11-11:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 27
TBS

Maybe TBS has the right idea. Maybe the best place for improv comedy -- even when it's well done like it is in "10 Items or Less" -- is late at night when viewers are more open to shows that deviate from the setup-joke-setup-joke rhythm of traditional sitcoms.

Not that improv comedy can't succeed in primetime. It's just going to take a while. It took viewers a year or so to get in sync with the "The Office" which, while scripted, has a unique comic pace, modeled after a documentary. Viewer preferences and habits change slowly and late-night can be a good incubator for the offbeat. Baby steps.

Consider "10 Items" part of the process. Exec producers and writers Robert Hickey, Nancy Hower and John Lehr prepare detailed outlines for each episode, which the cast (except for Lehr, who also stars in the show) never sees. Instead, the actors are given situations and told to wing it, over and over, doing enough takes to knit together a good show.

In "10 Items," ne'er-do-well Leslie Pool (Lehr) has returned to Ohio and the family grocery store, Greens & Grains, which he inherited when his much-admired father died. Employees at the struggling independent store are produce boss Yolanda (Roberta Valderrama), butcher Todd (Chris Payne Gilbert), stock boy Carl (Robert Clendenin), customer service rep Ingrid (Kirsten Gronfield), bagger Buck (Greg Davis Jr.) and cashier Richard (Christopher Liam Moore). Jennifer Elise Cox, a regular on Lifetime's improv comedy, "Lovespring International," plays Amy, the manager of the large grocery store across the street whose corporate bosses want to turn Greens & Grains into a parking lot.

The premiere mainly introduces the characters and the premise. Lehr gets most of the face time, establishing his character as more clueless but also more sensitive than "The Office" boss Michael Scott. At the same time, Valderrama quickly creates an appealingly complex character with attitude. You'll have to wait until the second episode, in which Leslie turns a stain on the wall into a religious attraction, to get a good feel for the other cast members, but it's worth the wait.

There are no deep belly laughs here but you can count on a steady stream of chuckles, more from the characters than the situations. The series is filmed in a real grocery store with real customers, though they don't contribute much to the humor in the first couple of outings.

10 ITEMS OR LESS
TBS
Sony Pictures Television
Credits:
Executive producers/creators/teleplay: Robert Hickey, Nancy Hower, John Lehr
Producer: Barbara Stoll
Segment producer: Sam Feirstein
Director: Nancy Hower
Director of photography: Lawrence Schweich
Production designer: Dan Butts
Editor: Marcelo Sansevieri
Music: Steven Argila
Set designer: Britt Woods
Casting: Tim Payne
Cast:
Leslie Pool: John Lehr
Yolanda: Roberta Valderrama
Buck: Greg Davis Jr.
Todd: Chris Payne Gilbert
Ingrid: Kirsten Gronfield
Richard: Christopher Liam Moore
Carl: Robert Clendenin
Amy: Jennifer Elise Cox