THE best thing you can say about the year’s most pathetic TV show is that at least it’s being aired in August when the fewest number of people are likely to see it.
It should probably go without saying, but the debut of “Anchorwoman” tonight on Fox is no reason to cut short your vacation or postpone any other plans you might have in mind for this evening – dining out, taking a summer stroll or painting your toenails.
Speaking of the latter, the “star” of “Anchor-woman” – blonde, buxom Lauren Jones – can paint her toenails while driving.
In tonight’s premiere, she recklessly demonstrates this skill on the way to her first day of work at KYTX-TV, the station in Tyler, Texas, that agreed to sacrifice its credibility in order to participate in this tacky publicity stunt.
Jones possesses no other discernible talents, especially ones that would qualify her to anchor a newscast.
That’s the supposed point of this new twist on the old “Pygmalion” story – to see if a swimsuit model with no journalism experience can be molded into a hard-nosed newswoman.
The news staff at KYTX has their work cut out for them. On the show, Jones is such an airhead that she doesn’t know the answer when she’s asked if she’s right- or left-handed.
Probably, though, her stupidity’s a put-on (for her sake, I hope so), as is this entire show, whose concept is so convoluted that Fox had to devise a clumsy new term – “a comedy/reality hybrid” – to describe it.
“Anchorwoman”
Tonight at 8 on Fox/5