BY TOM GLIATTO
COMEDY
Tori Spelling's new sitcom (and VH1's first) drops us down a rabbit hole with an Alice who happened to star on Beverly Hills, 90210. A farcical gloss on Tori's fabulous life as an actress and the daughter of producer Aaron Spelling, the show is vertiginously Tori-centric. She plays herself, Tori Spelling, surrounded by a fictional roommate and friends, but the scripts are full of jokey, pointed allusions to her real world, including her peculiar status as camp icon. ("You're a real person," says one of those friends, "not just some circus freak people like to mock and throw peanuts at.") She still has a Beverly Hills socialite for a mother, much like Candy Spelling, but now called Kiki. She's played by Loni Anderson as a twinkly but self-absorbed cutie-pie—a fairy godmother who ignores wishes. Papa is a mere voice on a phone, an allusion to TV's Charlie's Angels (which he produced). Spelling has comedic skill—she's good at sharp, petulant urgency—but emits a lot of Teri Hatcher-like squeaks. The show is interesting as a conflation of self-parody and self-love. It's like Lisa Kudrow's Comeback without the satiric contempt.
FX (Tuesdays, 10 p.m. ET)
DRAMA
Andre Braugher (Homicide: Life on the Street) has the right grim inscrutability to play the leader of a professional but by no means flawless gang of thieves. His facial expression typically reads as both deadpan and alert to surprise. In this short-run series, which concludes May 2, some careless improvisation in wrapping up one heist has ticked off another gang, a Chinese one, and now those criminals are chasing down Braugher's band of thieves as they try to set up their next big score. This is all well done, and it's a great-looking production, but the weight of the drama keeps tugging toward a side plot about Braugher's 14-year-old stepdaughter. She's witnessed more of the gang's operations than might be good for her. In the opening episodes, the growing suspense over the fate of this girl is a bit creepy.
The WB (Wednesdays, 9 p.m. ET)
DRAMA
According to The New York Times, The WB was concerned that this new series pushed sexual boundaries a little too hard. Which, actually, one might expect the series to do, since it's basically about sex on a New York City campus. But rather than risk the annoyance (and fines) of the FCC, The WB ordered some snipping. The excised bits, which include a girl unbuttoning her jeans, can be found on the network's Web site.
Despite all that, the show isn't D.H. Lawrence for WB viewers. It's not even Grey's Anatomy, which has more carnal oomph despite the surgical gowns. The main characters in Diaries have enrolled in a course called "Human Behavior and Sexuality," taught by Matthew Modine. Modine is a relaxed, unfussy actor, but not one who gives off much sexual charge. Wouldn't it be a treat if Chris Meloni came in the door and announced that he was substituting? The students, one of whom survived a suicide attempt throwing herself off a campus roof, are given video cameras to record their thoughts on love, sleeping around, dealing with unhappiness and so on. As an ensemble they are, like their teacher, attractive but not very exciting.
Fatal Desire (Lifetime, April 3, 9 p.m. ET) Anne Heche and Eric Roberts in a noirish story: A love affair starts online but crashes violently in the sack. Heche couldn't be more convincingly trashy if she were wrapped in a Hefty.
The Bernie Mac Show (FOX, April 7, 8:30 p.m. ET) Tennis star Serena Williams, minus sister Venus, pops in to serve up advice on sibling relationships.
Tim McGraw: Reflected (NBC, April 7, 8 p.m. ET) The country star performs in a small club setting in Manhattan. Faith Hill shows up, and the lovebirds duet.
Legends of Jazz (PBS, April 2, 6 p.m. ET) Thirteen-week series hosted by Ramsey Lewis. Interviews and jam sessions with Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Robert Cray and more.
Lost (ABC, April 5, 9 p.m. ET) That worrisome prisoner reveals some interesting info about that hatch.
SOUNDS OFF
Although his FOX sitcom That '70s Show is signing off May 18, Wilmer Valderrama is already back in the groove as creator, executive producer and host of MTV's comedy game show Yo Momma, premiering April 3 at 6 p.m. ET. The actor, 26, chatted with PEOPLE about his new gig.
WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR THE COMPETITIVE TRASH-TALKING FEST YO MOMMA?
I was shooting the movie Summer Catch with Freddie Prinze Jr., and there's a scene where one baseball player says to another, "Yo momma is so fat that when she wears heels she drills oil." [Years later] I was watching the movie 8 Mile, and I saw the freestyle rap battle. I thought, "How can you do something like that but it's comedy?"
HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT FINDING THE BEST MOMMA-BASHER?
In each episode we go to two 'hoods in L.A. and find a bunch of kids to go against each other. The two winners from each 'hood battle. I go to each contestant's home to find embarrassing things that can make the final battle personal, and then we find out who's that week's king of trash-talking.
WHAT DOES YOUR MOTHER THINK OF THE SHOW?
My mom loves it! She said, "They're going to get mad," then she sees everybody laughing and she's like, "No way." She can't believe it. She's really into it.
HOW DOES IT FEEL TO SAY GOODBYE TO THAT '70s SHOW AFTER EIGHT SEASONS?
When I took that final bow and everyone started crying—that was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. They'll forever be my family. I just talked to Ashton [Kutcher] two minutes ago. We love each other, and we'll always be there for each other.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
