Monday, October 25, 1999
It's about 'Time'; last of fall premiere's tonight
BY JOHN KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Hooray! The last of the new fall shows airs tonight, nine weeks after the first August premiere.
But the real celebration is for Ally McBeal, whichfinally returns with a new episode about her steamy affair in a car wash (9 p.m., Channels 19, 45) after 41/2 months of reruns. And only two more weeks until The X-Files resume.
• Time of Your Life (8 p.m., Channels 19, 45): Watching Jennifer Love Hewitt's new drama won't be the time of your life. But it's better than Suddenly Susan, Ladies Man and Veronica's Closet.
Fox takes Ms. Hewitt's character, Sarah Merrin, out of Party of Five and sends her searching for her father in New York, where she winds up staying in her mother's old apartment. (How convenient! How contrived!)
Her new circle of friends includes an unemployed actress (Jennifer Garner, Felicity), a struggling musician (Jonathon Schaech, That Thing You Do) a hairdresser (Diego Serrano, Another World) and the manager (Gina Ravera, Soul Food) of a karaoke bar where Sarah will sing.
The first half-hour reminds me of that children's book, Are You My Mother? Without giving away too much, let's just say doe-eyed Sarah approaches more than one New York stranger looking for her father.
She loses some of her naivete in the second half, after getting arrested. (OK, I won't say more!)
It ends with an epiphany on the subway: “I want to be in a strange city, with no money and no plan and no one I know. And I'll say, "I'll handle it, and figure out as I go.'”
Maybe creators Chris Keyser and Amy Lippman (Party of Five) will figure this one out as it goes. (They trashed the original pilot in July and redrew the supporting characters.)
Time of Your Life holds more promise than ABC's Wasteland and WB's Jack & Jill, two other new dramas about young singles in Manhattan. But that's not saying much. Fox has a major asset in Ms. Hewitt, if they can figure out what to do with her. Love is not all you need.
John Kiesewetter is Enquirer TV/radio critic. Write him at 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, 45202.
