HOLLYWOOD -- According to her, Courtney Thorne-Smith wasn't ready to be a sitcom wife and mother when the opportunity arose.

Three years later, the "Melrose Place" and "Ally McBeal" actress is happy to have her role on "According to Jim," the Tuesday-night ABC series that is all but certain to start its fourth season this fall.

Many critics malign the show, but it has proven itself an all-purpose player, with extra airings often used to fill holes in the ABC schedule. In fact, the network has ordered several episodes beyond the standard 22 for the soon-to-end year of "Jim." The recent two-parter filmed aboard one of Disney's cruise ships only can be taken as a good sign for the comedy's future.

"I go out to dinner with other adults and they say, 'I really enjoy your show,' which is lovely," Thorne-Smith says of playing Cheryl, the wife of contractor Jim (Jim Belushi), mother of three, and sister to frequent houseguests Dana and Andy (Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Larry Joe Campbell). "This show is one of the things I've done that I'm the proudest of. I think that it's funny and that it has a good heart, so I'm confused by the perceived critical reaction to it. I don't know why anyone wouldn't like it.

"I do know that family shows are hard to pitch," Thorne-Smith adds, "and a show with heart probably isn't cool enough for the 'in' crowd. We keep a solid fan base, though, which is really flattering. People can connect and relate to the show, and that's what feels so good. We work very hard to keep it real."

Evidence can be seen in the characters' relationships. Thorne-Smith acknowledges, "In the beginning, it was pretty much about Jim and Cheryl, but now we're really getting into the entire family. All of us have siblings, so we work on bringing in those times when we were little and got pressured or manipulated. Kimberly, Larry and I really feel like siblings now. We even have private games while we're doing the scenes. Larry will always stand just a little too close, and that's such a little-brother thing to do. You see him inching toward you, and you want to yell at him -- but you can't, because that'll stop the scene."

Nevertheless, Thorne-Smith maintains the "According to Jim" cast and crew are "a loving group. No bratty stuff goes on off-character, but we bring it all into what we do when the cameras are rolling. I'll say, 'Does this scene have to be about Kimberly?' It's that sister stuff we get to play with, but the reality is that we're all looking out for each other and making sure everyone has enough to do. There have been some Jim-and-Andy storylines, but I think a really solid Cheryl-and-Dana story would be great fun for Kimberly and me."

Belushi likely would champion such a tale, since Thorne-Smith says, "Jim fights tooth-and-nail every day to protect our show. He is so committed to this, it's really fun to watch him work. Not long ago, he had really strong ideas about one of our scripts, and he basically acted out the entire thing for the writers. He really works hard with [ABC programming executive] Lloyd Braun, and I feel the network is always behind us. The first year, we had a great time slot behind 'My Wife and Kids,' then they thought we were ready to go off on our own. I felt supported the whole way."

Such backing eased Thorne-Smith's initial concerns about switching her image to "housewife" mode. "Every time I see the head of casting at ABC, he teases me by saying, 'So you don't want to play a mom, huh?' When I was first approached about doing this, I said, 'I know one thing: I'm not ready to play a mom.' The truth is that it's appropriate. I'm in my mid-30s, and in a traditional life pattern, I would be married with a few kids by now. Often, if you stay out of your own way, things work out right. Jim and I connected immediately. I met him for the first time at a 10 a.m. meeting, and I was cast by 3 p.m. that afternoon. We just knew."

Cheryl, Jim and their clan can claim something rather unique for a TV family: They have no known last name. "They're determined to go through life without one," Thorne-Smith jokes. "It's so funny, especially in scenes when Jim and Cheryl have to visit their kids' teachers. Since there's no last name, the teachers will say things like, 'Hi, Ruby's mom.' I think the show's producers didn't give us a last name just for their own entertainment."

Thorne-Smith finds the response to "According to Jim" vastly different from the heat that surrounded "Melrose Place," the trendy 1990s FOX serial on which she played Alison Parker for five seasons. "That was a certain time in people's lives," she reflects."Our fan base was so young, and they were just crazy about it." The actress muses that the current repeats of the show on Style let her "see a lot of bad hair days again. I've been watching 'The O.C.' lately, and it brings back so many 'Melrose' memories."