Nancy Travis

Not since Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer were forced to share an anchor desk for the debut of "PrimeTime Live" have I seen chemistry as awful as that of Nancy Travis and Kevin Pollak in the new CBS sitcom "Work With Me."I kept wondering who would be crazy enough to stick with the casting after they saw the two actors on screen together, and then I found out the co-executive producers were Travis, Pollak, and Pollak's wife, Lucy Webb. Why do I think a more impartial group of producers might have seen things more clearly?

Not since Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer were forced to share an anchor desk for the debut of "PrimeTime Live" have I seen chemistry as awful as that of Nancy Travis and Kevin Pollak in the new CBS sitcom "Work With Me."I kept wondering who would be crazy enough to stick with the casting after they saw the two actors on screen together, and then I found out the co-executive producers were Travis, Pollak, and Pollak's wife, Lucy Webb. Why do I think a more impartial group of producers might have seen things more clearly?

"The Player" is an acerbic, satiric look at Hollywood, as put together by Hollywood exile Robert Altman. It follows an ambitious young producer as he tries to navigate his way through some career obstacles, including murder. Rated R."White Sands" features Willem Dafoe as a deputy sheriff in New Mexico who goes undercover to find a murderer. Mickey Rourke plays his nemesis, a heavy-lidded CIA lizard. Rated R."Toto le Heros" is a wondrous Belgian film in which a bitter old man sets out to murder a rival and ends up recovering his own life.

"Star Trek: Voyager" goes back in time in a ploy that usually works wonders for the ratings.FTC "Wings" (8 p.m.-8: 30 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11) -- Stuttering John, apparently on work-release from "The Howard Stern Show," plays an obnoxious patron in a martini bar Brian (Steven Weber) has just invested in. NBC."The Nanny" (8 p.m.-8: 30 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- The Woman With the Most Irritating Voice in the World gets audited, and the results aren't pretty -- until Jay Leno shows up and somehow convinces the auditor to give her a break.

With a title of "Destiny Turns on the Radio," you don't expect an ordinary movie.And with "Pulp Fiction"/pop culture maestro Quentin Tarantino playing a mythical character named Johnny Destiny, you don't even expect a halfway normal flick. What you get is a film that's calculated to be offbeat in the same obvious way that some Hollywood movies are prepackaged to be mainstream.This is the first feature of director Jack Baran, but it has definite Tarantino-ish touches. It's as rooted in '50s pop culture as Mr. Tarantino's pulp flicks are mired in the '70s.

King Kong and Godzilla, together in one movie? Man, talk about star power. Check out Sci-Fi tonight."Almost Perfect" (8: 30 p.m.-9 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- Kim (Nancy Travis) leaves Gary (Chip Zien) in charge of the set with explosive results that come at just the wrong time. A repeat of one of the series' funniest episodes. CBS."MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis" (9 p.m.-11 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- MacGyver makes like Indiana Jones in a quest for lost booty from the lost city. ABC."Awake to Danger" (9 p.m.-11 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11)

Richard Pryor, one of the most tortured souls in Hollywood, gets the "Biography" treatment on A&E tonight."The Marshal" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- MacBride (Jeff Fahey) finds himself playing nursemaid to a suspected cocaine dealer, with a rocket for an arm, who is allowed to continue playing baseball while awaiting trial. ABC."Almost Perfect" (8: 30 p.m.-9 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- When Kim (Nancy Travis) and Mike (Kevin Kilner) decide to see how long they can give each other the silent treatment, Mike enlists a former girlfriend to break Kim's resolve.

CBS and Nancy Travis are going to keep on doing it until they get it right, I suppose."Ellen" (8 p.m.-8: 30 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- Ellen tries to get her parents back together by re-staging their 1958 Cuban honeymoon. She even gets singer Eddie Fisher to drop by (he probably just wanted to visit his daughter, Joely Fisher, who plays Paige). ABC."Wings" (8 p.m.-8: 30 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11) -- Joe and Helen (Tim Daly and Crystal Bernard) celebrate their first anniversary by getting stuck at a singles mixer.

So I murdered "So I Married an Axe Murderer."I didn't mean to. My daughter begged me to go easy. But I couldn't help it. Something came into my veins and, pulsing with power, I slammed my critic's bludgeon into its frail skull over and over. My nickname isn't "Raskolnikov" for nothing.It seemed so helpless. Mike Myers plays a San Francisco poet -- among the movie's goofier notions, it seems to think being a poet is a normal bourgeois job -- who is perennially unlucky in love. He always finds fault with his partners.

The first 30 minutes of ''Three Men and a Little Lady'' are almost unbearably cute. As they roll by, a thought nags -- what are these three grown men doing, continuing with this sort of communal arrangement at their ages?That question is answered at that half-hour mark, and while this might not pass outside the theater, it's good enough for a farce of this sort.''Three Men and a Little Lady'' improves after those first 30 minutes but not that much. The film, tolerable at best, is never the joy the first movie was. In the original, Tom Selleck came off best.

