Fox, attempting to build on the success of its Thursday night hit "The Simpsons," debuts a pair of series tonight - and neither is much to get excited about.
The drama "The Heights" is certainly the better of the two, although it doesn't come close to living up to its title.And the sitcom "Martin" is another embarrassingly bad attempt to shoehorn a standup comic into a situation comedy. It's terrible.
- Martin (7:30 p.m., Ch. 13) is the latest in an increasingly long line of really crummy sitcoms that Fox has programmed after "The Simpsons" on Thursday nights.
First there was "Babes," which was pretty bad. Then there was "Drexell's Class," which was even worse.
Now there's "Martin," which is downright awful.
It looks like one of the worst sketches on "In Living Color," dragged out over a half-hour.
Martin Lawrence, whose R-rated standup act has been toned down here, is out of his league as the star of a sitcom. He plays the title character, a strutting, obnoxious, male-chauvinist talk-radio host who allegedly has a sensitive side.
Lawrence plays sensitive as whining. He's manic and energetic, but he's no actor.
And that becomes triply important because he plays two other parts - Martin's mother and the female floozy across the hall. (Both female characters have mustaches, surprisingly enough.)
It's a gimmick that's supposed to be funny but ends up being stupid.
The Fox promotional material describes Martin's girlfriend, Gina (Tisha Campbell), as "straight-laced." This despite the fact that, when we first meet Gina, she's getting dressed in Martin's apartment after having spent the night there.
(Sort of explains a few things about Fox, doesn't it?)
The writing here is sophomoric and stupid. Tonight's debut revolves around Martin's sexist attitudes and a battle with his girlfriend, in what promises to be a continuing theme.
And they've confused volume with humor here. Apparently, the thinking was, "If we say our lines real loud, maybe no one will notice they aren't funny."
The key to the success of a television series is the likability of the characters. And Martin and his pals are people you'd never let into your living room.
"Martin" is a turkey of the first magnitude.
- The Heights (8 p.m., Ch. 13) is Aaron Spelling's latest attempt to clone "Beverly Hills, 90210."
Spelling, who dominated TV in the '70s and '80s with such masterpieces as "The Love Boat," "Charlie's Angels" and "Dynasty," fell on hard times as the '90s began. For 18 months, he didn't have a single show on the air.
Then came "90210," a surprise hit that revived Spelling's company and reputation.
And Spelling, who's been known to clone shows before ("Love Boat" beget "Fantasy Island," etc.) has been busy cloning "90210" this summer.
First came a direct spinoff, "Melrose Place." And, next month on NBC, he'll unveil "The Round Table."
Tonight, it's "The Heights," which is sort of what "90210" might look like if it were run through MTV.
Like "90210" and "Melrose Place," this show is a continuing drama about a group of very attractive young people learning about life.
(For those of you who thought the prime-time soap opera was dead, it isn't. It's simply taken on a younger face.)
This very attractive group of young people has formed a rock band, which, like the show and the blue-collar, big-city neighborhood in which it's set, is called The Heights.
Despite the grittiness of the setting, this is another extremely glossy show. When the principals aren't strutting around looking gorgeous, they're performing in MTV-ish rock videos.
Unfortunately, there isn't much more depth to "The Heights" than there is to a music video.
The show does go out of its way to show us just how blue collar these people are, however. Lead singer J.T. (Shawn Thompson) - who tends to scream out his lyrics - works as a mechanic. Sax player Rita (Cheryl Pollack) is a dispatcher for a beer distributor.
Stan (Alex Desert), the bass player, helps out at his father's pool hall. Lenny (Zachary Throne), the keyboard player, has no apparent means of support and seems to spend most of his time recording garbage trucks and pool balls to feed into his synthesizer.
Dizzy (Ken Garito), the drummer, works as a plumber's assistant. Alex (James Walters) works in a grocery store.
Only guitarist Hope (Charlotte Ross) comes from a wealthy background, and she seems to be ashamed of it.
The premiere's soapy goings on revolve around Dizzy's discovery that his girlfriend is pregnant and his inability to decide how he'll handle the situation; Alex's romantic pursuit of Rita; and the apparent building of sexual tension between J.T. and Hope.
It's slick, trite and loaded with remarkably cliched dialogue - a description that also fits the music.
But, on the other hand, it's no worse than other shows of the genre.
But it's slightly ironic when one character, talking about the group's need for a new song, says, "We need an original."
That thought was not the basis for "The Heights."