Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 23, 1995 TAG: 9508230033
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FRAZIER MOORE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
That night, two networks premiered virtually identical - and similarly awful - sitcoms: ``Mr. Terrific'' (CBS) and ``Captain Nice'' (NBC). This sitcom-synchronicity lasted seven months until, on the night of Aug. 28, both series bit the dust a half-hour apart.
Even so, three decades later much of TV's creative community is still awfully me-tooistic. This is evident as the networks begin rolling out 27 new sitcoms for the 1995-96 season.
Granted, some people are trying to travel off the beaten path. I was reminded of this a few days ago when I saw the pilot for ``Emmett and Earl,'' one prospective series that manages to break loose from sitcom copy-catism.
Not that ``E&E'' escapes the conventions of the sitcom. Anything but. It draws on the classic sitcoms of the 1950s: their simplicity, sweetness, unapologetic silliness. It's about two working-class (though not always working) joes who are trying to get ahead or, barring that, at least get by.
Free of cutting-edge humor, self-conscious irony or breast jokes, ``Emmett and Earl'' is not only funny, but for sheer originality probably eclipses anything viewers can look forward to this fall.
Which is to say, ``Emmett and Earl'' won't be found on any network's lineup. It was one of many pilots pitched to CBS. CBS said no.
There may be life in ``E&E'' yet: HBO has displayed interest in picking it up. For now, however, the TV audience faces another season of numbing predictability - maybe even more so than in the recent past.
One obvious reason is the smash success last season of ``Friends,'' which has spawned umpteen clones of ensemble buddy sitcoms (only television could turn friendship into a tiresome trend).
Yet all is not lost. On the schedule are four new sitcoms that, at the least, seem to have been created somewhere other than on a petri dish.
In two instances, ``seem'' for now is the operative word: No pilot episode has been made available for ``The Bonnie Hunt Show'' or ``If Not For You,'' both on CBS.
But in both cases, the shows have persuasive names attached.
``Bonnie'' comes from David Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company, which (as its sidelined ``Emmett and Earl'' amply demonstrates) is stubbornly insistent on trying new things.
``Bonnie Hunt'' also boasts herself, an improv comedienne who starred in the delightful sitcom ``The Building'' a couple of seasons back.
This time Hunt plays a correspondent for a Chicago TV station, and all of her ``news'' reports will be improvised with ordinary people on location. Sounds risky - and promising. It premieres Friday, Sept. 22.
Premiering Monday, Sept. 18, ``If Not For You'' is a romantic comedy starring Elizabeth McGovern. That is all you need to know, and this: Larry Levin is the series' creator.
No, you may have never heard of him. But Levin has been behind some of the freshest, funniest - albeit shortest-lived - comedy shows of recent years. His latest was the gently madcap ``Bakersfield P.D.'' of two seasons ago.
In short, anything Levin does deserves a look.
There is more tangible evidence - their pilots - to recommend another pair of upcoming sitcoms: CBS's ``Almost Perfect'' and NBC's ``The Single Guy.''
Perhaps the premise for ``Almost Perfect'' sounds groaningly contrived: SHE writes for a TV cop show. HE'S a cop. How will they carve out time from their demanding, sometimes conflicting work lives for love?
What makes this ordinary idea, well, almost perfect is its execution. Stars Nancy Travis and Kevin Kilner are irresistible not only to each other but to the viewer. And the writing zings.
Carve out time for the premiere Sunday, Sept. 17.
``The Single Guy'' begins with an even weaker proposition: a thirtysomething bachelor whose married friends keep fixing him up.
But as with ``Almost,'' that objection is moot thanks to sharp writing and a skilled, attractive and high-energy cast of actors, led by Jonathan Silverman as the fellow his friends want to see walk down the aisle.
``The Single Guy'' premieres Thursday, Sept. 21.
by CNB