Well this was an amusing take on debuffing the claims against the show, granted, but I have to agree with what someone else has said and that the sheer fact they need two episodes to take off criticism is a very bad omen in itself.
I'm not sure why, maybe it's because I don't much care for Apocolypse Lane either, but I can't say I'm catching too much of the humour. I want to give the show a go though so I'll still watch- it's new after all, probably going through growing pains, and I hope it'll pick up some more. I can't help but think one problem people have about the lack of characterisation is that (even though there were brief introductions in the trailer) the characters haven't really been introduced at all. Why not an episode plot about how the dogs ended up working there, and give them a bit more of an introduction? I'd watch that. Nostalgia around the coffee room table.
Oh and Palmer, you are right... he is an absolute stud muffin.