A different view of "Sherri"

I like Sherri Shepherd.

She's been on a couple of sitcoms where she was better than the material, and after a rocky beginning on "The View," she's now hit her stride.

Too bad I don't like "Sherri" as much. (It airs tonight at 7; then moves to Tuesdays at 10.)

The show is loosely based on Shepherd's life. She plays Sherri Robinson, a single mother who works as a part-time paralegal while she tries to become a full-time comedienne/actress. Her husband (played by The Cosby Show's Malcolm-Jamal Warner) has cheated on her with a much-younger woman who works at Quizno's (Sherri calls her the Quiz ho); much is made of the fact that she's also white. And he's gotten her pregnant.

We mostly see Sherri at work with her friends Celia (Tammy Townsend) and Angie (Elizabeth Regen), and their supervisor Summer (Kali Rocha). Also on the show is James Avery (the father from "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air) as Sherri's father; and Michael Boatman ("Spin City") as a potential suitor.

Instead of being actually funny, "Sherri" settles more often for being sassy. Like "Screw me once, shame on you, screw a white girl, we're done." Those lines are supposed to make women say, "Uh Hmm. Tell it girl." And the reason they've shown that line in the commercials repeatedly is because it's among the snappiest.

Shepherd has a strong presence like she does on The View and some of her lines would kill there. (I think they have.) But a string of one-liners does not a good sitcom make.

Still I see some potential. There's some nice turns in the storyline and the cast is good.

I've no doubt Sherri will do fine on Lifetime. It's not an awful show. In fact, on second viewing, I liked the first episode a little better.

No laughs but a few smiles.