ALL TIMES ARE EDT UNLESS NOTED CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS. - - - - - - - - - - - - RECENTLY IN BLUE GLOW Smits leaving "NYPD Blue" (04/20/98) - - - - - - - - - - - - ENTERTAINMENT THIS WEEK Nightwatch Dark, dank, disgusting, sadistic and no fun at all: It's the perfect post-"Seven" thriller Wayne Wang Thinking outside the "Chinese Box" - - - - - - - - - - - - BROWSE THE ARCHIVES MOVIES TELEVISION INTERVIEWS FEATURES

blue glow SALON'S TV PICKS FOR THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1998 BY JOYCE MILLMAN S E R I E S On Friends (8 p.m., NBC), Rachel receives her invitation to Ross' wedding, which prompts flashbacks to her relationship with him. Dana Carvey guests on Just Shoot Me (8:30 p.m., NBC) as an eccentric fashion designer whom Maya insults. On a new, new, new Seinfeld (9 p.m., NBC), George becomes obsessed with a video game, Jerry fears a serial killer and Elaine eats Peterman's purchase from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor auction. A Seinfeld rerun (9:30 p.m., NBC) follows; it's the one that unfolds backwards as it tells the story of the gang's trip to India. Mystery! (check local times, PBS) begins "An Unsuitable Job for a Woman," a new recurring series based on P.D. James' young sleuth, Cordelia Gray. (See review below.) On a new episode of ER (10 p.m., NBC), the staff treats victims of a family planning clinic bombing. S P O R T S NBA playoffs: Hawks at Hornets (7 p.m., TBS); Cavaliers at Pacers (the all-automotive series) (8 p.m., TNT); Rockets at Jazz (9:30 p.m., TBS); Spurs at Suns (10:30 p.m., TNT). NHL playoffs: Kings at Blues (7:30 p.m., ESPN); Canadiens at Penguins (7:30 p.m., ESPN2). T A L K Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) welcomes Vanessa Williams; Ricki Lake and Rita Williams guest on David Letterman (CBS); Jay Leno (NBC) hosts The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and The Hermanator (ski champ Herman Maier); Jason Alexander is scheduled for Charlie Rose (PBS); Tom Snyder (CBS) features Peter Jennings and Frank McCourt; Rob Reiner and Randy Travis are panelists on Politically Incorrect (ABC); Conan O'Brien (NBC) features Regis Philbin. R E V I E W "An Unsuitable Job for a Woman" ("Mystery!" Check local times, PBS) "Mystery!" gets its first Gen-X sleuth in the new recurring series "An Unsuitable Job for a Woman," and it's bloody well about time. As Cordelia Gray, P.D. James' groundbreaking female private investigator, Helen Baxendale (currently seen on "Friends" as Ross' British fiancée) couldn't be more likable or more right. Baxendale has a quietly intelligent face and a fine, grounded acting style. She infuses rookie P.I. Cordelia with steadiness, determination and, in her best scenes, a delightful, contagious surprise at her own resourcefulness. "An Unsuitable Job" is the umbrella title for the series, which begins with the three-part mystery "Sacrifice." In this introductory outing, Cordelia, who has recently lost her adored father, now faces the death of her mentor, Bernie Pryde, who took her on as a secretary and made her into a sleuth. Cordelia inherits the agency and takes on Bernie's office manager, the energetic, white-haired mother-figure Mrs. Sparshott (Annette Crosbie), as a partner. Their first case starts out as a simple investigation into the suicide of a famous scientist's son and ends up as one of those serpentine mysteries hinging on seamy family secrets. In "Sacrifice" (which was taken from James' first Cordelia Gray mystery), our green heroine is initiated into just how nasty people can be. But Baxendale's Cordelia learns her lessons well. She's not nearly as hard-edged as Helen Mirren's Jane Tennison, but she is just as addictive and watchable, mainly because she seems infinitely more plausible than most of the career women (and all of the female sleuths) on American TV. Would Ally McBeal be able to crabwalk her way up from the bottom of a well? Not in those shoes! In Cordelia, who favors thick-soled flats, loose flowery skirts and sensible black tights, we finally have a TV woman who knows how to dress for success. SALON | April 23, 1998 Blue Glow for < href="/ent/glow/1998/04/22glow.html">Wednesday, April 22, 1998

ILLUSTRATION BY CATERINA FAKE