Not to sound like a broken record today, or anything, but SEAN SAVES THE WORLD (premiering tonight at 9/8c on NBC) is another case of “When Bad Comedies Happen to Good People.”  Sean Hayes plays a slightly more subdued version of the Just-Jack we all remember fondly from WILL & GRACE.  This time, he’s Sean, a single dad with a teenage daughter, a pretty outwardly mean mother (Linda Lavin, who did illicit some laughs from me, I have to admit), and a new boss that is basically a caricature of a human being (probably by design, but it didn’t work for me).

In the first episode, Sean tries desperately to get out of work early for a nice dinner at home with his daughter.  His boss (Thomas Lennon) won’t let him, no matter what he does, until he finally escapes once and for all.  There is some great physical comedy that Sean Hayes does like no one else, but the jokes fell flat.  The family stuff works, the friend stuff doesn’t (Megan Hilty is too over the top, and Echo Kellum deserves BETTER), though I will say that an episode featuring Sean getting back on the market while also worrying about his daughter’s night out did give me some hope about what comes next.

If you liked Jack, you’ll like Sean, but I don’t know if you’ll like everything that SEAN SAVES THE WORLD brings to your TV.  Check it out and let us know!

Follow the jump for some gallery and episodic shots!