TV'S UNDERACHIEVERS TRIO'S 'BRILLIANT, BUT CANCELLED' - PEARLS BEFORE SWINE OR SOUR GRAPES?

Byline: David Kronke TV Critic

THE ARTS CHANNEL Trio has unwrapped a peculiar present for TV fans - a retrospective of TV series that A) you've never seen and probably never wanted to or B) you loved and cursed the network nitwits when the show was prematurely canceled.

``Brilliant, but Cancelled'' is the name of the series, and, not coincidentally, of the vaguely focused documentary premiering tonight, narrated by Andy Richter (whose own sitcom, ``Andy Richter Controls the Universe,'' if last week's ratings are any indication, could be in danger of joining said ranks).

Tonight's documentary is essentially an opportunity for TV creators to kvetch about how their shows were unappreciated and mistreated by the networks and viewers alike. Some of the shows discussed include ``Action,'' ``Gun,'' ``My So-Called Life,'' ``Bay City Blues,'' ``Freaks and Geeks,'' ``Eerie, Indiana,'' ``Twin Peaks'' and ``Buffalo Bill.''

But the list seems fairly arbitrary, and the film runs far afield, mentioning a handful of shows that technically were never scheduled by a network, so were in no position to be canceled. It also mentions more than a few shows that you'd have to be pretty lenient to describe as ``brilliant'' (``Gilligan's Island''?).

Maybe the producers who are interviewed tonight and the TV critics who champion such ill-fated shows are simply tilting at windmills. Maybe, the documentary kind of backhandedly suggests, TV simply isn't intended to be that good. As Dabney Coleman, who starred in ``Buffalo Bill,'' keenly observes, ``The more intelligent you are, the less you watch television.''

The ``Brilliant, but Cancelled'' schedule:

``Eastside, Westside'' (George C. Scott stars as a social worker in '60s New York): 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. today.

``The Famous Teddy Z'' (about an eccentric Hollywood agent): 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

``United States'' (Larry Gelbart's early dramedy about a messy marriage): 4:30 and 10:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

``Action'' (a scabrous look at Hollywood mores): 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

``The Ernie Kovacs Show'' (one of several of the TV pioneer's experiments in surreal and comic imagery): 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

``Now and Again'' (a retooled $6 Million Man): 4 and 7 p.m Dec. 16-20.

``Kolchak: The Night Stalker'' (Darren McGavin stars as a cheeky, intrepid newspaper reporter battling paranormal evil): 5 and 8 p.m. Dec. 16-20.

``Gun'' (Robert Altman's anthology series about the peripatetic life of a handgun): 6 and 9 p.m. Dec. 16-20.

BRILLIANT, BUT CANCELLED - Three stars

What: Documentary about underappreciated TV series.

Where: Trio.

When: 6 and 9 tonight; 2:30, 6 and 9 p.m. Monday.

In a nutshell: Fond but arbitrarily assembled reminiscences of TV shows that deserved better fates.

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Photo:

(1 -- 2) Trio exhumes short-lived shows this month, including ``Action,'' left, with Buddy Hackett (left), Jay Mohr and Illeana Douglas, and ``Gun,'' right, with Rosanna Arquette and James Gandolfini.