Sioux City Journal from Sioux City, Iowa • 30

4 The Sioux City Journal, Friday, September 16,1994 1 1 Two big deals: Fox's "Fortune Hunter," left, and it). -s CI Vjf Lkl fr fl so)fi I A wotaaoft cms iff: -arwwT i By Bruce R.Miller Journal staff writer 1994 Of the network series previewed, five stand out as memorable. The class of 1 994-95: "Chicago Hope," CBS "ER," NBC "My So-Called Life," ABC "Party of Five," Fox "The Five Mrs. Buchanans," CBS will be i 1 i it I sMl 1 Li 1994-1995 Fall TV schedule New show 2 3 p.m. p.m.

p.m. p.m. 9-10 p.m. Coach Blue Skies NFLMonday Night Football The Nanny Dave's World Murphy Brown Love War Northern Exposure Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Blossom NBC Monday Night Movie Melrose Place Party of Five Full House Me and the Boys Home Improvement Grace Under Fire NYPD Blue Rescue: 911 CBS Tuesday Movie ajfc Wings (Martin Short Show Frasier John Larroquette Show Dateline NBC Fox Tuesday Night Movie Thunder Alley All Ametican Girl Roseanne Ellen Turning Point 0 The Boys are Back Daddy's Girls Touched by an Angel 48 Hours fliiS Now, with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric Law and Order Beverly Hills, 90210 I My So-Called Life McKenna Primetime Live Due South Eye to Eye with Connie Chung Chicago Hope Mad About You Friends mm Seinfeld Madman of the People ER Martin Living Single New York Undercover Family Matters Boy Meets World Step by Step Hangin' wMr. Cooper 2020 I Diagnosis Murder ilBIsliRiB Picket Fences I Unsolved Mysteries Dateline NBC II Homicide M.a'n.TI.s".

The X-Files ABC Saturday Movie TheCommish 1 Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman five Mrs: Buchanans; Hearts Afire Walker, Texas Ranger Empty Nest llSllii Sisters Cops Cops 2 America's Most Wanted p.m. p.m. p.m. p.m.

p.m. p.m. Am Funniest Videos On Our Own; Lois Clark Murder, She Wrote gives ethnic humor prime-time spin. Taken in part from her stand-up, Cho's series focuses on an extended family dealing with culture shock. Look to B.D.

Wong to give "Girl" class. He stars as her anal brother. (Grade: B-) Daddy's Girls (7:30 p.m., CBS) Sooner or later Dudley Moore will wind up in dinner theater. Until then, he keeps trying series' concepts. This one finds him as a clothing manufacturer who wants to be a good dad to three wildly disparate girls.

Harvey Fierstein adds spunk as a gay designer. Stereotypes abound but Supermodel Angela afford television a chance to lampoon an undermaligned segment of society. (Grade: B-C) Touched By an Angel (8 p.m., CBS) Bound to be the season's first casualty. Roma Downey and Delia Reese play angels who try to help mere humans lead better lives. Think "Highway to Heaven" without the subtlety.

No preview tape available. (Grade: Incomplete) Thursday My So-Called Life (7 p.m., ABC) If those 30-year-old actors on "90210" want to know what it's like to be a teen-ager, they ought to tune in to this. Claire Danes is probably one of the best teen stars every to grace television. She plays a high schooler coping with very real problems and very real emotions. It's from the "thir-tysomething" people and it shows.

(Grade: A) Due South (7 p.m., CBS) No season's complete without a fish-out-of-water series and this, this is one of 'em. A Canadian Mountie joins forces with a Chicago cop in order to fight crime. Once the stereotypes are exhausted, what's left? A field trip to Winnipeg? (Grade: C) Friends (7:30 p.m., NBC) It's got a great timeslot, a dandy director and some talented stars. So why is "Friends" so boring? Think: Packaging. Someone tossed successful elements into a computer and decided this is what the "Seinfeld" crowd would love.

Don't bet on it. Too many friends hang together, sharing inconsequential problems with other self-absorbed Gen Xers. Expect someone to leave before Year Two. The small circle of friends is just too crowded. Matthew Perry, Courtney Cox and the ditz from "Mad About You" are among the faithful.

(Grade: C) McKenna (8 p.m., ABC) Robert Conrad must have been busy. Why else would ABC haul Chad Everett out to the great outdoors, make him a demanding dad and give him lines excised from "A River Runs Through You know it's bad when the scenery deserves screen credit. (Grade: D) New York Undercover (8 p.m., Fox) "Booker in the 'Hood." Enuf said. (Grade: C) Madman of the People (8:30 p.m., NBC) Programmers keep trying to make Dabney Coleman a television staple, but they never cast his as anything but abrasive jerks. This is no different.

Here, he writes an acclaimed column for a magazine run by his headstrong daughter (Cynthia Gibbs). It's no "Buffalo Bill" but it's got a great timeslot and some memorable writing. Could be a sleeper. (Grade: B-) Chicago Hope (9 p.m., CBS) The best writer working in television, David Kelley, has tried his hand at law and law enforcement Now, he tackles medicine and comes away with an emotional, involving story. It's not as technical as its cross-channel rival, but it is riveting and well-cast.

