WHAT TO WATCH

A day-to-day guide to notable programs. Times are Eastern standard and are subject to change.

by Mike Flaherty

9-10PM ALLY MCBEAL (Fox, TV-14-DS) Ally represents one sister who's not doing it for herself: a nun who has broken her celibacy vow.

9:30-10PM BECKER (CBS, TV-PG-L) How is it that Ted Danson (above, with Alex Desert) could so rivetingly forget his lovable Cheers persona and portray an incestuous dad (in the 1984 TV movie Something About Amelia) yet come up so gratingly short as a misanthropic doctor? Since Becker's writing and supporting cast aren't bad, it seems a classic case of a network desperate to shoehorn a star into the wrong concept. Our diagnosis? Murder. C-

TUESDAY November 3

8-8:30PM KING OF THE HILL (Fox, TV-PG) Ball-breaking dad-to-be Cotton takes to shaming Hank, who's been visiting a fertility clinic.

8-9PM BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (The WB, TV-PG-DV) While Buffy battles Cordelia for homecoming queen, Mr. Trick rustles up a posse to do them both in.

9-9:30PM SPIN CITY (ABC, TV-14) The sitcom hits its seasonal high note when Lou Diamond Phillips guest-stars as a longtime pal of Mike's who comes to town and takes a shine to Carter.

9-10PM GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS: PRIMETIME (Fox, TV-14) Why waste an hour at the voting booth when Guinness is airing an eyeball-protrusion contest?

9-10PM* FRONTLINE (PBS) Deconstructing the "global epidemic" of obesity, "Fat" shows (among many other things) how America, with 39 million chubbies, schizophrenically leads the way, with both the most fat-phobic sensibility as well as the most relentless promotion of unhealthy eating. A more uplifting segment alleges that fatness and fitness aren't mutually exclusive, citing the case of roly-poly triathlete Dave Alexander (above). B+ *CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS

WEDNESDAY November 4

8-9PM DAWSON'S CREEK (The WB, TV-14-DLS) A particularly soapy episode has Dawson and Joey rattled because of Mitch and Gale's marital discord, Jen dating a much older man, and Pacey receiving a little too much information about Andie's home life.

GOOD NIGHT, FUNNY MAN 8-9PM BEVERLY HILLS 90210 (Fox, TV-PG) Jason Priestley makes youth-culture history as he and his sideburns take off for another zip code. In more sordid news, Sophie considers a career in adult movies.

9-10PM CHARMED (The WB, TV-PG-DV) Speaking of 90210 refugees, Shannen Doherty's Prue does battle with another predatory male--this time a stalker terrorizing her in her sleep--in "Nightmare on Charmed Street."

9-11PM* ANATOMY OF A HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET (PBS, TV-PG-L) Part 1 is a most unusual documentary that plays fly on the wall to the production of Homicide's Peabody Award-winning episode from last season, "Subway." Part 2 is a viewer-supported airing of said ep. *CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS

8:30-9PM MAGGIE WINTERS (CBS, TV-PG) 9:30-10PM NEWSRADIO (NBC, TV-PG) Seinfeld's Patrick Warburton has gathered no moss since shrugging off his dim-bulb alter ego, David Puddy. While prepping his own sitcom for the 1999-2000 season, he's hooked up with three-episode arcs on two of Wednesday's finest. On Winters, he plays local guy Sonny, who, he says, is "sort of a romantic interest of Maggie's...but not really." Over at WNYX, he says, "my character is evil, dangerous, and shamelessly manipulative." That would be Johnny Johnson, a corporate VP who seizes upon Jimmy's arrest as his chance to take over the James empire.

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