There are three sitcoms with tremendous potential premiering this week, but CBS's "Out of Practice" (9:30 tonight, KDKA) is not one of them. You're better off checking out CBS's "How I Met Your Mother" (8:30 tonight), NBC's "My Name Is Earl" (9 p.m. tomorrow) and UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris" (8 p.m. Thursday).

		'7th Heaven' When: 8 tonight on WCWB. Starring: Stephen Collins. 'Kitchen Confidential' When: 8:30 tonight on WPGH. Starring: Bradley Cooper. 'Just Legal' When: 9 tonight on WCWB. Starring: Don Johnson. 'Out of Practice' When: 9:30 tonight on KDKA. Starring: Stockard Channing. 'The Office' When: 9:30 p.m. tomorrow on WPXI. Starring: Steve Carell.

"Out of Practice" relies on trite misunderstandings and crude dialogue, both go-to gags for uninspired sitcom scribes.

Counselor Ben Barnes (the always likeable Christopher Gorham), the only member of his fractious family without an "M.D." after his name, must contend with his interfering heart surgeon mom, Lydia (Stockard Channing, who will still appear in a few "West Wing" episodes), who is divorcing his gastroenterologist dad, Stewart (Henry Winkler, who departs "Arrested Development" after tonight).

Ben's insensitive brother, Oliver (Ty Burrell), and lesbian sister, Regina (Paula Marshall), also meddle in his life and share a dislike for Ben's often absent wife.

Tonight, secrets are revealed, character types established and attempts are made to get laughs with naughty lines of dialogue.

"You should come out with me some night," Oliver tells Regina. "I'm like some dyke-sniffing truffle hog."

Lydia pulls a line from the Disapproving Mom bag of dialogue, criticizing Regina's wardrobe: "You work in the ER, dear; people die there. You really want that to be the last thing they see?"

Some TV critics are bending over backwards to come up with excuses for how tired and unoriginal "Out of Practice" is because they like the past work of creators Joe Keenan and Christopher Lloyd on "Frasier." Lest they forget, the pair created the groaner "Bram and Alice," so we already know they're fallible. "Out of Practice" proves it beyond a reasonable doubt.

'Kitchen Confidential'

A single-camera comedy with narration, "Kitchen Confidential" (8:30 tonight, WPGH) would seem like an ideal candidate to pair with Fox's other single-camera comedy with narration, the low-rated "Arrested Development," which returns for its third season tonight at 8. But where "Arrested" is a robust comedy that's goofy, outrageous and always funny, "Kitchen" is just outrageous, and not even as outrageous as co-creators Darren Star ("Sex and the City") and Dave Hemingson ("American Dad") think it is.

Based on an autobiography of the same title by chef Anthony Bourdain, TV's "Kitchen" stars Bradley Cooper ("Alias") as Jack Bourdain, a reformed boozing, womanizing, inhaling chef-cum-rock star who gets a second chance at success at an upscale restaurant. There he tangles with the manager, Mimi (Bonnie Somerville), while bringing in his own sous chef, British lout Steven (Owain Yeoman); pastry chef Seth (Nicholas Brendon, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") and naive newbie Jim (John Frances Daley, "Freaks and Geeks").

Jack can be cruel ("It looks like something that came out of my dog," he says of one of Jim's culinary creations), and Steven is too lackadaisical to be believed when he loses a finger in a kitchen accident.

"Here's the thing about a great restaurant: It's like great theater," Jack says in narration. "It is our job to dazzle you, amaze you, delight you while keeping you totally ignorant of the Hiroshima going on backstage."

Those backstage antics are what's supposed to make "Kitchen Confidential" hilarious, but instead the characters just come off as juvenile. On opening night, the staff is supposedly banding together in light of an important restaurant reviewer's dinner reservation, but instead they sabotage one another's work. Maybe that's how it works in real life restaurants; but if so, it should be kept confidential. It certainly doesn't endear the characters in this TV comedy.

'Just Legal'

It's true that nothing has ever held the "7th Heaven" lead-in ratings on The WB's Monday night lineup, but "Just Legal" (9 tonight, WCWB) is a worse choice than anything else the network has put there. It especially pales compared to "Everwood," which has been sent on a suicide mission at 9 p.m. Thursday.

"7th Heaven" offers character-driven stories that attract children, teens and their parents, so it makes no sense to pair it with "Just Legal," a procedural courtroom drama that stars Don Johnson as a washed-up lawyer. Johnson is even a little long in the tooth for some of the parents whose children are watching "7th Heaven."

Clearly The WB hopes kids will stay tuned to see the eager law school grad whom Johnson takes under his wing. Jay Baruchel ("Undeclared") plays Skip, the show's 19-year-old Doogie Howser of lawyers. (Raphael Sbarge, last seen on "The Guardian," plays Skip's father.)

"So, I'm gonna handle your guilty plea, if that's OK," Skip mutters to a client. He does not inspire confidence.

Baruchel's Skip is easy to like, but he's stuck in a show that's more about legal stories than it is about Skip's trials and tribulations.

Producers try to add some of those missing elements next week as a potential love interest enters along with Johnson's young office receptionist, a parolee.

It doesn't make much of a difference. "Just Legal" is just tedious.

Returning favorites

The WB's "7th Heaven" (8 tonight, WCWB) hits the 200 episode mark tonight, and though it could be accused of straining for fresh stories as it enters its 10th season, constant plot churning and character changes keep "7th Heaven" as relevant to today's tweens and their parents as it was to those who watched in season one.

Lucy (Beverley Mitchell) is now associate pastor at her father's church, but it appears all that time viewers didn't see her in seminary classes had little positive effect. In her first sermon, she bores the congregation, makes no mention of God, annoys her family and is then surprised by the negative reaction.

"Just because you've been doing this forever doesn't mean you get to critique my sermon," Lucy tells her dad, betraying her immaturity.

But the bigger story is that the latest Camden boarder, Martin (Tyler Hoechlin), has gotten one of Simon's (David Gallagher) former conquests pregnant. Worse yet, Martin has no real interest in Sandy (new cast member Haylie Duff), an intriguing complication for "7th Heaven" to play out in future episodes.

NBC's "The Office" (9:30 p.m. tomorrow, WPXI) proved itself a worthy successor to its British inspiration in a brief spring run, so it's with cheers and hosannas that we welcome the comedy back for another season. Perhaps with star Steve Carell's newly minted movie star status ("The 40-Year-Old Virgin"), viewers will give this low-rated gem another chance.

Set in Scranton (watch for the Froggy radio bumper sticker on a desk in the season premiere), the show stars Carell as oblivious boss Michael Scott, who plans the annual employee awards ceremony in the bar of a local Chili's. Receptionist Pam (Jenna Fischer) compares it to "a car wreck you want to look away from, but you have to stare at it because your boss is making you."

Scott makes a fool of himself, as is his wont, and embarrasses his employees (also part of his routine), but the episode contains a few redemptive moments that keep the tone from being completely sour. Perhaps that will be enough of a cushion to win over more viewers.