'Enlisted' review: Funnymen 1st Class

Fox comedies -- which are usually good, though not uniformly ("Dads") -- tend to take left turns when most viewers seem to prefer ones that take hard rights -- into family sitcoms ("The Middle") or raunchy anti-family ones ("Two and a Half Men" or "2 Broke Girls"). Fox gets the decent reviews (again, "Dads" excepted) but no viewers.

Despite the Siberian real estate on Fridays, "Enlisted" seems determined to avoid that fate, partly by pulling its DNA from an old, comfortable and largely forgotten form of television -- the (non-"M*A*S*H") military farce, not seen much since the '60s ("Hogan's Heroes," "The Wackiest Ship in the Army," "McHale's Navy"). TV pros like Stults and (especially) David know the beats of the classic form by heart -- with an emphasis on the farcical beat -- while Cabral, Lowell and Young bring on the energy and youthful vitality. The combination's a winner.

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