Four new series - "The Nutt House," "Doogie Howser, M.D.," "The Young Riders" and "Peaceable Kingdom" - premiere in the three-networks' new-look Wednesday night line-up tonight.
-THE NUTT HOUSE (8 p.m., Ch. 2) isn't for every taste. Its broad and campy farce will appeal to those who remember "Sledgehammer!" and "Police Squad" fondly. But for more serious-minded viewers, the physical humor and slapstick will probably just seem inane. Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman are featured in this comedy set in a posh-but-insolvent hotel, and they are both wickedly funny. In fact, there is one five-minute stretch in the pilot that will have you absolutely on the floor with laughter. But there are also some moments where the humor doesn't work, and the laugh-track in this film series is one of the worst I've ever heard. Still, if you're in the mood for some light-hearted silliness, you'll want to take a quick trip to "The Nutt House."-DOOGIE HOWSER, M.D. (8:30 p.m., Ch. 4) is getting mixed reviews this season, but it has the look of a winner to me. The premise is interesting - a 16-year-old genius starts to practice medicine while struggling with his own adolescence - and the cast is compelling. In the pilot you'll see him go toe-to-toe with condescending surgeons and then giggle with his friend about how he's going to set up his date for his first kiss. In the end he writes in his journal: "Kissed my first girl. Lost my first patient. Life will never be the same again." Created by Steven Bochco, this is an adult-oriented dramady, well-written and acted - a solid addition to ABC's schedule.
-YOUNG RIDERS (7:30 p.m., Ch. 4) continue the return of the Western to television with an entertaining hour about the teenagers who rode for the Pony Express. This isn't "Gunsmoke" or "Bonanza," but there is a lot of action set in gritty realism and portrayed by an appealing young cast. The only problem is, what if the show catches on? I mean, the Pony Express itself only lasted a year or so. What are they going to do here for two or three years?
-PEACEABLE KINGDOM (7 p.m., Ch. 5) is basically for Lindsay Wagner fans only. This schmaltzy, corny family drama tries to be different by setting itself in the Los Angeles County Zoo, where Wagner's character is the boss, mother (to three kids) and big sister (to Tom Wopat). But all the old cliches come into play in a script that is as predictable as the series' ultimate end - cancellation.
-ALSO ON TV TONIGHT: The opening of the New York Philharmonic's 148th season, featuring soprano Jessye Norman and conductor Zubin Mehta, is presented Live From Lincoln Center (7 p.m., Ch. 7); Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan star in the classic 1940s Western, The Westerner (8 p.m., Ch. 11); and Growing Pains (7 p.m., Ch. 4), Jake and the Fat Man (8 p.m., Ch. 5), Quantum Leap (9 p.m., Ch. 2), China Beach (9 p.m., Ch. 4) and Wiseguy (9 p.m., Ch. 5) return for the new season with original episodes.
-LOOKING TOWARD THURSDAY: KSL profiles animal trainer Gunther Gebel-Williams (6:30 p.m., Ch. 5); 48 Hours (7 p.m., Ch. 5) reports on beauty pageants; Lisa Bonet returns to The Cosby Show (7 p.m., Ch. 2) with a husband and a step-child; Emmy-winner Cheers (8 p.m., Ch. 2) returns for its eighth season; William Katt plays a gnarly congressman in Top of the Hill (8 p.m., Ch. 5); Richard Dreyfuss and Amy Irving star in The Competition (8 p.m., Ch. 13); John Ashton and Richard Tyson are an Odd Couple-ish police partnership in Hardball (9 p.m., Ch. 2); and PrimeTime Live (9 p.m., Ch. 4) tours the White House.