Another long, deadly day begins on '24'

Fans of TV's nail-bitingest action drama "24" will have no problem recalling one or more scenes from last season that had them saying to the TV set, "Oh, c'mon!" Faced with the challenge of creating a single story spanning 24 hours while ensuring viewers rarely lost sight of special agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), the show's writers used every trick in the book. Thus Jack's daughter, Kimberly (Elisha Cuthbert), spent hours extracting herself from the pit, only to find herself dragged right back into it. Toward the end, an endless cat-and-mouse with Dennis Hopper had no right to go on for four hours but did anyway. Yet it worked marvelously well. As I sat watching the compelling if not entirely satisfying first hour of the new season of "24" (8 tonight on Fox), I found myself wondering why. A big reason, I'm convinced, are these simon-pure characters at the center - Jack, Kim, Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) - with their unblemished devotion to each other and their families. Without revealing anything from tonight's episode, I can report that Jack's preoccupation with his loved ones is carried to new extremes. The genius of "24," it would seem, is that it has taken two seemingly incompatible and overdone TV genres, the family drama and the action thriller, and crashed them together. The result is something new and surprising almost despite itself. Another reason the show works, believe it or not, is the commercials. The whole idea that "24" operates "in real time," with exactly one hour elapsing in the course of an episode, was never very sound to begin with. Most viewers were willing to forgive the artifice, possibly because most of them do not live in Southern California where a five-minute drive wouldn't even get you out of the drive-thru at In-N-Out Burger, let alone effortlessly cover some of the distances proposed by the show. The commercials, at least, helped us suspend our disbelief. They gave us a breather from the relentless pace of "24's" world. Tonight's episode, however, is commercial-free. That's a considerate gesture toward viewers and a promotable gimmick but perhaps not in "24's" best interest. I found myself paying more attention to how much distance people covered when the camera wasn't on them. One other comment, which is not meant to diminish anyone's enjoyment but must be pointed out. The Fox network's fascination with youth does this show a disservice. When the department heads are gathered for a meeting at the top-secret Counter Terrorism Unit, it looks less like a brain trust of America's intelligence wonks than it does a staff meeting at your local Gap. Geography has nothing to do with this bias. I'll bet if Fox Entertainment chief Gail Berman called a meeting of her department heads, she'd have a better composite of America than what we see on "24." "TV Land Legends: The 60 Minutes Interviews," 8 p.m. Sunday, TV Land. There is a lot of high-quality television from my boyhood that I'd like to see on TV again. Trio, a channel you may never have heard of, just picked up 80 episodes of the old NBC "Late Night With David Letterman" and will start to air them over Thanksgiving weekend. One cheer for that. TV Land is mining the archives of "60 Minutes," which has certainly had its share of celebrity interviews over the years. The first four profiles - Jackie Gleason, Johnny Carson, Jerry Seinfeld and Carol Burnett - air back-to-back this weekend. Another cheer. Gleason, chain-smoking his way through a sentimental 1984 interview with Morley Safer, could easily have filled a "60 Minutes" broadcast by himself. Others are more circumspect. Seinfeld spends a few minutes intelligently explaining his approach to TV comedy to Steve Kroft. And that's all, folks. The rest of the half-hour is padded with useless, "Biography"-like updates on Seinfeld's life and small talk between his "Seinfeld" co-stars and Kroft (who unfortunately comments, "Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards are all good enough to have their own series"). Carson's segment (from 1979) has to be padded, too, but the results are more rewarding: A card trick Johnny played on Mike Wallace is seen here for the first time. Ed Bradley is host of "TV Land Legends." "National Geographic Today," 6 and 9 p.m. weekdays, National Geographic Channel. I'm sorry to report that "Nat Geo Today," the terrific daily digest of planet Earth, is cutting back. It still will air weekdays, but beginning Monday as a half-hour program. On the plus side, that means more people can see the worthy documentary series "Surviving West Point." Formerly stuck on Saturday nights, it airs in the newly opened half-hour at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Mondays after "Nat Geo Today." "Scrubs," 7:30 p.m. Thursday, NBC 41. In the name of cross-promotion, "Ed's" Tom Cavanagh shows up as the older brother of J.D. (Zach Braff). Little attempt is made to alter Cavanagh's character from the cocksure, fast-talking bowling lawyer he plays on the same network on Wednesday nights. I liked it, but then, I like both shows. Nielsen soon will tell us whether there are millions like me - or if this is the first and last appearance of J.D.'s big bro. My lament last week that I couldn't get my new On Demand pay-per-view system to work brought a flurry of interest from Time Warner personnel. And I got a voice mail from the person I was really looking for: some other reader who shared my pain. "The way to get it to work is to keep rebooting the cable box," said Jose Lopez of Kansas City. Sure enough, the sixth time was the charm. (If On Demand keeps telling you your movie cannot be accessed, hold down the power button of your digital box until the display says "boot." Then try again. And again.) You can reach Aaron Barnhart through the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com @ART CAPTION:Kiefer Sutherland returns for a second season of "24" at 8 tonight on Fox. @ART:Photo (color) @ART CREDIT:Fox

