Sunday, September 3, 2006

'Til Death

Thursday at 8 p.m. on Fox

The tagline you'll never see: Married . . . without children.

The basics: The joy evaporated years ago from the 8,743-day-old marriage of Joy and Eddie Stark (Joely Fisher and Brad Garrett), a pair of Philadelphia empty nesters who spend their free time watching "Ellen" and exchanging such pleasantries as "You smell good -- like fried chicken!" For the Starks, happiness comes in spying on the iPod-wielding neighbors, Jeff and Steph Woodcock (Eddie Kaye Thomas and Kat Foster, below). The jaded Eddie takes chipper newlywed Jeff under his wing, but -- in the pilot, at least -- it's the youngster teaching the old dog some new tricks.

The lowdown: Executive producers Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, the husband-wife creative team behind "What Women Want" and "The King of Queens," attracted plenty of small-screen star power for this venture: Garrett hauled in three Emmys as overshadowed big brother Robert on the recently departed "Everybody Loves Raymond," and Fisher most recently played Lynette's catty boss on "Desperate Housewives." Together, the pair elevates bitter banter to an art form. Eddie Kaye Thomas, known forever in certain circles as the guy who scored with Stifler's mother in "American Pie," should rake in the ever-coveted younger eyeballs.

Reality check: Sure, it features one of TV's more clichéd formulas -- sarcastic spouses paired with perkier neighbors -- but folks who aren't already married to the CBS "Survivor" juggernaut or to NBC's "My Name Is Earl" might just find in "'Til Death" the beginnings of a comfortable relationship.

-- Brad Walters