Season premiere

Otherstream

The long-running dramedy, which began as a mid-season replacement called Planet SOMA in January of 1996, enters its seventeenth season with some big changes in format. Most dramatically, our hero finds himself divorced–co-star Mark Arsenal departed for greener pastures at another network last season but is scheduled for at least one cameo appareance–and increasingly responsible for the care of his aging parents.

Like much of last season, most of the action now takes place in the college library where David works, allowing some youthful contributions to a series whose ratings have been skewing increasingly older in recent years. In October, the series will embark on one of its periodic “field trips” with hilarity expected to ensue somewhere in the vicinity of the Canadian border.

There has been speculation that a later plot development might include a relocation (David moves into the apartment above his parents’ garage?), the addition of a teenage character (the result of a long-forgotten heterosexual encounter from the mid-1990s?), or the death of a beloved long-term character in a helicopter accident somewhere in Korea. The producers would neither confirm nor deny these rumors at press time.

Season Premiere: Sunday, September 11 at 9PM Eastern.

Otherstream: The Plot Summary