Cable TV rivalry emerges in area

Ted and Joni Breidenthal recently had about 100 of their neighbors over to their Overland Park house for a cookout. But they didn't supply the food, the drinks or the grill. That was handled by Everest Connections, the company that came to their area earlier this year offering cable TV, telephone and high-speed Internet service. "When I signed up with Everest, I was very happy with it," Joni Breidenthal said, as neighbors chatted in her driveway and kids raced through her yard. The family's cable, telephone and Internet bills used to total $113 a month. Now they pay $66 a month and get more cable channels and a faster Internet connection. What's more, Everest has credited their bill several times for referring others. Block by block, competition in cable and local telephone service finally is coming to the Kansas City area. Thousands of households in Lenexa, Shawnee and Overland Park have already made the switch to Everest, putting their faith in an upstart company that offers one low monthly bill and a homespun approach. When Everest finds enthusiastic customers, it asks them to serve as hosts for a block party. At the Breidenthals' house the company president, Kevin Anderson, and other representatives ate burgers and answered questions. A specially equipped motor home was parked in front, where the curious could surf the Web, watch TV or make phone calls on Everest's fiberoptic network. During an 18-month installation in Lenexa, Everest crews broke gas lines, cut cable and annoyed residents by digging up their yards. Yet the company now serves 45 percent of the homes passed by its network. Everest officials said they originally forecast a 35 percent share. The figure goes even higher, they said, in neighborhoods Everest has served for at least one year. Time Warner Cable officials said they welcomed the competition, and the area's dominant cable provider has responded by slashing its rates in communities served by Everest. Local-phone provider SBC Communications would like to follow suit but cannot, because it is a heavily regulated utility, according to its division chief in Kansas. For now, Everest is not much of a threat to the big companies. Its network will pass only 70,000 homes by year's end, or less than 10 percent of the metro area. The company is losing money and relies on Aquila Corp., the troubled energy giant that owns 90 percent of Everest, to keep it in business. Yet Everest has one asset that its competitors do not: a state-of-the-art wire that brings telephone, Internet and cable services into the home at an attractive price. Its fiberoptic network is similar to the ones Time Warner and Comcast Cable installed in the late 1990s. But Everest's $25 million nerve center in Lenexa is designed to provide all three services over one wire. Interviews with 13 current or former Time Warner Cable customers in the three communities served by Everest found price was the overriding reason for switching. Some families preferred to save money with one of Everest's "bundles" of voice, data and video services, starting at $49.95 per month. Others went with higher-end bundles with such extras as premium cable and faster Internet speeds for about what they paid for basic service from other providers. "It's a no-brainer when you look at it," said Suzanne Mohr. "I think we're going to save $50 a month." She and her husband, John, decided to switch at the Breidenthals' block party, where neighbors raved to them about Everest's prompt customer support. While Everest plans eventually to cover the entire Kansas City area, it has no current plans to build in any of the areas served by Comcast Cable. Like Time Warner, Comcast - which serves 100,000 households in Olathe and eastern Jackson County - offers both cable and high-speed Internet service. Everest has completed its network in Lenexa (excluding some apartments that are exclusively signed to Time Warner). Overland Park will be 75 percent complete by year's end, as will 65 percent of Shawnee. On the Missouri side, Everest installed fiber in the Red Bridge area last year and soon will expand to the Waldo and Brookside neighborhoods. Everest also serves Kearney through a system it acquired from another company. Doug Durst, who lives in the Forest Park neighborhood in Shawnee near Interstate 435, has called Everest on several occasions to ask when they are going to arrive in his area. The answer: very soon. "I'm happy with Time Warner Cable," said Durst. Still, he probably will switch to Everest to save $20 to $30 while getting an extra digital cable box. "That way, while the kids are watching 'Barney' in the basement, I can go upstairs and watch something," Durst said. Word appears to be spreading beyond Everest territory. Anderson said the volume of calls at the company's customer-service center had tripled in the past 60 days. Three-fourths of the calls are from people who live outside the areas served by Everest, he said. When callers learn that it may take several years for Everest crews to make it to their communities, "they're not very happy," Anderson said. "People are very passionate about their ability to have a choice." Lezlee Bryan wants to switch to Everest but has been told she cannot. Yet she lives in Lenexa, the heart of Everest country, in an apartment at the Oaks at Mill Creek. A couple of years ago Bryan's landlord signed a long-term exclusive marketing