Dana Carvey's new half-hour sketch comedy show debuts tonight (8:30 p.m., Ch. 4), but I can't really tell you much about it.
The show was taped in New York City just a couple of days ago, which means critics didn't get a chance to see it. Carvey wants to make the humor current and topical, and that's certainly the way to keep from getting too far behind the headlines.We do know that Carvey will be including lots of political humor, that he'll be doing characters, and that this is supposed to be a laugh-a-minute half hour. And Carvey himself is certainly a talented mimic and comedian.
However, there are a few warning signs that indicate that trouble may be lurking for both the comedian and for ABC, including:
-In an appearance before television critics two months ago, Carvey was all but incoherent about what his show would be.
(One wag impishly - but accurately - compared Carvey's seemingly complete lack of direction to an appearance a couple of years ago by comedian Paula Pound-stone, who was also unable to articulate her reason for being there. "The Paula Poundstone Show" was canceled after two weeks.)
-The show itself is going to have the title of a sponsor each week. For example, this week it's "The Taco Bell Dana Carvey Show" and next week it could be the "Tostitos Dana Carvey Show."
Carvey and Co. apparently think this is funny. The fact that it's not isn't necessarily a good sign for the content of the rest of the show.
-The executive producer of the show, Robert Smigel, is being hailed as some sort of comedic genius because, in addition to writing for "Saturday Night Live," he was a "founding producer" of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."
Have you actually seen either of those shows? The writing isn't something to brag about.
-There's also the distinct possibility that, like so many other "SNL" alumni, Carvey is best taken in small doses. (Think Martin Short - not only in his dreadful, ill-fated TV series last season but in any movie in which he plays more than a supporting role.)
Having Carvey at the center of a weekly half hour may wear thin very, very quickly.
On the other hand, maybe Carvey will surprise us all and come out with a whiz-bang laugh-o-rama that will take television by storm.
It's possible. Stay tuned . . .
OVER THE "BORDERLINE": It isn't so much the content of UPN's new alleged reality series "Paranormal Borderline" that's so annoying, it's the way that content is handled.
"Borderline" (8 p.m., Ch. 14) is the sort of thing you might expect to see in some syndicated show buried in a late-night schedule. But, unfortunately, it's UPN's idea of a prime-time program.
Tonight's segments in what's supposed to be a reality series include reports on a woman who insists that she's been kidnapped by aliens, some sort of "monster" that's killing animals in Puerto Rico, a haunted house, a psychic search for a missing woman, a girl who returned from the dead, the abominable snowman.
(Phew! What's left for next week?)
All of this is iffy enough. But when you add ponderously solemn narration from host Jonathan Frakes and silly "re-creations" of these "actual events" - including some ludicrous footage of the "alien abuction" - you're completely over the borderline, paranormal or not, into schlock TV.
As for Frakes, didn't he make enough money off "Star Trek: The Next Generation" so that he doesn't have to take jobs like this?
UPN is on a quest to be taken seriously. But "The Paranormal Borderline" isn't going to help narrow the pseudo-network's credibility gap one bit.
DELAYED AGAIN: Assuming there's actually anyone out there awaiting the return of CBS's "Central Park West," you'll have to wait a little longer.
The young-skewing prime-time soap, from the creator of such gems as "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Central Park West," arrived on CBS last fall with a huge amount of hype - and promptly laid an even huger egg. The network yanked the series off the air after seven episodes, promising it would return in January.
When it didn't show up in January, the network promised it would be back in March.
Guess what - it won't be back anytime this month, either.
As a matter of fact, we don't know exactly when "CPW" will be reappearing. CBS has announced that the show will be re-launched sometime this summer.
We can be sure that when "CPW" does come back, Mariel Hemingway will be gone and - in an attempt to attract older viewers (or any viewers, for that matter) - Gerald McRaney and Raquel Welch will jon the cast.
We can also be pretty sure that CBS has no intention of doing any more than burning off the episodes it committed to pay for. The show won't be back until after the fall schedule is announced in May, and barring some monstrous surprise in the ratings, this summer run will run out the string.