10 Items Or Less Television Program

Now in its third season, "10 Items or Less" (TBS, 11 p.m. Tuesday) is a modest sitcom, modestly drawn, and with modest ambitions. Its characters don't much grow from episode to episode. Its plotlines are sprightly riffs on contrived scenarios. Dialogue is improvised, which means it can be hit or miss.

Now in its third season, "10 Items or Less" (TBS, 11 p.m. Tuesday) is a modest sitcom, modestly drawn, and with modest ambitions. Its characters don't much grow from episode to episode. Its plotlines are sprightly riffs on contrived scenarios. Dialogue is improvised, which means it can be hit or miss.

It's like one of those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books you loved as a kid. When Roberta Valderrama auditioned for TBS' new series "10 Items or Less," about life working in a supermarket, producers handed her an actual application to the grocery store where the show is set. In filling out the form, she scribbled a character into existence that day: Yolanda Nelson, she wrote, mother of three and a former security guard fired for sporting oversized hoop earrings.

It's like one of those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books you loved as a kid. When Roberta Valderrama auditioned for TBS' new series "10 Items or Less," about life working in a supermarket, producers handed her an actual application to the grocery store where the show is set. In filling out the form, she scribbled a character into existence that day: Yolanda Nelson, she wrote, mother of three and a former security guard fired for sporting oversized hoop earrings.