agreement with Time Warner Cable. That means Everest representatives cannot knock on doors of the 119-unit complex, or even hold a barbecue in the parking lot. Everest decided not to wire the Oaks. Later, when Time Warner sent "retention representatives" throughout Lenexa offering to knock as much as $50 off the monthly bills of customers who stayed with the cable company, Bryan's complex was skipped. No one offered to cut her cable bill. "If I think about it a little too long, I get upset," Bryan said. The long haul Can Everest keep its prices this low over the long haul? Time Warner officials are skeptical, but Anderson said the company's highly efficient network was built from the ground up to handle video, voice and data. "One spot, three services," Anderson said. "It's not rocket science. We're achieving economies of scale." Everest is not for everybody. Time Warner Cable has a decisive content advantage over Everest - if you're willing to pay for it. Its basic tier includes Metro Sports and Metro Weather, which are owned by Time Warner Cable and off-limits to competitors. Time Warner's digital tier costs more but offers more channels. Time Warner has special packages for high-definition TV, international and Spanish-language channels; Everest does not. Time Warner's customer satisfaction surveys show strong support of the company's services, said Carol Rothwell, vice president of public affairs. If there is unhappiness with Time Warner, "our retention people are not finding that," Rothwell said. Time Warner plans to add local telephone to its cable and high-speed Internet services in the future. SBC offers the three services Everest does, but it currently does not bundle them. Its prices are higher than Everest's, because SBC must pay outside vendors to supply some services. Its video offering is the Dish Network satellite system, owned by EchoStar Communications Corp., and its DSL Internet service is a partnership with Yahoo. SBC is at a disadvantage, said Randy Tomlin, its Kansas president, because its prices are fixed by state utility boards, so it cannot offer discounts that will compete with Everest. Yet rival local-phone providers, including Everest, can lease SBC's network for less than it costs the phone company to maintain the network. SBC is lobbying to have those regulations changed. It also has launched a PR offensive: In a new TV commercial, SBC refers to its competitors as "parasites" who leech service from its network. In an interview, however, Tomlin made an exception for Everest, complimenting the company for investing in infrastructure instead of relying solely on SBC. Infrastructure is expensive, and many industry experts question where Everest will come up with the estimated $1 billion to serve the entire Kansas City area. Anderson said Everest was on target to be profitable in 2003, thanks to its success in signing up customers. Profits would help Everest secure venture capital, which would reduce its dependence on Aquila. Meanwhile, the dig goes on. In Overland Park, Everest crews struck gas lines in the summer and angered Time Warner by accidentally cutting into its cable. Joni Breidenthal said an Everest installer did not hook up her VCR correctly. She was pleased, though, at how quickly the problem was fixed. And she loves saving money with Everest. "I know they're a young company," she said. "But if they're cheaper and they're willing to make it right, I can forgive a few glitches." To reach Aaron Barnhart, call (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com. SERVICES/PRICES Everest Channels: 75 cable channels 43 digital cable channels 45 music channels 2 premiums channels Additional services: Local telephone with voice mail, call forwarding, caller ID, call waiting and three way calling; installation of up to four outlets per home 1.5-megabit Internet connection Price: $99.95/month Time Warner Cable Channels: 72 cable channels 62 digital cable channels 45 music channels 2 premium channels Additional services: 2-megabit Internet connection Price: $129.95/month $79.95/month "win-back" rate* Comcast Cable Channels: 72 cable channels 36 digital channels 45 music channels Additional services: 1.5-megabit Internet connection Prices: $100.84/mo. $75.84/mo. "win-back" rate* SBC Services: SBC/Yahoo DSL 1.5-megabit Internet connection Price: $49.95/month SBC/Dish Network Channels: 108 cable channels 51 music channels Premium channels extra Additional services: Internet and telephone service extra Prices: $56.98/month Primary phone line with voice mail, caller ID and call waiting with ID: $39.95/month* THE SMALL PRINT Prices do not include taxes. One megabit is about 18 times the speed of a 56kb modem connection. Time Warner Cable is offering discounts in areas served by Everest. Cable installation includes one terminal for viewing digital channels; dish installation includes two terminals for viewing all channels. Equipment is included in high-speed Internet packages. Internet speeds listed are maximums and may be lower during peak usage times. SBC charges a $49.95 installation fee but currently waives the first month's service fee. * A "win-back" rate is a discount offered to satellite-TV subscribers and customers in areas served by Everest. Comcast's rate is good for 16 months. @ARTPhoto @ART CAPTION:Durst @ART CREDIT:JOHN C. SOPINSKI/The Kansas City Star; Sources: Companies' published rates @ART:Graphics (2, one map)

