"Accidentally On Purpose" Review: If You're Looking For A One-Night Stand...

I have to say I didn’t expect to like “Accidentally On Purpose.”

I just didn’t think it seemed like a very good premise and I’m not that much of a Jenna Elfman fan.

So imagine my surprise to hear lots of laughter while I was watching the pilot. I was especially surprised when I realized that laughter was coming from me…

Jenna Elfman is Billie, a successful movie critic who has just dumped her longtime boyfriend (and boss), James (Grant Show), after he refused to make a commitment. To feel better about herself, Billie goes home with the younger Zack (Jon Foster) after he hits on her in a bar. But her plan for just a one-night stand goes out the window when she ends up pregnant. And because she thinks it could be her last chance for a child, she decides to keep it.

And when Zack decides he wants to be involved, Billie lets him move in with her. But she doesn’t just get Zack, she also gets all of his slacker friends invading her apartment and her life.

Elfman is playing her usual character here, but it works and Foster is completely charming as Zack. Most of the show’s funniest lines, however, go to Ashley Jensen, who steals the show as Billie’s friend, Olivia.

The pilot is funny, and it makes “Accidentally” seem like the perfect fit between “How I Met Your Mother” and “Two and a Half Men.” But I honestly don’t see how it can sustain itself for a whole season without giving us a bunch of tired old jokes about older women, younger men, pregnancy and commitment phobes. Plus, Zach’s friends already annoy me and they barely said two words.

I have a feeling that when it comes to this show, it really is best to keep it a one-night stand…

“Accidentally On Purpose” premieres tonight (September 21st) at 8:30 p.m. on CBS…

Photo Credit: Art Streiber/CBS