ABC is about to trot out some 2-year-old, brand-new episodes of "Ellen." Sort of.
The network, which has yanked "The Dana Carvey Show" off the air for the remainder of the current May sweeps period, is going to fill the Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. time slot with a couple of previously unseen episodes of the show that became "Ellen."You may or may not recall that when Ellen DeGeneres first came to ABC in March 1994, her sitcom wasn't titled "Ellen." It was saddled with the title "These Friends of Mine."
And "These Friends of Mine" underwent some major retooling on its way to becoming the "Ellen" that airs today. For one thing, the original supporting cast - which included Arye Gross and Holly Fulger - was jettisoned.
It's difficult not to recall that when DeGeneres was asked by TV critics why a couple of the "These Friends of Mine" episodes never aired, she replied that they were episodes that she was not particularly proud of and had no desire to see broadcast.
These, of course, would be the episodes that ABC will be airing the next couple of weeks.
We could assume that the decision to dredge up these old episodes of "Ellen" has nothing to do with the fact that the show is produced by a Disney-owned company, and that Disney now also owns ABC.
We could assume it's coincidence, but let's not.
THE UNFUNNY GUY: NBC executives are continually on the defensive about "The Single Guy," often lashing out at critics who are ambivalent - or less - about the show.
So, in the spirit of second chances, I sat through last week's episode and took another look. After all, other shows have started out slow and picked up steam as they rolled through their first season. "Friends," for one.
But after giving "The Single Guy" another look, it's easy to pinpoint what's wrong with this comedy.
It isn't funny.
It looks like it would be a funny show. It's got an attractive cast, a talented creator/executive producer in Brad Hall, and the style that's so reminiscent of shows like "Friends" and "Seinfeld."
But it isn't funny.
And that's a major problem for a comedy.
Oh, "The Single Guy" is pleasant enough. And it's the sort of show that fans of NBC's blockbuster Thursday lineup ought to like.
But they're staying away by the millions. "The Single Guy" is a top 10 show, but it loses a big chunk of the "Friends" audience - who return to watch "Seinfeld."
And, should NBC do as expected and move "The Single Guy" to another night in the fall, that may well be it for the show. Whether the Peacock executives want to admit it or not, if this show weren't propped up in such a cushy time slot, it would have disappeared long ago.
HOW'S THAT? Fox is proudly proclaiming that it's preparing to air the "landmark" 300th episode of "Cops" on Saturday, May 18.
Aren't those two words you never thought you'd see in the same sentence - "landmark" and "Cops"?
And it's not enough that this violent show is foisted on the American public - where, locally, it's available on Saturdays at 7 p.m. The people in charge actually boast about what they do.
"I'll never forget one episode last year when the L.A. Sheriff's Department answered a call and found themselves confronted by a gunman," said executive producer and co-creator John Langley in a statement. "Without drawing their own weapons, the officers attempted to wrestle the guy to the ground and he suddenly turned the gun around and shot himself in the stomach. Our cameras were rolling the whole time. You see the whole thing."
My, how proud you must be.
SAY IT AIN'T SO: According to our friends at ABC, in the season finale of "Family Matters" scheduled to air Friday, May 17, Steve Urkel (Jaleel White) clones himself.
As if having one Urkel on TV wasn't crime enough. Maybe we ought to call the folks at "Cops."