I admit to not being much of a television watcher these days. My boob tube viewing had become so minimal in recent years that I decided to get rid of cable anyway. This limits the appointment/binge watching I can do (no HBO, no AMC, no on-demand or DVR) but a) if I’m interested enough I’ll catch what I need to catch via the internet and b) spending hours parked in front of the tube doesn’t have a ton of appeal to me.

These days, my regular viewing on network TV has pretty much boiled down to four shows¹: Modern Family (which has regained its mojo following a near shark jump last year,) Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (which gets nuttier as cast members dwindle) and two new shows: ABC’s Black-ish & NBC’s Marry Me.

Black-ish is a smartly-written comedy co-starring television vets Anthony Anderson & Tracee Ellis-Ross. The twosome plays Dre & Rainbow, a thirtysomething professional couple raising four kids. It’s a bit like The Cosby Show, recalibrated for the 21st century and focusing more on issues of racial “authenticity.” Dre was brought up in the inner city, has graduated to the well-off, suburban life, and worries a lot about staying in touch with black culture-particularly as pertains to his kids. Authenticity is certainly a hot-button issue (see: Dear White People), and Black-ish explores sensitive issues with a light (but still effective) touch-a testament to great writing. Anderson and Ross are great in their roles, Marcus Scribner shows a great deal of promise as Andre Jr., and Laurence Fishburne makes the most of a fairly one-dimensional role as the elder Dre’s father. The rest of the kids also could stand to have their roles beefed up a little bit (twins Jack & Diane walk a very fine line between precocious & Stewie Griffin,) but shows take a minute or two before they find their way, and I’m confident that Black-ish will get there soon enough.

Grantland’s Rembert Browne makes some interesting points about Black-ish in this essay. Not sure I agree totally, but the article’s provocative in all the good ways.

Marry Me doesn’t have as much cultural subtext, but it’s just as good as Black-ish. David Caspe, the creator of the much-missed Happy Endings, returns with Casey Wilson (who played Penny on Endings) as Annie. Annie is a quirky, high-strung character engaged to the more grounded Jake (played with affable goofiness by Ken Marino.) The first episodes of the season have focused on the struggles of a newly engaged couple, but the show’s auxiliary actors (most notably Tymberlee Hill as Kay and John Gemberling as adorable sad-sack Gil) threaten to steal the show at times. There’s even a Happy Endings crossover, as the uber-gay Derrick character from the older show has returned. If the series are set in the same universe, then I can make comparisons, right? Let’s do it: the shows are similarly fast-paced, and the repartee between the characters have the same feel. Wilson is given a more enjoyable character to play this time around (I found Penny annoying at times) and my hope is that Marry Me will eventually focus most on the ensemble (also including SNL great Tim Meadows) rather than the coupling of Wilson & Marino: I think it would be the biggest win creatively. If the marriage is the focal point of the show, I can quickly see it heading the Mad About You route in two or three years (provided it lasts that long-it should.)

I don’t know how sexy it is to enjoy network television these days, but Black-ish and Marry Me prove that there’s still some inspired comedy writing taking place on the big three (er, four.) People should probably be tuning in to these guys as opposed to, say, Family Guy (which has been on autopilot for a half decade) or Two And A Half Men (which I can’t believe is still on the air, especially since 1 1/2 of the original men are no longer on the show.) Want a little spice in your sitcom life? Give these shows a shot.

¹-If I start watching Scandal again, I may fall into a black hole of mindfuckery, never to be seen again. Also, I might have nightmares.