Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 87

Prime-time previews SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 1998 STAR TRIBUNE PAGE F7 ASC cn ice fox t- CSS ICSC FCX yj CTH The Nanny I Home JAG Mad About You Kingof theHiH Moesha Improvement i Buffythe TheHughleys Encore! Encore! Costello Clueless Spin City Movie Just Shoot Me Brimstone FeBcKy Mercy Point (2 Sports Night I Working I ET'1 Dateline NBC Local Local Local NYPDBhie programming programming programming And a Pizza Place -kJt (3jJ) To Have 3rd Rock From Party of Five Charmed Star Trek: Carey Show to Hold The Sun Voyager (3 The Secret NewsRado i Lives of Men i 1 3 2020 Law Order Local Local Local I Chicago Hope programming programming programming 1 1 which beautiful, tough females in this case Doherty, Alyssa Mila-no and Holly Marie Combs battle monsters and murderers without chipping their nails. Unfortunately, the trio doesn't have the gift of hip dialogue. The Salem witch hunts don't seem like such a bad thing after all. (8 p.m., KLGT-Ch. 23; starts Oct.

7) irk "The Secret Lives of Women are from Venus, and men are from another galaxy. That's the premise of this comedy about three male friends (including the usually reliable Peter Gallagher) who bounce from golf clubs to work to wine bars without any concept of how women and the rest of the world operate. We're supposed to believe that this is because of their gender. It's likelier that these particular men are just plain stupid. (8:30 p.m., KSTP-Ch.

starts Oct. 7) Ace: Felicity Huff man The hot show: "Sports Night," 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays, KSTP-Ch. 5. Where you've seen hen "The Spanish Prisoner" and other David Mamet projects.

Why we love hen Huffman's character, a sports-news producer, is the toughest, best boss since Lou Grant. Bonus points for being married to William Macy in real life. She'll remind you on Holly Hunter in "Broadcast News." In her own words: "Aaron Sorkin the show's creator has written a woman who's a woman, not a woman trying to be a man. She proceeds in a feminine direction, but she's also in charge." The latest standup comic breaking into prime time is Sue Costello, playing a Boston bar waitress who wants to make more out of her life. But she's still got her Irish dander, as she cusses and catfights her way through life.

Costello needs to step further away from her stand-up routine, but the actors and sets do a decent job of capturing a Boston pub where everybody screams your name. (7:30 p.m., WFTC-Ch. 29; started last Tuesday) irkVt "Encore! Nathan Lane as a washed-up opera star? Sure. As a self-centered baby forced to retreat to the family's California vineyard? OK. But Lane as a skirt chaser? Mama mia! If that was the only problem with the much-worked-over sitcom, we could let it go, but the first two episodes don't have enough juicy punchlines to showcase the considerable talent of Lane, loan Plowright and Glenne Headly.

Still, keep in mind that the creators of "Frasier" are running the show and that it has the most tal Beverly Hills 90210 friends, gossiping with high-school chums, bickering with Mom left me cold. Yeah, hope floats, but so does wood. (7:30 p.m., WCCO-Ch. starts Sept. 30) "To Have to A detective (Jason Beghe) and lawyer (Moira Kelly) battle in the courtroom, then make up in the bedroom in this contrived drama that must think combining law, action, crime and romance has to lead to something good.

Too bad they didn't toss smart dialogue into the mix. (8 p.m., WCCO-Ch. starts Sept. 30) ShannenDo-herty is back as the pouty leader of three Spiceless Sisters who dis- cover they're sorcerers. This is obviously an attempt to cash in on the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Scream" franchises, in CBS ICC i Big Event Sunday The Minutes by an Angel Dateline NBC Movie Movie Dateline NBC ABC slightly nuts and killed the man who raped his wife, then got killed himself and was sentenced to hell.

