Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 74

i Mtrrirri fy ryrT PAGE F6 STAR TRIBUNE Entertainment SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 19361 4 ready Get tCUck Top of the class logue. Saturdays at 9 p.m. begin- ning Sept. 28. Preview 9 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 24. Spin City (ABC): Alex P. Keaton i i i-t ii by women. Rob Schneider, a "Saturday Night Live" alumnus, and Ron Eldard, formerly of "ER," star as beer-clrinking, insensitive roommates who rummage through a sexy neighbor's apartment to ogle naked Polaroids and debate whether it's OK to have sex with your girlfriend.

Schneider is a delightful jerk. Late for a job interview, he brushes his teeth in the car, rinsing with hot coffee. What makes the pilot work is that, unlike other sleazy sitcoms, its writers and performers are firmly aware that their characters are pigs and they consistently come up with smart bits to prove it. Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. beginning Sept.

18. The Pretender (NBC): Yet another twist on "The Michael T. Weiss plays Jarod, a genius so precocious that he was taken from his parents and raised by scientists at a secret research center. After years of being used as a human computer for hire, Jarod runs away and discovers he can use his superhuman learning ability to adapt to any role doctor, engineer, pilot and to help people. Operatives of the research facility, however, are determined to recapture him and enslave his mind.

The show is kind of hokey, but Weiss' delight in good deeds and in discovering a wider world is ingratiating. Saturdays at 8 p.m. beginning Sept. 28. Preview 9 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 19. Relativity (ABC): In her short movie career, Kimberly Williams of the has shown little more than a perky personality and the brains to get out of the way when such costars as Steve Martin want to howL But this series, produced by "thirtysomething" creators Marshall Hershkovitz and Edward Zwick, establishes Williams as a major talent, playing one of the quirkiest, most engaging characters of the new season. As Isabel, she is torn between a nerdy but kindhearted boyfriend, who has asked her to marry him, and an ultrasensitive dreamer whom she bumps into in Italy during a minor nervous breakdown. The multilay-ered drama could be tagged like its predecessor, it will live or die on whether we care enough about the characters to overlook the soul-searching dia Everybody LovesRaymond (CBS): Stand-up comic Ray Romano might look and act like Jerry Seinfeld, but while one has succeeded by being a big kid, the other has been busy raising kids of his own.

Romano's domesticated, G-rated humor translates nicely into family-sitcom fare. He plays a sports-writer with a tough-minded wife (Patricia Heaton), three young children and two domineering parents, portrayed with fervor by veterans Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle. In the pilot's best scene, they freak out after Romano signs them up for a fruit-of-the-month club. "He's got us in some kind of a cult!" moans Roberts. Fridays at 7:30 p.m.

beginning Sept. 13. EZ Streets (CBS): The most intriguing undercover-cop drama since "Wiseguy." Wednesdays at 9 p.m.; premiere date to be announced. See preview on page IF. Men Behaving Badly (NBC): Another sleazy, below-the-belt sitcom Average grades 1 pit '-lit Dangerous Minds (ABC): The best thing about this drama is that star Annie Potts doesn't appear to have seen the hit movie it's based on.

As the former Marine who teaches in a tough urban school, Potts all but ignores Michelle Pfeiffer's performance, creating a different but fully functional character. Unfortunately, this series makes the same mistake as the 1995 movie did: Instead of allowing relationships to be established over the course of the season, Superteach is in too big a hurry to get everyone in a class hug. This isn't "Room 222," it's the "Return of the Bionic Woman." Mondays at 7p.m. beginning Sept. 30.

Dark Skies (NBC): Space aliens don't vaporize the White House in NBC's much-hyped sci-fi series, but they do play a role in the John F. Kennedy assassination, among other pivotal events of the past 40 years. Some viewers might find the blithe mixing of history and fantasy hard to swallow. Its twist is to have two people a Kennedy-esque couple played by Eric Close and Megan Ward on the run in 1963. They're fleeing extraterrestrial invaders and a secret government agency devoted to investigating the aliens while it keeps the public in the dark.

Occasional scenes notwithstanding, "Dark Skies" isn't nearly as compelling as NBC's promos would have you believe. Saf-wrdays at 7 p.m. beginning Sept. Early Edition (CBS): CBS's new slogan, "Welcome Home," was designed not only to remind viewers that the Eye once ruled the land, but also to tell folks that its attempt to be the Gen-X network was a terrible mistake. "Early Edition" is the network's most entertaining apology.

