After staring at the disc for weeks on the table next to my TV, I finally caught the much-hyped Fox comedy "Back to You" over the weekend.

My first impressions: They're all trying real hard, maybe too hard, to be funny. But for the most part it works because we want to like these actors so much we're willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

That goodwill comes in the form of Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, who are coming off their megahit comedies "Frasier" and "Everybody Loves Raymond." They were each so good in those — and made it look so easy — that it might be hard to see them in new roles. To ask them to relish in those retired characters forever, however, and not try something new wouldn't be fair.

Hey, a few million in syndication only goes so far.

Writers/creators Steve Levitan ("The Larry Sanders Show") and Christopher Lloyd ("Frasier") have great material to work with here and they know how to write a set up and punchline as good as anyone.

Three-camera/studio audience sitcoms seem the way of dinosaur these days, with laffers like "Curb Your Enthusiam" (for Variety's review, click here), "Ugly Betty" and "30 Rock" leading the charge in a world where drama is dominating the primetime schedule. Comedy, however, is still viable and can come in many forms. And there's nobody better than director James Burrows in knowing what makes us laugh.

So I'm on board "Back to You." With a stellar turn in "Damages," folks such as Ted Danson have proved this year that even actors with iconic characters on their resume can move on. The bigger question with "Back to You" could be will audiences too?

— Stuart Levine

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" kicked off its sixth season tonight with an episode that, for a show that has always treaded a thin line between annoying and uproarious, leaned a bit too much toward the former -- if only because so much of the episode was predictable.  There was one gambit involving repeated references to a certain dessert that paid off, but for the most part the premiere was underwhelming. This was no picking up a prostitute to get access to the carpool lane.

During the episode, I wondered if "Curb," which was groundbreaking in just how far it was willing to stretch the annoyance envelope, has now seen its moment pass. Other shows from "The Office" to "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" risk antagonizing their audience, yet seem fresher in doing so.  In particular, "The Office," which wears its heart on its sleeve right after sticking a knife in it, seems to shine a light on the limitations of "Curb."

But maybe tonight simply wasn't the best "Curb" will have to offer this season - certainly, Larry David and Co. have generated utter masterpieces in the not-too-distant past.  And of course, it only gets harder as a show gets older, and we'll have to see whether something like "It's Always Sunny" can keep the pace.

— Jon Weisman

Welcome to Season Pass, Variety.com’s blog for dishing about fall’s new scripted TV shows.
We wanted to give readers a wide range of opinions on the fall fare so eight of us spent a good chunk of our summer watching all of it. We like to complain, but it was really kind of fun.

Each of us has rated all the shows using four categories:

Love it, setting a season pass now

Worth another try

OK, but not for me

Won't watch again

"Reaper" (below) was one show that took us all by surprise. I did not expect to like it and it ended up being one of my favorites

The shows that rated the highest (one or two thumbs up) among our group of TV junkies were: ABC’s “Pushing Daisies” (seven season passes), NBC’s “Chuck” (four season passes), the CW’s “Reaper” (six season passes), CBS’ “Big Bang Theory” (three season passes), the CW’s “Gossip Girl,” (one season pass), Fox’s “Back To You” (one season pass) and CBS’ midseason entry “Swingtown” (one season pass).

See the chart for more details.

Our opinions are meant as a guide only. We encourage you to give all the shows a try and see for yourself what shows speak to you.

We’ll be blogging after each episode to track the shows’ progress. And we’ll weigh in on topics related to the season.

Have fun and happy channel surfing!