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TV Daily

Nov. 05, 2007 |

Prime Pick

Photo: the CW

God is allergic to Jell-O. Most cats show a preference for the color orange. There's a very funny comedy that you're not watching, and it's on the CW. Which one of these statements is true? Amazingly enough, the CW's "Aliens in America" (8:30 p.m. EST Mondays) is not only consistently funny, it's also charming and absurd and addictive, setting it miles apart from the CW's typical herd of superpowered teenage hotties. The story of a Pakistani exchange student named Raja who goes to live with an average family in a small town in Wisconsin could have landed in unreasonably dorky territory. Instead, the show's writers have churned out a steady stream of seriously clever scripts, dense with absurd jokes and memorable moments, making "Aliens in America" feel more like a modern, snappy update on a John Hughes film. The dorky Midwestern Tolchuck family is pitch perfect, but the big star here is Adhir Kalyan, whose spot-on performance as the hopelessly earnest and morally upright Raja is responsible for the show's most hilarious moments. (You can watch one of the best recent episodes, "Rocket Club," here.)

-- H.H.

Also…

Fans of "Prison Break" can enjoy two solid hours of the show starting at 8 p.m. EST on Fox. The American Masters series continues with "Carol Burnett: A Woman of Character" (9 p.m. EST on PBS, check listings). On "Weeds" (10 p.m. EST on Showtime), Nancy strikes up a deal with a biker gang. And Season 2 of Court TV's true-crime series "Murder by the Book" premieres at 10 p.m. EST.

On the talk shows

Contributors: Megan Doll, Heather Havrilesky, Eryn Loeb, Amy Reiter

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