Fall TV clicks.../ and sometimes it doesn't/ New season brings

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Sep 21, 2003 by ROBIN A. ROTHMAN

Whether you'll find any new favorite shows this fall depends entirely on your perspective. Let me ask ya this: how do you feel about novelty? 'Cuz sorry to say, the broadcast network aren't offering a lot of it this fall.

If you're already satisfied with your TV viewing options, you'll view this as a good thing. If you spend more time flipping channels than sitting on the edge of your couch, you'll remain comfortable and bored.

From where we're sitting - a place of such scrutiny it feels like the front row of a movie theater - the prospects aren't necessarily bad.

Of the 36 new shows, a handful are truly entertaining. The season's new series just don't break any new ground the way our precious "24" did a couple years ago.

In fact, almost all of the newbies fall within two tried-and-true genres.

The CRIME DRAMAS are led by cops, agents, lawyers, a man who thinks he's a talking monkey, and a med student who can talk to dead people. The RELATIONSHIP COMEDIES focus on dysfunctional middle- class collectives with twists and, of course, desperate singles.

Naturally, there are exceptions.

Action-packed "Las Vegas" defies placement in either category - though an ex-CIA casino exec does offer a snide "Welcome to the family" warning after discovering his star employee in bed with his daughter.

"Joan of Arcadia" criss-crosses them by being a drama about relationships (specifically the one between Joan and a certain higher being).

"Miss Match" takes a little from column A and a little from column B and winds up with a lawyer as the lead character of a lighthearted dating show.

That leaves Steve Harvey's variety show as the only square peg that can't be whittled to fit into the two round holes. Still, it's not all that innovative.

So whattaya say? Let's switch seats, move back a few rows, and take an wide-angle look at our upcoming prime-time attractions.

SUNDAYS

"Cold Case," A- - 7 p.m. on CBS (debuts Sept. 28)

Just because a case is cold doesn't mean it's unsolvable. And just because a new program is similar to other shows producer Jerry Bruckheimer has on the air these days doesn't mean it's redundant. Katherine Morris ("Minority Report") plays Lilly Rush, a Philly- based homicide detective who wipes the dust off long-forgotten files and takes a fresh stab at solving the murder within. The first episode makes use of some fun filmic devices, such as juxtaposing flashbacks with present day, to tell the story.

"10-8," B - 7p.m. on ABC (debuts Sept. 28)

We meet Rico (Danny Nucci) in a series of chases through his hoodlum childhood to present day, where he winds up as an L.A. sheriff. Flashback to his first year on the force, a place viewers may soon recognize as the place "Oz" alums go when their characters die. Ernie Hudson (once the warden of Emerald City) and Scott William Winters (once Cyril, a mentally challenged inmate) are both training officers. "They say you're either born to be good or you're born to be bad and never the twain shall meet," Rico tells us. With its sharp dialog, mild action and interesting opportunities for character development, this one was probably born to be good. But up against such popular shows as "The Simpsons" and "American Dreams" as well as "Cold Case," "10-8" might have a tough time hanging.

"The Lyon's Den," B - 9 p.m. on NBC (debuts Sept. 28)

Jack Turner is no Sam Seaborn. For "West Wing" fanatics, enough said. For everyone else, Rob Lowe's new character puts him back in Washington, D.C., as a lawyer with a heart of gold. He's a good guy with the odds stacked against him. Not the least of his problems is a senator father doubling as the man behind the curtain. When Turner's mentor, a managing partner at a major firm, dies, the probono clinic- running crusader is bullied into stepping into those high-profile shoes. Until Turner quietly admits to a frustrated police detective that he suspects homicide, not suicide, the build-up is slow. And until this wannabe ensemble cast hardens, Lowe's got a lot riding on him.

"Arrested Development," B - 8:30 p.m. on FOX (debuts Nov. 2)

When Dad (Jeffrey Tambor) goes to jail for playing with the corporate finances, the family is forced to learn how to live well below the means to which they've become accustomed. Sister Lindsay (Portia de Rossi) and her family move in with the sanest sibling, Michael (Jason Bateman), and his son, who dwell in the attic of a model home. It's just as we learned from "The Royal Tenenbaums" - the family that sticks together sinks together. The show's style is a little too weird to determine yet how this will pan out. But the cast is promising.

"The Ortegas" F - 7:30 p.m. on FOX (debuts Nov. 2)

Luis Ortega (played by Al Madrigal) is like an Hispanic Wayne from "Wayne's World." Not the movie, the SNL segment. Instead of a basement, Al's fictional dad, Cheech Marin, builds a TV studio in his back yard. In character throughout, Mr. Ortega, his mother and his wife all co-host from the couch while Luis interviews such real celebrities as Denise Richards and Howie Mandel. If Madrigal had used his real family and gone unscripted with the same set-up, it might actually have been funny.