DATE: Monday, March 3, 1997                 TAG: 9703010075

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Larry Bonko, Television Columnist 

                                            LENGTH:  163 lines

THE NEW LINEUP "ARSENIO" BRINGS THE TALK-SHOW HOST BACK IN A WEEKLY SITCOM, AS THE NETWORKS UNVEIL THEIR MID-SEASON REPLACEMENTS.

ARSENIO HALL RETURNS to television Wednesday night at 9:30 on ABC, but he's not the same brash Arsenio who ``woof-woof-woofed'' his way through l,248 episodes of his late-night television show.

No ``posse'' here. No hip wardrobe. No rap. Spike Lee and Magic Johnson are nowhere in sight.

In ``Arsenio,'' Hall has been homogenized into Sitcom Arsenio as he plays a newly married, slightly wimpy co-anchor on an all-sports cable network. You may remember when Hall was an edgy young talk-show host who pledged to ``kick a--'' in late-night TV.

That Arsenio is history. In the ABC sitcom, he's just another nice guy in prime time, a 1990s version, he says, of the Cliff Huxtable character portrayed by Bill Cosby for eight seasons on NBC.

Speaking of himself and co-star Vivica A. Fox, Hall told TV reporters, ``We're an urban couple, kind of the Huxtables before they had Sondra, Theo and Denise. It's the early Huxtable years, the part you never saw.''

Hall and Fox are likable actors who pitch and catch one-liners with the best of them. But ``Arsenio'' doesn't break new ground at a time when viewers with itchy trigger fingers want more than a ``Honey, I'm home'' sitcom.

``Arsenio'' is not even close to being the best in a big bundle of new shows premiering in the next few days. ``Daria,'' a hip animated half hour on MTV, gets my vote among the sitcoms, while ``The Practice'' on ABC has the edge over the other new dramas.

``The Practice'' is the lawyer show that cold-as-marble ``Murder One'' wanted to be but fell short. The difference: ``The Practice'' introduces viewers to attorneys and clients they'll give a hoot about.

Also returning to TV this week: Major babe Jenny McCarthy in ``The Jenny McCarthy Show'' on MTV starting Wednesday night at 10:30.

``EZ Streets,'' a drama on CBS which many viewers found as difficult to follow as ``Murder One'' on ABC, returns tonight at 10 with CBS promising to sum up the previous three episodes at the top of the show.

It pops up again on Wednesday night at 10 in its regular time slot. The show was pulled after a brief trial in October. It's still the same murky series with a twist I hate - the abuse of the Debrah Farentino character by mob weasel Jimmy Murtha.

``EZ Streets'' is as appealing as a root canal.

Two new shows have premiered since the close of the February sweeps on Feb. 26 - ``Crisis Center'' on NBC, starring that nice Kellie Martin, and ``Vital Signs'' on ABC hosted by a shockingly bald Robert Urich - with 12 more new shows on the way in March.

Here's the new lineup in a nutshell starting with tonight's premieres:

``Spy Game,'' ABC, 8 p.m. - This series, which strives to be ``The Avengers'' of the 1990s, pushes ``Dangerous Minds'' out of the time slot and over to Saturday nights at 8. Casting former TV secret operatives Peter Lupus, Patrick Macnee and Robert Culp in the pilot gives the show a campy look. Allison Smith, who looks like she enjoys the hand-to-hand combat scenes, and Linden Ashby star as ex-Cold Warriors in a downsized spy game working for ECHO (Emergency Counter Hostilities Organization). Some fun moments. ``We put the gadgets and gimmicks of James Bond pictures in the modern world,'' said executive producer Sam Raimi.

``Pauly,'' Fox, 9:30 - You've seen him on MTV. You've seen him in the movies and now you'll see Pauly Shore in a sitcom on Fox, the network that good taste forgot. Pauly plays a young dude without a job who still lives at home. Stepmother to Pauly: ``I have bras that work harder than you.'' Shore behaves badly. Next to him, Al Bundy is a Nobel laureate.

``Daria,'' MTV, 10:30 p.m. - This is a gem from the twisted minds that brought you ``Beavis and Butt-head.'' Daria Morgendorffer, 16, is the smart girl who finds B&B's stupidity mildly entertaining. Now she's in her own series - moved to a new town, new high school and circle of acquaintances including her new best friend Jane Lane (``Just because people are clicky and snooty is no reason not to like them.'') and empty-headed cheerleader Brittany Taylor. Any 16-year-old kid who never quite fit in will identify with Daria, who finds self-esteem and respect at Lawndale High. Sort of.

TUESDAY

``Just Shoot Me,'' NBC, 9:30 p.m. - George Segal, who's played Nora's father on ``Naked Truth,'' pops up in another daddy role on this sitcom starring Laura San Giacomo. He owns Blush Magazine. She works there, reluctantly. Lots of one-liners about randy Dad marrying one of his daughter's former classmates. There's a talented cast here with David Spade of ``Saturday Night Live'' and Wendie Malick (``Dream On'') playing wiseguys at the magazine. This is better than ``The Single Guy,'' ``Naked Truth'' and ``Suddenly Susan,'' but no rival to NBC's really good sitcoms.

