TWO OF A KIND ABC, 8-8:30 PM DEBUTS SEPT. 25
ABC stopped thanking God it was Friday in 1991, when the Full House family packed its bags and moved to Tuesday, taking its top 20 ratings with them. Lately, the Alphabet's family-oriented TGIF block hasn't caught a break: 1996's slate of puppet-heavy programming, Muppets Tonight and Aliens in the Family, couldn't find an audience outside the diaper set; then ABC suffered a grander insult when its crown jewel, Urkel (Okay, Family Matters), emigrated to CBS in 1997. The network attempted in vain to win back teens and parents with last season's wretched comedies You Wish and Teen Angel. So far, only Sabrina, the Teenage Witch has been able to conjure up Friday viewers.
What to do? Re-create history, of course. Thus, ABC enlisted Full House producers Thomas Miller and Robert Boyett to construct a vehicle for House stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen; the resulting Two of a Kind airs -- where else? -- in the Full House Memorial Time Slot. But can the now-12-year-old Stepford scamps, who play sisters being raised by a strict single dad (Chris Sieber) and a carefree nanny (Sally Wheeler), still deliver eyeballs?
''They have tremendous public awareness,'' says exec producer Michael Warren. ''When I say I'm doing a show with the Olsen twins, it's always 'Ooh, my kids love them!''' The multimillionaire twin thespians and their burgeoning empire are banking on that. The Olsens have a direct-to-video movie coming out this fall, as well as a CD (they sing!) and a possible line of merchandise. This isn't kiddie stuff; the girls are nearly teens, and like their show, future products will focus on dating, curfews, and adolescent adventures. But for now, the Olsens are concentrating on Two of a Kind: ''We really wanted to do it because we're playing different characters instead of sharing one,'' says Mary-Kate. ''It's a lot ot fun just to be back,'' chirps Ashley.
Warren, for his part, wouldn't describe leading off ABC's floundering Friday as ''fun.'' ''If we had our druthers, I don't think we'd be on at 8,'' he says. On the other hand, ''if we can win our time slot, we're going to be heroes.'' BOTTOM LINE The girls have an impish appeal -- cute without being saccharine, much like their new show. With Sabrina's help, Two could be the divine intervention TGIF needs. -- KB
LIVING IN CAPTIVITY FOX, 8-8:30 PM DEBUTS SEPT. 11
CONCEPT Black family (Dondre T. Whitfield and Kira Arne, above) moves into white suburb; everyone eyes each other warily. Message: Some things never change. THE SCOOP Creator Diane English (Murphy Brown) says she wants ''to go to that dark place where educated white liberals think they're above it all, but really are not'' -- i.e., racial prejudice prevails. But she also says the show won't deal with race every week; other themes include ''home security and Prozac.'' BOTTOM LINE Plots that sound like All in the Family rejects don't add up to groundbreaking TV.
LEGACY UPN, 8-9 PM DEBUTS OCT. 9
