The folks out at Lions Gate sent over a copy of a little something newer for us to try, another bit from the ABC lineup. Today we’re tackling According to Jim The Complete Third Season, just ahead of the release of According to Jim The Complete Fourth Season, which is actually on tap for later.

According To Jim The Complete Third Season takes us to Jim and Cheryl’s house, a regular couple of folks with three kids and a whole lot of relatives. Cheryl’s brother Andy is a frequent participant in Jim’s crazy schemes, but Cheryl’s sister Dana is usually on Cheryl’s side. Yes, it’s pretty much sitcom excelsior out here as Jim and Cheryl have a variety of wacky adventures that are solved within a half hour. They’ll attend bingo games, bilk old ladies, and compete with each other over who gets to do the grocery shopping.

Thankfully, while According To Jim is sufficiently straightforward that you’ll see many of the problems coming, and also how they’ll be solved, well in advance, there will be plenty of laughs. It really was a surprise that they’d insert so many good quality jokes into this, and I think a good chunk of what’s behind the unexpected quality here is the combination of Courtney Thorne-Smith and Jim Belushi. They work shockingly well together, and the end result takes the otherwise stale and predictable sitcom and gives it a little extra punch. It may sound mundane–that’s mostly because it is–but it’s mundane done extremely well.

It’s surprisingly clever, especially for some series on ABC. And it’s clear to see why it lasted as long as it did, especially if the rest of the series turns out like this one did. I didn’t catch this when it was on, but seeing it now makes me wish I had. And that may well be the highest praise I can give an old sitcom.

You’ll likely be pretty impressed with this one yourself, assuming you haven’t seen it already. It may be sitcom standard, but there are loads of laughs here, and that makes it a fine choice for those looking for a good time.

The Screenhead Ten Scale gives According To Jim The Complete Third Season an eight out of ten. It’s strange, but this gigantic lump of sitcom standard has a lot more comedy to it than you might expect. You’ll find it funny, no doubt, and that kind of laughter goes down smooth every time.