But there's been a breakout down under, and Stone is given a second chance: Recapture all 113 evildoers, and you can move upstairs. Horton tries to play it cool, but ultimately comes across as bored. After watching the first hour, you can't blame him. (8 p.m., WFTC-Ch. 29; starts Oct.

27) Some are calling this "Ally McBeal Goes to College," but Felicity has more important things to do than dance with computerized babies. As our college-bound heroine, she's one of the rare TV teenagers who isn't a pouty model. Not that actress Keri Russell isn't adorable. But she's also confused, smart, scared, lonely and foolhardy. Some of the narration and situations get sappy, but when you're in love, it's hard to be critical.

(8 p.m., KLGT-Ch. 23; starts Sept. 29) Early Edition Wind on Martial Law The Pretender "Seven Most time-travel shows are a bum trip. But the latest attempt, starring Anthony LaPaglia's equally hunky brother Jonathan, is light years ahead of the rest. The setup is ridiculous: A CIA agent sentenced to a psychiatric unit is chosen to "do the time warp" to thwart a presidential assassination and avert his son's death.

But the execution and sexy actors make this smart sci-fi. (7 p.m., KMSP-Ch. starts Oct. 7 with a two-hour movie) "Maggie In a plot resembling the summer movie "Hope Floats," a woman who was hot stuff in high school returns to her small town to live with Mom after her marriage falls apart. "Murphy Brown" alum Faith Ford is a cheerful heroine, but following Winters' adventures in Hicks-ville making out with old boy ASC Wonderful World of Disney i 60 Touched 521 2020 am 351 The Practice em "Holding the Jon Patrick Walker plays a salesman who doesn't know how many years he's been married or whether his child's teeth have come in.

Even worse, he thinks potty jokes are hilarious. Any surprise when his wife dumps him? The only tolerable character in this whole mess is the baby, who has the brains to keep his mouth shut. (6:30 p.m., WFTC-Ch. 29; started Aug. 23) "That 70s Farrah Fawcett-Majors posters, pizza rolls, the gas crisis, leisure suits, the Captain Tennille: images that make us giggle and moan, which is the likely reaction you'll have to this slapstick sitcom about teenagers surviving the '70s.

Think "The Wonder Years" on weed. (7:30 p.m., WFTC-Ch. 29; started Aug. 23) irtckH "The Army This shameless attempt to modernize "The Phil Silvers Show" is the season's most laugh-challenged sitcom. The most amusing moment in the pilot was when one of the characters tripped over his own feet.

If only he wouldn't get up. By the first commercial, you'll be praying that Canada invades. (8:30 p.m., KLGT-Ch. 23; started Sept 13) Zero stars Ace: Jonathan LaPaglia The hot show. "Seven Days," 7 p.m.

Wednesdays, KMSP-Ch. 9. Where you've seen him: "New York Undercover" or a London emergency room. He's a certified doctor and practiced medicine until he joined his older brother, Anthony, in showbiz. Why we love him: Heartbreaker and heart healer.

He'll remind you oft Mel Gibson In his own words: "I'd rather act a cop than a doctor," he told the New York Daily News in 1996. "It would just seem kind of weird pretending to be a doctor when you are one." UPN Photo pox World's Funniest i 7th Heaven (reruns) Holding the Baby TheShnpsons Sister, Sister That 70s Show Smart Guy TheX-Fles Unhappily Ever After The Army Show Local programming Local programming Photo "Mercy Imagine the "ER" doctors treating patients from a "Star Wars" bar, and you've got the idea. The network sent over only half of a pilot, and reportedly that's being scrapped. Not good vital signs, but with Joe Morton on the staff as an alien-treating doctor, an amazing recovery is possible. (8 p.m., KMSP-Ch.

starts Oct. 6) Not rated "Sports The season's most sophisticated new sitcom is set, of all places, behind the scenes of a 24-hour sports station. Instead of a bunch of jock talk, writer Aaron Sorkin Few Good has scribbled out the kind of fast-paced, crackling dialogue one usually hears in Preston Sturges movies. The anchors (Peter Krause and Josh Charles) look and act like sports anchors, and their producer (Felicity Hiiffman) is a no-nonsense boss you can love. One problem: The first two episodes fumble into sappiness.

