HERE ARE SHOWS UNLIKELY TO GET 86'ED.Byline: - David Kronke Not only can we tell you about the best programming on each night of the week, but we can do it in homage to the likely fate of many of the rest of the new shows - in 86 words apiece. MONDAY: The stellar cast alone makes Dick Wolf's latest New York story, ``Deadline,'' must-see entertainment. Oliver Platt is in fine, blustery form as a flamboyant yet dedicated investigative reporter for a tabloid newspaper who teaches an advanced college course in his discipline and gets his students to do a lot of his leg work on his latest assignments. (Wonder if that would work for the rest of us (abuse) for The Rest Of Us - (From the Macintosh slogan "The computer for the rest of us") 1. Used to describe a spiffy product whose affordability shames other comparable products, or (more often) used sarcastically to describe spiffy but very overpriced products. 2. ?). Hope Davis, Lili Taylor, Bebe Neuwirth and Tom Conti - fine, distinctive actors all - give him grief at his office. TUESDAY: James Cameron is the true star of his first TV effort, ``Dark Angel,'' which is good, because his lead actress, Jessica Alba, doesn't appear to be up to the job. She plays Max, a genetically altered fighting machine on the lam from her creators in Seattle in the year 2019, a corrupt place and time in which all computer records have been obliterated and the populace is suffering an economic depression. The setting is an intriguing one; let's hope Max can begin to mirror her environs. WEDNESDAY: It's a medical drama, but the template ``Gideon's Crossing'' most emulates is that of ``The West Wing.'' Andre Braugher stars as Ben Gideon, a brilliant yet prickly doctor who's surrounded by quirky aides and interns and is frequently given to the sort of flights of soaring, heart-on-its-sleeve rhetoric that ``WW's'' President Jedediah Bartlet parcels in. Braugher's brilliance, and film (``Quiz Show'') and TV (``Homicide'') screenwriter Paul Attanasio's gift for dialogue and nuanced drama, portend por·tend tr.v. por·tend·ed, por·tend·ing, por·tends 1. To serve as an omen or a warning of; presage: black clouds that portend a storm. 2. big things for this series, easily the best of the new season. THURSDAY: Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel bring all the charm ``The Gilmore Girls'' could want and more. The good news: The conceit - a flighty flight·y adj. flight·i·er, flight·i·est 1. a. Given to capricious or unstable behavior. b. Characterized by irresponsible or silly behavior. 2. Easily excited; skittish. mom plus her serious daughter equal, essentially, two kids against the world - is handled with graceful wit and could play well to both adults and the network's usual teen demographic. (Of course, the WB is the only place Graham could be considered by a casting agent to play the role of a teen-ager's mother.) The bad news: It's on opposite those multimillionaire mul·ti·mil·lion·aire n. One whose financial assets are worth several million dollars. multimillionaire Noun a person who has money or property worth several million pounds, dollars, etc. ``Friends.'' FRIDAY: CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. has a no-brainer with its remake of ``The Fugitive,'' starring Tim Daly as Richard Kimble, a blond doctor who, thanks to a grievous tragedy, discovers he actually looks a lot better as a brunet! Oh, and he's on the lam from the law, erroneously convicted of his wife's murder. Mykelti Williamson (``Forrest Gump'') makes a good foil as Gerard, the detective in dogged pursuit of Kimble, who in turn, of course, is looking for a one-armed man. It seems unlikely he'll locate him anytime soon. SATURDAY: Networks have pretty much given up on this night - ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. and NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. will run movies from Blockbuster's cutout bins - which means this is CBS' night to lose. ``That's Life,'' a family dramedy about a colorful Italian brood held together by smart, savvy Lydia (Heather Paige Kent Heather Paige Kent (born January 5, 1969) is an American actress noted for her television roles. She was born in the Bronx, New York and grew up in Chappaqua, New York. In 1990 she received a BFA from Syracuse University. ), seems a curious lead-in to the redneck butt-kicking of ``Walker, Texas Ranger Walker, Texas Ranger is an American television western/police dramatic series, created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It aired on CBS for eight seasons, from April 21 1993 to May 19 2001, and was broadcast in over 100 countries. ,'' while ``The District,'' starring Craig T. Nelson Craig T. Nelson (born Craig Richard Nelson on April 4, 1944 in Spokane, Washington) is an American actor. He has appeared in numerous motion pictures. He starred in three television shows, Coach, Call to Glory and The District. as a police commissioner mopping up the streets of Washington, D.C., is standard cop fare for the evening's less demanding audiences. SUNDAY: ``Ed,'' about a frustrated attorney who chucks his big-city life to run a bowling alley and pursue his high-school sweetheart in his eccentric Midwestern hometown, has been called a oddball cross between ``Northern Exposure'' and ``Providence.'' It can be a little too self- satisfied with its own preciousness, but coming as it does from Rob Burnett, longtime executive producer of ``Late Show With David Letterman “Late Show” redirects here. For other uses, see The Late Show. The Late Show with David Letterman is a multiple Emmy Award-winning hour-long weeknight comedy talk show broadcast by CBS from the Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway in New York City. ,'' the smart laughs are guaranteed. Effective poignancy, heretofore not proven to be one of Burnett's strong points, will be the big surprise. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) `GILMORE GIRLS' (WB) (2) `THE DISTRICT' (NBC) |
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