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I don't watch a ton of television shows, and when I do, I like the sitcoms, because they're funny and over in half an hour. Problem is, most sitcoms aren't funny. (You know the ones I'm talking about.) As of this precise moment in time, there are exactly 1.9 funny shows on television: .9 of that figure is Parks and Recreation, while the remaining 1.0 is split between the ever-dissolving remnants of 30 Rock and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

And the new sitcoms are even worse than the old, tired ones. (I'm looking at you, Mr. Sunshine! Fuck you, Mr. Sunshine!) BUT! There's a halfway decent one, and it's called, for apparently no reason, Traffic Light. It's been on for five weeks and it's kinda good. Not great, mind you, but don't forget: It's a sitcom. There's a baby (as you can see from the terrible looking picture above) BUT there is also a bulldog. So it kind of evens out.

A remake of an Israeli show called Ramzor (true!), Traffic Light steals the very, very tired premise of How I Met Your Stupid Mother—three dudes and two chicks; one of the dudes is married to one of the chicks, another of the dudes sleeps with 18 bazillion people per episode. But they actually made it somewhat likable and very slightly funny.


Most of this has to do with Nelson Franklin, who plays the guy with the glasses. Franklin (Scott Pilgrim, Party Down) is gently affable, and able to deliver a starchy ol' sitcom line without you wanting to punch the TV screen with your entire arm. There's also a dude from The Office, who plays the big married dude. He's good, too. Then there's the British dude, in the Neil Patrick Harris role. He's annoying. He's like a cross between Joel McHale and Russell Brand. Right? ANNOYING. But he's not in the show as much as the other two, so you can forget about him.


Last week the three amigos argued about which is the best American rock band, which is actually a conversation that I have actually had in my actual life. (It's like my life up there!) The characters settled on the Beach Boys and, along the way, made fun of people like me who choose the Velvet Underground. Touché, Traffic Light!

Anyway, it doesn't totally suck. You might even like it. It's on tonight on FOX at 9:30. If you're home, and the TV's already on, and you feel tempted to watch it, you might as well.