Tonight played host to 3 different ABC premieres.

The highly lauded Modern Family stars My TV favourites Ty Burrell (as a scene-stealing “cool dad”) and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (who I’ve liked since his days in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) and is generally less interesting than it is reputed to be.

Cougar Town stars Courtney Cox (someone my FRIENDS loyalty dictates that I will always like) alongside Aliens in America‘s Dan Byrd (a sweet throwback to one of my favourite failed sitcoms). And though it’s somewhat icky and far from great, Cougar Town‘s plethora of strong stars (which includes Dawson Creek‘s Busy Phillips, Felicity‘s Ian Gomez, Scrubs‘ Christa Miller and Brothers & Sisters‘ Josh Hopkins) makes for a somewhat engaging half hour.

Finally, Eastwick takes on the 10pm slot. I knew going into the episode that the show starred the man behind one of my all-time favourite characters, Paul Gross (the famed Canadian actor who is the genius behind Slings & Arrows‘ Geoffrey Tennant), but I didn’t know that another old favourite would be showing up. Sara Rue, who I’ve loved since her Popular days, through her charming sitcom Less than Perfect, right up to last year’s Big Bang Theory guest stint, plays a supporting role inEastwick, what a pleasant surprise. Add in the always likable Rebecca Romjin and charming Class alumnus Jon Bernthal and I really really want to like this show.

Overall, none of the three shows were that captivating but I’m choosing to retain hope that the pilots just didn’t do the series justice. I’d like it if ABC could find their way back to the top with their new Wednesday night slate, where they were a mere 2 seasons ago in their heyday of intelligent scripted drama.