“Hope & Faith,” ABC, Fridays at 9 p.m.

Telltale quote: “They didn’t even have the decency to give me brain cancer.”

Overview: ABC is banking on the reintroduction of once-popular TGIF to bring families back to Friday primetime. And while NBC’s “Miss Match” has been getting the most media attention, ABC’s two-hour block of comedies is likely to steal some of the limelight. Returning hits “George Lopez” (previously on Wednesday) and “Life With Bonnie” (formerly on Tuesday) have been moved into the two anchor positions to make way for the network’s two new comedies.
  “Hope & Faith,” the stronger of the two new shows (the other is “Married to the Kellys,” which the network is wisely holding until next week), pairs the effervescent Kelly Ripa with “Murphy Brown” alum Faith Ford. Ford plays Hope, a happy mother of three whose idyllic family life is turned upside down when her sister Faith (Ripa) moves in. Ripa, a former star of ABC’s daytime drama “All My Children,” convincingly plays Faith, a soap opera actress whose character and evil twin are killed off in a murder-suicide on her soap, “The Sacred and the Sinful.” 
  Hope’s young children are drawn to Aunt Faith, whose absent-mindedness and fun-loving spirit are in stark contrast to Hope’s prudishness and no-nonsense attitude. 
  The show seems to be a good fit for ABC and the new TGIF, but the signs are pointing to troubled waters. Four of the seven original cast members are gone, including two of the three children. The role of Hope and Faith’s live-in father has been eliminated, Hope’s husband has been recast (“Married…With Children’s” Ted McGinley replaces Josh Stamberg), and the entire pilot has been re-shot.

  Verdict: The Ripa-Ford pairing promises to be one of the best-matched comedy duos of the new season. “Hope and Faith” has the potential to be a winner for ABC, but the network must stick with its promise to invest in its comedy offerings. Once the casting and scripting snags have been ironed out, the show should be a good match for returning “Life With Bonnie” in an hour otherwise dominated by dramas.

By John Rash

“Hope & Faith,” ABC, Fridays at 9 p.m.

    Hope and faith are two traits that may help adults sit through this silly sitcom. Because this series is more appropriate for the babysitter set that ABC hopes to recapture by resurrecting TGIF, its once ferocious Friday franchise.
    Based on that criterion, “Hope and Faith” delivers the predictable pratfalls and the cute quotient of rowdy TV kids. But any sitcom that features a food fight in the pilot is already creatively circling, looking for a laugh track landing. This may work on the lowered expectations level of TGIF, but for adult audiences more intellectual intrigue from Kelly Ripa can probably be found on “Regis and Kelly” than in her star turn on “Hope and Faith” – reason enough to thank a higher power for Friday night alternatives on rival networks, the Cineplex or Blockbuster.

For past Media Life reviews of the new fall shows, click below.

NBC's "Coupling"

CBS's "Brotherhood of Poland, N.H."

CBS's "Navy NCIS"

ABC's "I'm With Her"

WB's "One Tree Hill"

NBC's "Las Vegas"

CBS's "Two and a Half Men"

WB's "Like Family"

Fox's "Luis"

ABC's "Threat Matrix"

UPN's "All of Us," "Rock Me Baby"

UPN's "Eve"

WB's "All About the Andersons"

WB's "Steve Harvey's Big Time"
WB's "Run of the House"
UPN's "The Mullets"

UPN's "Jake 2.0"

NBC's "Whoopi"
NBC's "Happy Family"

A.J. Livsey's fall season overview