Take note

Center grad has full 'Access' Clay Smith, a graduate of Center High School and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, recently was promoted to the No. 2 producer's position at "Access Hollywood." Smith has been at the NBC-produced entertainment show since 1997; before that he worked for 14 years at "Entertainment Tonight." As senior producer, Smith OKs stories and supervises their getting onto the air. "Access Hollywood" airs at 6:30 weeknights on Channel 41. @ART CAPTION:Smith @ART:Photo

Take note

KMBC does well at regional Emmys Some stations in Kansas City may not take the regional Emmys seriously, but the ones in St. Louis still do. That made KMBC's four wins at the Mid-America Emmys so sweet. At the ceremony Saturday in St. Louis, Channel 9 took the prize for best large-market newscast, winning out over three rivals in the larger St. Louis market. KMBC reporter Bev Chapman won two Emmys for news writing and cultural news (the latter was shared with photographer Jason Rhodes). Channel 9's Marlene Cross won for producing an individual newscast. KSHB collected three regional Emmys, though none was in news. "Kansas City Crossroads" won for direction of a pre-produced segment, and Channel 41 was also cited for on-air promotion and community outreach. Metro Sports won two Emmys, both for Ryan Stadlman as producer. WDAF, Channel 4, won for a news story on marijuana reported by Kristi Widmar, edited by Brandi Paulson and photographed by Don Proctor. And "Rare Visions & Roadside Revelations" took home yet another trophy for KCPT. The Mid-America Emmy Awards listed Mike Murphy and Randy Mason as the show's producers, while Don Mayberger was officially credited as "Camera Guy." - Aaron Barnhart/The Star The pipes are calling William Jewell College has a new Quimby pipe organ, and it's being inaugurated at 7 tonight at the Gano Chapel on the Jewell campus. Ken Cowan will be the organist in a program of music by J.S. Bach, Vierne, Widor, Saint-Saens, Sowerby, Willan and Bingham. Cowan is a prominent Canadian musician who attended the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and the Curtis Institute of Music. The 55-rank, three-manual organ was built by the Quimby Pipe Organ Company of Warrensburg, Mo., at a cost of about $850,000, funded chiefly by the Pillsbury Foundation. For more information call (816) 781-7700, Ext. 5204. - Paul Horsley/The Star UMKC composer gets Snow award Chen Yi, the UMKC Conservatory's world-renowned composer, has been awarded the first Edgar Snow Friendship Ambassador Award. The honor was presented to Chen on Oct. 15 at a dinner for Yang Jiechi, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, at which the composer performed her own "Romance and Dance" for violin and piano. The award is given by the Edgar Snow Memorial Fund, a local organization that seeks to foster friendship among the peoples of China and the United States, in the spirit of Snow's journalistic coverage of China during the 1950s. Chen, a native of Guangzhou, China, lives in Kansas City with her husband, composer Zhou Long. - Paul Horsley/The Star @ART CAPTION:Cowan @ART:Photo

