IN THE BIZ TWO NEW SITCOMS SEEM SHAKY, BUT AT LEAST THERE'S BETTE.Byline: David Kronke TV Critic CBS's new Wednesday sitcoms complement one another well - they're both media-centric fare headlined by well-known divas. One other thing unites, them, as well - their premises may not have a sustainable shelf life by successful TV standards. ``Bette'' purports to be a backstage look at entertainer Bette Midler's life. The gay fan base, the schizophrenic, diva-like behavior, her dialectically opposing obsessions with food and her appearance, the Oscar she didn't win - they're all punch lines in tonight's premiere episode. And, more than likely, they'll be in many future episodes, as well. There are clever touches - her family and friends have a portable paper shredder at the ready in case a newspaper or magazine has an unflattering word to say about Miss M. And celebrities pop up playing themselves, too - tonight's episode has Danny DeVito inviting her to play his mother on a TV show. As if. Essentially, this is ``The Larry Sanders Show'' made more palatable for mainstream audiences - the pokes at show biz are affectionate, not pointed (Bette converts a Kid Rock song into a swinging scat). And here, Bette's playing herself and as good a sport as she may be, we still won't see her doing anything as surprising as what Larry or his sidekick Hank managed. This limitation probably won't work in the show's favor. Where Garry Shandling hid behind Larry's facade and that allowed him to explore all sorts of outrageous behaviors, Bette's performing behind less of a mask; she'll be constrained to play mainly off what we already know about her, or tail off into irrelevant flights of fancy. (Kevin Dunn plays her husband, who responds to her every manic antic with the kind of beatific be·a·tif·ic adj. Showing or producing exalted joy or blessedness: a beatific smile. [Latin be , ``aww-shucks'' smile usually reserved in sitcoms for women responding to their kooky men.) So far, the writing's only so-so, with easy inside jokes - Bette eschews TV, saying if she had her own series, ``I just might as well kill myself''; she tells a plastic surgeon plastic surgeon A surgeon specialized in reconstruction or cosmetic enhancement of various body regions, most commonly the face–nose, chin, and cheeks, breasts and buttocks; PSs remove fat deposits through liposuction; PSs reduce scarring or disfigurement she has ``a Cher-sized emergency.'' And an old joke's an old joke, no matter how much name-dropping goes on in it: ``I just saw Patti LaBelle with a chicken leg,'' Bette growls at a party. ``Where'd she get that?'' Her manager (Joanna Gleason) replies, ``From a chicken.'' Which prompted my 10-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. to observe, ``This isn't funny.'' Well, parts are, actually, and Midler's more than game, indulging in some wacky physical humor. But the show will need direction and focus, and not a pile of predictable gags, to maintain momentum. Next up is ``Welcome to New York Welcome to New York is a short-lived television sitcom that aired on CBS. The show starred Jim Gaffigan, who played a weatherman from Fort Wayne, Indiana, who then moved to New York and worked as a meteorologist. ,'' which finds Christine Baranski (``Cybill'') playing Marsha Bickner, a neurotic New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of power broker who produces a local TV morning news magazine anchored by a giggly ditz ditz n. Slang A scatterbrained or eccentric person. [Back-formation from ditsy.] (Mary Birdsong) and a breathtakingly narcissistic nar·cis·sism also nar·cism n. 1. Excessive love or admiration of oneself. See Synonyms at conceit. 2. A psychological condition characterized by self-preoccupation, lack of empathy, and unconscious deficits in Ken doll (Rocky Carroll, smoothly funny) so phony and venal VENAL. Something that is bought. The term is generally applied in a bad sense; as, a venal office is an office which has been purchased. he can't imagine anyone actually uttering a simple truth. Into this mess wanders Jim Gaffigan (Jim Gaffigan, surprisingly enough), a weatherman from Indiana (just like the show's executive producer, David Letterman, used to be) whose corn-fed innocence ensures that he looks like he just fell off the turnip turnip, garden vegetable of the same genus of the family Cruciferae (mustard family) as the cabbage; native to Europe, where it has been long cultivated. The two principal kinds are the white (Brassica rapa) and the yellow (B. truck - he wears brown suits, in New York, for heaven's sake. Yes, it's another variation on the condescending ``Midwestern yahoo may look dumb, but he's just brimming with common sense'' rubric RUBRIC, civil law. The title or inscription of any law or statute, because the copyists formerly drew and painted the title of laws and statutes rubro colore, in red letters. Ayl. Pand. B. 1, t. 8; Diet. do Juris. h.t. that Hollywood likes to trot out to lead or bring out, as a horse, to show his paces; hence, to bring forward, as for exhibition. See also: Trot every once in a while to demonstrate that it hasn't lost touch with middle America. Which a show like this, of course, proves it has. ``Welcome to New York'' hasn't quite worked out what it wants to be yet. Part of it is, of course, a milder version of ``The Beverly Hillbillies,'' with Gaffigan essaying the fish out of water in Manhattan's concrete jungle, where his plain-spoken decency is routinely misinterpreted. How long this element will play is questionable - since Jim is clearly at least nominally intelligent, he should figure out Big Apple mores fairly quickly, even if he is a Hoosier hick. It's also a workplace comedy filled with pointed political backstabbing back·stab tr.v. back·stabbed, back·stab·bing, back·stabs To attack (someone) unfairly, especially in an underhand, deceitful manner: : tonight's funniest moments come when Carroll verbally spars with Gaffigan - neither understands the text or subtext sub·text n. 1. The implicit meaning or theme of a literary text. 2. The underlying personality of a dramatic character as implied or indicated by a script or text and interpreted by an actor in performance. of the other's pronouncements - while bits with Sara Gilbert, channeling Janeane Garofalo at her laziest as Marsha's eternally bored assistant, consistently fall flat. It even flirts with romantic comedy, as Baranski's character seems to have designs on the do-little she wants to groom, Pygmalion-style. There's both promise in and further work to be done on both ``Bette'' and ``Welcome to New York,'' but both may face the vexing question of audience interest. Sure, the media is endlessly fascinated with itself, but given ``Action's'' tank job last year and ``Grosse Pointe's'' uninspired ratings this season, the question is whether anyone else is. ``BETTE'' What: Sitcom-ification of the Divine Miss M's life. The stars: Bette Midler, Kevin Dunn, Joanna Gleason, Marina Malota. Where: CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. . When: 8 p.m. Wednesdays. Our rating: Three stars ``WELCOME TO NEW YORK'' What: Sitcom about a Hoosier making his way in the savage world of New York media. The stars: Christine Baranski, Jim Gaffigan, Rocky Carroll, Sara Gilbert. Where: CBS When: 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. Our rating: Two and one half stars CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) no caption (Bette Midler) (2) Jim Gaffigan, top left, Rocky Carroll and Christine Baranki co-star in CBS' ``Welcome to New York.'' |
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