(Grade: A) ER (9 p.m., NBC) Michael Crichton isn't one of the most successful writers for nothing. He knows how to construct stories that draw readers in. "ER" is television's equivalent a weekly novel for folks who don't read. It's more dense than "Chicago Hope," but it's every bit as good. Expect stardom for its cast.

(Grade: A) Friday M.A.N.T.I.S. (7 p.m., Fox) A do-gooder (Carl Lumbly) solves crimes with technology designed to help him walk. (Grade: C) remembered as the year television's envelope sealed shut. No boundary-pushing, no risk-taking, no nudity or profanity. Of the 27 new series, five have children with one or both parents missing.

Toss in "Full House," "The Nanny," "Thunder Alley," "Grace Under Fire," "Empty Nest," "Dr. Quinn" and "Hangin" With Mr. Cooper," and that's an awful lot of no-mommers and no-poppers for one medium to bear. Worse yet, "Chicago Hope" and "ER," the two best dramas of this or any other season, are pitted against each another, almost ensuring the death of one or both. Among the pack struggling to survive: Angels and superheroes, surly, teens and burly senior citizens, amorous Generation Xers and athletes, journalists, Mounties and catalog salesmen.

Veteran stars from Bill Cosby to Cicely Tyson, from Gene Wilder to Dudley Moore have found new homes. And, for the umpteenth time, Dabney Coleman is back trying to make an acerbic character (with a heart of gold) work on television. Producers like Steven Bochco and Linda Bloodworth Thomason aren't checking in with new series, which could explain the dearth of creativity. But there's hope from "Picket Fences" creator David Kelley, new life from the "thir-tysomething" crowd and a Fox drama; "Party of Five," that just might work if it gets a more compatible lead-in than "Melrose Place." Because the days of "premiere week' are gone, previews, "sneak" previews, "special sneak" previews and "double pumps" have all but spoiled the fun of a new season. Still, as last year's "Paula Poundstone Show" proved, a series could be gone before the whole herd is out of the gate.

Among those expected to stray: "Touched by an Angel" and "On Our Own." Then, again, no one gave "60 Minutes" a chance when it premiered and, today, it's the longest-running series on television. Go figure. By day, here are the new shows and, if previewed, a grade. Monday Blue Skies (7:30 p.m., ABC) If owning Eddie Bauer is your idea of heaven, this could be your show. Instead of sharing an apartment, two guys and one girl divvy up a catalog business.

If it's a hit, imagine the product tie-ins. Corey Parker stars. (Grade: C) Party of Five (8 p.m., Fox) "Kids alone" may be the big theme of '94 but here it doesn't come off as gimmick. That's because excellent acting (and a "Gift of the Magi" opening episode) gives it strength. The Monday timeslot, though, is sure death.

Expect a transfer or a mid-season adoption. Scott Wolf as the middle brother looms as one of the year's breakout stars. (Grade: A-) Tuesday Me and the Boys (7:30 p.m., ABC) Just when you thought "Full House" was about as inane as television gets, ABC brings on this series and "On Our Own," two no-mommers that make Bob Saget's little get-together look like Peabody potential. For those weaned on '60s television, this is "My Three Sons" with a stand-up comic taking Fred MacMurray's place. (Grade D) The Martin Short Show (7:30 p.m., NBC) The original pilot was about as dreadful as they get.

Then somebody brought Jan Hooks and Andrea Martin in and things started looking up. What turns up next week is anyone's guess. Martin plays a variety show host who does sketches within the sitcom. Think: Skitcom. Remember: There's only room for one "Seinfeld." (Grade: Incomplete) Wednesday The Boys are Back (7 p.m., CBS) Suzanne Pleshette and Hal Linden can't wait to get all the chickens out of the nest.

Then, one by one, they start coming back. Though the premise is five years late, Pleshette and Linden make dandy parents. Considering "The Nanny" boasts much less, this could be a hit. But don't expect originality. (Grade: C) The Cosby Mysteries (7 p.m., NBC) Peter Falk makes a mint.

Dick Van Dyke makes a mint. Andy Griffith makes a mint. Why not one more cash cow solving mysteries? Bill Cosby plays a retired New York cop who fights crime. No preview was available, but it's safe to assume Mr. is not going to settle for leftover Perry Mason scripts.

Rita Moreno and Lynn Whitfield co-star. (Grade: Incomplete) All-American Girl (7:30 p.m., ABC) In ABC's continuing quest to bring every female comic to television, the network has landed Margaret Cho, an engaging Korean-American who ABC Sunday Night Movie CBS Sunday Night Movie NBC Sunday Night Movie Married wChildren I WJId'oats 60 Minutes Earth 2 Fortune Hunter SeaQuest DSV The Simpsons AP A 4 4 it If" 7 5s SEE SERIES continued on pageC5 Three comedy hopefuls, clockwise from left: 'The Martin Short Show," "On Our Own," "All-American Girl.".