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Stare at the face of Adam Korson. Stare at it hard. Or, more accurately, stare at the face of Harry, the character Korson plays in the new Canadian sitcom Seed.

Do you find Harry adorable? I should throw in that Harry is a typical TV bachelor bartender, the sort of underachieving late-20s slacker slob that you see a lot of these days. But do you think he's dreamy? If you do, then you probably will like Seed, which debuts Monday, Feb. 4 on City.

If not, well ... Harry's happy existence in his irresponsible, going-nowhere life is about to be punctured, as the setup for Seed actually is a pretty strong one by sitcom standards.

Turns out Harry was a sperm donor several years previous, and now - thanks to some smart kids who know how to work their way around a computer - some of Harry's "offspring" have tracked him down. So Harry is discovered by an oddball nine-year-old boy (hey, how did they get Kiefer Sutherland's son from Touch? Just joking), and a rebellious girl in her early teens. Both the boy and the girl have issues with their parents (a lesbian couple for the former, an uptight rich couple for the latter), which was a factor in the kids seeking out their "real dad" in the first place.

Throw in a fetching young woman (played by Carrie-Lynn Neales) who wants to get pregnant and shares a mutual attraction with Harry, and you have an even newer take on The New Normal. That rookie U.S. sitcom is about the formation of a new kind of family, which essentially is the framework for Seed, too.

To enjoy Seed, though, you need to accept Harry as someone who is magnetic enough to attract people, with an instinctive ability to be a better parent than the overly dumb characters who have raised these kids. I ponder Harry and I think, "loser." Others think, "charmer." This is the world in which we live.

Maybe I was put off by the opening scene of Seed, in which Harry is being dismissive of a woman who is, to my eyes, way out of his league. But he's just not that into her. Really? He should be begging her to notice him. Seed is more of a "smiler" than a "laugh out loud" show, although I did laugh hard at one point during the second episode, when Harry visits his biological son's class and asks the students a particular question.

There may be a Seed of hope here. The second episode was funnier than the first. I am open to that trend continuing. But it needs to happen. The way Seed has been structured, though, you really have to like the main character. That will be the dividing line.

So again, stare at that face, and ask yourself this simple question: Do you think there's something about Harry?

bill.harris@sunmedia.ca

TV PICKS Monday, Feb. 4

How I Met Your Mother

It's the return of Robin Sparkles (Cobie Smulders), as Canadians Alan Thicke, Jason Priestley, Paul Shaffer, Alex Trebek, k.d. lang, Steven Page, Geddy Lee and Luc Robitaille guest-star as themselves. Find it on: CBS/City

Castle

Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Beckett (Stana Katic) discover evidence that links a young woman's murder to the same man who was responsible for the murder of Beckett's mother. Find it on: ABC/CTV

Bones

When a female roller-derby skater is killed, Angie (Michaela Conlin) goes undercover. Meanwhile, secretive hospital appointments are raising concerns about Booth (David Boreanaz). Find it on: Fox/Global