George Foreman is a funny, personable and extremely likeable man.
On the other hand, George Foster - the character Foreman plays in his new sitcom "George" - is a ridiculous buffoon. Unfunny. A big dope.And, worst of all, not in the least bit entertaining.
To say that Foreman is a bad actor would be unfair. He's not an actor at all.
Not that that has hurt the careers of other sitcom stars like Roseanne Arnold, Jerry Seinfeld and Tim Allen, who began their shows without acting skills. But all of them had good writing - really funny stuff - to back them up.
Foreman, on the other hand, has trite, cliched junk that looks like it's already been recycled too many times through shows like "Full House" and "Family Matters."
The premise for "George" is predictable. George Foster is a retired ex-heavyweight boxing champ with a gorgeous wife, Maggie (Sheryl Lee Ralph), and a couple of oh-so-cute kids. Maggie, not content to sit at home amid the wealth George has acquired, works at a school where things can get kind of rough.
Enter George, who has nothing to fill his free time these days. He ends up taking a group of these toughs under his wing and starting an after-school program for troubled kids, where he can dispense advice and give lots of love.
Not the worst premise in the world, but it's so poorly executed it's completely gag-inducing.
The tough, troubled kids here are, of course, sanitized tough, troubled kids. We're talking kids who sass back to adults, not kids who carry guns and knives.
Every character here is a cliched cartoon. The jokes fall stunned to the mat, like so many of Foreman's old boxing foes.
A hooting and hollering studio audience can't hide the fact that this stuff just isn't funny.
Much of the blame here has to go to Tony Danza, the executive producer who persuaded Foreman to do the show. Foreman is doing the best he can with this junk, but even Olivier couldn't make it anything more than junk.
Most astounding is the fact that Danza has been teaching Foreman to act - apparently believing the old adage that those who can't do, teach.
Foreman deserves better. In the right situation, he could become a television star.
But those fast-food commercials he does are better than "George."
After a preview tonight at 7:30 on Ch. 4, "George" moves to its regular time slot Saturday at 7 p.m., also on Ch. 4.
If you're stuck at home on Saturday night, you can find something better to do than watch "George."
NBC ON KSL: The biggest game of the college football season - No. 1 Florida State at No. 2 Notre Dame - is scheduled for NBC on Nov. 13.
However, don't look to the local NBC affiliate here in Utah to find the Seminoles and the Irish. KUTV-Ch. 2 will be carrying Utah at Air Force instead.
But local fans won't miss out - NBC's game will be broadcast locally on CBS affiliate KSL-Ch. 5.
And the sound of chortling you hear is coming from Broadcast House.
According to the folks at KSL, they didn't pursue the Florida State-Notre Dame game - NBC called them. But to say they were happy to pick it up would be an understatement.
There's no conflict with BYU football on that date. The Cougars meet San Diego State in a Thursday night game on ESPN that week.
And CBS isn't balking. It's even allowing KSL to reschedule the only CBS network program set for that afternoon - a Winterfest telecast.
One would think there will be a great deal of interest in the No. 1-vs.-No. 2 matchup - enough interest that the game will quite conceivably draw a number of viewers away from KUTV's telecast of Utah and Air Force.
And in the middle of November sweeps, no less.
It will also be amusing to see staunchly CBS KSL carrying programming full of NBC peacocks.
HOW IRONIC: On Monday night CBS broadcast an episode of "Murphy Brown" in which the fictional network newswoman compromised her journalistic principles by becoming involved in a tabloid story about the "Beltway Madam."
Though not one of "Murphy's" best episodes, it did rather cleverly point out the depths to which once high-minded network news divisions have sunk.
Thursday night, CBS broadcast an episode of "Eye to Eye with Connie Chung" in which the real-life network newswoman interviewed the "Hollywood Madam."
Life imitates art imitating life.
BABY ON BOARD: Before long, Gabrielle Carteris' "Beverly Hills, 90210" character, Andrea - who recently lost her virginity - will become pregnant.
The plot development comes because Carteris and her husband are expecting their first child.
It may be the first time that a college freshman becomes pregnant because she fears her biological clock is running out. (Carteris plays an 18-year-old, but she's 32.)
VIDBITS: Guess who's going to be playing Dave's mother-in-law on the Nov. 22 episode of "Dave's World?" None other than "Brady Bunch" mom Florence Henderson.
- Three former TV doctors are going to appear on an upcoming episode of NBC's "Nurses." Vince Edwards ("Ben Casey"), Chad Everett ("Medical Center") and Larry Linville ("M.A.S.H.") will appear as themselves in the Nov. 13 installment of the show.
- "Beverly Hills, 90210" will get serious on Nov. 17 in an episode that includes an accusation of date rape. The network is keeping the identity of the characters involved under wraps, saying only that "a leading male character is accused of date rape by a woman with whom he has had one date."
- After its debut last week, CBS has already ordered five more episodes of Dick Van Dyke's "Diagnosis Murder," bringing the total to 13. The premiere was by no means a smash hit, pulling a 10.7 rating and a 20 share, but was a big improvement on what the sitcoms "It Had to Be You" and "Family Album" were doing in the time slot.