Quality comedies have been in short supply of late, but this fall that dry spell is broken by three smart, entertaining shows that premiere this week.

		'How I Met Your Mother' When: 8:30 p.m. tomorrow on CBS. Starring: Neil Patrick Harris. 'My Name Is Earl' When: 9 p.m. Tuesday on NBC. Starring: Jason Lee. 'Everybody Hates Chris' When: 8 p.m. Thursday on UPN. Starring: Voice of Chris Rock.

'Everybody Hates Chris'

Hardest to find because Pittsburghers take to "new" channels like a duck to orange sauce, "Everybody Hates Chris" on UPN (WNPA, Channel 19 in Pittsburgh) is a fictionalized comedic look back at comedian Chris Rock's life growing up in Brooklyn in the early 1980s.

As played by talented young Tyler James Williams, 13-year-old Chris was an unpopular middle school student, the only African-American at the predominantly white school his parents had him take two buses to attend. He gets picked on but also fights back. (After a bully uses the "N-word," the two engage in a slow-motion after-school dustup to the strains of "Ebony and Ivory.")

At home, Chris lives in the shadow of his taller, smoother younger brother, Drew (Tequan Richmond), and his father's favorite, his sister Tonya (Imani Hakim).

Chris' dad (Terry Crews) pinches pennies ("That's 49 cents of spilt milk dripping all over my table," he says), but it's his mom, Rochelle (Tichina Arnold) who rules the roost, keeping her brood in line with threats and tough love ("Boy, I will slap the caps off your knees!").

Written by series co-creator Ali LeRoi, the pilot for "Everybody Hates Chris" is a rousing half-hour of familial love and getting-by wrapped in a cloak of comedy that should appeal to fans of Rock and to viewers who long for a family comedy reminiscent of "The Cosby Show" (albeit with a sharper edge).

'My Name Is Earl'

Earl Hickey (Jason Lee) is a thief, a slug and a no-good loser until the day he wins the lottery and promptly gets hit by a car and loses the winning ticket.

Eventually he figures out it's all about karma by watching Carson Daly discuss the concept on NBC's "Last Call." Suddenly it hits Earl, "I need to be a better person!"

With the help of his lazy brother, Randy (Ethan Suplee), Earl sets off to make good to a long list of people he's wronged, including a childhood schoolmate he once tortured.

Earl still has some negative influences in his life, especially his self-centered ex-wife, Joy (Jamie Pressly), who married his friend Darnell (Eddie Steeples). But Earl doesn't appear to hold a grudge.

Though the characters are quite different, "Earl" somehow brings to mind NBC's "Ed," perhaps because both shows feature a cast of oddballs and are ultimately uplifting, heartwarming portraits of people trying to do good by making a fresh start.

'How I Met Your Mother'

Sometimes a TV show really creates a feeling of warmth, friendship and camaraderie among its characters. It was the feeling you got watching "Friends" and it's the feeling you get watching "How I Met Your Mother" (8:30 p.m. tomorrow, CBS).

The sitcom's premiere begins in the year 2030 as an older Ted (narration voice by Bob Saget) tells his children how he met their mom 25 years earlier.

Quickly the action moves to the present as Ted (Josh Radnor) meets Robin (Cobie Smulders) at a bar while fretting that his life is going nowhere even as his best friend, Marshall (Jason Segel), proposes marriage to his girlfriend, Lily (Alyson Hannigan). Ted seeks advice from oddball friend Barney (Neil Patrick Harris), who believes men should wear suits when going out on the town.

The "Mother" pilot has a surprise twist that may ultimately be the show's downfall, but the cast is so immensely likeable, they should be able to overcome any viewer disappointment with sheer charm.

The show's standouts are Harris, playing against "Doogie Howser" type, and Hannigan, whose Lily is a tamer version of her "American Pie" character.

Cute but not overly cuddly, there's an authenticity to the relationships in "Mother" that makes it a comedy worth meeting.