Richmond Times-Dispatch from Richmond, Virginia • 56

F4 'Richmond Ttmei-DlspaicK Saturday' lanuaiy X' 1995 TELEVISION New networks and old mistakes bringing fresh shows to the tube wenty new TV series will premiere cm broadcast TV this month What gives? Two new networks making their debut and two existing networks scrambling to recover from mistakes made in the till what The newcomers are United Paramount Network and WB although don't take the term network seriously yet UPN to be carried by WRLH-Channel 35 is premiering with two nights of programs WB (short fen: Warner Bros) Douglas carried by WAWB-Chan- DURDEN nel 65 opens with one night But hey how View Fox started and look Points where it is now Actually maybe right now a good time to see where Fox is Unlike such high-profile series as and the fourth network had UNITED MMMOUNT NETWORK EYE IN THE SKY Sir Mbt-A-Lot has the tKfe rate as URN'S mystari-i nhn arsna I Yiim ttmnih thniiaanifa nf iurwilanre ruinrai The sarins 10 pnv Ian 21 on WRtHOiannei 35 much luck with the shows it hundred this fall That's why beginning tomorrow see two new series on the schedule and of plus reruns of CBS is also having second thoughts adjusting its schedule to accommodate three new comedies all of which premiered this week Although less dramatically ABC and NBC are retooling their schedules as well UPNs biggest news and it may be the biggest news of all the January newcomers is the latest addition to the Star Trek franchise "Star Irak: The hour-long science-fiction series has received much publicity partly because of its magic two first words partly because original star Genevieve Bujold backed out at the last minute Her replacement is Kate Mulgrew who days first female captain Nationally the science-fiction series makes it debut cm UPN affiliates with a two-hour premiere cm Jan 16 But its local premiere be until 4 pm Jan 22 preceded by three hours of the best of Trek: The Next After that it will air at 6 pjn Sundays UPN1 five new series will be carried in Richmond by a station that is already a Fox affiliate Therefore WRLH must schedule the UPN show where it can Also from UPN with Channel 35 times and premiere dates are: (4 pm Jan 21) starring Richard Grieco the former star of "21 Jump and He plays a carpenter who moves to Hawaii after inheriting his late mission in life dispensing markers with the promise that they can be redeemed for help Gates McFadden formerly of Trek: The Next plays his young step-mother -ni (10 pm Jan 21) UPNs third hour-long series Set among the casinos and nightclubs of Las Vegas it stars rap artist Sir Mix-A-Lot as the mysterious watcher of the title a man who keeps tabs on the city through thousands of surveillance cameras "Platypus MaaF (10 pjn Jan 29) featur rnvanu children take advantage of the situation while their 8-year-old gives dad his stuffed bunny Mr Floppy Why is Mr Floppy important? Because he has the voice of Bobcat Goldthwait which premieres with a special one-hour episode at 9 features a large cast playing the men and women who work out in or who run a fitness dub in New upper East Side Shannon Kenny stars as the 25-year-old president of Survival Gyms (she inherited the company from her much older husband) Dan Gauthier plays her stepson and lust interest Other cast members indude Mi- chael Boatman as a opportunistic lawyer and Alan Ruck as a psychiatrist who keep a secret Raunchy dialogue is an essential ingredient "lb Parwt starring Robert Townsend as the parent of four children premieres at 8:30 pm Jan 18 Ever moves to 9 followed by at 9:30) In this lode at parenting in the 908 Townsend plays a communications professor while Suzzanne Douglas (days his wife a law student If the new series from WB and UPN ing Richard Jeni as the latest stand-up comic to get his own series Following the show-within-a-show concept perfected by Jeni plays the host of a New York TV cooking show who talks more about being single in the 90s than about omelettes (10:30 pjn Jan 29) an ensemble comedy whose five dissimilar bachelors and tme dog assemble in a two-bedroom New York apartment Poor pooch These young men apparently have decent jobs including that of assistant district attorney a medical resident and an advertising executive but they lack basic hygiene drills WB is going strictly for laughs with its initial night of programming which wfll be carried from 8 to 10 pjn Wednesday on Channel 65 That helps explain why its on-air mascot is a frog "nsTfayras at 8 pjn stars the youngest two brothers of the Wayans family Shawn and Marlon who will portray Shawn and Marlon Williams bothers with different approaches to life and responsibility Ttekapdly Enr at 8:30 pjn as its title suggests is a comedy about a couple (Stephanie Hodge and Geoff Pierson) going through a bitter divorce Their teen-age cm NETWORK BUSY DADDY Hobart Townsend plays Robort Fstoraon professor and father of our In NBY "The Reran! 8:30 Wednesdays on VKAWB-Channol 65 PLEASE SEE VIEW PAGE F32 Network series need bad breath and dirty dishes the Connor lifestyle characters actually watch TV plays video games There are dirty dishes in the sink The washing machine breaks An episode last month had Roseanne and Dan delighting at the idea of finishing off Halloween candy real is about small details but the show also spoafa traditional TV taboos Fast episodes have dealt with not being able to find a parking space forgetting where you parked the car at the mall and having to go No 1 when no restroom around But there are also problems Visitors have to buzz Jerry to come up to his apartment and he always opens the door and leaves it ajar How else to explain Kramer always barging in? Real life details have always made comedies memorable such as Archie flushing on in the Will anyone ever forget Julia Sugar-baker tucking her dress in her pantyhose and not realizing it Only on TV do women go to sleep wearing makeup What world do TV people live in? Not ours Middle-class comedies need real details to keep us watching So how crane TV kids never have stains on their clothes or wear the kind of raggedy too-big T-shirts our kids won't give up? Recently the kids came in after supposedly playing soccer They looked dean and pressed enough for a fashion shoot And are sitcom kids the only ones who dutifully scamper upstairs when told to do their homework? Yes The details for adults much better on some shows Two characters wake up from a deep sleep They smile at each other and immediately begin talking their faces a few inches apart Or the man yawns in the face YIKES! a manslaughter charge in most real bedrooms Another first-class annoy er is the sitcom character who tells another I talk to you for a and they move three feet away so another person always seated on a couch supposedly hear what saying The current sitcom reality champ is ABCs is popular because most of us can relate to BYPAULIOMAHTIRE Cox News Service Call TV lies Those annoying bits of unreality we see repeated on network series that are meant to reflect real lives We all have our favorite gaffes that make us howl at the TV live like Situation comedies are not supposed to be documentaries But how many times have you seen the family of six with a quart of milk? Most families buy milk by the gallon because cheaper and easier to haul in from the car How many times have you seen a sitcom character drink a glass of tap water? Or pay fin' something and wait for -change like we do? Count the number of times recently that the sitcom Hrrhen is supposed to be realistically messy A real-life holiday kitchen looks like a grenade went off in the middle of it A TV kitchen has plates neatly stacked and a few dirty pots and pan like at the house on ABC's I PLEASE SEE LIFE PACE F29.