It was only a few years ago that TV pundits and professionals were predicting the demise of the traditional sit-com.

Critically acclaimed series Arrested Development and The Office had breathed new life into the stagnant TV comedy genre that hadn't had a huge hit since Friends said goodbye in 2004. It seemed the days of laugh tracks and multi-camera formats were numbered.

But the success of Two and a Half Men and more recently Big Bang Theory, shows audiences still have an appetite for the traditional sit-com.

That's good news for Kari Lizer, the creator and writer behind The New Adventure of Old Christine, which airs on CBS.

"We're a traditional sitcom in the old sense of the word," she says. "There's a been a lot of talk about that genre dying out. I think if you can be funny -- and hopefully we are -- then you're not dead. And if produce a sitcom that isn't funny then it should be dead."

Coming up to its fifth season, The New Adventures of Old Christine stars Seinfeld alumnus Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who plays the slightly neurotic title character who gets tagged with the nickname Old Christine after her ex-husband starts dating a younger woman with the same name.

"I didn't know if the softness was there to be a mom, I didn't know if she had that vulnerable colour that she needed for character," Lizer says.

Lizer, who held a master class this week at the Banff World Television Festival, changed her mind after she went on a "blind date" with the comedy star.

"She's so different than Elaine which speaks to her acting ability. She is a mom and it's really front and centre of her life, and she's as funny you'd expect. But also, she is warm and soft. She has everything. I feel very, very lucky that she came my way."