I am – Hercules!!

“The Pitts” (9:30 p.m. Fox) is a sitcom from “Simpsons” vet Mike Scully about an incredibly unlucky family. It stars both creepy Dylan Baker (the pedophile in “Happiness”) and red-hot Kellie Waymire (the Phlox-lusting ensign from “Enterprise”).

“Black Sash” (9 p.m. The WB) is a drama centered around a martial arts school run by an ex-con.

Black Sash

The Hollywood Reporter says:

“The debut offering may be a mite stiff plotwise, but it's engaging enough -- and a subsequent episode marks this as a winning series. … The series punches up plenty of teachings about the virtues of patience, respect and kicking butt only when absolutely necessary. That moral base should be no surprise given that the producers come from the WB's ‘Smallville’ and the writers from the feature ‘The Karate Kid,’ where there are plenty of positive life lessons to be gleaned.”

The Los Angeles Times says:

“A breezy blend of choreographed combat, fortune-cookie truisms and social advocacy, ‘Black Sash’ plays like ‘Kung Fu’ meets ‘The Guardian.’ The premiere lays out the show's unoriginal premise and also introduces us to its likable cast, headed by Russell Wong (‘Romeo Must Die’) and Mako (‘Pearl Harbor’). …”

Entertainment Weekly says:

“I wish I could break out a little kung fu on the person who made me watch this weak martial-arts drama …”

The Pitts

The Hollywood Reporter says:

”There's no denying that ‘The Pitts’ is not your typical sitcom, and therein lies much of the problem. The Fox show's nonstop over-the-top humor and bizarre characters are so different from what most viewers are used to, at least in a live-action series, that its chances of being on TV in October are about as good as the Florida Marlins'. …Baker and Waymire turn in impressive comic performances, and you don't have to wait long for the next laugh, provided that your humor strike zone is wide enough to embrace the absurdity on which this show feeds. … The problem is that sitcoms as far out as this one are too silly for some and too lowbrow for others. Very much an acquired taste, they usually crash and burn. This one, following "Malcolm in the Middle" at the tail end of Fox's Sunday night comedies, will be hard-pressed to avoid that fate.”

Variety says:

“Friendly and off-the-wall, Fox's ‘The Pitts’ offers the family-style loopy humor ‘The Simpsons’ has in spades yet ‘Oliver Beene’ so sorely lacks. Pilot, the best of the first three episodes, is the rare debut that alerts audiences to the twisted pedigree here -- opening scene is a just-completed exorcism of 12-year-old son Petey and an ensuing meet-cute between teen daughter Faith and the altar boy. …”

The Los Angeles Times says:

"…clearly aims for campy fun, but it mostly misses.”

Entertainment Weekly says:

A great new show by Fox is The Pitts. … The Pitts has a cartoonish quality, and why shouldn't it? It was created by two ''Simpsons'' vets, Mike Scully and Julie Thacker-Scully; Baker's Bob is Ned Flanders come to life, minus the religiosity. The show is blithely unreal -- a used Volkswagen Bug bought for Faith curls its front bumper into a smile and talks to its new owner. ''I don't want a haunted car!'' wails Faith. ''I already own a haunted cello!'' I'm a sucker for non sequitur jokes like that, as well as Baker's peppy delivery of corny ones such as (uttered while bringing in the mail), ''Bills, bills, bills! We keep getting Bill's mail!''

I am – Hercules!!

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