The biggest mystery of the fall season doesn't involve a detective or dead body; the suspects are, in this case, '2 Broke Girls.' Why doesn't the CBS sitcom do a much faster and more efficient job of fixing what's wrong with it? These problems are eminently fixable and they're getting in the way of what's working about the show.

'2 Broke Girls,' you may recall, was one of the best-reviewed pilots of the season, but since then, it's often found itself mired in a morass of cringe-inducing supporting characters, brain-numbing predictability and jokes that feel as though they were exhumed from dead sitcoms of the '80s. What gives? The show is doing well (it got a full-season order from CBS), but I can't escape the feeling that it'd be doing even better if it ditched its more groan-worthy elements.

Given the magical ability to fix '2 Broke Girls,' here's what I'd change right away:

1. Dump the racist caricature.

At the heart of '2 Broke Girls' (Mon., 9:30PM ET on CBS) is this 'Odd Couple' relationship that springs up between seasoned and ultra-jaded waitress Max and Caroline, the trust fund baby who finds herself suddenly broke and out on her own.

To the writers' credit, they don't write Caroline as spoiled or self-entitled. She may be a little clueless as to how the real world worlds, but she shows drive and commitment, which is rare in the pampered rich girl persona.

The girls' first meeting tried to establish a good cadence between them, as Max discovers that Caroline's father "ripped off the entire city," and just how rich Caroline was. But the connection between the two never really comes together this episode.

A lot will be written this fall -- and a lot already has been said -- about the bumper crop of new shows that revolve around female characters. Three women-centered comedies premiere this week, and they certainly have their share of interesting gender issues.

But before getting into that topic, it might be worth saying whether these comedies are funny or not, and whether they have the potential to be consistently amusing once they shake off the flop sweat that almost all comedy pilots display.

In order of both laughs and potential, I'd list the shows in the following order: The solid '2 Broke Girls' (9:30PM ET Monday, CBS) is at the head of the class, 'New Girl' (9PM ET Tuesday, Fox) is in the middle of the pack, and 'Whitney' (9:30PM ET Thursday, NBC) is the most problematic of the three.

Could Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs of '2 Broke Girls' be the next Lucy and Ethel? 'The Early Show' (weekdays, 7AM on CBS) explored the question as Mo Rocca took a look back at female friends on television, from 'I Love Lucy' to Mary and Rhoda, and Laverne and Shirley to evaluate how the newcomers might stack up.

"With '2 Broke Girls,' one is this working class waitress and the other one is a Manhattan heiress who also had a fall from grace," said Jess Cagle, EW editor. That compares best with 'Laverne & Shirley,' he said, as the pair support each other despite their differences and bond as friends.