Jenna Elfman really has to put a bag over it—her notorious “cute,” I mean, as in koala bears. In Dharma & Greg, this cute was already excessive, as if a tall blonde born to eat leaves and wear designer clothes had looked up the word hip in a book and decided to play it for giggles. Back then, though, she had a sitcom to save, since that show had nowhere to go after its premise. But this time out she shouldn’t need to work so hard. Alex is the opposite of Dharma. She’s a career-driven lawyer in daddy Dabney Coleman’s firm, with a cell phone instead of a life. So when the hunky guy who owns the tavern she needs for a real-estate package invites her to motorcycle to Coney Island, she goes up and down on the office elevator instead. Enough precious. Can we try instead next week for droll?

Premieres Monday, January 23, 9:30 p.m., CBS

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• Archive: “Television”
• Articles by John Leonard
• Table of Contents: January 23, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!