BETTER SCRIPTS AND 'RANDOM' MAY HAVE A CHANCE.Byline: DAVID David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. KRONKE TV Critic GIVE ``The Random Years'' points for honesty: It's well-titled, exploring as it does the days of yearning and searching that follow college graduation, in a fashion that is hardly definitive. ``The Random Years'' concerns a group of pals living in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. soon after graduating from college. Alex (Will Friedle) is the earnest one, who actually puts effort into his sundry jobs and relationships. Todd (Sean Murray) is the most amusing character, the overeducated slacker, whose wealth of knowledge regarding minutiae mi·nu·ti·a n. pl. mi·nu·ti·ae A small or trivial detail: "the minutiae of experimental and mathematical procedure" Frederick Turner. is put to good use only by the sitcom's narrative contrivances. Wiseman (Joshua Ackerman) is Todd's opposite, the underachieving doofus doo·fus n. pl. doo·fus·es Slang An incompetent, foolish, or stupid person. [Perhaps blend of doof, fool (from Scots) and goofus, fool (from goof). . Casey (Natalia Cigliuti) is the smart, sexy woman around whom the men's lives circle when they're not busy obsessing about other, crazier women. Next week's episode lands Casey across the hall in the guys' crummy crum·my also crumb·y adj. crum·mi·er also crumb·i·er, crum·mi·est also crumb·i·est Slang 1. Miserable or wretched: a crummy situation in the family. 2. apartment building, amusingly sharing space with swag stolen by the superintendent's brother. Plot lines themselves have yet to reach an acceptable level of inspiration. Tonight's finds Alex and Wiseman sharing equally disastrous dates; next week, Alex tries to weasel out of a bad relationship until he discovers it could help Casey. The cast is OK; the one-liners aren't terribly inspired. A greater sense of focus by the writers may betray the title, but it'd also help the show's long-term possibilities. THE RANDOM YEARS - Two stars What: Sitcom about recent college-grad pals in New York. Where: UPN UPN User Principal Name (Microsoft Windows 2000) UPN United Paramount Network UPN Unión del Pueblo Navarro (Navarrese People Union) UPN Umgekehrte Polnische Notation (Channel 13). When: 9:30 tonight. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Natalia Cigliuti, left, Will Friedle, Sean Murray and Joshua Ackerman plug away, postcollege, in ``The Random Years.'' |
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