TV premiering tonight: Do Not Disturb

The outlook for the new fall season is generally dire, and the prospects for sitcoms even more so. This generic and forgettable workplace comedy isn't even the worst of the bunch (just wait until we get to CBS's horrendous Worst Week), but it isn't any good, either. There's Jerry O'Connell trying his best as the smarmy manager of an upscale Manhattan hotel, and Niecy Nash of Reno 911! doing the same as the hotel's head of human resources. The first episode creaks along with a tired plot about inappropriate workplace romance, and the jokes are completely unfunny. I will give the show credit for integrating a non-stereotypical gay male into the cast without any fanfare, and for making the fat-girl character a plus-size model without any body-image issues (she's also apparently quite the vixen, and appears to have an entirely normal boyfriend). But those characters are still stuck playing supporting roles in the stock plot, and the little blips of originality don't make up for the overall blandness. In six months, no one will even remember that this was on. Fox, Wednesdays, 9:30 p.m.