You'll hear good things about 'F.B. Eye'

Here's the pitch: There's this FBI agent, see, who's kind of unusual in that she's deaf and works with a "hearing dog" by her side, a hearing dog being a lot like a seeing dog except that this one nudges her whenever the doorbell sounds or phone rings. Anyway, she's a pretty inspiring woman because she can read the lips of bad guys and because her mother pushed her to learn how to talk, she was able to live independently as an adult, mostly, except for the hearing dog, of course. It sounds like the stuff of a one-shot documentary. In fact, however, "Sue Thomas, F.B. Eye" is a delightful one-hour drama series, based on the story of the real Sue Thomas, and airing 8 p.m. Sundays on Pax (Channel 50). After enduring two dreadful fall shows from Pax, the I Can't Believe It's a Network, I braced myself for even greater heights of schmaltz with "Sue Thomas." Within minutes of last week's premiere episode, however, Irelaxed. Though clearly not aimed at world-weary 18- to 34-year-old viewers, this show presents a sophisticated treatment of the challenges faced by a deaf person in America, laced with moments of low-key, inoffensive humor. In fact, I would use that word to describe this program if I didn't know better. Sadly, to many television watchers, "inoffensive" is a code word for "why watch?" Deanne Bray, herself a hearing-impaired woman, is a fine choice to portray Thomas. My only quarrel is Pax ought to have offered audio description of "Sue Thomas" for its visually impaired viewers. Of course, Thomas is deaf and not blind, but what better way to present the story of an inspiring disabled American than to ensure all disabled Americans can follow along? (If you missed the show's two-hour premiere, it re-airs 7 p.m. next Monday.) The quicker clicker Time Warner Cable has been adding so many channels and features to its digital cable package, you'd think it had competition or something. Perhaps the most welcome addition, because it's taken so long, is the 8-year-old Independent Film Channel (Channel 287). A gritty, risk-taking venture of Bravo's and AMC's parent company, IFC is everything those two other channels aren't (no commercial breaks during movies!). For hilarious grown-up banter among film-TV types, catch Jon Favreau's "Dinner for Five," which airs regularly (including 9:30 tonight) on IFC. It's also nice to have the West Coast feed of Sundance Channel (Channel 286). Sundance will be beefing up its coverage of documentaries next year with a weekly magazine show - a consolation to docufans who were disappointed when Sundance postponed this fall's scheduled launch of its all-docs channel. Also joining the Time Warner lineup: Metro Weather (Channel 77), which plays an eight-minute loop of local weather conditions around the clock; Flix (Channel 288), a Showtime entity that wears the pay channel's hand-me-downs; three more Fox Sports Net regional sports channels (Channels 208-210); and Lifetime Real Women (Channel 261), spinoff No. 2 of the top-rated women's channel (spinoff No. 1, Lifetime Movie Network, has become so popular that Time Warner plans to move it to basic cable soon). Finally, Time Warner has rolled out On Demand, which allows customers to order movies and other programs and then watch them like a DVD, with pause, rewind, fast-forward and repeat viewings over an eight-hour period. Check it out on Channels 101 and elsewhere, then write me and tell me how it looks. At my house, I still can't get it to work. "Oprah After the Show," 6:30 p.m. and other times, weekdays, Oxygen. Look closely at an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," daytime TV's leading talk program, and you'd be amazed how little actual talk there is, what with all those prerecorded segments with the tinkly piano music and Oprah doing the voice-overs. (A voice-over is only "talk" in the sense of being talked to.) By contrast, talk is all there is to "Oprah After the Show," a little half-hour the Queen of Talk tears off after each "Oprah" taping, much as she might casually tear off a six-figure check to charity. Minutes after the main show ends, the after-show begins. It's not much more than cameras rolling and audience members getting to ask the questions there never seems to be time for on the main program. If you don't recognize Oprah's guest that day, too bad; "After the Show" is so bare-bones there aren't even any graphics. But that's OK. The lack of structure is refreshing, and though the Q-and-A is not always riveting, it's clear from her studio audience that Winfrey remains the intelligent viewer's choice in daytime. - To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com. @ART CAPTION:The golden retriever Jesse plays Levi, the service dog that works with FBI agent Sue Thomas, played by Deanne Bray. @ART CREDIT:Pax @ART CAPTION:Deanne Bray portrays Sue Thomas in "F.B. Eye." @ART:Photos (2, color and b/w)

