Which is too bad for “The Class,” the new CBS series (Mondays at 8) about a group of third-grade classmates who reconnect 20 years later. In its first two episodes, the sitcom has struggled to find its comedic groove, and for the most part it has failed.

The “Class” is simply overcrowded. There are too many main characters, eight in all, and they all but topple the sitcom into a morass of uninteresting personalities and uninspired subplots that feel all busy but go nowhere.

Some scenes are hilarious, with sharply drawn, witty personalities. There are moments of really clever writing and sharp performances. But too much of “Class” drags on like a bad "SNL" sketch that runs long just to fill time.

“Seinfeld,” the model for the modern friends-hanging-out sitcom, had four distinct, hilariously idiosyncratic characters. They rarely wasted a moment.

“Friends” had six. If occasionally some seemed to have nothing going on, it worked to increase the romantic options. What's interesting is that "Class" is co-created by David Crane, a "Friends" co-writer. Crane of all people should understand what made that show work.

The setup: Ethan (Jason Ritter, “Joan of Arcadia”) has organized a third-grade class reunion as a gift for his fiancee, who was also in the class.

The group includes: Kat Warbler (Lizzy Caplan, “Related”), who’s embalmed in sarcasm; Lina, (Heather Goldenhersh), her hopeful twin sister; Richie (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), who’s passively suicidal; Duncan (Jon Bernthal), the meathead; Nicole (Andrea Anders, “Joey”), who’s unhappily married; Holly (Lucy Punch), who comes to the party to confront her gay prom date of years earlier; and Kyle (Sean Maguire), that gay former prom date.

The storyline opens with Ethan’s fiancé dumping him, effectively ending the party.

Most of the really sharp material involves either Kat or Holly. Caplan’s Kat could challenge Chandler Bing in quippy one-liners, at one point eviscerating Richie for accidentally hitting Lina with his car (“You ran her over! There are no second dates after that”). With her dry delivery, she brings an edge to every scene she’s in.

Holly is as high energy as Kat is understated. She’s type-A squared, bouncing off the walls with her pinched, manic demeanor. But Punch, playing up Holly’s self-doubt, manages to keep her just one shade shy of a caricature.

Alas, these are the only two characters who feel fully formed.

Bernthal, as Duncan, does a decent Joey Tribbiani impersonation. As Nicole, Duncan’s married love interest, Anders essentially recreates her role from “Joey.” Ferguson’s Richie and Goldenhersh’s Lina, as the nerds who connect--they both find her hat “jaunty”--are good for a few laughs.

But the other two characters, Ritter’s Ethan and Maguire’s Kyle, are beyond dull.

Over and over, Kyle apologizes to Holly for being gay. Ethan, the catalyst for the reunion, may be intended as the show’s calming influence, but he just come across as bland. Even his clothes (lots of pullover sweaters) are boring.

That doesn’t bode well, considering he’s the center square of “The Class.” At one point, an exasperated Kat asks him, “How long are you gonna wallow?” The answer may well be: Too long to hold anyone’s interest.