Now Screening: TV Shows DebutNow Screening: TV Shows Debut

Are there two shows or just one debuting this week on network television? If we're talking the amount of half-hour blocks being consumed on UPN, then it would be two. But if we're talking sameness, then the answer's "just one."

The disturbing, growing trend of shows geared to the teenybopper crowd continues this week with As If and The Random Years, two entries that in press materials, at least, sound pretty much interchangable. A breakdown, comparing and contrasting the two entries:

Concept:
As If: "Explores the emotional drama--and exhilaration--of the time in a young adult's life when everything seems possible. ... The series focuses on a group of six friends at the very pinnacle of young urban adult emotional insecurity."

The Random Years: "Roommates ... find themselves in New York City trying to negotiate the daunting realities of post-collegiate life--semi-mature relationships, steady employment, and paying rent, for example."

Number of characters in ensemble:
As If: Six

The Random Years: Four

Billed as:
As If: Dramedy

The Random Years: Comedy

Location:
As If: Los Angeles

The Random Years: New York

Characters' names:
As If: Jamie, Nicki, Rob, Sasha, Alex, Sooz (yes, "Sooz")

The Random Years: Alex, Todd, Wiseman, Casey

Relationships:
As If: "Disparate" group described as "ranging from the sweetly beguiling to the most post-modernly cynical ... a contentious but ultimately loyal gang."

The Random Years: "Despite their common backgrounds, the members of this foursome take very different approaches to life. ... Together they form an oddball kind of family, managing to negotiate the awkwardness of romantic breakups, the frustrations of long-distance dating, the daunting search for the perfect New York apartment (or even a habitable one), and generally find a way to make a living while still having a life."

Style:
As If: Shot with a single camera in cinema verité style

The Random Years: N/A

Background:
As If: The creative team behind the current British television hit of the same name brings the concept to American television.

The Random Years: N/A

Plot lines:
As If: Jamie discovers love--or at least lust--on the Internet. When he actually meets his "dream woman," he learns painful but valuable lessons about the importance of honesty.

The Random Years: Includes "managing to negotiate the awkwardness of romantic breakups."

Character snapshot:
As If: Sooz is "cool, whip-smart, sharp-tongued, guarded, alternative, and cynical."

The Random Years: Alex, "an aspiring music critic who works as a researcher for a New York-based magazine, is responsible, dependable, and sweet, though he yearns for the hip, edgy existence that always seems to elude nice guys."

As If: Nicki's "bright enough not to work too hard."

The Random Years: Todd is "the unmotivated guy who tries the least and gets the most. He has no plans--career or otherwise."

Airs:
As If: 9 p.m. ET Tuesday (also on Wednesday the first week)

The Random Years: 9:30 p.m. ET Tuesday (also on Wednesday the first week)

BreakAway editor Chuck Ulie is always looking for something good to watch on the tube, and this isn't it.