'Mad Love' Is Not Exactly a Happy Valentine

How I Met Your Mother fans know Sarah Chalke as Stella Zinman, the cute dermatologist Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) came thisclose to marrying in Season 3. (She ended up breaking his heart in Season 4's premiere.) Now she's on a new sitcom, Mad Love (CBS, Mondays, 8:30 p.m. ET), that's appearing in the time slot following HIMYM. Sadly, Chalke is playing a much blander character in this one.

Mad Love is a romantic comedy about two young, attractive New Yorkers (Chalke and American Pie's Jason Biggs) who meet and quickly fall for each other at the top of the Empire State building. Too bad, then, that his best friend (Tyler Labine) and her best friend (Judy Greer) instantly loathe each other. Both couples produce sparks. In the first case, it's sparks of love. In the second, it's all about sarcasm-fueled hatred, and quips born of pure vitriol.

The fact that Valentine's Day falls on a Monday this year must have seemed like a good omen to Mad Love's producers, who are getting to premiere their boy-meets-girl sitcom on this national Day of Love. Ironically, though, guess which couple is more fun to watch? You got it -- the sourpuss, tagalong BFFs. This being a prime-time network sitcom, their instant dislike means they're probably headed for love, too. But hopefully not too soon, because these two are exponentially funnier than their leading role counterparts, Chalke and Biggs. In this scene, for example, the sharp-tongued pair provides the only laughs.

It's a sad state of affairs when the most interesting part of a romantic comedy is the caustic exchanges between instant enemies. Valentine's Day deserves better! 

Marisa Coughlan Leonor Varela Bianca Kajlich Hilary Duff Shakara Ledard