Kyle Chandler stars as a stockbroker who just got grows up in uus insianuy iixaoie -sitcom graced with a solid leading," man, a top-notch supporting cast, and a rich premise. Fox plays Mike Flaherty, a deputy mayor who really runs New York City, since his boss (Barry Bostwick) is a grinning, pompous fool. Second City veteran Richard Kind About plays a nervous press secretary, so annoying that his colleagues always send him to the wrong barl for happy-hour drinks. But the show rests chiefly with Fox, who also serves as executive producer along with "Family Ties" creator Gary David Goldberg. Whether he's somersaulting across his bed as part of some tender foreplay with his girlfriend, or trying to persuade one of his staff to pretend that he's gay to win some political points, Fox brings an exuberant charm, smarts and subtle wit that fit snugly witnin me contines ot a 1 set -f Major hit potential.

Tuesdays p.m. beginning Sept. 17. p. m.

beginning Sept. 21. 7th Heaven (WB): If all the people wno say mey wish there were still shows like "Leave It to Beaver" actually watch "7th Heaven," it'll--be the biggest hit of the season. Tv! veterans Stephen Collins and Catherine Hicks star as a minister and wife with five kids. It's not par ticularly funny or dramatic, but -hev.

neither was "Ozzie and Har- riet." What "7th Heaven" does have is an essential decency and a loving ieei, wim one root in the bus and 1(1 one in the '90s. In the pilot, Junior gets the puppy he wanted so des-M perately, and Sis gets her period. Mondays at 7 p.m. 1R "Sparks" (UPN): James Avery, thg dad on "Fresh Prince of Bel Air," is-now the head of a father-and-sons, law firm that caters to walk-in clients. The storefront law office has as much comic potential as the precinct nouse in Barney Miller, but the jokes are broader and "2 louder than thev need to he.

and some of the characters are stereo-, typical throwbacks to "Amos 'n' Andy." There's actually a janitor who's as slow-witted as Mondays at 8:30 p.m. "The Steve Harvey Show" (WB): Harvey, a comedian and Chicago radio personality, broke Into TV two years ago as a single dad in "Me and the Boys," a pleasant "My Three Sons" update that ABC Inexplicably canceled after one year. Now he's back in a sitcom, playing an over-the-hill musician Steve Hightower almost made the Commodores who takes a job teaching music at a Chicago high school. Harvey has a pleasant comedic manner that recalls Bill Cosby, but the situa- tions are awfully familiar. Sundays at 7:30 p.m.

Something So Right (NBC): Two oft-married lovers (Jere Burns and Mel Harris) get hitched, forcing -their respective children to live I together and providing ample opportunity for the teenage boy to sneak peeks at his stepsister In the shower. The parents' hormones also are on overdrive. There are nice riffs when the families try to untangle their complicated dys- functional pasts to arrange dinners and weekend sleepovers. But these two talents deserve better. Burns, a proper foil on "Dear John," appears embarrassed, slipping into a British accent for laughs, a sure sign of 1 desperatioa Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.

beginning Sept. 17. Townies (ABC): Molly Ringwald stars as Carrie, a small-town wait- ress who, it appears, can't move on with her life because she thinks all her friends depend on her. Based on what little flash her cohorts display In the pilot, she's absolutely right Reminiscent of the movie "Mystic Pizza." the show scores points for centering on a group of young women who don't sip the latest designer coffees or live in apartments the size of a skating rink. But the wealth of cheap sexual jokes not a slut; I'm just a 3uick judge of Indicate lat the show's heart Is In Its pelvis, an all-too-famillar location these days.

Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. beginning Sept. 18. THE SEASON MISBEHAlNGromFl Matchmaker's delight: Ron Eldard and Rob Schneider in "Men Behaving Badly." Matchmaker's fright: Scott Bakula and Maria Bello in "Mr. and Mrs.

Smith." Stars on the rise: Ray Roma-; no Kimberly Williams Joe Panto-: liano and Rob Schneider Behaving Healthiest trend: Shows about Good Samaritans Edition," "The Pre- tender," "Home of the Brave," "7th Unhealthlest trend: Shows about women who drink Girl," "Lush Life," Most overhyped series: "Mil-' Jennium." Most underhyped series: "EZ Streets." Catchiest title of a good show: "Spin City." Catchiest title of a bad show: "Homeboys in Outer Space." Series that might be mls- taken for an Interview program: "Profiler." Series that might be mis- taken for a science program: "Relativity." Series that might be mls-. taken for a business pro-L gram: "Ink." Series that might be mistaken for an Oscar Mayer product: "Moloney." Craggiest landscape: Tie Grand Canyon, "The West" (PBS); Lance Henrikson's face, "Millennium" (Fox). Photo by Doane GregoryFOX Craggy new faces of '96: Lance Henrikson of "Millennium." Longest hair: Tie Brooke Shields, "Suddenly Tom Rhodes, "Mr. Rhodes." Back to school daze: Seven new series have something to do with teachers andor students: "Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher," "The Steve Harvey Show," "Dangerous Minds," "Mr. Rhodes." "Life's Work," "Pearl" and "Clueless." Riskiest moves: "Touched by an Angel" shifts from Saturday to Sunday (CBS), "The X-Files" from Friday to Sunday (Fox).