New on the tube

'girls club' Airs: 8 tonight, Fox (Channel 4) Stars: Gretchen Mol, Kathleen Robertson, Chyler Leigh, Giancarlo Esposito Nutshell: All-too-familiar replacement for "Ally McBeal." The lease was up on "Ally," so David E. Kelley, network TV's walking script factory, wheeled a shiny new model into his reserved parking space on Fox's Monday-night schedule. Sadly, it's all pretty much the same under the hood of "girls club" - just another show about another law firm where sex always seems to be on the brain and on the docket. All the familiar ingredients of a Kelley TV show recipe are in "girls club." Take several erotically charged story lines. Fold in a few ill-advised outbursts of the id (in tonight's episode, two-thirds of Dick Van Dyke's name is taken in vain, if you get my drift). And don't forget the shouting matches, because it wouldn't be a David E. Kelley show without that peculiar form of rehearsed grandstanding seen weekly on "The Practice" and "Boston Public" (which precedes "girls club" with its own ridiculously over-the-top season premiere at 7). As the title suggests, gender struggle is a recurring theme in "girls club." Three beautiful young female attorneys and roommates are determined to become the alternative energy source in a Bay area firm powered by testosterone. You could write the story from here, perhaps write it better. In one scene, the blond one (Mol) tells off her boss (Esposito), huffing, "If your mission in life is to make me cry, that's never going to happen!" My first thought was: Did she actually say "your mission in life"? Apparently the ageism button is next to the sexism button on Kelley's screenplay machine, and he doesn't seem to realize when he's ham-handedly pushing both. How else to explain Felicity Huffman, just four years removed from her role as a youthful producer on "Sports Night," being referred to here as an old hag - twice? To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com.

New on the tube

'Birds of Prey' Airs: 8 tonight, WB (Channel 62); tonight's episode runs until 9:09 p.m. Stars: Dina Meyer, Ashley Scott, Rachel Skarsten, Shemar Moore, Mia Sara Nutshell: Silly but stylish fantasy about three female superheroes in the town that DC Comics built. This is less a comic-book fantasy than it is a blatant attempt to crown the successor to "Charmed." Like that show, "Birds of Prey" features three women with paranormal powers. "Charmed's" angels chase demons, while this threesome battles the erstwhile foes of Batman. One of them, the Joker, put brainy Batgirl (Meyer) into a wheelchair a few years back. Now she calls herself Oracle and monitors New Gotham using high-tech surveillance from an undisclosed location. Oracle lives with Helena Kyle (Scott), the orphaned love child of Batman and Catwoman. No ordinary Bat-Cat, Helena refuses to wear a mask because it would interfere with her social life. "But of course," she huffs, "that would involve having a life." Easily the most appealing face here belongs to Skarsten. A Claire Danes-quality ingenue, she plays the teen-aged Dinah, whose psychic GPS leads her to Oracle's secret loft. The story line of the first episode is convoluted (which may explain why it runs nine minutes long) and occasionally corny. But it's richly filmed, and these three intriguing birds are given room to fly. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com. @ART:Photo (color, uncaptioned)

A hardy har-har for flawed but fun 'Gleason'

Though it delightfully recounts the legendary career of Jackie Gleason, the movie "Gleason" ought to include an advisory when it airs at 8 p.m. Sunday on CBS (Channel 5): "Warning! The following program contains scenes of self-serving network promotion." "Gleason" stars Brad Garrett, of the current CBS hit comedy "Everybody Loves Raymond," playing the volatile comedian whose relationship with CBS is the movie's central theme. The film dwells mainly on a short period when Gleason - and CBS - were at their zenith. His self-named variety show was the second most-watched show on television in 1955; its most popular sketch, "The Honeymooners," would be developed into a half-hour comedy - and, lest we forget, a timeless CBS classic. The letters C-B-S are heard over and over throughout "Gleason," almost always favorably. And other than the two scenes that bookend the movie, in which Garrett is aged to appear like Gleason giving an interview near the end of his life, "Gleason" never moves past 1955. Thus we are spared having to watch his slow fade that included variety shows, "Honeymooners" revivals and the disastrous game show that lasted one episode - all on CBS, by the way. For that matter, there's no mention of his later dubious fame playing a cracker sheriff in three "Smokey and the Bandit" films. Instead, the movie ends with a reverential dreamscape of scenes from "The Honeymooners" that resembles one of those gauzy tributes you see on TV shortly after a famous actor dies. The hokey ending was a letdown considering how much I enjoyed the rest of "Gleason," as script and set and actor magically combined to re-create a show-biz era we can scarcely imagine today. Beginning in 1950 on the DuMont network, a little-known stand-up comic and pool hustler from Brooklyn made himself into the Great One, a larger-than-life fixture of prime time for most of the next 20 years. Gleason was one of the few TV performers to retain complete creative control over his show; in the movie we see him hand-picking the "Glea-Girls" in his chorus line. The script, by Rick Podell and Michael Preminger, traces Gleason's rise with nimble back-and-forth storytelling. The scenery, the music and supporting actors are all on key. And Garrett is magnificent re-imagining Gleason's off-screen persona. In one scene set in the 1940s, Gleason drags a fellow comedian into Toots Shor's for dinner, even though both men are dead broke. The other comic doesn't realize that Gleason is planning to befriend the restaurant's famous proprietor and sweet-talk his way out of paying his tab. "I can't afford this," he whimpers. "You think small, my friend," Gleason responds, as only the Great One could. Quicker clicker "The Bachelor," 8 p.m. Wednesday, ABC (Channel 9): The second edition of ABC's mating game has something two-thirds of the new prime-time shows don't have: a star who lights up the screen. Springfield's own Aaron Buerge has a winning smile, an intimidating resume and a personality as warm as previous bachelor Alex Michel's was cool. The voice-over was only slightly premature in referring to him as "one of America's most eligible bachelors." It didn't hurt his viewer appeal that Buerge loaded his palette with as diverse a range of finalists as one could select from, as he put it, "25 supermodels." The 15 women who made the cut last week included Hayley, an engaging marriage therapist who is looking for someone who "makes my toes tingle," and Anindata, the child of an arranged marriage. But it was Angela, a nurse from Kansas City, who got the first red rose. "Law & Order," 9 p.m. Wednesday, NBC (Channel 41): New DA Arthur Branch may be a "post-9/11 conservative," as the publicity sheet for last week's season premiere described him. But the actor who portrays Branch - the current senior senator from Tennessee, Fred Thompson - is behaving more like a post-Jesse Ventura pol who has no problem moonlighting on TV while still on the public payroll. Nice work if you can get it. The DA's part on "Law & Order" can be mailed in, as Steven Hill proved toward the end of his decade on the show. Still, Thompson's rather lifeless debut last week - it was as if someone dared him to make as little eye contact as possible with his co-stars - leads me to believe he will grow into this modest role only when the distraction of serving in the U.S. Senate is removed in January. "Porn 'n' Chicken," 8 p.m. Sunday, Comedy Central. The funny channel's "first original film" leaves it nowhere to go but up. This mirthless, dirty-minded mess is based on a real-life Yale "secret society" whose members gather to eat fried chicken and watch adult flicks. Bodily functions, sex talk, faculty ethics - nothing is sacred in this movie, except of course for "Debbie Does Dallas" and other revered works of that oeuvre. When I was in college, you didn't need a secret club to watch porn. Once, they showed it in a 1,000-seat auditorium. To ease their consciences, the sponsors made it an X-rated benefit for charity. A friend of mine stood outside the event with a sign that greeted the moviegoers. It read: FIRST TIME? YOU'LL LEARN. SECOND OR MORE? YOU'VE FAILED. My thoughts exactly. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com. @ART CAPTION:Brad Garrett stars in "Gleason" at 8 p.m. Sunday on CBS (Channel 5). @ART:Photo (color)

