From any perspective, 'Life 360' is a winner

In a medium so attuned to duplication and derivation that one minute only your neighbor knows what "CSI" stands for and the next minute Jill Hennessy is walking around in a white coat and halter top pretending to be a medical examiner, the new PBS series "Life 360" is a revelation. There is no other show remotely like it on television, and it's not likely that there will be anytime soon. "Life 360," which begins at 9 p.m. Friday on KCPT (Channel 19), is a bold attempt to reinvent the TV newsmagazine by telling stories about people you don't usually see on the news. It is also a wild pasta salad starched with animation, performance and comedy, the ingredients chosen to give each episode its own distinct flavor. It isn't the "NewsHour." It's more like Jim Lehrer's daughter living in SoHo and teaching at a multi-culti high school. Michel Martin, the "Nightline" correspondent who is host of "Life 360," compares it to a print magazine, with longer articles, some short items, first-person stories, fiction and cartoons. The show is co-produced by the ABC news program, and many "Nightline" crew members work behind the scenes. "Nightline's" Robert Krulwich also shows up in the first episode - or rather, the cartoon Krulwich - in an imaginatively drawn short that proves we all are connected to Julius Caesar's famous last words. Playwright Anna Deavere Smith delivers a monologue about the connectedness of all Americans. Stand-up comic Jake Johannsen does much the same while being whisked, Bill Nye-like, through cyberspace. The small-world episode also will feature Jewel singing a new song. "Life 360" is not only non-commercial, but also its demanding content and lack of hype make it decidedly anti-commercial. Though part of Martin's job is to walk us from one segment to the next, viewers must shift gears mentally and emotionally to keep up. For instance, until the events of Sept. 11 intervened, Johannsen's frolic was to have been followed by a moody reminiscence by author Ron Suskind of watching the moon landing on TV in 1969. "We just felt that despite the large number of channels on TV, there wasn't a broad variety available," Martin says. "I remember someone asked Toni Morrison - this was years ago - why she wrote her book The Bluest Eye. And she said, 'I wrote a book that I wanted to read.' That's how we feel about this." Martin, who was filming a "Life 360" segment two miles from the World Trade Center when it was destroyed, said stories about the Sept. 11 aftermath will be folded into the first episode. "In a way, this is a spinoff of the 'Nightline' Friday Night Special," says Martin, referring to what we in Kansas City call the Wee Hours of Saturday Morning Special. "It's like 'A Different World' was to 'The Cosby Show.' You know, some of the same cast was there, but they had their own stories." Well, sometimes the best way to describe a new show is just to watch it. I recommend highly that you watch this one. Thirteen one-hour episodes will air weekly, then "Life 360" will be replaced by another PBS program, tentatively titled "Public Square." "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" returns - same time, different channel - and like the show itself, reports of Buffy's demise have been at times exaggerated. Still, viewers whose last memory of the slayer is her gravestone in last season's finale may be surprised to see Sarah Michelle Gellar high-kicking the zombies in the opening scene of the two-hour season premiere airing at 7 p.m. Tuesday on UPN (Channel 29). But we soon learn that appearances are deceiving, and it won't be so easy to reunite our heroine with her Scooby comrades. The episode largely belongs to Willow (Alyson Hannigan), the redheaded wonder who has come on strong in recent years and may be one of TV's least likely breakout characters. She's mesmerizing as she labors to bring Buffy back from the dead. You know she's not going to fail, but that doesn't diminish the suspense. And this show's talent at inserting zingers into even the most morbid situations is unmatched. You know the "extreme" fad is done, over, stick a fork in it when you open your mail and find a preview tape for something called "Extreme Garages." That's just one of the allegedly adventuresome programs HGTV will air during its "Extreme Week," starting today. Actually, HGTV shows can be fast-paced, addictive fun. But "Extreme Garages" (8 p.m. Sunday, HGTV) is mostly about rich guys who build spacious adjuncts behind their homes to store their classic cars. As part of our growing fascination with all things CSI, "Shots in the Dark" (9 p.m. Tuesday, Court TV) delves into the grim and graphic world of crime-scene photography. It is noteworthy in that it marks a rare video appearance by book publisher and New York socialite Harold Evans, who narrates the special. - To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com @ART CAPTION:Michel Martin, host of PBS' 'Life 360' @ART:Photo @ART CREDIT:PBS