Wednesday: Fall TV Preview

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Beverly Hills, 90210

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Returning Shows

ELLEN (ABC, 8-8:30 p.m.) She's said it many times before, but this season Ellen DeGeneres really means it: "I want to get away from the dating thing. That's never what I did in my stand-up and it's something I never wanted to do on the show." So what will she do instead? Bounce off her buddies: Clea Lewis becomes a regular as the annoying Audrey, and Jeremy Piven (The Larry Sanders Show) joins as Ellen's cousin/roommate. Is DeGeneres worried about facing Andrew Clay's ribald new CBS sitcom? "I can't help but think it'll be drastically different from my show." That's a safe bet.

SEAQUEST 2032 (NBC, 8-9 p.m.) The ship will steer away from sci-fi, paddle ahead 10 years to 2032, and jettison two cast members (Rosalind Allen and Marco Sanchez). With Roy Scheider checking in only occasionally, the vessel will be run by the forceful Capt. Hudson (ER's Michael Ironside). Says the new skipper: "I found the [old shows] slow moving." Can he bring some ER speed aboard?

BEVERLY HILLS, 90210 (Fox, 8-9 p.m.) Andrea has moved to New Haven, Jim and Cindy have moved to Hong Kong, and Luke Perry's Dylan will move on after Episode 10. "He'll be pursuing vengeance for his father's death," says executive producer Jessica Klein. He also finds love with Antonia (Earth 2's Rebecca Gayheart). Brandon drops Valerie (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen) for a new coed (Emma Caufield), and Kelly (Jennie Garth) hooks up with artist Colin (Higher Learning's Jason Wiles). Ray (Jamie Walters) tries to make up with Donna (Tori Spelling) — the key word here being tries, especially with a new virgin on the block (Cameron Bancroft).

GRACE UNDER FIRE (ABC, 9-9:30 p.m.) Now an executive producer, Brett Butler has some changes planned: "We've hired most of the cast of Friends. Those orders came from Disney, my new boss." Actually, Grace will inhabit anything but a magic kingdom: After a demotion at the plant, she gets a taste of hard times. She also gets a new love interest (In the Heat of the Night's Alan Autry). Butler is wary about anchoring Wednesday but says, "I'm not complaining. I do resent having to wear mouse ears in the promos ... "

PARTY OF FIVE (Fox, 9-10 p.m.) With only a half-season pickup, these struggling orphans face an ultimatum: Grab more viewers or join My So-Called Life in quality-drama heaven. Bailey (Scott Wolf) faces his senior year after Jill's death, and Charlie (Matthew Fox) evades responsibility as marriage to Kirsten (Paula Devicq) nears. "We never got to see Charlie behave irresponsibly last year," explains Fox. "This year, we'll see him flake more."

LAW & ORDER (NBC, 10-11 p.m.) Say goodbye to Det. Mike Logan (Chris Noth) as the series' last original character is bagged for Gen-X gum shoe Reymundo Curtis (Benjamin Bratt). "The producers want to pull in the younger audience," says Bratt, "to heat it up." Curtis and partner Det. Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) won't bridge the generation gap too well. "I don't have much street savvy," Bratt says of his character, "whereas Briscoe was a beat cop who's now biding his time until retirement. So when the young blood comes in, there's problems."