Still, this is one worth rooting tor. (8:30 p.m., KSTP-Ch. starts Tuesday) Water Cops Cops America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back Local programming Ace: Sammo Hung The hot show. "Martial Law," 8 p.m. Saturdays, WCCO-Ch.

4. Where you've seen him: Hong Kong kung-fu movies. Why we love him: He's a forty-something, 225-pound, 5-feet-7 man who could kick Steven Seagal's behind. He'll remind you of. Jackie Chan's sensible older brother.

In his own words: "I asked my father, 'Hey, father, why you so It made me fat, too, you know? Because my father is very fat. So one of the things I'm very happy about is I can still move, you know?" CBS Photo more charming place. Jeremy Piven plays a Don Juan DeGrou-cho who claims he's Cupid and will be allowed back among the gods only if he matches up 100 couples without the use of magic arrows. Paula Marshall is the no-nonsense psychiatrist who must decide whether he's erratic or Eros. If the writers can keep the show from become a dramatic version of "The Dating Game," this could be true love.

(9 p.m., KSTP-Ch. starts Saturday) -Htirk ented cast on any new sitcom. Perhaps it will improve with age. (7:30 p.m., KARE-Ch. 11; starts Tuesday) irk "The Darryl Hughley (D.L Hughley) suffers from George Jefferson-itis.

This is that TV disease in which successful black men get extremely defensive about their success and color. They are convinced that all white folks around them have hoods in their closets. This paranoia seems dated, but the cast is likable, and Chris Rock, one of the funniest, smartest comics around, is an executive producer. That makes it worth keeping an eye on. (7:30 p.m., KSTP-Ch.

starts Tuesday) irkVt Zeke Stone (Peter Horton), sporting a sleepy look and even sleepier wisecracks, acts like he just rose from the dead. Actually, he has. New York's most-decorated detective, he went rai America's Funniest Home Videos GEDI Fantasy Island mi CupM i i "Wind on Bo knows beaches. Unfortunately, Bo Derek doesn't know much about acting, a fact brought painfully home in this tropical soap opera that makes "Dallas" look like Shakespeare. Derek is the mother of two daredevil boys who share her Colgate smile and lack of thespian skills.

There's lots of beautiful scenery besides Derek from snowy mountains to gorgeous waves, but you'd be better off subscribing to National Geographic. (7 p.m., KARE-Ch. 11; starts Saturday) "Fantasy Malcolm McDowell, with a shock of white hair and beady eyes, plays Mr. Roarke as part game-show host, part devil in this fast-paced, wicked update of the '70s hit. One gets the sense that the island visitors aren't there to learn lessons, but rather to be punished.

If guiding force Barry Sonnenfeld could turn up the sinister tone, this could be a dream. (8 p.m., KSTP-Ch. starts Saturday) V4 "Martial We received only 30 minutes of this hour-long action drama, but what we saw was a kick. Martial-arts expert Sammo Hung, a chubby, older Hong Kong movie star who still is Walker, Texas Ranger Profiler learning English, holds court over some of the most exciting action scenes ever done for a TV series. Unfortunately, the supporting cast's acting and dialogue provide a karate chop to the brain.

(8 p.m., WCCO-Ch. starts Saturday) irkVt Prime-time romance these days usually settles for forbidden affairs, paperback plots and Tori Spelling. How sweet it is that this show has its heart in a jj Fox Photo Grace The hot show "That '70s Show." Where you've seen him: Nowhere, unless you've got a jones for high-school plays in Connecticut. Why we love him: He wears bell bottoms, listens to Todd Rundgren and streaks in front of President Gerald Ford. Far out.

He'll remind you on Richie Cunningham. In his own words: "I had to grow my hair out this summer for the show, and 1 almost killed myself." a.