CRIT-O-MATIC.

Byline: David Kronke

``Life on a Stick''

(Fox Channel 11; 9:30 tonight)

Logline: The empty lives of teens splitting their time between working at a mall hot-dog stand and living at home with an underappreciative family is wackily explicated by Victor Fresco, creator of the late, lamented ``Andy Richter Controls the Universe.'' It focuses on Laz (Zachary Knighton), who is sweet on co-worker Lily (Rachelle Lefevre); he also serves as a mollifying force between his parents (Matthew Glave and Amy Yasbeck) and cranky stepsister Molly (Saige Thompson) and hates his snarky boss Mr. Hut (Maz Jobrani). Dim pal Fred (Charlie Finn) hangs around saying wittily witless things.

Pros: Characters are largely appealing, and there's an agreeably absurdist take on mall life (the kids deep-fry everything on Hut's desk, get temporary jobs in a claustrophobic kiosk and participate in a dumb contest). Tonight's episode features, for this era of lowered expectations, a very wimpy spin on the epic ``Spartacus.'' < Cons: Some cast members at times feel a littletoo transparently sitcom-y. The laugh track is intrusively effusive and ``That '70s Show'' long ago wore out the idea of ``energetic'' cast-high-jinks bits between scenes.

In a nutshell: Fresco and his writers manage a palatable job of balancing skewed, amusing comedy and crowd-pleasing dopiness, resulting in a show that could appeal to kids and grown-ups alike, sort of like the early years of ``That '70s Show.''

Our rating: Three stars

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no caption (``Life on a Stick'')