ONLINE WITH THE SHOW

One sure sign of the coming multimedia millennium is that there are six -- count 'em, six -- TV shows devoted to all things cyber: CNET CENTRAL (Sci-Fi Channel, Sundays, 1:30 p.m.), THE WEB (Sci-Fi, Sundays, noon), TV.COM (syndicated, weekends), THE NEW EDGE (Sci-Fi, Sundays, 1 p.m.), THE SITE (MSNBC, nightly, 10 p.m.), and CYBERLIFE (Discovery Channel, quarterly). But just how desperate for celebrity appearances are these broadcast newsmagazines? Well, no less than Calvert De Forest -- David Letterman's whipping boy since his pseudonymous days as Larry ''Bud'' Melman -- showed up to plug his new website on recent installments of The Web and TV.COM, and had a cameo in a gag on The Site as ''the Big Cheese'' who pulls the strings behind the scenes (Bill Gates must have been on vacation that day). That De Forest seems more idiot than savant doesn't seem to matter to the shows' producers; the important thing, presumably, is that he attracts those prized twenty- and thirtysomethings who plunk down in front of the tube when they aren't plummeting through cyberspace.

Not coincidentally, it's this same audience -- weaned from network TV by cable, videogames, and the unearthly glow of their PCs -- who are less likely to be bothered by the slippery nature of many of these shows, whose in-your-face blend of corporate synergy and oblivious self-promotion wouldn't fly on, say, 60 Minutes. CNET Central, The Web, TV.COM, and The New Edge are produced by, and regularly refer back to, CNET -- an amorphous outfit that exists as much for its elaborate websites as for its syndicated TV fare. The Site is coproduced by MSNBC and publisher Ziff-Davis. The production company Termite Art is responsible for CyberLife. Sure, many TV shows exist in a tangled skein of corporate interests, but it's best to take their content with a grain of gallium arsenide.

Among CNET's offerings, the best and most realistic is CNET Central. A recent installment, cohosted by the chummy Gina St. John and Richard Hart, focused on New Technology High School in the Napa Valley, superfast cable-modem tests in the Midwest, and a forthcoming Disney online service that promises to offer a variation on E-mail called D-mail. Although the show's tone is generally optimistic, its correspondents do give some time to dissenting views, and that whiff of skepticism is almost enough to excuse such transgressions as the self-serving sound bite of CNET editor in chief Chris Barr.

No such air of doubt, unfortunately, is evident on The Web. Cohosted by Brian Copeland, Sofie Formica, and the blond, 90210-ish Justin Gunn, this show presents the technology of tomorrow as if it were the established fact of today. In a recent episode, Gunn fired Nerf-ball questions at the founders of Marimba, which makes a complicated Web doohickey that mimics TV channels. (You almost feel sorry for Gunn -- no one so soap ready should have to say things like ''You're actually receiving a program that's analogous to an executable?'') The rest of The Web's featurettes -- environmental sites, the Hall of Shame -- were diverting, until Gunn segued into the inevitable CNET promo: a breathless plug for the company's Game Center site.

As for TV.COM, think of it as The Web, but half as long and twice as smarmy. Taking its cue from Ricki Lake, this multimedia potpourri routinely identifies guests with such cute screen IDs as ''chataholic,'' ''king of spam,'' and -- for an appearance by Dennis Miller -- ''Microsoft court jester.'' (Oh, yeah, TV.COM employs presidential son Ron Reagan as a correspondent.) CNET's newest offering, The New Edge, has little to do with computers but a lot to do with what people who use computers all day fantasize about. A recent installment reported on top-gun training, high-tech tennis rackets, and a scary urban sport called street luging.

Considering its corporate parentage, you'd think The Site would fare better. Wrong -- this logy show is torpedoed by host Soledad O'Brien, who's perky enough but apparently wouldn't know software from evening wear. On one show, O'Brien traded repartee with a staffer demonstrating a new site (''Wow, that's amazing.'' ''Yeah, it's amazing''); inquired of cancer victim Robert Urich, ''Is it hard to go through this, a life-threatening illness?''; and blinked uncomprehendingly when a guest mentioned Brian Eno.

Fortunately, CyberLife's hosts, Chris Eddy and Gina Smith (now replaced by vice presidential offspring Eleanor Mondale), would never commit such gaffes, even if they do speak so slowly (on such subjects as fishing CD-ROMs and the ultraviolent Phantasmagoria) that you feel like you're watching PBS kiddie programming. Besides, CyberLife has actually presented guests like Kevin Bacon and Gillian Anderson. Granted, they're no Calvert De Forest... CNET Central: B+ The Web: B- TV.COM: C+ The New Edge: B- The Site: C- CyberLife: B