Here are some random thoughts, predictions, and snide comments about the upcoming season.

By LAURA NACHMAN
Courier Times

Here are some random thoughts, predictions, and snide comments about the upcoming season.

WHERE'S TORI?: Fellow "90210"-ers Tiffani Thiessen, Jennie Garth and Kathleen Robertson landed jobs on Fox's "Fastlane," WB's "What I Like About You," and Fox's "Girls Club," respectively.

HANGIN' TOUGH: Former New Kids on the Block Donnie Wahlberg and Joey McEntyre join NBC's "Boomtown" and "Boston Public," respectively. Meanwhile, Debbie Gibson is waiting for the phone to ring.

PHILLY CONNECTION: CBS's "Hack" is filmed and set in Philly. NBC's "American Dreams" is set in Philly, Roxborough's Kim Delaney is a star of "CSI: Miami" on CBS, Bucks County's Paul McCrane returns to "ER" on NBC, Radnor"s David Boreanaz returns as "Angel" on the WB, Upper Darby's Jamie Kennedy returns for season two of "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment" on the WB. Philly's Gary Dourdan is on "CSI." Temple drama school graduate Tom Sizemore stars in "Robbery Homicide Division" on CBS.

CASTING SUGGESTION: Fox analyst Troy Aikman should guest star as Simon Baker's twin brother on "The Guardian" on CBS.

FIVE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT: Bonnie Hunt of "Grand," "Davis Rules," "The Building" and "The Bonnie Hunt Show" gets another chance in "Life with Bonnie" on ABC.

SIX STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT: Paula Marshall of "Cursed," "Snoops," "Cupid," "Chicago Sons" and "Wild Oats" gets hired again for "Hidden Hills" on NBC.

THROW INTO THE RECYCLING BIN: John Ritter and Katey Sagal star in "Eight Simple Rules For Dating my Teenage Daughter."

THEY'RE STILL ON THE AIR?: "The Drew Carey Show," "Touched by an Angel," "Dawson's Creek," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch."

MOST SURPRISING SUCCESS STORY: Who would've thought "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" would do better than shows from Michael Richards, Julia Louis Dreyfus and Jason Alexander?

WATCH OUT SERENA AND VENUS: Ashley Williams, the younger sister of Kimberly Williams of "Life According to Jim," stars in "Good Morning Miami" on NBC.

SHOW THAT WON'T LIVE UP TO ITS NAME: "Still Standing" with Jami Gertz on CBS. It should be gone by November.

SHOW THAT WILL LIVE UP TO ITS NAME: "Less Than Perfect."

GEOGRAPHY LESSON: "Boomtown," "CSI: Miami," "Everwood," "Hidden Hills," "Good Morning Miami," "Push, Nevada," "Survivor: Thailand," "Greetings from Tuscon."

MOST PROMISING: "Cedric the Entertainer Presents" on Fox. It has a great lead-in, "Bernie Mac," and built-in name recognition from his "Super Bowl" beer commercials.

LEAST LIKELY TO SUCCEED: Anything on UPN

THE PHEONIX RISES: "America's Funniest Videos" returns to the ABC fall schedule.

ST. ELMO'S FIRED: Rob Lowe will leave "The West Wing" midway through the season.

LEAST BELIEVABLE COUPLE SINCE ELLEN DEGENERES DATED A MAN IN "MR. WRONG": Dennis Franz and Charlotte Ross on "NYPD Blue."

Reach Laura Nachman at bradyresident@aol.com.

September 17, 2002