Why You Should Watch CBS' The Class

Okay, so the commercials for Six Degrees were intriguing, the song was catchy, and, come on, it follows Grey's Anatomy. We thought it had to be good. We were wrong.

While countless shows are not reaching up to the grand expectations we placed on them, there are a few that are just damn great.

My favorite show on the fall line up is The Class. CBS' Monday said goodbye to The King of Queens and brought in a new show. And I know damn well they could put Lamb Chop's Play-a-long in that time slot and it would end up doing well. Preceding How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, and The New Adventures of Old Christine, The Class just nuzzles into the time slot.

Said to be a pseudo-FRIENDS, this show rises above the bar. The sitcom is about eight people (not six), who were in the same third grade class in 1986, most of whom haven't seen each other since.

Ethan, played by the late John Ritter's son Jason Ritter, got this contagiously funny group of people back together when he invited them to his then-girlfriend Joan's surprise party, in which he tried to rekindle the third grade ambiance of when they first met. Joan, who does not have the same sensitive soul as Ethan, dumps him in front of everyone claiming that his uber romantic gestures are "suffocating". Kat, played by former Related star Lizzy Caplan, is there to crack jokes and attempt to put Ethan back together, just minutes after his failure in love. The sarcastic girl who everyone wants to slap and be at the same time, Caplan nails it time and again. She did it in Mean Girls, she did it in Related, and she does it again. She's cynical, she's sour, and she's just downright evil sometimes.

The reason Kat even shows up to sapfest is twin sister, Lina, played by Heather Goldenhersh. Quite the opposite, she's sweet and serene and happy go lucky, looking to meet a nice guy at the party. There she meets Richie (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), who takes her for a cup of coffee and then accidentally backs up into her breaking over fifty bones in both her legs. Did I mention that Richie was about to kill himself before he was invited to the party and then again after running Lina over? Fortunately, he made it through both, and took her out on a proper date, before going back home to...another woman?

Then there's former sweethearts, Duncan and Nicole. Duncan, played by Jon Bernthal, lives with his mom. And Nicole (former Joey star Andrea Anders) lives with her former football star husband in a house where, as Duncan says, her "pants live better" than he does. The two are reunited at the party, and then at Duncan's house for a little adultery, before Nicole goes back home to her husband. Sounds like a one-night stand? Could've been, until Duncan scores a $200,000 job fixing Nicole and her husband's poorly built house.

And there's Holly (Lucy Punch), now a successful news anchor, who sees then boyfriend Kyle (Sean Maguire) at this flashback party. She is quick to question Kyle on his cheating, (it was at prom with a guy) his homosexuality, and then introduces her husband, who she calls a "real man" when out strolls the gayest man alive. And their daughter? Her name is Oprah, because he's "a fan."

Okay, so how much of that do you remember? Don't fret. At the beginning of each episode, there's a fun recap which gives you cliff notes of last week's episode.

The cast is funny, they're quick and smart and goofy. Maybe it's a little like Friends, I mean former Friends writer David Crane writes for The Class but come on... we loved Friends! And frankly, I miss it. I can see the Ross in Duncan, the Rachel in Nicole, the Phoebe in Lina, the Chandler in Ethan. And there's even more people to add to my initial deja vu. You've got a nagging mom, a flamboyant "straight" man, a bullheaded former football star/commercial entrepreneur, the idiots, the smart asses.

Unlike Friends, there's no Central Perk or ritual meeting place. And these people have jobs that they go to...well, some of them. So far, the only time that these characters have been together was for the party. Most of them lead their separate lives, intertwined with just one or two other classmates. I'm looking forward to seeing these relationships develop and maybe some form of reunion. Not to be mistaken with the show Reunion,. which was canceled mid first season before filming had been completed.

There are, however, two downfalls to the show. One being the super loud laugh track in this old-school style sitcom. Come on Crane, let's follow in the footsteps of neighbor show How I Met Your Mother and lower the laugh track. Gracias! Also, in a time where Ugly Betty has Latinas all over the screen and Grey's Anatomy is the epitome of ethnic potpourri, they COULD use a little help, but it's safety in numbers here and the three gay characters help to make this a less homogeneous cast. Either way, it's so darn good I can't complain.

And hey, it helps that New York Magazine, USA Today, TV Guide, the NY Times, and countless local papers all say that it "makes the grade." The Class more than makes the grade. It's the valedictorian of the new fall shows. Lame, huh? Just watch it.