It's another busy TV weekend, with five series premiering - three on ABC, one on NBC and one in syndication.
The biggest surprise is the syndicated show - the weekly version of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" is a delightful little show.Here's the lowdown on the five new shows:
C-16 (tonight at 7 on ABC/Ch. 4) is yet another crime drama - this one centering on a special unit of the FBI based in Los Angeles that handles kidnappings and terrorism and that sort of thing. Eric Roberts is the team leader, and his crew includes people with back stories that range from child custody problems to family drug problems to sexual harassment charges.
What's good about it: The acting is good enough and the writing is passable. It's a decent crime drama.
What's bad about it: There's nothing to make "C-16" stand out from the crowd. It's not the sort of show you eagerly anticipate or tape to watch later.
The bottom line: This is an OK-but-unoriginal show in a terrible time slot. (A crime drama on Saturdays at 7 p.m.?) It won't be around for long.
TOTAL SECURITY (tonight at 8 on ABC/Ch. 4) is yet another crime drama. Only this time, it's set at a private security agency. Movie villain James Remar is the good guy here, the head of a high-tech Los Angeles agency that handles everything from hotel security to missing persons to personal protection.
What's good about it: The serious parts of the show are pretty good and show the definite Steven Bochco touch.
What's bad about it: James Belushi co-stars as an obnoxious idiot of a private detective who wants to join the firm. Not only is he painfully unfunny, but the contrast between the humor and the drama are awkward and uncomfortable.
The bottom line: Another show that isn't awful but isn't good enough to stand out in a bad time slot. Another one that won't be around for long.
TIMECOP (Saturday/early Sunday at 1:35 a.m. on ABC/Ch. 4) is a sequel to the 1994 movie. T.W. King stars as timecop Jack Logan, whose job it is to go into the past to fix time lines disrupted by bad guys who have gotten ahold of time-travel technology. In the pilot, a bad guy from the future goes into the past and assumes the identity of Jack the Ripper.
What's good about it: There are some really good special effects, and the concept is intriguing.
What's bad about it: The special effects are way better than the acting or the writing. And the whole thing doesn't quite make sense. First, you have to wonder how, exactly, people in the present know that the time line has been changed. Second, if a time cop goes into the past, the instant he left the people in the present would know if he succeeded - his actions do take place in the past, after all.
(The show is in this awful time slot because ABC makes no allowance for the show it schedules before Monday Night Football in the East and after MNF in the West.)
The bottom line: The chances of this achieving more than a cult following are slim - even in time zones where it doesn't air in the middle of the night.
HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS (Sunday at 4 p.m. on Ch. 4) picks up where the movies left off. Wacky inventor Wayne Szalinski (Peter Scolari) and his gizmos make trouble for his family. In the pilot, Wayne, wife Diane (Barbara Alyn Woods) and daughter Amy (Hillary Tuck) are accidentally shrunk - and then swallowed by Grandpa.
What's good about it: It's funny, it's cute, it's different, the special effects (while not movie quality) are pretty good - and it's a show that parents can let their kids watch without worrying that there will be something objectionable (at least not in the pilot).
What's bad about it: You have to wonder how long the premise will hold up.
The bottom line: This is a surprisingly good little show that kids and parents can both enjoy.
JENNY (Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on NBC/Ch. 5) brings former Playboy centerfold and MTV personality Jenny McCarthy to network TV in an updating of "Laverne & Shirley." McCarthy plays Jenny, a Utica, N.Y., cashier who inherits a Hollywood Hills home from her late actor-father (George Hamilton). Jenny and her best pal, Maggie (Heather Paige Kent), relocate and have wacky adventures as they search for careers.
What's good about it: It's not as bad as you might expect.
What's bad about it: Let's see, the acting is weak (particularly McCarthy's), the premise is unbelievable and the writing is bad.
The bottom line: If you're not already a McCarthy fan, chances are this won't make you one.