TELEVISION: IS ANYONE WATCHING?

A single dad. An odd couple--she's the daughter of aging hippies, he's the son of rich conservatives. A wacky alien. An incorruptible prosecutor. Another single dad. A precinct full of hotheaded urban cops. As the new shows suggest, the broadcast networks are not exactly venturing into unexplored territory this season; in fact, they aren't even leaving the hotel. That's neither surprising nor necessarily bad. Lots of successful shows have followed the conventions of the sitcom or the police drama. If a series about a divorced father and his wiseacre kids is truly funny, does anyone care that it's been done a...