CRIT-O-MATIC.Byline: David Kronke TV Critic WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU - One star Logline: ``The Odd Couple'' as Valley girls. Energetic, disaster-prone teen Holly (Amanda Bynes) moves in with her reticent, neurotic older sister Val (Jennie Garth) in New York when their father takes a job in Japan. Mayhem of course ensues, but family ties win out in the end. Noteworthy performances: Bynes' gleeful glee·ful adj. Full of jubilant delight; joyful. glee  ful·ly adv.glee gameness at physical comedy suggests a teenage Lucille Ball, but she needs to abandon the impulses from her days hosting her Nickelodeon sketch-comedy show and calibrate To adjust or bring into balance. Scanners, CRTs and similar peripherals may require periodic adjustment. Unlike digital devices, the electronic components within these analog devices may change from their original specification. See color calibration and tweak. her line readings. Still, she seems like a Method actor up against Garth's frantic gesticulations. Originality: Two stars Credibility index: Two stars Laughs per episode: 1. Inadvertent laughs: Jenny Garth's overacting o·ver·act v. o·ver·act·ed, o·ver·act·ing, o·ver·acts v.tr. To act (a dramatic role) with unnecessary exaggeration. v.intr. 1. To exaggerate a role; overplay. 2. inspires a chuckle or two, if not a wince. Who should lose their job: Whoever mixed in the insincerely in·sin·cere adj. Not sincere; hypocritical. in  sin·cerely adv. sentimental ``awwww's'' into the sweetened sweet·en v. sweet·ened, sweet·en·ing, sweet·ens v.tr. 1. To make sweet or sweeter by adding sugar, honey, saccharin, or another sweet substance. 2. To make more pleasant or agreeable. laugh track. Where: WB (Channel 5). When: 8 tonight. In a nutshell: Terribly familiar - and terribly happy to pander to To appeal to (base emotions or less noble desires), so as to achieve one's purpose; to exploit (base emotions, such as lust, prejudice, or hate). See also: Pander its audience (skateboard whiz Tony Hawk appears in the premiere) - the show needs actual humor to garner viewers. Even my 12-year-old stepdaughter step·daugh·ter n. A spouse's daughter by a previous union. stepdaughter Noun a daughter of one's husband or wife by an earlier relationship Noun 1. , a huge fan of Bynes, was lukewarm to the premiere. GREETINGS FROM TUCSON Greetings from Tucson is a television sitcom which aired on The WB during the 2002-2003 season. The series was executive produced by Rob LaZebnik (from the The Simpsons), Peter Murrieta (The Second City), Howard Klein (King of the Hill) and David Miner. - Two stars Logline: The travails of a blended family, with the ostensible Apparent; visible; exhibited. Ostensible authority is power that a principal, either by design or through the absence of ordinary care, permits others to believe his or her agent possesses. emphasis on Latino culture. David (Pablo Santos) has a conservative Latino father (Julio Oscar Mechoso), a whimsical Irish mother (Rebecca Creskoff), a sister/arch-enemy (Aimee Garcia), a cute best friend (Jamie Strange) and a sizable extended family. Noteworthy performances: All pitch their acting at conventional sitcom level, not that the writing inspires anything more; nonetheless, Creskoff elevates her game slightly. Originality: Two stars. (We're in trouble if simply changing the ethnicity of the same old family-sitcom characters qualifies as inventiveness.) Credibility index: One and one half stars. Plots are drearily conventional: Tonight, David's dad buys him an ugly suit for a school dance; next week, David's father surprises him with a semi-rational response when David errs. Laughs per episode: 2, on average, though next week is slightly more amusing. Inadvertent laughs: Well, you almost have to laugh at the witlessness of some of the dialogue. David: ``Mm, shut up?'' Sis: ``Um - you shut up?'' Mom: ``How many times have I told you to say please?'' Who should be promoted: Los Lobos contributes the theme song; if they wrote more music for the show, it almost - almost - might be worth watching. Where: WB (Channel 5). When: 9:30 tonight. In a nutshell: The show works OK in its sweeter moments, but not well at all when aspiring to wit. Ethnicity isn't enough to make this different from any other generic family sitcom. JOHN DOE - Two stars Logline: Think ``The Bourne Bourne, town (1990 pop. 16,064), Barnstable co., SE Mass., crossed by Cape Cod Canal; settled 1627, inc. 1884. Bourne Bridge (1935), across the canal, made the town an entry point to Cape Cod and a resort and commercial center. Identity: The TV Series.'' Mystery man John Doe (Dominic Purcell) washes ashore in the Pacific Northwest. He knows everything - exotic languages, the populations of tiny foreign countries, how to build a bankroll bank·roll n. 1. A roll of paper money. 2. Informal One's ready cash. tr.v. bank·rolled, bank·roll·ing, bank·rolls Informal betting ponies and playing the stock market, how to play piano soulfully - every damn thing under the sun (which he can glance at and know the date and time, to the second) except his name and anything of his past. He uses his unexplained brilliance to solve vexing crimes, and though he's colorblind col·or·blind or col·or-blind adj. Partially or totally unable to distinguish certain colors. , certain items appear to him in color - could they provide a clue to his missing past? Noteworthy performances: The charismatic yet sensitively wounded Purcell could be the breakout star of the new season - if the idea behind the show wasn't so dumb. Attention, show runners: Start building a new series around Purcell and put him on speed-dial for when this show gets canceled. Originality: Two stars (even the title sequence is a direct crib from ``The X-Files''). Credibility: One and one half stars Effectively dramatic moments in pilot: 3. In one, he wins money hand over foot; next, he figures out the whereabouts of a missing girl; last, he solves a crime humanely. Credit Purcell, who makes all this work through his ability to be alternately wryly slick, credibly intelligent and movingly empathetic em·pa·thet·ic adj. Empathic. em pa·theti·cal·ly adv. . Unintentional laughs: 2; alas, they both come at the episode's conclusion, underscoring the unpromising nature of the premise. Where: Fox (Channel 11). When: 9 tonight. In a nutshell: Doe's the ultimate detective. Since he knows everything, he'll easily figure out any mystery tossed his way - except, of course, his true identity. It makes for an inane conceit, comments not at all on human nature and promises much tedious ``mythology'' building in future episodes. It'd make more sense for Doe to simply consider this a ``do-over'' opportunity and enjoy his new-found advantage over everyone else - except that conceit has already been co-opted by two other new shows. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1) BYNES AND GARTH (2) no caption (``GREETINGS FROM TUCSON'') (3) PURCELL |
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