The Class

Image credit: The Class: Michael Ansell/Warner Bros

RITTER

Concept They are not Friends. Everyguy Ethan (Joan of Arcadia's Jason Ritter) reunites his third-grade class after 20 years — an eclectic group that includes misfits of many varieties: a trophy wife, a suicidal science geek, and an acerbic potential love interest (Mean Girls' Lizzy Caplan) for Ethan.

The Scoop Co-creators David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik have experience in the neurotic-oddball arena: Crane co-created Friends; Klarik wrote for Mad About You. Expectations are high for the series, which landed at CBS after a bidding war with NBC. Just as daunting: never-ending speculation about the so-called Friends curse. ''I can't think that way,'' Crane responds. ''Sometimes you do a show and think, 'Oh, my God, we don't have one.' In this case, we feel like we have a show.''

Bottom Line It's well packaged, with plenty of gags, including a couple who've named their daughter Oprah. The pilot gets off a few good lines, and Caplan is a nice, dark-spirited casting choice, but the show feels packaged, with an overhoned sense of irony.