4B
Mondav. August 23, 1993
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
A new set of TV shows lights up the fall season
The Associated Press
Surprise! The new fall TV lineup isn't that bad.
This is startling news, particularly at a time when the networks are playing it safer than ever.
Of course, you may not agree. But see for yourself.
SUNDAY
ABC
"LOIS & CLARK THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN" (premières Sept. 12)
Billed as a romantic, action-adventure series with comedic overtones,
"Lois & Clark" stars Dean Cain as a funky but very boyish Man of Steel and Teri Hatcher as a '90s Lois Lane.
"SEAQUEST DSV" (premiers Sept.
12):
Hang onto your roving submersible vehicles, folks. This futuristic tale is about mankind's retreat from a despoiled earth into the sea. And its executive producer? Just a guy named Steven Spielberg.
"TOWNSEND TELEVISION" (pre-
mières Sept. 12).
This one-hour variety show starring actor-director Robert Townsend is virtually unwatchable.
In addition to acting in the sketches, Townsend sings with the singers. This show is only an hour? Funny, it seems a LOT longer.
"LIVING SINGLE" (premieres Aug. 22).
This is pure sitcom hell.
Fap star Queen Latifah makes henstar debut in a sitcom about four upwardly mobile black women "in search of love and success in New York City."
"DADBY DEAREST", (premiers)
Sent 51.
The premise is that newly divorced son (Richard Lewis), a psychotherapist, no less, allows his father to move in with him after his parents' marriage breaks up. It's a false conflict, with enervated dialogue and characters who are airless and mean.
MONDAY
"Dave's World."
CRS
"DAVE'S WORLD" (premiere Sept. 20)
The sitcom is based on the writing and life of newspaper humor columnist Dave Barry.
Dave is 40 and having trouble growing up...and he is not sure he wants to. That's about as funny as it gets on
"Dave's World" seems to be based more on the persona of its star, Harry Anderson.
That's about as funny as it gets on
Here, Anderson is simply the free-wheeling Judge Stone out of his robes and into family life.
TUESDAY
"PHENOM"(premieres Sept.14):
"Phenom" is about 14-year-old Angela (Angela Goethals), who doesn't know if she wants to be special or normal.
A promising tennis player, she has the chance for a scholarship to the Lou Della Rosa Tennis Academy, run by the self-proclaimed "greatest damn tennis coach that ever lived."
A man of sneering egomania, Della Rosa is played to a turn by William Devane. But he meets his match in Angela's mother (played by Judith Light), who doesn't want tennis to take over her daughter's life.
NYPD BLUE" (premiers Sept. 21): In a season marked by rampant tinnidity, "NYPD Blue" creator Steven Bochco has taken heat and second-guessing for little more than refusing to retreat from ground he broke years ago with his much-honored "Hill Street Blues" and "L.A. Law."
Well-written, and well-acted by David Caruso and Dennis Franz, it is a solid and gritty police show.
"SAVED BY THE BELL THE COLUMBINE"
1947, 5th ed.
A particular trio of guys — Brown Hair, Blond Hair and a Geek— have graduated from high school and entered college.
Reprising their roles from the original Saturday morning series. Mark-Paul Gosselair (as Zack), Mario Lopez (as A.C.) and Dustin Diamond (as Screech) are a lesson in the Platonic ideal of higher education: talking about girls, trading wiscracks with girls and getting nowhere close to a classroom.
"JOHN LARROQUETTE" (previews
Sent. 2, premiers Sent. 7)
A sitcom about a sleazy downtown bus station whose night manager is a former alcoholic goes up against "Roseanne" over ABC.
But despite its unconventionally dark premise and its daunting compe-
tition, "John Larroque" turns out to be a ride worth taking.
In his latest nocturnal sitcom, Larroquette does a fine job at fleshing out a lost soul who has come to a bus station seeking his way out, yet whose real obstacles aren't the people he confronts there, but the devils within him.
"BAKERSFIELD P.D." (premieres Sept. 14).
This new show follows detective Paul Gigante (Giancarlo Esposito), a half-African-American, half Italian cop who must adjust to life where he is repeatedly mistaken for a criminal because of his skin color.
What truly sets this show apart from any other comedy on the fall schedule is its handsome cinematic look and, even better, the lack of a laugh track.
sumed死 for 10 years" who resur-
faces and moves in with his former
wife (Shanna Reed), her new hus-
band (Perry King) and the daughter
he never knew (Alex McKenna).
WEDNESDAY
"THEA" (previews Sept. 8, 10 and
15, premiers Sept. 22):
ABC
Standup comedian Thea Vidale can play a proud, cheerful, scrappy, loving single mom.
Thea has two sons, played by genial young actors Adam Jeffries and Jasson Weaver.
"JOE'S LIFE" (premieres Sept. 22; preview not available)
Peter Onorati ("Civil Wars") stars with Mary Page Keller ("Camp Wilder") as an unemployed auto mechanic who chooses to stay-at-home while his wife works.
"GRACE UNDER FIRE" (premiere
Sept. 22);
Standup comedian Brett Butler stars as Grace, a recent divorcee who's struggling to raise three kids, and maybe have a nice date once in a while.
"THE NANNY" (October premiere to be announced):
"MOON OVER MIAMI" (previews
Sept. 15; premières Sept. 22);
This romantic comedy stars Bill Campbell ("The Rocketeer") as a witty, handsome private eye who is teamed with pert, rich runaway Ally Walker. Of course, He and She fight like cat and dog, but ... there's this SEX thing...
