Monday, March 26, 2001

By JOHN LEVESQUE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER TV CRITIC

Joan Cusack always cracks me up.

Her new show on ABC, "What About Joan," does it only occasionally. But I'll probably keep visiting.

TV REVIEW

WHAT ABOUT JOAN WHAT: Half-hour romantic comedy about a Chicago schoolteacher, her girlfriends and her boyfriend CAST: Joan Cusack, Kyle Chandler, Jessica Hecht, Wallace Langham, Donna Murphy and Kellie Shanygne Williams

Cusack plays Chicago high school teacher Joan Gallagher, who's falling in love with the perfect guy and obsessing over it with her best friends. When she's doing her Joan Cusack Theatre of the Patently Goofy routine, stretching her elastic face to the outer limits, I'm on the floor. When she's doing the usual sitcom interaction with boyfriend Jake or best pals Betsy and Ruby, I'm on the couch foraging for stray Cheez-Its and eagerly awaiting the next Cusack moment.

Aside from the aerobic benefits, it's an odd way to watch TV. But if you're the type who considers Monty Python's "Ministry of Silly Walks" to be the paragon of comedy, then Cusack's inspired silliness is worth the wait. If you're not the type, foraging can be rewarding.

The series, premiering tomorrow night (9:30, KOMO/4), is ostensibly an ensemble piece, and perhaps one must accept that 22 minutes of Cusack, Cusack, Cusack would be a bit much, much, much. But without her, "What About Joan" shapes up as one of many entrants in the Just Another Sitcom Sweepstakes, the winner of which gets to sit in front of a TV screen and watch me make jokes about my sex life.

OK, Kyle Chandler is charming as Jake, who seems to be the honest, caring, I'm-here-for-you guy every woman is seeking. But Joan's best friend, Betsy (Jessica Hecht) and her in-denial boyfriend, Mark (Wallace Langham) are mostly annoying. As the dysfunctional counterpoint to Joan's apparently perfect relationship, they're pretty much the wacky neighbors from Sitcom 101: rude and rudimentary. True, they do emphasize Cusack's zany sweetness, but Cusack doesn't need the help. She's a grad-level course in comedy all by herself, proving that "What About Joan" shouldn't be about anyone else.

Short stuff...

The name of Leslie Miller, co-anchor of KCPQ/13's 10 p.m. newscast the past three years, is cropping up in telemarketing surveys being conducted by KIRO/7. The surveys ask what people think of Miller along with longtime KIRO anchors Steve Raible and Susan Hutchison. They also ask respondents to rank Raible and Hutchison as an anchor team against a possible Raible-Miller pairing. KIRO spokeswoman Michelle Van Cleve said it's not unusual for any station to have several research projects going on. "It is very common for us to track viewer preferences for personalities on our station and our competition," she said. KCPQ news director Todd Mokhtari said he was unaware of the surveys. ... For the second year running, KIRO/7 has won a regional award for overall news excellence from the Radio-Television News Directors Association. The RTNDA also gave KIRO the nod in investigative reporting for its stories on the continuing sales of recalled Firestone tires. KING/5 was cited for best newscast and best spot news coverage, and KOMO/4 was honored for best continuing coverage (of the Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash) and for best writing. The awards are for large-market stations in RTNDA's Region 1, which encompasses Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. To be considered for overall excellence a station must submit a tape containing a copy of the program entered in the newscast category plus additional examples of spot news, continuing coverage, features and/or other work that "reflect the depth and scope of the news organization."... Peter Alexander, former morning anchor at KHQ-TV in Spokane, has joined KCPQ as Friday/Saturday co-anchor with Kerri Kazarba. He replaces Ron Corning, who left the station in September. Meteorologist Steve Villanueva of KCOY-TV in Santa Maria, Calif., will join KCPQ as weekend weather anchor next month, replacing new mom Tiffany Sanders, who will continue at the station as a free-lancer.

John Levesque is the P-I's television critic.