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SERIES
ONE OF THE few new sitcoms not set in New York City, THE DREW CAREY SHOW (ABC, Dec. 6, 8:30-9 p.m.) celebrates its Cleveland locale (Drew's hometown) as Indians slugger Dave Winfield shows up at Drew's birthday bash. In addition to his stint with the Tribe, Winfield has swung his bat for the Padres, the Yankees, and the Twins. Speaking of twins, on THE NAKED TRUTH (ABC, Dec. 6, 9:30-10 p.m.), Nora (Tea Leoni) covers the wedding of one half of a pair of Siamese twins. (The bride is played by ex-SNL ditz Victoria Jackson.) The fun really begins when the other twin starts hitting on Nora. Pretty twisted stuff, but at least Truth isn't recycling old Seinfeld and Friends plots like almost every other sitcom.
LESS-BIZARRE DATING dilemmas provide stories for THE SINGLE GUY (NBC, Dec. 7, 8:30-9 p.m.), SEINFELD (NBC, Dec. 7, 9-9:30 p.m.), and CAROLINE IN THE CITY (NBC, Dec. 7, 9:30-10 p.m.). First, Jonathan (Jonathan Silverman) thinks he's finally found the perfect woman (Brooke Langton), until he falls for one of her coworkers (Viveka Davis). Then Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) fears his new squeeze is out of his league, and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) panics when the company that manufactures her favorite contraceptive sponge goes belly-up. And finally, Caroline (Lea Thompson) and Del (Eric Lutes) double-date with Annie (Amy Pietz) and her ex-con boyfriend (Tim Conlon). Of course, living in New York City significantly increases your chances of dating a felon.
LOTS OF PARENTS want their kids to grow up to be doctors, and the moms and dads of ER (NBC, Dec. 7, 10-11 p.m.) must've been no exception. We've already met the folks of Sherry Stringfield's Dr. Lewis (Paul Dooley and Valerie Perrine play them), and Dr. Benton (Eriq LaSalle) saw his mother (Beah Richards) pass away last season. Now Dr. Ross (George Clooney) schedules a dinner with his ma (Twin Peaks' Piper Laurie). Meanwhile, Dr. Greene (Anthony Edwards) races to the Wisconsin hospital bedside of his wife (Christine Harnos) after she's in a car accident. Optimists be warned: Just when things were starting to go well for the Greenes, their marriage seems headed for another smashup.
TWO CHANCES this week to check out ALMOST PERFECT (CBS, Dec. 10 and 11, 8:30-9 p.m. each night), the underappreciated Nancy Travis sitcom hidden away on Sunday nights. Most of the time, Perfect features amusing romantic byplay between Kevin Kilner's hulking-hunk DA Mike and Travis' TV writer-producer Kim. But on Sunday's edition, ''Love Hurts,'' slapstick rules: Mike throws out his back, Kim wrenches her neck, both take too many painkillers, and much rubber-legged silliness ensues. The next night, Perfect goes Casino, sort of: Kim races to Las Vegas to stop an elopement between Rob (Matthew Letscher) and Mike's sister, Katie (Susan Egan). Had this series premiered a few years ago, on Monday nights (when CBS had solid hits in Murphy Brown and Designing Women), Perfect would probably have the success it deserves. Instead, it toils away in brainy obscurity.
