Once the reigning queen of network television, the sitcom as an art form fell into a permanent decline along with the end of classics “Friends” and “Frasier.” TV comedy has struck out in new directions.

The newest entry in the field, TBS’s “10 Items or Less” has taken its cues from shows like the prematurely cancelled “Arrested Development,” and HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” The show is filmed, laugh-track free, in a documentary style and relies on improvisation rather than fully written scripts. Though “10 Items or Less” tries hard to imitate its critically successful predecessors, it does not quite live up to their high standards.

The show tracks Leslie Pool (John Lehr) who returns to his home state of Ohio to take over the family business after his father’s death. Greens and Grapes, the grocery store that has been in his family for five generations, is now in serious financial difficulty. Along with the store, Pool inherits a crazy staff of certified lunatics.

Meanwhile, Leslie fights the corporate takeover ambitions of his high school crush, Amy (Jennifer Elise Cox), a self-important snob who works for the local supermarket chain that has its sights set on Greens and Grapes.

“10 Items or Less” is full of colorful characters, like Yolanda (Roberta Valderrama), the outspoken single mother who heads the produce department, and Todd (Chris Payne Gilbert) the store’s womanizing butcher.

Unfortunately, the show is missing one essential character: the regular guy. Everyone on the show plays his or her part big and broad, and there is no one on the show for the audience is able to relate to. Jason Bateman in “Arrested Development” is a perfect example of this concept; he played the everyman while the rest of the ensemble played ridiculous, out-of-this-world characters. Because “10 Items or Less” does not have this grounding in reality, it is still funny, but the insane characters slowly grate upon the audience.

You cannot, however, truly judge a TV show based on its first two episodes. If “Seinfeld” had been judged simply by its pilot, there is no way that it would have ended up running for nine years. Shows are like living organisms; most need a sizable period of development before they can stand up by themselves. That said, “10 Items or Less” shows a lot of promise. It just might needs a little more time to grow into a solid, respectable television series.

The original series “10 Items or Less” will air Mondays at 11 p.m. beginning Nov. 27.