TV . . . THE SINGLE GUY

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Of the 40 new prime-time shows premiering in the next few weeks, nearly a dozen pay homage to the urban single life. Thank "Friends," NBC's super hit of last season. "The Single Guy," also from NBC, is perhaps getting much of the early attention because it follows "Friends" on Thursday nights. TIME's Ginia Bellafante says the star, Jonathan Silverman, "never overdoes it" as a New York City writer frustrated by his friends' constant efforts to find him a mate. The funniest of the matchmakers, his friend Sam (Joey Slotnick), scours the subways looking for women to introduce to his chum. Says Bellafante: "Slotnick is one of the few comics who can appropriate Jerry Seinfeld's whiny inflections without making you want to hurl you TV set out a high window."