life as we know it, 9 p.m. (debuts Oct. 7 on ABC) Where shows such as Dawson's Creek and The O.C. approach teen sexual heat obliquely, this series centers on the urges young men feel as they're coming of age. There's the outcast artist who fears ridicule for dating his overweight best friend; the jock who crumbles upon learning that a parent is having an affair; and the A student who hits the high school jackpot (sex with a teacher). Buzz factor: Middling. Well-crafted and -acted, including a surprisingly tender turn by Kelly Osbourne as the misfit girlfriend, this show offers lots of promise if it can treat the touchy subject of teen sex sensitively. Will it survive? Up against NBC's red-hot The Apprentice and TV's most popular drama, CSI, it's not likely.
Joey, 8 p.m. (premieres Sept. 9 on NBC) Obviously, one Friend is nowhere near as good as six, but NBC's inevitable spinoff trades expertly on the charms of Matt LeBlanc's dim-witted Joey Tribbiani as he heads to Los Angeles for acting work. NBC's endless promos tip the first episode's best gags, including a TV anchor audition foiled by Joey's inability to look in the right camera at the right time. But Sopranos alum Drea de Matteo, as Joey's less dim-witted sister, is the only co-star who equals his charm; that's the show's fatal flaw. Buzz factor: Sky high. But like Joey himself, this series could score by surprising those determined to underestimate it. Will it survive? As long as The Apprentice keeps its pop culture heat, NBC's Thursday should stay stable.
THE REST
Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, 8:30 p.m. (debuts Sept. 16 on the WB) Here's a prime piece of TV logic: What made Carey's Whose Line is It Anyway? so much fun was watching master comics create improvised scenes from thin air. So the WB created a show in which animators fill in all the stuff you can't see, substituting silly cartoons for the audience's imagination. Buzz factor: Low. Watching this stuff is like telling a joke by blurting out the punch line first. Will it survive? Is anybody jonesing for the next Drew Carey series?
