many recent comedies, actually funny. That alone is reason to rejoice. …

The Washington Post says:

… The show has what might be called a healthy gag reflex; the jokes keep coming, bingety-bang, with the occasional topical reference (an embarrassing video circulated on YouTube) to remind us this is all happening now. The problem is that we need reminding. Very little about "Back to You" couldn't have been done 10 or maybe even 20 years ago. … Willard might be accused of repetition in his many, not-very-varied roles over the years, but his manner could more aptly be considered classic and his persona that of a timeless and indefatigable boob -- a creature that will never become extinct. …

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says:

… absolutely nothing about it is original or seeks to transform the half-hour genre. Still, the fact that it is executed by sure-footed comedy veterans more than makes up for the sin of familiarity. The producers and a cast headed by Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton know this dance by heart, and it is still wonderful to watch them perform it.…

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

… funny multicamera comedy that easily delivers the laughs viewers have come to expect from these stars. …

The Miami Herald says:

… That last show would be Back to You, or as it's known around Fox, The Only One of Our New Fall Shows That's Not a Big Stinking Heap of Crap. It's a great reminder talent and not concept is ultimately what drives a television show. … doesn't do anything new -- it just does it very well. …

The San Francisco Chronicle says:

… a sitcom so old school, you can smell the late '70s upholstery on it. … Everything about "Back to You" seems culled from the musty guidelines of "How to Make a Sitcom 101" (first edition). Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The Boston Globe says:

… This comedy is painfully broad, not to mention unimaginative and derivative of every newsroom sitcom …

Variety says:

There isn't a single subtle joke in this newsroom comedy, from the weather girl's heaving cleavage to the 26-year-old news director's sweaty armpits. Still, Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton are solid practitioners of the sitcom craft, and they occupy their characters with playful ease. "Back to You" hardly looks like a breakout hit, and it's an utter mystery how a show much better suited to another network (as in CBS) wound up on Fox. That said, the series has the fixings of a respectable old-fashioned comedy, which is more than can be said for most of this fall's half-hours. …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… There's no such thing as a sure thing when it comes to new TV series, but "Back to You" is as close as it gets. … packed with good lines, sometimes even great ones, and sprinkled with the right amount of sexual innuendo to create a hint of romantic tension. A second episode, also sent to reviewers, is just as smartly written. …

8 p.m. Wednesday. Fox.

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