'Family,' 'That '80s Show' are disappointments

"American Family" Airs: 7 tonight (pilot episode and regular time period); bonus episode 8 p.m. Thursday, KCPT; Topeka's KTWU will repeat episodes each night at midnight and 2 a.m. Stars: Edward James Olmos, Constance Marie, Rachel Ticotin, A.J. Lamas, Austin Marques, Kurt Caceres, Raquel Welch Kind of like: "Once and Again" with more yelling Aaron says: Try it (if there's nothing else on). This family drama, which PBS picked off the CBS reject pile, becomes the first broadcast series with an all-Latino cast. I hope it gets a lot better quickly or, failing that, I hope PBS executives understand that it was not the show's premise or ethnic makeup that drove viewers away. "American Family" is full of poorly drawn characters who utterdreary, soap opera-level dialogue when they are not frantically dashing around in some hokey, contrived action scene that is obviously concocted to distract viewers from the show's defects. "American Family" falls far short of "Resurrection Blvd.," television's other Latino drama, although that program is limited to Showtime customers and there are scenes in it suitable only for adults. PBS is asking a dozen or so national Latino groups to form "strategic community partnerships" to promote "American Family." What it should be doing is hiring some script doctors. (See the Showtime page for an interview with "American Family" creator Gregory Nava.) "That '80s Show" Airs: 7 tonight, Fox (Channel 4) Stars: Glenn Howerton, Tinsley Grimes, Geoff Pierson, Eddie Shin, Brittany Daniel, Margaret Smith, Chyler Leigh Aaron says: Avoid it! Imagine walking into a resale shop filled with clothing, music and gizmos from the mid-1980s. Imagine you have one hour to write a comedy script using as many artifacts inside the shop as possible - and it's a near-certainty you would come up with something funnier than "That '80s Show." In the first episode alone we see people dressed like Boy George, early Madonna, Don Johnson on "Miami Vice" and a punk rocker; there are jokes about cordless phones, exercise fads, motivational tapes and "Dynasty." Actually, if you just made a documentary using all these items, you'd have something funnier than "That '80s Show." The same team that created "That '70s Show" is behind "That '80s Show," which means executives at Fox fell for that old ruse that producers make hit shows. Writers and actors make hit shows and not always in that order. Most of the cast of "That '70s Show" can make you laugh without even saying a word. The number of funny people on "That '80s Show," to quote a quintessential '80s book, is less than zero. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com. @ART CAPTION:"That '80s Show," above, has its premiere at 7 tonight on Fox opposite "American Family" on KCPT. @ART:Photo (color) @ART CREDIT:Fox