ANCHORS COULD WEIGH DOWN PREDICTABLE 'BACK TO YOU'.

Byline: DAVID KRONKE

>TV CRITIC

Given the talent involved in "Back to You," one is forgiven for expecting a little more than a fairly generic if promising sitcom.

Kelsey Grammer is amusing as Chuck Darling, who's just as self-absorbed as Frasier Crane -- but far more dimwitted. He's a sonorous local-news anchorman who has traversed the country reaching ever-larger markets until a spectacular meltdown, captured on YouTube, sends him scurrying back to Pittsburgh, where his climb to the top began and now ends.

Patricia Heaton co-stars as Kelly Carr, who has remained in Pittsburgh while Chuck's career peaked, then ebbed. Kelly and Chuck shared a furtive fling during his tenure in Pittsburgh, one that, thanks to an endless array of double-entendres, we understand was mutually profoundly unsatisfying (given the ubiquity of such jokes, the show really should be titled "This Just In"). Heaton's Kelly is a little more high-strung and bitter than her character in "Everybody Loves Raymond."

"Back to You" was created by Steven Levitan (whose hit-and-

miss career ranges from "Just Shoot Me" to "Stacked") and Christopher Lloyd ("Frasier," the mercifully short-lived "Bram and Alice").

The scripting here can be painfully obvious, featuring Chuck and Kelly bantering with a foundering fat-guy boss (Josh Gad), a bimbo weather girl (Ayda Field) and an avuncular if clueless sports guy (Fred Willard, who, pro that he is, makes even wan material seem like you should be laughing at it).

"Back to You" isn't bad, but given the talent involved and the evolution of the sitcom itself, it feels predigested and undemanding. The zingers scarcely zing; they're as predictable as the steady flow of the Allegheny River.

Still, one holds out some hope for "Back to You" as it progresses.

With this many pros, they're bound to eventually reach their potential. And episode two boasts an extremely funny turn by Ty Burrell, who plays an ambitious but tremulous reporter who resolves to take an on-air hit from a taser.

Burrell's rattled, jangly performance after the tasering is a concise masterpiece of both verbal and physical humor. With all the big names associated with this show, how ironic would it be if a supporting player stole the show?

David Kronke, [phone]

[e-mail]

www.insidesocal.com/tv/

BACK TO YOU - Two and one half star

>What: Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton star as bickering news anchors with a past at a Pittsburgh TV station.

>Where: Fox (Channel 11).

>When: 8 tonight.

>In a nutshell: More is expected from talent like this; perhaps it will develop.

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Patricia Heaton and Kelsey Grammer have a volatile chemistry as reluctant Pittsburgh news co-anchors in Fox's "Back to You."