ABC's deep midseason bench for next season includes the comedy "According to Jim" as well as ... wait a sec, is that right? "According to Jim" still lives?

"That's a head scratcher," says Shari Anne Brill, senior VP and director of programming at Carat USA.

The primetime graveyard is littered with shows that were cancelled before ever getting a chance to make a connection with TV auds. On the flip side, there's always a handful of shows on the skeds that somehow manage to squeak out renewals year after year.

Comedies, especially, manage to frequently escape the firing squad once they earn the rep as a utility player. Not only do advertisers gravitate toward laffers, but with so few half-hours working, the nets are more willing to stick with what they know -- even if they're marginal performers.

"Some networks just don't want to say goodbye," one webhead says.

A few years ago, the staying power of CBS' "Becker" and NBC's "Just Shoot Me" flummoxed critics. They weren't bad shows -- they just were not on anyone's radar.

This year, low-rated entries like "Jim," CW's "Everybody Hates Chris," Fox's "'Til Death" and ABC's "Boston Legal" managed to score at least one more season. "Scrubs" had to move from NBC to ABC, but it too defied Nielsen gravity. Fox's animated staple "King of the Hill," meanwhile, has cheated death several times. And even "Law & Order" is managing to hold on -- although the Peacock has lately reduced the show's order and held it for midseason.

This year, there's also an unusually high number of sophomore-year shows that scored pickups for fall ("Life," "Dirty Sexy Money," "Lipstick Jungle," "Reaper"), but these orders can partly be attributed to inconclusive performances last year because of the writers strike.

"I've done columns about shows that should be retired," says San Francisco Chronicle TV scribe Tim Goodman, who currently puts NBC's "ER" at the top of his list. "I think they've done every possible hospital story on 'ER.' But being philosophical and thinking about viewers, there's comfort food in (shows like 'ER' and 'Law & Order')."

Reasons for the pickups vary, from scheduling issues to financial concerns.

"A lot of time it's just a little safety net," says one net exec. "It's, 'OK, at least I've got this show to throw in there if something else is a disaster.' On a sales basis, you can never go wrong with comedy. And sometimes in the scheduling process you just run out of good choices. Maybe you don't have as much confidence in your development. Or you figure you can't put six new shows on the air at once."

Brill also notes that canceling too many shows sends a sign to stockholders and to the creative community that your network is in trouble.

"Sometimes too, it's just politics. You've got relationships with program creators and providers, and these are people you want to stay in business with," she says.

This fall, "Boston Legal" returns for a final 13-episode lap because of a quid pro quo between ABC and David E. Kelley, who allowed the long-gestating new drama "Life on Mars" to continue without him in exchange for a lifeline on "Legal."

"'Til Death" was given a third-season nod after producers agreed to revamp the show, which has shifted focus to the buddy relationship between Brad Garrett and new co-star JB Smoove, who brings a hip cachet from his appearances in HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

"ER" is back for a 15th season because Warner Bros. TV agreed to a reduced license fee, and NBC can now promote next season as a big farewell event. Also at NBC, "Law & Order" is such an institution -- set to celebrate its 20th year on the air next season -- that it seems inconceivable that the show might go away, even if the ratings are no longer what they once were.

Like "ER," "Scrubs" was also supposed to end its run this year. But the show still performs respectably, and ABC could use a few more comedy players -- hence the decision to keep the show going. Besides, more segs also mean more syndication dollars.

Actually, the promise of additional syndie license fees has kept many a sitcom on the air past its prime.

Critically acclaimed "Chris" might have been canceled by now, except that CW had no new laffers in its arsenal, plus -- and even more importantly -- the show hits magical year number four next fall. "Chris" has already been sold into syndication, so the pickup made sense from a corporate bottom-line perspective, even if it didn't make as much sense for the C-Dub.

"Especially when you get to year three and you've got the syndication finish line in sight, and if you as the network have participation or you own it, it makes it pretty tough not to swallow hard and renew it," an exec says.

Syndication dollars are also what drove one more year of "Jim." The family laffer starring Jim Belushi was given a renewal even though the show averaged less than a 2 rating in the adults 18-49 demo last season, and ranked below canceled Alphabet laffers "Miss/Guided," "Notes From the Underbelly," "Carpoolers" and "Cavemen."

"I was astonished and then not," Goodman says of "Jim's" renewal. "Astonished because, really? Really? Really? It's coming back? But on the business end of it, I know why it's coming back."

Indeed, "Jim" has performed well for Disney in syndication, commanding broadcast license fees (with Tribune's off-net heavy stations as its anchor group), and it is set to join cabler TBS' strong comedy block next year. Critics may roll their eyes, but "Jim" has all the elements of an evergreen player: domestic setting, cute kids, goofy dad and a highly recognizable star in Belushi.

But syndie fortunes alone wouldn't explain the show's return in primetime for an eighth season. There has to be something in it for ABC.

"It has to work on both sides," one exec says. "It can't be that detrimental to the network."

In the case of "Jim," its timeslot may tell the tale. The show has been called on to perform yeoman's duty the past several years, going up against Fox's "American Idol" juggernaut. So while "Jim's" ratings may not be huge, you can't say the show isn't a survivor.

And in a time period darkened by the long shadow of "Idol," hey, it beats a test pattern.