Jezebel James is the story of a children’s book editor who learns she is unable to conceive, so she asks her sister Coco to fill in as a surrogate mother. You’ll have to swallow the premise on your own, because the show doesn’t do much of the work for you, except maybe for a scene in which Coco considers her living conditions and is suddenly OK with loaning out her body.

I believe strongly that a well-written review should have very little to do with the reviewer’s personal experience with a piece of entertainment, at least unless I should expect to have a similar experience. A good review should give me insight into whether I might like something, and why. That said, I think it’s probably important to get my biases out in the open if you are to gain any value from this evaluation. First of all, I am a believer that the three-camera sitcom is not necessarily dead. Given enough originality and quality, people would watch another Friends. (See the ratings for How I Met Your Mother.) Next, I love love love love Parker Posey. Plus, Lauren Ambrose was in Six Feet Under, so she’s high in my esteem as well.

The last big element of this new half-hour is the question mark, by my taste: Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator of Gilmore Girls. I have friends who find the stilted dialogue she writes charming. I do not. Much as it was for me with GG, I think the as-many-words-as-possible-in-each-breath style is probably a non-starter for me. I want my dramatic writing to sound the way people talk, each character with her own voice. If I wanted each character to seem like an overwritten facet of the author, I’d read a book. (Or watch some Aaron Sorkin.)

Further, the overly dense verbage seems particularly odd in a sitcom. Too often I feel the rhythm of the words signaling where a joke should go, but in its place is only charm. That might work in a GG script–brilliantly in fact– but it’s off-kilter here. The laugh track seems unsure when it’s allowed to do its job.

The premise is interesting. (Although it is destined to last us only through one season, much as did the concept that launched GG.) The characters are decently drawn. The performances are solid. The humor is so-so.

Best Aspect: Lauren Ambrose. Next to Parker Posey’s overblown effort to carry the show, Ambrose’s performance seems subtle and elegant.

Worst Aspect: A scene between Posey’s character and a sex-buddy friend who is not allowed to ask her any personal questions.

Verdict: I was really looking forward to this show. I’m disappointed.

Odds of success: I could see watching this as a fantastic one-hour light drama. As a half hour, The Return of Jezebel James suffers from identity crisis. Sitcom audiences will have a hard time connecting to it, let alone FOX sitcom audiences.