I am – Hercules!!
A new sitcom from writer Ricky Blitt (“Family Guy,” “The Winner,” “The Ringer”), the writing team of Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen (“Friends”) and producer-director James Burrows (also “Friends”), “Romantically Challenged” centers on a recently divorced attorney and single mother re-entering the dating pool following 15 years of marriage. It stars Alyssa Milano (“Charmed,” “My Name Is Earl”), Kelly Stables (“Greek,” “Two and a Half Men”), Kyle Bornheimer (“Worst Week”) and Australian Josh Lawson (“Chandon Pictures”). ABC is running it after its top show, “Dancing With The Stars,” so many will watch it. The network also, perhaps daunted by the reviews “Romantically” has already received, apparently pulled its premiere episode from its press site before I could get a look at it. Entertainment Weekly says:

… is like that guy you go out with because, well, he's not the dumbest person you've ever met, and he does occasionally make you laugh (but you don't exactly care if you see him again).…

USA Today says:

… as terrible as Romantically is, it is in the end more puzzling than insulting. Why would any studio or network waste a star like Milano on a show that would seem to have virtually no chance of survival? …

The New York Times says:

… The humor is secondhand and stale — one-liners about being gay and sleeping around — and made all the more painful by the waves of canned laughter that wash up and crash against all-too-familiar sets, like a bachelor pad, living room and coffeehouse. …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… not a total disaster. (Broadcast-network sitcoms attached to James Burrows rarely are.) But it is not what I would call good. …

The Washington Post says:

… robotically assembled from spare parts, including a coffeehouse where the same booth is always available for too-sharply-focused banter among nitwits. … What, you're not laughing? That could be because all the jokes are about sex and appear to have been salvaged from "How I Met Your Mother's" Goodwill donation box. …

The Dallas Morning News says:

… That premise, unfortunately, is the funniest thing about this run-of-the-mill show, which serves up only lukewarm laughs and feels derivative throughout. …

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

… feels like it was beamed in from the mid-'90s, a leftover hammock show that would have filled time on NBC's Thursday night schedule while viewers waited for "Friends" or "Seinfeld" to come on (think: "The Single Guy" or "Union Square").… the show is likely to be challenged in efforts to woo viewers back after they watch this weak debut.

The Boston Herald says:

… Bornheimer, as he demonstrated in CBS’ short-lived “Worst Week,” can handle broad physical comedy, but neither he nor Milano can breathe life into such flat scripts. …

The Boston Globe says:

… a one-note, gender-backward concoction that plays like a redundant stand-up comedy act. …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… seems preoccupied with keeping the beat for a steady rhythm of jokes, even as it challenges viewers to ignore the implausibility of its premise. …

Variety says:

… should rightfully be titled "Comedically Challenged." The allure of watching Alyssa Milano in this four-character ensemble sitcom provides small compensation for a litany of tired, warmed-over sex jokes. …

9:30 p.m. Monday. ABC.

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