``The Practice,'' ABC, 10 p.m. - You won't be seeing ``NYPD Blue'' for a while as ABC gives full exposure to this series from the creator of ``Picket Fences'' and ``Chicago Hope,'' and former producer of ``L.A. Law.'' This is an ensemble drama headed up by Dylan McDermott, and set in a small Boston law firm. Said creator David E. Kelley, ``You'll see things in the practice of the law that we never delved into on `L.A. Law.' - the underbelly of law.'' It's a well-written, nicely-acted show about lawyers who don't have it made.

WEDNESDAY

``Temporarily Yours,'' CBS, 8:30 p.m. - Remember Debi Mazar, she of the soaring eyebrows and curious wardrobe who was last seen in ``Civil Wars'' and ``L.A. Law''? She's back in prime time in a sitcom with a neat angle - Mazar plays Deb DeAngelo, a temp who goes from one frustrating assignment to another such as makeup lady in a mortuary. Joanna Gleason plays her boss. Think of Mazar as a young Fran Drescher.

``Feds,'' CBS, 9 p.m. - Look who's back on TV. It's Adrian Pasdar, who made such an impression in ``Profit.'' He was sinister then, and now he's one of the good guys as a U.S. attorney. He's still deliciously dark, however, and a joy to watch manipulating others. A decent drama here with the attorneys and FBI going after the bad guys in tandem. Good cast, too, with Virginian Dylan Baker, Regina Taylor and Blair Brown joining Pasdar. Brown needs to lighten up a bit.

``The Jenny McCarthy Show,'' MTV, 10 and 10:30 p.m. - Sure, she has a great bod and cover-girl face. But does Jenny McCarthy have what it takes to carry a TV show that's a wee bit tougher to do than ``Singled Out''? MTV put McCarthy with an ensemble cast that includes Paul Greenberg, Jack Plotnick, Lou Thornton and Michael Loprette. After a glimpse or two of scenes from the pilot, it appears that ol' Jen can handle sketch comedy. MTV says it will toss talk and music into the mix.

``Arsenio,'' ABC, 9:30 p.m. - Hall is back on the tube after a three-year break, playing a sportscaster working in Atlanta who is newly married to a lawyer played by Vivica A. Fox. This is standard sitcom stuff with jokes about spouses who snore and brothers-in-law who impose. Alimi Ballard plays the relative with a Harvard degree who's waiting for the perfect job while eating his way through the fridge. Nothing to get excited about here - a classic network time killer.

THURSDAY

``Prince Street,'' NBC, 10 p.m. - It's adios to ``Law & Order'' for the next month or so as NBC gives this drama about New York City undercover detectives the time slot. Joe Morton, who's been waiting for the big break to make him a TV star, may have it here as he plays Lt. Tom Warner. While ``Law & Order,'' ``NYPD Blue'' and ``Homicide: Life on the Streets,'' read the rights to good ol' American bad guys, this gang goes against Russian mobsters, foreign arms dealers and South American revolutionaries. The hook here is that these cops get to assume lots of identities.

``Vital Signs,'' ABC, 9 p.m. - It's nice to see Robert Urich recovered from his cancer crisis, and working again, this time as host of a show that's a real-life ``ER'' and ``Chicago Hope.'' Surgeons rebuild a heart from parts of a cadaver. It premiered on Feb. 27. Seeing Urich with the Kojak 'do takes some getting used to.

FRIDAY

``Crisis Center,'' NBC, 10 p.m. (however tonight's premiere episode will air on WVBT along with ``Unsolved Mysteries'' and ``Dateline'' because WAVY is running Atlantic Coast Conference basketball) - NBC is selling this show as ``ER'' set in the San Francisco Assistance Center, where every telephone call is likely to bring a, well, crisis. You'll see a counselor on the phone, saying to a potential suicide, ``Put down the phone. Keep talking.'' Then comes a gunshot. It's an OK if less than convincing drama without ``ER'' 's heart or people you really want to spend an hour with every week. NBC previewed ``Crisis Center'' with a two-hour movie on Feb. 28.

UPCOMING

``Buffy the Vampire Slayer,'' WB Television Network, March 10 at 8 p.m. - Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) comes down from the movie screen to TV to chase the gang with blood lust in this series, which isn't half bad. She's a high school kid by day, a monster chaser by night. What 16-year-old girl won't identify with that? OK special effects here, so-so makeup, and Gellar is highly watchable.

``Social Studies,'' UPN, March 18, 8:30 p.m. - Julie Duffy from ``Newhart'' plays the administrator of a private academy where they bend the rules. She has the hots for the hunky gym teacher. This sitcom focuses on life in the freshman class, where you'll find vegetarians boycotting the cafeteria food. If high school was this great, we'd all still be there.

Other programming changes from ABC: ``Murder One'' will be back starting April 13 as a six-hour miniseries with a story about a serial killer. On Friday at 9:30, ABC goes into the sitcom closet to bring back ``Step by Step.'' In this revival, Bronson Pinchot is aboard as Carol's new partner in the beauty salon. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos

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