Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 236

solutely terrible. Little of the credit, though, goes to Moore who, as the deserted father of three daughtersmostly just manages to stay out of the way. His absence puts the comedy in the hands of his three funny daughters, and his even funnier designer, Harvey Fierstein. Let's hope he has sense enough to leave it there. (Debuts Sept.

21.) A f) "Blue Skies" (ABC, Mondays I at I've actually kind of I tm a grown to like "Wings" (credit all those USA reruns), but I'm not quite sure why anyone would want to copy it. Yet here we have pretty much the same format: two men (Corey Parker and Matt Roth) running a business (in this case, an L.L. Bean-type mail-order house) while being thrown for a loop by a beautiful woman (Julia Campbell). The set-up for the premise is painfully dumb, even by sitcom standards', they make the woman a partner just because, well, because they do. But if you enjoy "Wings," you may enjoy this younger retread.

(Debuts if if 11 hoping "Madman" finally changes all that. The idea is to let Coleman be his comedically abrasive self at work, where he's a fire-breathing columnist clashing with a new publisher who just so happens to be his daughter Cynthia Gibb), while using a loving wife Beach's" Concetta Tomei) to soften his image at home. What they get from these two halves in the pilot, however, is halfhearted at best: not funny enough at the office, not warm enough (or, for that matter, even remotely believable) at home. Don't give up yet, though. The producers are tinkering with the mix (cast changes, new directions), and may still get it right.

They won't have long to do so, however. "Madman" comes right after "Seinfeld," the kind of spot critics often call "cushy" but which is, in reality, anything but. NBC isn't going to put up with any kind of ratings drop-off in that slot, particularly not if "Frasier" is suffering on Tuesday and needs to come back home. (Debuts Sept. 22.) 1H "Fortune Hunter" (Fox, Sun-II days at 7): Dial.

Carlton Dial. Britisher Mark Frankel stars as a James Bond wannabe in this comic-tinged actionadventure, which keeps its spy electronically linked to a home-based computer nerd. Though the pilot is mildly diverting, high-concept shows like this are notoriously hard to sustain: It's hard to find the right balance between comedy and adventure, and it's almost impossible to hold an action audience used to the spectacular effects of movies like "True Lies." And mind you, Carlton has to find a way to solve those problems while fighting "60 Minutes" and "Earth 2." Even James Bond himself might find that task a bit daunting. (Already airing.) Harvey Fierstein stars in "Daddy's Girls," airing Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. on CBS.

"Earth 2" (NBC, Sundays at 7): No one has seen a lick of film yet 13, i from Steven Spielberg's latest TV different than his "MC" days. (Well, all right, he does seem to have shed that weird duck tail, thank heaven.) In this back-to-nature drama, Everett stars as the taciturn owner of a Pacific Northwest ranch, where he takes visiting dudes on backwoods adventures, being careful to avoid the mountain path that took the life of his favored son, Gary. When Dad gets hurt, he must turn to black-sheep son Brick (Eric Close) for help. Males, start your bonders. Advertisers have picked "McKenna" for an early ax (already it's been dubbed "The Ratings Run Through And, in truth, the dad-always-liked-you-best stuff is a little tiresome.

But the scenery is lovely and who knows, maybe "Medical Center" fans have missed Everett. (Debuts Thursday.) effort, a futurist-world adventure about a band of space colonists sent by a resource-starved Earth to find a new intergalactic home. For that matter, no one has seen a lick of new film yet from Spielberg's last TV effort, "seaQuest DSV," a scifi loser that is currently being retooled in fervent hope of salvage. So how come "Earth 2" is so far up on the list? Because at least it's eagerly anticipated, which is more than one can say about any of the shows to follow and for that matter, most of the shows that preceded. (Debuts Nov.

6.) "The Boys Are Back" (CBS, Wednesdays at 8): Two TV vet- 14. "Me the Boys" (ABC, Tuesdays at Black comic Steve 19. erans, Hal Linden and Suzanne 16. "The Martin Short Show" (NBC, Tuesdays at At press time, no pilot was available Harvey Decomes me latest stana- Pleshette, return as a happily married retired couple who unhappily welcome back to the nest their three grown sons. As anyone who's ever seen "Barney Miller" or "The Bob Newhart Show" knows, Linden and Pleshette are comic pros.

Their presence, and their presence alone, is reason enough to give their "Boys" a second look. After that, though, we may expect more from this sitcom than just "Barney's" and "Bob's" stars; we're going to want something approaching "Barney's" and "Bob's" writing and supporting casts. So far, no signs that they're back. (Previews tonight at debuts Wednesday.) 4 "McKenna" (ABC, Thursdays I at a After a 'on8 absence, I "Medical Center's" Chad Everett returns older, though not all that much for this show-within-a-show sitcom, which was being substantially reworked after a cold early reception. The idea has possibilities: Short plays the star of a network variety show (a gimmick that gives him an excuse to do the kind of sketch work that made him famous).

His co-stars on the fictional variety show are his wife, played by "SNL's" Jan Hooks, and his best friend, "SCTV" alumna Andrea Martin both of whom were added to the show for its second incarnation. Those cast changes have to have strengthened the show, but they haven't answered the $64,000 question: Can Martin Short carry a TV series? His film career would lead one to guess "no," but perhaps he's finally found a ve- Continued on page 18 up to take his shot at sitcom stardom with this "My Three Sons" clone, which casts Harvey as a struggling widower, raising his three boys with the help of his firm-but-loving mother-in-law (Madge Sinclair). Tired stuff, to be sure (the boys looked like they were shipped over en masse from Sitcom Central), but Harvey is an appealing lead, and he and Sinclair have an early, comfortable rapport. Not groundbreaking, but a good companion for ABC's "Full House." (Debuts Sept. 20.) 4 "Madman of the People" (NBC, I Thursdays at Ah, but is fa he? Though he's always been a critics' favorite, so far the people have shown little inclination to accept Dabney Coleman as a sitcom star.

Clearly, NBC is 8 TV WEEK Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.