This one's a winner.
Fran Drescher stars as the nanny to the three spoiled children of a successful Broadway producer (Charles Shaughnessy).
"SOUTH OF SUNSET" (October premiere to be announced; preview not available):
Former Eagle Glenn Frey plays a private eye ex-mudio security chief who teams with sidekick Aries Spears for action and adventure.
"THE TROUBLE WITH LARRY"
(premieres Aug. 25; preview not available)
Bronson Pinchot, from "Perfect Strangers," stars in a comedy about "an adventurer, missing and preit's a clever premise, because the conflicts that derive from multigenerational families are familiar to just about everyone.
CBS
"NOW" (premiered Aug. 18):
A weekly newsmagazine with
Nightly News' anchor Tom Brokaw
and a staff of writers.
"MISSING PERSONS" (previews Aug. 30 and Sept. 9; premieres Sept. 23)
THURSDAY
ABC
Breathtakingly simple in concept, "Missing Persons" stars Daniel J. Travanti as the head of the Chicago Police Department's Missing Persons Bureau.
Perfect for the current non-violent demands, "Missing Persons" has plenty of human drama with minimal need for rough stuff.
Nothing highbrow or innovative here. Just solid storytelling.
CRS
"ANGEL FALLS" (premieres Aug.
6; preview not available):
This one-hour drama focuses on a single mother who returns to her hometown of Angel Falls after a long absence, searching for a more peaceful life for herself and her teenage son.
TASK 13 (principle except 10)
Why not leave well enough alone?
"Fraser" straps a character with proven appeal into the straitjacket of a needlessly contrived and stifling premise.
Leaving behind his bar buddies and broken marriage in Boston, psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) returns to his native Seattle to host a radio show and pursue an urbane and self-absorbed bachelor's life.
FOX
THE SINBAD SHOW* (premiers
Sept. 16; preview not available)
This sitcom stars actor-comic Sunbad as a successful video game designer and swinging bachelor when he takes in two deserl kids.
FRIDAY
ARC
"BOY MEETS WORLD" (premiers
Sept. 24)
William Daniels ("St. Elsewhere") plays a fussy old teacher, and Ben Savage plays a normal, 11-year-old boy learning about life. There is nothing original or even memorable, however, in this formulac three-camera sitcom from Disney.
"IT HAD TO BE YOU" (premiers Sept. 24):
Faye Dunaway and Robert Urich strike sparks in this sweet, romantic comedy with strong family values.
They have nothing in common except good looks, kind hearts and a tremendous attraction for each other.
"FAMILY ALBUM" (premières Sept.
24);
Peter Scolari finally gets the star turn he deserves in this wry, domestic comedy, playing opposite the formidably talented Pamela Reed.
*AGAINST THE GRAIN* (previews Sept. 30; premieres Oct. 1);
John Terry plays Ed Clemons, a former high school football star who gives his insurance business to his wife, Maggie (Doona Bullock), so that he can coach his hometown prep team.
A slender premise, but it's saved by strong writing and superb performances from Terry, Bullock and Ben Afflec.
FOX
"THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY. JR." (previews Aug. 27; premieres Sept. 3).
This dark, wonderful Western is the most fun on horseback since "The Wild Wild West."
Bruce Campbell plays a 20th century man in the late 19th century West
This is a wonderful reason to stay home on a Friday night.
"THE X-FILES" (premiers Sept.
10):
it's a suspenseful thriller aimed at young adults looking for different kinds of TV entertainment.
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson star as a team of FBI agents working on a group of the bureau's toughest unsolved cases.
At every turn, "X-Files" surprises and delights.
SATURDAY
ARC
"GEORGE" (premiere to be announced)
One of the season's major miscalculations, "George" must have seemed like a sure-fire Nielsen KO, but he hits the canvas from the first moment.
Poor Foreman. He is cast in what the public calls "a tailor-made role" as George Foster, a retired ex-boxer. He's disply miscast.
"PAULA POUNDSTONE" (premiere to be announced; preview not available):
Well, it's no wonder a preview wasn't available. Billed as an irreverent and spontaneous variety hour, this show, hosted by the standup comic, will be broadcast live.
CBS
"HARTS OF THE WEST" (premieres Sept. 25);
Beau Bridges, one of those actors good you forget how wonderfully good he really is, plays a disgruntled Chicago husband and father who, after suffering a heart attack, buys a ranch out west to fulfill a lifelong dream.
NBC
THE MOMMIES (previews Sept. 18;
promises Sev. 25)
They call themselves "real women with real children and real bodies" (by which they mean, not exactly Christie Brinklevs')
Laughing and quipping their way through life's tribulations. Marilyn Kentz and Caryl Kristensen play nextdoor neighbors who seem scarcely evolved beyond Phyllis Diller's chaotic homemaker of a quarter-century ago.
{"CAFE AMERICAIN" (previews) Sept 18; premieres Sept. 25):
Valerie Bertinelli proves herself a pretty good comedian, and "Café" turns out to be a better than average sitcom.
Recently divorced and looking for a fresh start, wide-eye Holly Aldridge (Bertinelli) moves from her native Minneapolis to Paris, looking to "smoke cigarettes, drink absinthe and date artists."
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