CBS and Nancy Travis are going to keep on doing it until they get it right, I suppose."Ellen" (8 p.m.-8: 30 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- Ellen tries to get her parents back together by re-staging their 1958 Cuban honeymoon. She even gets singer Eddie Fisher to drop by (he probably just wanted to visit his daughter, Joely Fisher, who plays Paige). ABC."Wings" (8 p.m.-8: 30 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11) -- Joe and Helen (Tim Daly and Crystal Bernard) celebrate their first anniversary by getting stuck at a singles mixer.

It's nasty alien night. Take cover."Fox After Breakfast" (9 a.m.-10 a.m., WBFF, Channel 45) -- CBS, with its revamped "Morning Show," isn't the only new kid on the TV block this morning. This offering, which had been airing on the cable f/x channel, has hosts Tom Bergeron, Laurie Hibberd and Bob the Puppet entertaining guests in their New York apartment. Today's big-time-network debut guest: Gillian Anderson of "The X-Files." Interesting side note: Hibberd's boyfriend is Michael Gelman, executive producer of "Live With Regis and Kathie Lee," which airs during this same time period.

King Kong and Godzilla, together in one movie? Man, talk about star power. Check out Sci-Fi tonight."Almost Perfect" (8: 30 p.m.-9 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- Kim (Nancy Travis) leaves Gary (Chip Zien) in charge of the set with explosive results that come at just the wrong time. A repeat of one of the series' funniest episodes. CBS."MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis" (9 p.m.-11 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- MacGyver makes like Indiana Jones in a quest for lost booty from the lost city. ABC."Awake to Danger" (9 p.m.-11 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11)

Richard Pryor, one of the most tortured souls in Hollywood, gets the "Biography" treatment on A&E tonight."The Marshal" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- MacBride (Jeff Fahey) finds himself playing nursemaid to a suspected cocaine dealer, with a rocket for an arm, who is allowed to continue playing baseball while awaiting trial. ABC."Almost Perfect" (8: 30 p.m.-9 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- When Kim (Nancy Travis) and Mike (Kevin Kilner) decide to see how long they can give each other the silent treatment, Mike enlists a former girlfriend to break Kim's resolve.

How many times now have we seen two television characters interrupted in the throes of passion by one or both of their beepers going off? Think it's happened enough that we can safely call it a cliche for illustrating tension between personal and professional lives?The shopworn beeper scene is right there smack dab in the middle of "Almost Perfect," a new CBS sitcom about two young professionals, which premieres at 8:30 tomorrow night (WJZ, Channel 13). But I found myself smiling anyway at a small, original punch line delivered between the beeps.

With a title of "Destiny Turns on the Radio," you don't expect an ordinary movie.And with "Pulp Fiction"/pop culture maestro Quentin Tarantino playing a mythical character named Johnny Destiny, you don't even expect a halfway normal flick. What you get is a film that's calculated to be offbeat in the same obvious way that some Hollywood movies are prepackaged to be mainstream.This is the first feature of director Jack Baran, but it has definite Tarantino-ish touches. It's as rooted in '50s pop culture as Mr. Tarantino's pulp flicks are mired in the '70s.

It's nasty alien night. Take cover."Fox After Breakfast" (9 a.m.-10 a.m., WBFF, Channel 45) -- CBS, with its revamped "Morning Show," isn't the only new kid on the TV block this morning. This offering, which had been airing on the cable f/x channel, has hosts Tom Bergeron, Laurie Hibberd and Bob the Puppet entertaining guests in their New York apartment. Today's big-time-network debut guest: Gillian Anderson of "The X-Files." Interesting side note: Hibberd's boyfriend is Michael Gelman, executive producer of "Live With Regis and Kathie Lee," which airs during this same time period.

Recovering from a heart attack, 70-year-old Jack Scanlan gives his family a terrific present: he drops dead."Passed Away" chronicles the large and unruly Scanlan clan's attempts to deal with this wonderful opportunity: a few squander it in mawkish excess like "grief" or "depression," but most of them see it for what it is, a chance for romantic fulfillment, career advancement, free food and booze, whatever. As for Jack (Jack Warden), lying there pink and frosty, he seems to be enjoying it as well: Party hearty, dead dude.

So I murdered "So I Married an Axe Murderer."I didn't mean to. My daughter begged me to go easy. But I couldn't help it. Something came into my veins and, pulsing with power, I slammed my critic's bludgeon into its frail skull over and over. My nickname isn't "Raskolnikov" for nothing.It seemed so helpless. Mike Myers plays a San Francisco poet -- among the movie's goofier notions, it seems to think being a poet is a normal bourgeois job -- who is perennially unlucky in love. He always finds fault with his partners.

Recovering from a heart attack, 70-year-old Jack Scanlan gives his family a terrific present: he drops dead."Passed Away" chronicles the large and unruly Scanlan clan's attempts to deal with this wonderful opportunity: a few squander it in mawkish excess like "grief" or "depression," but most of them see it for what it is, a chance for romantic fulfillment, career advancement, free food and booze, whatever. As for Jack (Jack Warden), lying there pink and frosty, he seems to be enjoying it as well: Party hearty, dead dude.