Best of fests: Turner Classic Movies' "Movie Sleuths" month (Sept. 2 to 30); the Learning Channel's "Great Books Festival" (Sept. 14 and 15); Bravo's "Twin Peaks" marathon (Oct. 30). Best night for spotting other-worldly beings: Sunday, when choices Include "Lois Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," "3rd Rock from the Sun" and "Touched by an Angel" (all at 7 p.m.) and "The X-Files" (8 p.m.).

Best night on TV: It's not Thursday on NBC, nor Tuesday on ABC. It's Wednesday, when there's only one true clunker all evening on the four major networks, and UPN contributes "Star Trek: Voyager." 6 0 Photo by Tony EsparzaCBS Fans of family sitcoms should love stand-up comic Ray Romano In "Everybody -Loves Raymond" (7:30 p.m., WCCO-Ch. 4, Fridays). with an important difference. It delivers laughs, starting with the opening credits that feature classic movie clips of men being slugged dumped by his girlfriend and hates his job.

One morning, the next day's newspaper starts appearing at his doorstep. Instead of using the information to clean up in the stock market or at the races, he chooses to go around saving other people, much like Pa Ingalls did in "Highway to Heaven." This is light, tame TV for the whole family to watch together. Which is fine, except that many of us use the TV to escape our families. Saturdays 8 p.m. beginning Sept.

28. "The Jamie Foxx Show" (WB): Foxx, an "In Living Color" alumnus, plays Jamie King, an aspiring actor who works at his aunt's and uncle's small Los Angeles hotel while waiting for his big break. Taking a cue from "Martin" Lawrence, Foxx also plays some of the hotel guests, including roles in drag. But despite his talent and the presence of some good old pros (Garrett Morris, Ella English) in supporting roles, there's nothing new in his showing off for the hotel's gorgeous marketing director or his putdowns of its Cornell-educated buppie accountant. Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m.

Millennium (Fox): This project by "X-Files" creator Chris Carter owes stylistic and content debts to the movie "Seven" and to the Robert Harris novels "Red Dragon" and "The Silence of the Lambs." Lance Henrikson (the heroic android in is Frank Black, a man with an uncanny ability to get inside the minds of homicidal psychopaths, whose ranks seem to be growing as the year 2000 approaches. A former FBI agent, he has joined the Millennium Group, a mysterious "consulting" outfit, and moved his family to Seattle, whose gray skies fit the show's determinedly doom-filled mood. Quietly intense, with roughly chis- p.m. beginning Sept. 28.

"Goode Behavior" (UPN): Can a prim college professor (Dorien Wilson) share a home with his flamboyant, long-estranged father (Sherman Hemsley), a con artist recently paroled from prison? If you can accept the premise, perhaps you'll be able to ignore the dumb shtick that separates some honestly funny lines. Mondays at 8 p.m. love and Marriage" (Fox): The producers need to decide whether they want this show to be "Ro-seanne" with better-looking leads or "Married with Children" with better-looking leads. In other words, do they want a smart blue-collar comedy or a dumb one? It's nice to see a struggling, two-paycheck couple who love each other and their three far-from-perfect kids (one has green hair and plans for a career in body piercing). But their on-again, off-again ignorance is insulting to everyone of both sides of the screen.

Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. beginning Sept. 28. Lush Us (Fox): It doesn't really matter If Roseanne ever delivers on her heavily hyped plans to develop an Americanized "Absolutely Fab- Annie Potts' performance In "Dangerous Minds" (7 p.m., WCCO-Ch. 4, Mondays) may make you forget about Michelle Pfelffer.

But will she remind you of Lindsay Wagner? Photo provided by ABC most self-made men, I am in awe of my creator," he boasts in a witty speech to new students. Of course, he quickly butts heads with Pearl and lo and behold the two toughies are destined to learn a little something from each other. A talented cast (Carol Kane appears briefly in the pilot) might help this sitcom rise above its predictable premise. Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. beginning Sept.

18. Preview 8:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16. Profiler (NBC): Even more than "Millennium," this owes a debt to "Red Dragon" (filmed as Here, though, the "profiler" a criminal-psychology expert with an almost supernatural gift for getting into killers' heads is a woman.

