If there's one thing one can say about Fox's new multi-camera sitcom Mulaney, it's that the show knows its predecessors. Whether it's off-handily referencing Seinfeld, Friends or The Golden Girls, John Mulaney's show is at least aware of the comparisons his show gets, and tries to play them to his advantage.

This week, he brings a whole different New York City-based sitcom to the table, Sex and the City, in an unusual attempt to spice up this limp-wristed show. Beyond the city connections and being a show based on a group of friends shooting the breeze on a weekly basis, who knows why they decided to go in this direction. One's guess would be good as mine, at this point. Sadly though, the comedian's effort to make his show work are, once again, unable to get more than a couple inches off the ground.

This week's episode, titled "Motif and the City," gives the episode's titular character, played by Seaton Smith, his time to shine. On this end, Mulaney does a good enough job of diversifying its storytelling. While John remains the episode's center figure, the show is learning to let the other character get their time to shine, something even Seinfeld didn't learn until at least a couple seasons down the road.

This is as good of a time to note how, after episodes of playing it up too much in the show's first episodes, Smith is the one actor that's truly found some rhythm to his character. He has grown from one of the show's more showier characters to one of its more endearing, and that's as good of a sign as any to prove some improvements from the bumbling sitcom. It's just a shame though that, while he finally learns to tone it down, everyone around him, besides John and Oscar, played by Elliott Gould, takes it up way too notches too high. While Martin Short actually gets some chuckles this week, through his subplot around a "plant" he has hosted in the audience throughout his 25 years in the business for quick laughs, everyone else, especially the characters with the most brief of appearances, plays their parts too broad.

The most egregious example comes from the subplot where the episode gets its title. As it is revealed, Motif has something of a Sex and the City-esque clique of female, 30-something female friends, all of which mimic the different lead characters on the show, while Motif serves as their Carrie. The worst offender—by and far—is Jamie Denbo, who goes for broke trying to be Samantha, but comes across as so exaggerated, it would make a college variety show cast blush. The other actresses, Brooke Lyons and Joy Osmanski, do better jobs, but are given so little too do, it doesn't matter one way or the other. This is in addition to this parody coming more than halfway into the episode, and feeling more like a lazy attempt to have Motif throw in some random monologues over different moments in the episode than an appreciation or tip-of-the-hat to the HBO sitcom.

Still, especially compared to last week's "Patriot Acts," the writing this week is stronger. Written by Rachel Axler (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart), "Motif and the City" has some clever joke set-ups undermined by the network's TV restrictions. At least, I am deeply hoping that is what the problem is, for I can't understand how so many talented people can continue to come up with such mediocre television week-after-week. Various one-liners earn solid chuckles, especially when they are random, like Motif's reveal that he sings a 20-minute rendition of "Happy Birthday." But the show still can't figure out its rhythm, even after seven episodes.

Had this show aired on Fox's sister channel, FX — possibly getting away with having a single camera set up and less restrictions — it's easy to imagine there being at least a pretty good sitcom here. It may not become the next Louie, but at least Mulaney would be able to tell the jokes he wants the way he wants. With each passing week, its easier to notice how his stand-up bits are getting longer and longer. With Seinfeld, they usually would only go on for a couple minutes, and if they were longer it was because they related to the plot. Hell, even after a while they were abandoned completely. With Mulaney, however, they only have loose attachments to the episodes, and seem more like an excuse for the comedian to tell his stand-up. This is fine, though. For this seems to be the one place in the whole show where he feels completely comfortable.

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