
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, September 12, 1994                   TAG: 9410130023
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Tom Shales
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

AND NOW, FOR THE BEST AND WORST

As usual, there are more worsts than bests among the new fall primetime shows. What's unusual this year is the lack of apparent preparedness. As of press time, several new series, mostly from NBC, were still not available for preview. They are being overhauled as we speak.

From among the shows that have been made available, the 10 titles below represent what seem to be the best and the worst. Keep in mind that the bests this year don't seem as good as in years past, but the worsts are easily as bad. In fact, the worsts may be worse.

The Five Best New Shows:

1. ``E.R.,'' NBC's new medical drama created by Michael Crichton, is a tense, fast-paced look at life in a Chicago hospital's emergency room. Though the series lacks strong central characters (they may get stronger in the weeks ahead), the multiple storylines and documentary feel make it a compelling successor, in its timeslot, to the long-running ``L.A. Law.'' (Special preview on NBC on Sept. 19; then moves to Thursday on Sept. 22)

2. ``My So-Called Life,'' ABC's angsty drama of adolescent life, treats teen-agers with a respect and understanding rare in television. Producers Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, who previously did ``thirtysomething,'' are up to old tricks in a new way, and they have a real discovery in 15-year-old Claire Danes as 15-year-old Angela Chase. (Premiered on ABC in August, getting bad ratings on Thursdays, hanging by a thread)

3. ``All-American Girl,'' the first sitcom about a Korean-American family, benefits from the sparkling presence of stand-up comic Margaret Cho, on whose comedy act the show is based. Jodi Long is imperially impressive as her mother, trying to maintain old-world traditions, and the acclaimed stage actor B.D. Wong plays her wimpy brother. Tart, smart and funny. (ABC, premieres Wednesday)

4. ``New York Undercover,'' from Fox of all people, gives us the coolest TV cops since the buddy-boys of ``Miami Vice.'' But this is an exercise more in substance than in style. Shot on the streets of New York, mostly in Harlem and Spanish Harlem, and produced by Dick ``Law & Order'' Wolf, the show is a model of grit chic. (Fox, premiered Sept. 8)

5. ``The Five Mrs. Buchanans,'' a CBS sitcom about four women who all married Buchanan lads, is notable mainly for the fifth: Mama Buchanan, the brutally blunt matriarch played with waspish regality by Eileen Heckart. They might have called it ``Almost-Golden Girls.'' (CBS, premieres Sept. 24)

And now - gulp - for the worst new shows:

1. ``Wild Oats,'' Fox's dirty comedy about randy young folk - or is it a randy comedy about dirty young folk? - is a cynical attempt to stoop even lower than Fox has stooped before. Coarse, crass, crummy. (Premiered on Fox on Sept. 4)

2. ``Daddy's Girls'' brings Dudley Moore back to CBS for another stab at a sitcom, and stab is what it is - right in the back. This time Moore plays the bumbling and harassed owner of a Manhattan fashion firm whose three grown daughters bring headaches and complications to his life. Harvey Fierstein, the playwright, becomes the first openly gay actor to play an openly gay character in a sitcom - Dennis, a flighty designer - but it turns out to be a dubious milestone under the dreary circumstances. (CBS, premieres Sept. 21)

3. ``Friends,'' a pandering embarrassment from NBC, has been given a primo timeslot: Thursday nights between established hits ``Mad About You'' and ``Seinfeld.'' Thus however lame its misadventures of sex-hungry young adults may be, the show will probably succeed - potentially, the season's least see-worthy hit. (Premieres on NBC, Sept. 22)

4. ``Madman of the People,'' another new Thursday night entry from NBC, gives Dabney Coleman his umpteenth try at a sitcom, but it's a pale shadow of his previous failures. (NBC, premieres Sept. 22)

5. ``Blue Skies,'' from ABC, constitutes cruel and unusual abuse of Irving Berlin's classic ballad, used under the credits. Yet another sitcom about pre-yuppies, this one involves two pals who run an L.L. Bean-like mail-order business and the smart, glamorous woman who signs on as their new partner. Here's one catalog that can go right from the mailbox to the trash can. (Premieres on ABC tonight).

Happy viewing, everybody - and don't say you weren't warned.

Washington Post Writers Group

by CNB