By Dean Robbins

Bad parenting leads to good comedy in 'Up All Night'

"Up All Night" (Wednesday, 9 p.m., NBC) offers an age-old sitcom premise — a clueless couple who aren't ready for parenthood — and makes it feel fresh and contemporary. Chris (Will Arnett) is an overgrown kid who stays home to raise the baby, while Reagan (Christina Applegate), a former party girl, goes back to her job at a talent agency. If Arnett and Applegate aren't enough comic masters for you, add in Maya Rudolph as Reagan's self-involved boss. With exquisite subtlety, these three nail the ridiculousness of their oh-so-modern narcissists.

Their victim, hilariously, is the baby. Chris and Reagan try to make themselves understood while it struggles against a diaper change, enunciating every word as if speaking to an unruly foreigner who doesn't quite understand English: "WE. ARE. TRYING. TO. HELP. YOU! WE. ARE. ON. YOUR. SIDE!"

NBC, I'm going to be very upset if you cancel "Up All Night" without giving it a fair chance. Please treat this baby better than Chris and Reagan treat theirs.

'New Girl'

Tuesday, 8 p.m. (Fox)

"New Girl" offers the role of a lifetime to Zooey Deschanel, who lets her inner nerd run free. The "new girl" is Jess, an incurable lame-o who moves into an apartment with three male strangers (Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Damon Wayans Jr.). They're as dorky as she is, but all four of them try to pass for cool in the singles world — an effort that fails delightfully.

After blowing yet another date, Jess laments, "Well, I guess I can't hide my crazy." She'll keep trying, though, and that will make "New Girl" irresistible. CV