Samantha Waters (Ally Walker, "Moon Over quit the FBI and disappeared with her daughter after her husband was murdered by a serial killer she was tracking. She grudgingly comes out of hiding to help solve a string of murders that has the Atlanta police baffled. By the time she's done, her old nemesis is on her trail. The blinking, negative images that represent Sam's flashes of insight get uresome quickly, baturaays at 9 plenty of pants-dropping, ear-biting action from the start. Both stars are attractive enough.

If you care about skin over substance, go for it. Fridays at 8 p.m. beginning Sept. Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher (WB): The message of this classroom sitcom: We could solve disciplinary problems and get kids Interested in learning if only Jim Carrey took up teaching. The star, Mitch Muilany, appears to have a A in "Ace Ventura," with postgrad study In "Dumb and Dumber." Derivative or not, Muilany is fairly amusing as Freno, an aspiring actor who doesn't want to teach full-time, no matter how needy and cute his students are.

But the writing is on the Saturday-morning level of "Saved by the Bell." Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. Pubic Morals (CBS): Stephen Bochco and Jay Tarses try to renovate "Barney Miller" with some "modern" touches sexual Jokes, aggressive flirting and a penchant for the word "whore." This sitcom revolves around New York vice-squad detectives, but the raunchy humor has more to do with juvenility and lazy writing than plot development. Some banter Is clever, but then Cracked magazine occasionally manages a few good lines, too. Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. premiere date to be announced.

Underachievers eled features, Henrikson is a compelling star presence in a cal-culatedly perverse show. Fridays at 8 p. m. beginning Oct. 25.

Party Girl (Fox): A flighty socialite finds unexpected joy working as a clerk at the New York Public Library; based on the 1995 independent film, with Christine Taylor (Marcia from "The Brady Bunch standing in for Parker Posey. Like Tea Leoni of "The Naked Truth," Taylor successfully uses her sexuality as a punchline, whether she's casually reaching into her refrigerator for one of 100 bottles of perfume or preciously hanging from the top of a bookcase, showing off her swinging legs. Unfortunately, there's not much of a script or cast for Taylor to flirt with. Mondays at 8 p.m. beginning Sept.

9. Pearl (CBS): Rhea Perlman, the sassy "Cheers" waitress, is a kinder, gentler presence in this somewhat promising sitcom about a middle-aged loading-dock manager who decides to go to college. Pearl's antagonist is an egotistical professor played with supreme hammi-ness by Malcolm McDowell. "Like ulous," since this sitcom borrows many of the British show's tricks. Lori Petty and Karyn Parsons (who also serve as reproducers and cowriters) play lifelong friends with a me-against-the-world attitude that's not exactly breaking new ground.

They drink. A lot. And whine. A lot. And sleep around.

A lot. All that would be a wasted exercise, if not for Petty's quirky performance; think of a female Joe Pesci. Mondays at 8:30 p.m. beginning Sept. 9.

Malcolm Eddie (UPN): Malcolm Jamal-Warner Cosby and comic Eddie Griffin star as mismatched roommates who live above a bar in this sitcom created by Twin Cities writer Joel Madison. While the premise is reminiscent of "The Odd Couple," this is more like "Sanford and Son," with Jamal-Warner as the practical Lamont and Griffin the scheming Sanford. (I le even makes up lyrics to the '70s series, dancing wildly to a chorus dedicated to Grady.) It's goofy silliness that leans heavily on black stereotypes, and might appeal to fans of "Martia" Mondays at 7:30 p.m. Mr. end Mrs.

Smith (CBS): Two competing spies, played by Scott Bakula and Maria Bello, get all sweaty for each other while solving crimes. Unlike the more sophisticated couples In this genre, the two would-be lovers get Into Clueless (ABC): A sure sign of sitcom insecurity is a hysterical laugh track that's switched on at even the slightest hint of a joke. "Clueless," based on the sleeper movie, is full of this mad noise. While the producers recruited a number of stars from the movie (including Stacey Dash and a slumming Wallace Shawn), they seem all too aware that the film's success came from Alicia Silverstone's earnest performance. Her stand-in, Rachel Blan-chard, spends most of the pilot doing a second-rate impression.

At one point, you almost expect her to jump into a car with a Liv Tyler lookalike and go cruising for boys and lollipops. Fridays at 8 p.m. beginning Sept. 20. Common Law (ABC): Two young, ambitious lawyers who secretly live together clown their way through love and law.

We know John Alvarez (Greg Giraldo) is our hero because he has Jim! I lendrix posters plastered on his walls, strums guitar in his office, sports a bushy beard and bails his buddy out of jail while staying up all night to prepare for the biggest case of his life. The pilot tries hard to force this merry couple down our throats, In part by making everyone around them Intolerable. Expect an carry dismissal. Saturdays at 8:30.