Sherri Shepherd is funny, her show not so much

I don't think my life would be good as a sitcom. Oh look how hilarious it is that she sits at her computer all day long. Isn't it funny how sometimes she doesn't shower until 3 o'clock because she's so busy writing? What about her addiction to seltzer water and dark chocolate? That's comedy gold!

But there actually wasn't anything that funny about Sherri Shepherd's life either. As anyone who watches "The View" knows, Shepherd's husband cheated on her and had a child with another woman. Shepherd divorced him and now she's turned the experience into the premise of her self-titled sitcom "Sherri," premiering Monday at 7 p.m. on Lifetime. (The series will air every night this week at 7 p.m. before moving to it's regular time slot next Tuesday at 10 p.m.).

She's taking that "when life gives you lemons" cliché to a whole other level. The entire show has a "you go girl" vibe. Shepherd is an extremely likeable and relatable TV star. There's something about her that makes it seem like you could call her up and make plans to go shoe shopping together. She also has a way with delivering zingers that she perfected on show like "Suddenly Susan" and "Less Than Perfect" and that we still see on display on "30 Rock" where she occasionally appears as Tracy's wife.

The problem with "Sherri" is that the script doesn't live up to Shepherd's talents. She's surrounded by a great cast including Malcolm Jamal-Warner as her ex-husband and James Avery as her dad. I would totally recast Sherri's office mates who are trying way too hard and it's just not working. Right now Sherri is a four star comedic actress stuck in a two star series. But we know she's faced greater adversity than this so I'll keep tuning in to see how the show does.

After you watch "Sherri," let me know what you think.

Highlights of the Week Ahead

All times listed are Eastern Standard Time for October 5-11

We talked about this episode awhile ago. James Marsters guest stars on "Lie to Me" (Monday, FOX, 9 p.m.). Lightman's ex-wife Zoe (Jennifer Beals) asks Cal to help her defend a football player accused of statutory rape.

Does anyone else find it funny that it's Dixon whose trying to pretend to be an adult on "90210" (Tuesday, CW, 8 p.m.) when it's Teddy who looks like he's had at least 10 good years since he graduated from high school (That's actually an understatement. Trevor Donovan turns 31 next week.). I'm used to actors looking older than the teenagers they play but Donovan is definitely stretching any semblance of credibility the show has going. I'm also not that into the burgeoning Navid/Adrianna/Teddy love triangle the show has brewing. As we all know, every teen soap needs a good love triangle and "90210" has yet to come up with one. This week, Dixon's girlfriend catches on to Dixon and, most importantly, Ann Gillespie returns as Kelly and Silver's mom. Silver runs into when she attends an AA meeting with Adrianna and learns exactly what has been going on with her mom.

Skeet Ulrich played the good guy on "Jericho" but he begins his guest star stint as a serial killer on "CSI:NY" (Wednesday, CBS, 10 p.m.).

I thought the second episode of "FlashForward" (Thursday, ABC, 8 p.m.) definitely lived up to the promise of the pilot. I like that there are characters who question the show's premise and the episode ended on an extremely creepy note that left me wanting more. My husband thinks the show is moving too slow but I don't find that to be true. How about you?

To make Thursday nights even more stressful, there's a slew of guest stars popping up on Thursday night this week. Jasmine Guy is on "The Vampire Diaries" (Thursday, CW, 8 p.m.), Leonard Nimoy is back as William Bell on "Fringe" (Thursday, FOX, 9 p.m.) and in what should be a very fun cameo, Paris Hilton pops up as herself on "Supernatural" (Thursday, CW, 9 p.m.) when the brothers investigate a slew of murders being committed by famous people.

NBC takes "Community" out of its fairly cushy post-"The Office" time slot this week and moves the show to its new time slot of Thursday at 8 p.m. this week (next week "30 Rock" moves into the Thursday at 9:30 p.m. time slot). I'm not sure how well the show will do when it's the lead off for the night. I liked last week's episode the best of the three that have aired but I'm still not completely sold on the show. It's clear that "Community" is still trying to figure out the right tone - is it going to be totally over the top like "30 Rock" or a slightly more grounded comedy like say "Two and a Half Men." It's okay that it doesn't know yet - it's only been three episodes - but I still would like to be laughing more. This week, John Oliver returns as Professor Duncan and Jeff tries to stop gossiping about Britta and her new boyfriend.

Jim and Pam get married in a special one hour episode of "The Office" (Thursday, NBC, 9 p.m.). As you know, the happy couple was hoping no one from work would be able to attend since they are getting married in Niagara Falls but Michael gave everyone the day off so the whole gang will be there to see them say their "I do's." We'll also meet Jim and Pam's family. I'm so glad the show is continuing to advance the Jim and Pam story and that Jim is showing even more initiative this season. One of the things that's tricky about Jim's character is that in real life, he might have moved on to a different company by now so it's great to see him jockeying for a promotion. Last week also was another great moment where viewers could see that Michael sometimes actually does know what he's doing. Jim may think Michael has bad ideas and wastes way too much time but Michael's job is much more difficult that Jim thought it was.

Sure the story line may have been developed to set up the temporary departure of Katherine Heigel (she's shooting a movie) but I have to say that the merger story line on "Grey's Anatomy" seems to really be tempering the show's typical shenanigans. It's also allowed for Meredith and Derek to have quite a few angst-free weeks, which the show really needed - especially because Meredith will soon be missing from episodes (Ellen Pompeo is on maternity leave). This week (Thursday, ABC, 9 p.m.), Jeff Perry returns as Meredith and Lexie's dad.

So what did you think of the season premiere of "Private Practice" (Thursday, ABC, 10 p.m.)? I'm certainly glad the show did not kill off Violet or her baby and the fact that Cooper, in his mind, failed Violet twice (the first time when he was at her door and didn't go in her house and the second when he didn't answer his pages and get to the baby sooner) will definitely lead to some great stuff between Cooper and Violet, which as I've previously stated, is my favorite relationship on the show. This week Addison and Naomi try to rebuild their friendship. Raise your hand if  you even remotely care about that.

If you're waiting for the fourth season premiere of "Ugly Betty," you have to wait one more week. Last Friday, ABC decided to delay the premiere of the show until next Friday, October 16. The upside is that means for one more week ABC will be repeating this week's episode of "FlashForward" Friday at 8 p.m. I really hope the network can find another time slot to repeat the show in - we need all the help we can get on Thursday night.

I'm liking quite a bit about this season of "Desperate Housewives" (Sunday, ABC, 9 p.m.). I'm warming to Drea de Matteo and Jeffrey Nordling as this season's mysterious neighbors - even if Nordling's New York accent leaves something to be desired. And I like that many of the secondary characters have been brought to the forefront, particularly the always amusing Richard Burgi as Susan's ex-husband Karl and Andrea Bowen as Julie. The only thing I can't abide is that they are making Katherine a crazy person. I was okay with her breakdown during the wedding but that was as far as I was willing to take it. I don't want her completely delusional. When Orson seems totally sane compared to her, we've got a problem. It doesn't seem like a story line worthy of the show or worthy of Dana Delaney's talents. This week Jesse Metcalfe returns as John, Gabby's one-time paramour.

That's all for today. I'm back on Friday with reviews of the season finales of "Army Wives" and "Drop Dead Diva" (how many times can they take Fred away from us?) I'll also have thoughts on "The Vampire Diaries," this week's familiar faces and quotes of the week and more. Have a question? Seen a familiar face? Want to nominate a quote of the week or a topic for discussion? Write me at mailto:amytvgal@zap2it.comor follow me on Twitter. Have a great week. Talk to you on Friday.

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