Disney's 'Jett' prepares for takeoff

Parents have so much on their minds these days. So in case you've forgotten whether you have (a) cable television or (b) children, here's a simple test: Who is Jett Jackson? If you know the answer, congratulations! You have both kids and cable. Jett Jackson is a fictional character appealingly played by Lee Thompson Young in the Disney Channel series by the same name. On Friday a special "Jett Jackson: The Movie" will have its premiere at 6 p.m. and repeat three times over the weekend. At 16, Jett is the most recognized teen in the land, thanks to Silverstone, a super-hero character he plays on TV. Problem is, the real-life Jett - I mean, the real-life fictional Jett - yearns to give up the celebrity lifestyle and be a normal kid again. But in a twist reminiscent of "Galaxy Quest," a strange accident turns Jett into his alter ego, and he finds himself chasing the mad scientist from the TV series for real - uh, I mean for "real." (Don't worry, your kids have got this all figured out.) This is well-done, squeaky-clean entertainment, although perhaps too exciting for the littlest ones. In light of complaints by minority groups against the big networks, it's worth mentioning that "Jett Jackson" is ethnically diverse, too. There's no denying that Kristin Chenoweth has a startlingly clear voice that's well-suited for the stage. But whether the Tony Award-winning actress is ready for a non-singing role on the small screen is another matter. For months, NBC has been sitting on episodes of "Kristin," the self-titled comedy starring Chenoweth that was supposed to debut this winter. Then it got pushed to the spring. It's finally airing at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on NBC (Channel 41). Multiple delays are usually not a good sign for a show; nor is the fact that NBC is burning off these episodes in the summer. My suspicions were confirmed on viewing the show's pilot episode. "Kristin" is about a small-town girl who comes to New York to realize her dream of making it in show business, but first she must take a job working for a man wow, I'm getting sleepy just describing it. "Making the Band," the reality series that showed us how to build a boy band from the ground up, burns through its second season with back-to-back episodes at 7 p.m. Friday on ABC (Channel 9). I say "burns through" because the band, named O-Town for their home base of Orlando, have not exactly burned up the Nielsen ratings for ABC. After the season opener fared poorly, these episodes were yanked and saved for summer. So low is O-Town's stock around ABC that they weren't even included in "Walt Disney World Summer Jam Concert," held practically in the group's back yard. The concert, featuring Sugar Ray, Shaggy, Dream, BBMak and the ubiquitous Baha Men ("Who Let the Dogs Out"), airs 6 p.m. Sunday on Channel 9. That's not to say O-Town has been a total washout. Its debut album went platinum last year, and the second single, "All or Nothing," has been a staple on "TRL," the daily countdown show and screamfest on MTV. Like Jett Jackson, O-Town is a big fish in the small pond of cable TV. Have you found yourself checking the lineups on the TV Guide Channel (it used to be called the Prevue Channel) and asking yourself, "Haven't I seen her somewhere before?" No, I'm not talking about Cleo, the tarot card reader who seems to be everywhere. TV Guide Channel has begun airing 15-minute programs on the top half of its screen. One of them, "The Screening Room," is the kind of movie preview show where non-journalists throw softball questions at film stars. That's where you might have spotted the familiar face of Debbie Matenopoulos. She was the Generation X-er who was a co-host of "The View" until someone at ABC realized, We can do better than this, and replaced Matenopoulos with Lisa Ling. Now Matenopoulos is co-host of "The Screening Room." Well, TV Guide Channel can do better than this, too. Matenopoulos can't read a prompter to save her perfect skin. Sloppy diction is OK over at MTV, where Barbara Walters discovered her. But now Matenopoulos has to compete with a rolling TV log - and frankly, the log is more interesting. You can reach Aaron Barnhart at www.tvbarn.com. @ART CAPTION:Stage actor Kristin Chenowith takes on TV in "Kristin" starting Tuesday. @ART:Photo (color) @ART CREDIT:NBC >>> CORRECTION: Because of a schedule change by NBC, the new series "Kristin" will air at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on Channel 41, not 8:30 p.m. as reported in today's FYI section. The FYI section is printed in advance.