BY JOHN KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Of the three series premiering tonight, put your trust in Faith -- former Murphy Brown sidekick Faith Ford.
The other two don't have a prayer.
Maggie Winters
(8:30 p.m., Channel 12, 7): After 10 years as Corky Sherwood, Ms. Ford moves on as Maggie Winters, a thirtysomething career woman who comes home to tiny Shelbyville, Ind., after a failed marriage. She quickly falls back in with her high school pals -- a boutique owner (Alex Kapp Horner), the football star (Vincent Ventresca), a bartender (Brian Haley) and department store manager (Clea Lewis from Ellen).
Oak Hills graduate Jenny Robertson makes her TV series debut as Robin, a housewife and mother of three, who's living what Maggie thought was her dream life.
Producers moved the setting to Shelbyville from West Hartford, Conn., because CBS wanted the show in the heartland, instead of the East Coast.
"We really wanted it to feel like Anytown USA," says Kari Lizer, a former actress (Matlock) who created the series. Shelbyville, about 80 minutes northwest of Cincinnati on Interstate 74, would "give it some flavor . . . (of) the middle of the country for a change, and its proximity to Chicago and even Indianapolis."
Ms. Ford, in an interview, claims that Maggie Winters will be an ensemble comedy. But she will be the reason viewers tune in today's promising pilot about Maggie's 10-year high school reunion. And the success of Maggie will depend on producers finding a way to flesh out these other characters to bring us back week after week.
(9 p.m., Channel 12, 7): She's a Boston public defender, and he's a Boston cop. But they set aside their professional differences for a torrid romance that leads to marriage.
That might not make a bad TV show, despite the predictability of their predicament, particularly with the casting of Moira Kelly (Chaplin, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me) and Jason Beghe (G.I. Jane, NYPD Blue).
But all the other folks tossed into this Irish stew -- her sister (Colleen Flynn) married to his firefighter brother (Stephen Lee); his two other dim-bulb brothers also on the police force (Jason Wiles, Stephen Largay); and his Irish mother (Fionnula Flanagan) -- spoil a good recipe.
Too many opposites won't attract viewers, particularly against ABC's Drew Carey Show.
The Secret Lives of Men
(9:30 p.m., Channel 9, 2): The angst of divorce drives this ABC comedy from Susan Harris, creator of The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, Benson, Soap and Nurses.
Three golfing buddies (Peter Gallagher, Brad Whitford, Mitch Rouse) commiserate about their ex-wives on the golf course or over dinner at their favorite Italian restaurant.
Tonight, Michael (Mr. Gallagher, from While You Were Sleeping) gets anxious when his former wife invites him to supper. Phil (Mr. Whitford, from The Client) warns that she's asking for more money. Viewers won't expect the plot twist which follows.
Ms. Harris, as usual, provides a few good one-liners for the guys, though the script doesn't have the crackle of The Golden Girls or Empty Nest.
But Secret Lives double bogeys by mixing a studio sitcom with outdoor country club scenes. (Definitely she should be penalized a few strokes for adding a laugh track to filmed fairway conversations.) Don't be surprised if the outdoor golf, and - or the laugh track, miss the cut in future episodes.
John Kiesewetter is Enquirer TV - radio critic. His column appears Monday and Wednesday. Write: 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202; fax: 768-8330.
John Kiesewetter is Enquirer TV/radio critic. Write him at 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, 45202.