Traffic Light

Traffic Light is winning and amusing without being loud and loutish.

The first episode's a little stiff as the guys mark their territory, but by the fourth the show feels sweatpants-comfortable.

All five characters, in fact, transcend the cheap stereotypes that lazy writers so frequently use to populate their sitcoms. That may not be enough to propel their show into the long green of syndication, but for a Fox sitcom, even cautious optimism is a step in the right direction.

A not-unpleasing comedy that takes time and commitment to grow on you. How long? I started to like it three or four episodes in. Seems like an awfully long time, no?

The complicated setup, the filmic style, the attempts of a laugh track all have you expecting more than the regular relationship cliches.

This is assembly line rom-com TV.

The opening night lesson of the new Fox sitcom Traffic Light is that no matter how marvelous hands-free telephone technology has become, it isn't yet advanced enough to carry its own sitcom.