Deja view; TV programs shown all over again on other channels

Didn't I see that show just the other day - on another channel? Your clicker is not deceiving you. Network shows are starting to reappear on cable channels mere days, sometimes mere hours, after they air on broadcast TV. It's that rarest of industry trends: an economizing measure that actually benefits viewers. If you can't catch "The View" in the morning or Conan O'Brien at night, you now can watch either show on cable in the late afternoon. Can't decide between "Robbery Homicide Division" and "Law & Order: SVU," which air opposite each other on Friday nights? Forget the VCR; both programs are shown again a few days later on USA. It's called "repurposing," and it's a fresh rethinking of traditional syndication, in which cable networks air only episodes from previous seasons. Networks have embraced repurposing for two reasons: It brings in extra revenue that could make a marginal show profitable, and it exposes that show to a desirable cable audience, which may get hooked and want to see episodes the first time they air, back on the networks. A fine example of this is Fox's "real-time" thriller "24." Last season cable's FX paid Fox $150,000 a week for the privilege of repurposing episodes five days later. With that extra cash, plus the sales of overseas rights, "24" made money despite so-so ratings, earning the show a second season on Fox. Here is a guide to the network programs currently being repurposed on cable, as well as a handful of noteworthy shows syndicated to cable: "All My Children," "General Hospital," "One Life to Live" and "Port Charles": After they air during the day on ABC (Channel 9), these soap operas repeat at night on SoapNet. "American Dreams": Airs 7 p.m. Sundays on NBC (Channel 41), repeating 7 p.m. Saturdays on VH1. "As Told By Ginger," "Blue's Clues," "Dora the Explorer," "Hey Arnold!" and "Pelswick": Episodes of these kids' shows air Saturday and Sunday mornings on CBS (Channel 5) and weekdays on Nick. "British Antiques Roadshow": Airs 7 p.m. Thursdays on KCPT (Channel 19), syndicated 2 p.m. weekdays on Bravo. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer": Airs 7 p.m. Tuesdays on UPN (Channel 29) and syndicated weekdays at - can this be? - 6 and 7 a.m. on FX. Parents, be warned: Your children aren't safe from vampires, or mature-themed TV shows about them, at any hour of the day. "The Caroline Rhea Show": Is it a daytime talk show or late-night talk show? See it at 2 p.m. weekdays on NBC (Channel 41) or 11 p.m. weeknights on ABC Family. "Charmed": Airs 7 p.m. Sundays on WB (Channel 62), syndicated 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays on TNT. "Crossing Over With John Edward": Last season the episodes aired first on cable's Sci Fi, then were syndicated. This season it's the opposite. First-run episodes air at 3 p.m. weekdays on CBS (Channel 5), then are repurposed at 10 p.m. weeknights on Sci Fi. "CSI": Airs at 8 p.m. Thursdays on CBS (Channel 5), now syndicated at 10:05 p.m. Mondays on TNN. "Forensic Files": This Court TV staple (8 p.m. weeknights) will reverse commute to NBC (Channel 41) for a limited time, airing 7 p.m. Saturdays beginning Oct. 12. "Fox News Sunday": Kansas City is one of the few places where Tony Snow's Sunday morning talker regularly outdraws "Meet the Press" and the one with George Stephanopoulos. However, if you're in church when it airs at 8 a.m. Sundays on WDAF (Channel 4), the repeat airs at 5 p.m. Sundays on Fox News Channel. (Also see "Meet the Press" below.) "Kansas City Week in Review": KCPT's public affairs program (airing 7:30 p.m. Fridays and 11 a.m. Sundays) is repeated 6 a.m. Sundays on the Pax affiliate, KPXE (Channel 50). "Kim Possible," "Lizzie McGuire," "The Proud Family" and "Teamo Supremo": These kids' shows air Saturday mornings on ABC (Channel 9) and weekdays on Disney Channel. "Late Night With Conan O'Brien": Airs 11:37 p.m. weeknights on NBC (Channel 41), repeating noon and 6 p.m. weekdays on Comedy Central. (Meanwhile, E! has stopped repurposing NBC's "Last Call With Carson Daly.") "Law & Order" spinoffs: One of the first shows to be repurposed was "Special Victims Unit" two years ago. Each episode airs at 9 p.m. Fridays on NBC (Channel 41), then is seen nine days later on USA (10 p.m. Sundays). A similar deal was struck when "Criminal Intent" was introduced last season. Episodes air 8 p.m. Sundays on NBC (Channel 41), re-airing 10 p.m. Fridays on USA. "Life Moments": Inspirational stories are told at 10 a.m. weekdays on NBC (Channel 41) and usually re-air the following week on Hallmark Channel, where the program airs 5 p.m. weekdays. "Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street": No longer welcome at PBS, Rukeyser skipped over to CNBC - and is still more interesting to watch than the 40-somethings who took his place. If you get Topeka's KTWU, you can see a re-airing of his program 10:30 p.m. Saturdays after it appears at 7:30 p.m. Fridays on CNBC. "Meet the Press": Airs 9 a.m. Sundays on NBC (Channel 41), repeating at 9 p.m. that night on CNBC. "Monk": USA's summer hit has been reverse-commuting to ABC, which has been so pleased with the results that it is delaying a new network show, "Dinotopia," until Thanksgiving so "Monk" can continue airing at 7 p.m. Thursdays. "NYPD Blue": Not only has ABC's long-running detective show moved back to 9 p.m. Tuesdays (Channel 9), but repeats are now on TNT (noon and 1 p.m. daily) as well as on Court TV at 10 weeknights. "Power Rangers Wild Force": Kids' show airs 10:30 a.m. Saturdays on Channel 9 and 7 a.m. weekdays on ABC Family. "Road Rules": The quintessential MTV show now airs in syndication at 12:30 a.m. (late weeknights) on KSMO (Channel 62). "Robbery Homicide Division": Following the trend of "Law & Order" shows, the new CBS detective series (9 p.m. Fridays, Channel 5) re-airs each episode a week later on cable (10 p.m. Saturdays, USA). "Third Watch": NBC rescue drama airs 8 p.m. Mondays on Channel 41 and 10 p.m. weeknights on A&E. "Touched by an Angel": The surprise here is that this show is still on CBS. It airs at 7 p.m. Saturdays on Channel 5. Repeats have moved from the Pax network to 7 p.m. weeknights on the Hallmark Channel. "The View": The Barbara Walters kaffeeklatsch airs at 11 a.m. weekdays on ABC (Channel 9). Or watch the repeat with the brew of your choice at 5 p.m. weekdays on A&E. To reach Aaron Barnhart, call (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com. @ART CAPTION:If you missed:"Robbery Homicide Division" at 9 p.m. Fridays on Channel 5(CBS) @ART CAPTION:You can see it: 10 p.m. Saturdays (a week later) on USA @ART CAPTION:If you missed: "The View" with Barbara Walters at 11 a.m. weekdays on Channel 9 (ABC) @ART CAPTION:You can see it: 5 p.m. weekdays on A&E @ART CAPTION:If you missed: "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" at 11:37 weeknights on Channel 41 (NBC) @ART CAPTION:You can see it: noon and 6 p.m. weekdays on Comedy Central @ART CAPTION:Gary Dourdan (left) and George Eads are featured in "CSI." @ART:Photos (7, color and /bw) @ART CREDIT:RANDY WYRICK/The Kansas City Star; ABC; NBC; CBS

New on the tube

'Bram and Alice' Airs: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, CBS (Channel 5) Stars: Alfred Molina, Traylor Howard, Roger Bart, Katie Finneran, Michael Rispoli Nutshell: From the producers of "Frasier," a promising if undernourished sitcom aimed at the "Frasier" audience. Bram (Molina) is a womanizing, over-the-hill author still living off his fading reputation. Alice (Howard) is his 20-something illegitimate daughter who comes strolling into his life after all these years. He has a thing for younger women, she a thing for older men - and yes, the opening episode does mine that unseemly theme for laughs, although it isn't so terrible as other reviewers would have you believe. (TV Guide called the episode "icky" and "gamy"; aren't those "Simpsons" characters?) The real shortcoming is that other than Bram and Alice and Bram's nebbishy assistant with the gimmicky name of Paul Newman (Bart), the rest of the ensemble feels peripheral. The show is clearly modeled on "Frasier" - ritzy apartment, piano music, florid dialogue (sample line: "I am the one dollop of distinction in your otherwise errant existence!"). The difference is that "Frasier" relies on a company of regulars and recurring guests far larger than "Bram and Alice's" current talent pool. I expect CBS to be patient with this show, and I wouldn't bet against longtime "Frasier" producers Christopher Lloyd and Joe Keenan filling out the ensemble as the season goes along. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com. @ART CAPTION:Alfred Molina and Traylor Howard star in "Bram and Alice." @ART:Photo (color) @ART CREDIT:CBS

