TV’s Moments of Joy: The Quest for Peace

Hot in Cleveland–The long awaited premiere of TVLand’s first sitcom came this week, and it hit all the notes you expect from your TV comfort food.  You have an amazing cast of women, all of whom are sitcom legends in their own right, none more so than Ms. Betty White.  Some find Valerie Bertinelli grating, I find her sorta cute.  I thought Jane Leeves was great as the “eyebrow queen of Beverly Hills” and Wendie Malick played her washed up former soap queen as a variation on Nina Van Horn that was enjoyable, if totally predicatable.  The premise of the show–3 L.A. friends end up in Cleveland when their plane to Paris has to make an emergency landing and decide to stay because they can order chili fries and beer without guilt, basically–is flimsy at best.  However, the show works despite this, and got a few good laughs from me.  The best surprise?  The seemingly ageless John Schneider showing up to romance Valerie’s character.  Was he this hot when he was Bo Duke?  Yowza.