Television: The last laugh?

The two most promising sitcoms of the new season, which unofficially starts Monday, are far from revolutionary. They are safe, traditional, unhip -- and exactly what the small screen needs.

Fox's "Back to You" is a workplace yukker with the kind of good-natured banter and sexual tension once served up on "Cheers." CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" borrows heavily from "The Odd Couple" and "Three's Company."

More than 50 pilots for sitcoms were ordered this past spring, according to Emmy magazine, but only six are on the fall schedule, with zilch from NBC, once the home of must-see comedies. The last time the genre found itself in such dire straits was in the early '80s, before Bill Cosby reignited the family sitcom, but even then "M*A*S*H,"Alice" and "The Jeffersons" routinely landed in the top 10.

Last season, the only sitcom to crack the top 20 was "Two and a Half Men." Hollywood likes to blame the dearth on any number of factors: reality shows, cable, dramedies, solar flares. But the strongest explanation is that for the past five years, most efforts have been lousy.

"It's sort of like when stand-up comedy in the '90s got tired because there was such a glut," said Steven Levitan, co-creator of "Back to You," whose résumé includes everything from the long-running "Just Shoot Me!" to Pamela Anderson's quickly deflated "Stacked."There have been a lot of bad shows throughout the years, some of them done by me."

The success of "Friends" inspired lots of copycat shows, from "The Single Guy" to "The Class," almost all of which ignored a quip that's as old as the Hollywood Hills: "Dying is easy. Comedy is hard. Sitcoms are nearly impossible."Sitcoms are infinitely harder to do than hourlong shows," said Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator of "Gilmore Girls" and "The Return of Jezebel James," a Parker Posey sitcom slated for mid-season on Fox. "You're putting on a one-act play every five days. You've got to do your work fast. The results have to come quickly. And if the sitcom is any good, the scenes are about something. That makes it even harder."

Compounding the problem is that many of those steering these shows have an abundance of ambition, eager to create the next "Seinfeld" rather than the next "Andy Griffith Show," but lack enduring ideas and experience.

Robby Benson, who has directed episodes for nearly 30 sitcoms, including "Friends" and "Ellen," said the real comedic geniuses are being passed over for younger writers who really aren't prepared to run a successful show.

"The networks will take a baby writer from a hip, cool, red-hot show and want them to create something edgy," said the former teen heartthrob and author of a new novel about a week in the life of a sitcom director, "Who Stole the Funny?"The great writers, the ones who have worked on their material and their craftsmanship, are getting pushed out of the room."

Network executives also are often unqualified to find sitcoms that will play well to the masses. Benson recalls pitching a show a few years back that took place in a tiny town.

"One executive turned to me and said, 'You mean, like Sacramento?'" Benson said. "She looked at me like I was insane. She couldn't grasp the idea. The smallest town she could relate to was Palm Springs. I knew then that the show wasn't going to happen."

In the past, the genre has always righted itself, and there's too much money at stake to think it won't happen again. A successful sitcom means everything to a network and a production company, because comedies play better in repeats and in syndication.

But this time around, there's more formidable competition.

"People ask if reality television is crowding out the sitcom, and I think it is, because there hasn't been enough reality in sitcoms," Levitan said. "We're going to try to tell funny stories that also have some emotional heft to them. I think that's what has been missing in sitcoms for a long time."

Then there's the growing success on cable, where hit shows such as Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana" and TBS' "The Bill Engvall Show" provide the middle-of-the-road family fare that used to be right at home on network TV.

"One of my jobs is to look at the landscape and see what's not on and then see what we can do," said TBS programming chief Michael Wright. "I love a lot of the edgier, snarkier comedies that are out there, but I also love a comedy that's well-observed and rooted in a very likable family dynamic. That's the bet we're making, and I believe it's a good bet."Back to You" and "The Big Bang Theory" are probably the network's best chances to get back in the game, but don't tell that to the producers. They're too busy toiling away at one of the hardest jobs in Hollywood.

"Do we feel like it's on our shoulders to rescue the art form?" said "Back to You" co-creator Christopher Lloyd. "No, partly because we don't want any more on our shoulders than just the burden of trying to do a good show."

njustin@startribune.com • 612-673-7431