'Dr. Phil' fixes what ails daytime TV

I will leave it up to licensed professionals to decide whether Phillip C. McGraw, best-selling author and host of the insta-hit "Dr. Phil," is worth his salt as a therapist. But in my opinion, "Dr. Phil" (3 p.m. weekdays, Channel 9) is the greatest thing to happen to daytime TV since Jerry Springer. True, McGraw's guests tend to stay in their seats and speak in a manner that does not require constant bleeping. "Dr. Phil's" audience is better dressed and behaved than the "Jer-ry, Jer-ry" chanting crowd. But not since Jerry Springer hired an off-duty cop to keep his guests from maiming each other has one person so effectively converted other people's problems into televised entertainment and then into personal stardom. "Dr. Phil" is off to a fast start and could soon approach the rating heights of his former client, Oprah Winfrey, whose show was the launchpad for his. And why not? Brassy, funny and brimming with more cornpone wisdom than Dan Rather, McGraw is a hoot to watch. What's more, unlike most daytime food fights, nobody gets hurt on his show, though whether the unhappy couples are healed by their encounters with the tough-lovin' Texan is another matter. Unlike the fading Laura Schlessinger, McGraw learned to stop taking himself and his profession so seriously. In the introduction to his book Self Matters, he describes bailing out of his "godforsaken career," albeit a well-paying one, as a psychoanalyst. Instead of listening to people and their problems, he decided to make people listen to him. He laid down the gauntlet, telling patients to "get real," examine their lives, figure out what's wrong and fix it. "You either get it," became McGraw's refrain every Tuesday on Winfrey's show, "or you don't!" Get it, get in, get out: The pace is snappy on "Dr. Phil," with as many as four interviews per hour. Each interview is preceded by a pretaped segment in which the man and woman not only explain their side of the problem (often making the divide sound more dramatic than it really is), but hilariously re-enact their problem for the cameras. One randy husband happily demonstrated his obsession with sex by walking past his wife while not so surreptitiously grabbing her behind. When that tape ended, McGraw turned to the wife and said, "Have you ever thought of just hosing the boy down?" The interview follows, a blend of searing insights ("Do y'all agree on anything?"), irrefutable axioms ("Failure is no accident") and lots of leaven ("In his defense," he said to one obviously agitated wife, "and God knows he needs one ... "). In a couple of instances it seemed pretty clear that a clueless spouse was merely nodding his or her way through the interview. But McGraw didn't get rich and famous worrying about stuff like that. "All the hard work takes place after the show is over," he said at the end of one episode. He might have added: And that's why they call it "the show." The quicker clicker "Frontline," 9 p.m. Thursday, KCPT and KTWU. John O'Neill was a very interesting guy - a high-profile spook, a counter-terrorism agent for the FBI who had a table at Elaine's. He was also obsessed with Osama bin Laden and pleaded for years with his superiors to let him pursue bin Laden. O'Neill was tolerated, then ignored, then eased out of the bureau. So he went to the World Trade Center to serve as its chief of security, and you can guess what happened next. This poignant 90-minute film called "The Man Who Knew" is a terrific start to "Frontline's" 20th season. It will leave you wondering if the FBI could've prevented the Sept. 11 attacks. "Surviving West Point," 7 p.m. Saturday, National Geographic Channel. This absorbing 14-week documentary series follows a dozen first-year cadets at the U.S. Military Academy as they undergo a hazing unlike any other college freshmen in the nation. Orientation consists of senior officers ordering them around all day, followed by six weeks of boot camp to toughen their bodies as well as their minds. The most engaging of the new kids is Ingrid, the granddaughter of a Bolivian general, who shrugs when asked why she chose this over parties and pledge. "It's just preparing me for the real world," she says. "Pyramid," 11:37 p.m. weeknights, Channel 5, following Letterman.Dick Clark's once-popular word game feels greatly diminished, despite a louder-than-loud new set and appealing new host Donny Osmond. In response to ever-atrophying viewer attention spans, rounds have been cut from 25 to 20 seconds, and the prize for guessing all six categories in the winner's circle is $10,000 - the same jackpot as 29 years ago - though repeat winners can try for the inflation-adjusted amount of $15,000. The old plink-plunk music has been replaced with "Millionaire" noises, but don't let those fool you: The new "Pyramid" isn't going to make anyone rich. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com.

New on the tube

'Less Than Perfect' Airs: 8:30 tonight, ABC (Channel 9), after "Life With Bonnie," which moves to 8 p.m. Stars: Sara Rue, Sherri Shepherd, Andy Dick, Zachary Levi, Andrea Parker, Eric Roberts Nutshell: Full-figured gal becomes network anchor's girl Friday in workmanlike workplace sitcom. In "Less Than Perfect," one of three new Tuesday night comedies on ABC this fall, Rue plays an office temp at a TV network who lands a plum 22nd-floor assignment working for star anchor Will Butler (Roberts). Appealing from the get-go, the plus-sized Rue deftly navigates 22nd-floor politics while cracking so many jokes about food and fat, you start to wonder if she's related to "The King of Queens." Shepherd and Andy Dick - who once again is cast in the role of Andy Dick - play Rue's fellow temps, and their esprit de corps gives this show a little pep. But the laughs drop off considerably when these three aren't involved (though I suspect Roberts and former "Pretender" vixen Parker would do fine in a detective thriller together). Given this ensemble, the possibilities for "Less Than Perfect" seem limited. Overall, I'm reminded of that joke Conan O'Brien told about another network on Emmys night: People are really excited about the network's fall schedule - especially the people on the network's midseason replacement shows. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com. @ART CAPTION:Andy Dick, Sara Rue and Sherri Shepherd are the highlights of "Less Than Perfect." @ART:Photo (color) @ART CREDIT:ABC