Fall TV Preview: Thursday

New Show of Note: Joey (NBC, 8pm Eastern), the spin-off from Friends. The big question coming into this season was whether Joey was going to be another Frasier or another AfterMASH. I just got through watching the first episode, and I'm happy to report that it looks more like it'll be more like the former. With so few 'comedies' that are actually funny, Joey bucks the trend at looks to be worth several good laughs. It remains to be seen if Matt LeBlanc can carry a whole season on his own, but bringing in Drea de Matteo as his sister is a good start.

Comics Connection: CSI: Crime Scene Inverstigation (CBS, 9pm) seems to be a moderately successful comic license for IDW. It's entering its fifth season and shows no signs of slowing down.

Also: Will & Grace (NBC, 8:30pm) returns, and even though the last season faltered a bit it'll remain one of the few sitcoms left that I care to watch. er (NBC, 10pm) is still going, even though I gave up on it a couple of seasons ago. I've also decided to give up on Without a Trace; even though I kind of like it, I still have eleven episodes from last season on tape that I haven't watched, which tells me that it's not a priority. Maybe I'll catch it in reruns. I still have yet to watch a single minute of Survivor (CBS, 8pm), and this season won't see a change in that policy.