CBS premieres a pair of new comedies tonight - "Dweebs" and "The Bonnie Hunt Show."
And two of television's best hourlong dramas - "Picket Fences" and "The X-Files" - launch their new seasons.(If only they weren't scheduled against each other. Thank goodness for VCRs.)
HANGING OUT WITH THE "DWEEBS": "Dweebs" doesn't sound like a smart show.
But it's a comedy about smart people - and compared to the lowest-common-denominator comedies on ABC, this is Noel Coward.
The dweebs in question are a group of incredibly successful computer geniuses with no social skills. Their leader, Warren Moseby (Peter Scolari), is rich beyond belief - but barely able to speak in complete sentences.
The other dweebs - played by Corey Feldman, David Kaufman, Stephen Tobolowsky and Adam Biesk - suffer from varying manifestions of nerdiness.
Into this milieu walks Carey (Farrah Forke), the new office manager. She's just loaded with people skills but knows nothing about computers.
It's a cute idea, and "Dweebs" is a rather pleasant little half hour. It's not the sort of thing that will knock viewers off their seats, but it's fairly funny.
BONNIE'S BACK: A couple of years ago, Bonnie Hunt came to TV with a very clever, funny summer series titled "The Building."
Unfortunately, the powers-that-were at CBS didn't realize what a gem they had. They tried to make big changes in the show - changes Hunt refused to go along with.
That was the end of "The Building."
But Bonnie is back, and she's brought several of her co-stars with her to "The Bonnie Hunt Show" (7:30 p.m., Ch. 2).
This time around, Bonnie is a television reporter specializing in light, funny features.
And, in addition to the scripted sitcom material, Hunt does unscripted interviews in character that are edited into the episodes.
Tonight's pilot is rather uneven. There's some very funny stuff with Bonnie and her best friend, Holly (Holly Jankofsky). And watching Bonnie on the elevator as she goes to her new job is great.
But not everything works so well. There are a lot of supporting characters introduced who seem to go by in a blur.
The real gem is Bonnie's interviews with young school children. Hunt - a very, very funny woman - is at her best in this segment.
Those two minutes alone make "Bonnie Hunt" worth watching. But the rest needs work.
PRIME-TIME "PICKET": "Picket Fences" returns for its fourth season tonight - and in prime time here in Utah at last (8 p.m., Ch. 2).
And, although creator David E. Kelley has left the show in the hands of new executive producer Jeff Melvoin, this high-quality drama doesn't miss a beat.
Tonight's storylines include Kimberly's (Holly Marie Combs) sudden change in her college plans; Jimmy's (Tom Skerritt) resistence to a change suggested by the mayor (Marlee Matlin); and Max's (Lauren Holly) sudden change in appearance; and Carter Pike's (Kelly Connell) rather sudden near-death experience.
"Picket Fences" remains at once familiar and surprising - a difficult feat for any show to pull off.
CLOSE ENCOUNTER: "The X-Files" (8 p.m., Ch. 13) picks up right where it left off last spring - in the midst of a conspiracy.
Tonight's season premiere is actually the second of a three-parter. And the "X-Files" team is in trouble again. Mulder is presumed dead after apparently being roasted with a box car full of dead aliens, and Scully is suspended.
It won't be giving much away to say that Mulder isn't (quite) dead. His recovery mixes Indian mysticism with the alien conspiracy.
Meanwhile, Scully is in big trouble. Somebody is trying to kill her.
And tonight's episode ends with a darn good cliffhanger.
By the time next week's Part 3 is over, fans will have seen some more clues as well as a close encounters of the third kind - and will be faced with more mysteries.
You didn't think they'd give everything away, did you?