'MDs' revives memories of 'M*A*S*H'

'MDs' Airs: 9 tonight, ABC (Channel 9) Stars: William Fichtner, John Hannah, Leslie Stefanson, Aunjanue Ellis, Jane Lynch, Robert Joy, Michaela Conlin Nutshell: Promising attempt to re-create "M*A*S*H" in a modern managed-care hospital. TV is lousy with heroic doctors, yet for every "ER" it seems there are five "Gideon's Crossings." You'll recall that was the Wednesday-night series on ABC last year in which Andre Braugher played an earnest, idealized cancer healer. Braugher's aloof Hippocratic zen wasn't much of a viewer magnet. So this year in his place - same date, time and channel - comes Gideon's temperamental opposite: "MDs," a medical comedy about two hot-blooded heroic surgeons who, when they aren't saving lives, are either chasing skirts or skirting the bureaucratic meddlers who run their hospital. Their names aren't Hawkeye and B.J., but Kellerman (Fichtner) and Dalgety (Hannah) are plainly modeled on them, though they're less inclined to leave socks in other doctors' coffeepots so much as to conduct unauthorized medical procedures that are in their patients' best interest. Sounds preachy, I know, but the first two "MDs" I saw kept the action humming and the tone light. In tonight's episode, the docs conduct an autopsy on somebody who's not dead to avoid an HMO charge. I don't know if this actually circumvents California malpractice law, but who cares? To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com To read previous "New on the Tube" reviews, visit www.kansascity.com @ART CAPTION:William Fichtner (left) and John Hannah star in "MDs." @ART:Photo (color) @ART CREDIT:ABC