At first glance, "Related" (Wednesday, 8 p.m., Ch. 30) looks like the perfect show for the WB — an ensemble comedy/drama about four sisters. And it's got a great TV pedigree — one of the creators of "Friends" (Marta Kauffman) is an executive producer, and the writer of the premiere (Liz Tuccillo) was a writer on "Sex and the City."
So it's somewhat mystifying that "Related" is so darn dull. I almost thought I'd dozed off while watching it, but I was just wishing I would.
It's not even a particularly original idea. It's a rehash of "Sisters," only these siblings are younger than those who populated that 1991-96 series.
There are four Sorelli sisters and they're all sort of messed up. The oldest, Ginnie (Jennifer Esposito), is a lawyer on the career track who's taken aback when she finds out she's pregnant. Ann (Kiele Sanchez) is a therapist who needs therapy as she's on the verge of breaking up with her live-in boyfriend.
Marjee (Lizzy Caplan) is a 23-year-old event planner whose life and career are both disasters. And Rose (Laura Beckenridge) is college sophomore who's switching majors from pre-med to experimental theater.
If their own lives aren't enough to keep them occupied — and they're mostly occupied with each other's lives — their father has just announced he's going to get remarried.
The biggest problem is that these characters just don't seem like real people. Good writing makes you believe in the characters even when you don't believe in the situation — and all scripted TV is, at best, "heightened reality" (as they like to say in the TV biz).
But it's hard to care what happens to anyone on this show. And the last thing you want to leave viewers thinking is, "Who cares?"
The WB went so far as to send out the second and third episodes of "Related" so that critics would be won over. And, while it's true that if you sit through three hours of this there are a few moments that are amusing, even endearing, there are very few. Far too few to make sitting through three hours of this worth your time.
Unless, of course, you're suffering from insomnia.
The WB has become like a real network in many ways, not all of them good. Chief programmer David Janollari and his minions have fallen into the trap so many network executives have fallen into before — they buy a show because of the pedigree of its producers, hoping that lightning will strike again.
(Note to Janollari: Viewers watch shows, not producers.)
And I'm guessing that Kauffman, who came aboard after the original "Related" pilot failed (it was never shown to critics), has made this a better show than it was originally. But not good enough.
What Janollari forgot was that, while Kauffman has the mega-hit "Friends" on her resume, she's also got "Family Album," "Veronica's Closet" and "Jesse" — none of which is anything to brag about.
But neither is "Related." Yaaaaaaawn.
FOX HAS ORDERED nine more episodes of "Prison Break," which will mean we'll see a full season (22 installments) of the series.
When we'll see it is an unanswered question, however. There isn't time for all 22 episodes of the show to air on Mondays at 8 p.m. before "24" returns to reclaim the time slot in January.
Fox has also ordered nine more episodes of "American Dad" (ick), bringing the total to 41 since the show premiered early this year. What with the long lead-time needed to produce an animated series, these episodes won't be seen until next fall at the earliest.
And, in a a sign of just how much NBC is struggling these days, the network has ordered seven more episodes of "The Office," bringing the total to 13 for the current season.
NBC execs point to the fact that "The Office" is drawing more viewers this fall than it did when it first aired last spring. What they aren't saying is that, while "My Name Is Earl" — the sole bright spot on NBC's fall schedule — averaged more than 13 million viewers its first couple of weeks on the air, "The Office" averaged only about 8 million.
Back in the days when NBC was healthy, a show that lost nearly 40 percent of its lead-in would have had its head on the chopping block.
On the other hand, if NBC canceled all its shows that are in ratings distress, it wouldn't have enough programming to fill out its schedule.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com