COMEDY

Chock full o’nuts

COMEDIES have taken it on the chin this season, but give NBC credit for getting back up off the canvas. This week, NBC introduces this new midseason comedy set in New York and chock full of eccentric characters. Chief among them are Nate (Josh Cooke), a phobic who works in a vintage record store, and Marni (Jennifer Finnegan),

the free-spirited neurotic with whom he falls in love. Tom Poston also stars as a dying clown who lives in Marni’s closet.

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COMMITTED

Tuesday, 9:30 p.m., NBC

TALENT

‘Road’ trip

THIS new weekly reality series from UPN combines elements of “American Idol” with UPN’s own “America’s

Top Next Model,” with hiphop star Missy Elliott filling the Tyra Banks role as coexecutive producer, host,

judge and overall driving force. Thirteen performing hopefuls, chosen from among thousands who tried out, hit

the road together in a tour bus for a cross-country trip, after which one of them will win a record contract.

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THE ROAD TO STARDOM WITH MISSY ELLIOTT

Wednesday, 8 p.m., UPN

TV MOVIE

Bling ‘Dynasty’

ACTORS play actors in this new made-for-TV movie about “Dynasty,” the glamorous, over-the-top prime-time soap that was a huge hit on ABC from 1981 to 1989. “Dynasty” told the story of the back-stabbing Carrington clan of Denver. It was known as much for its opulent costumes as it was for its famous catfights – fought most famously

by Joan Collins (Alexis) and Linda Evans (Krystle). This new movie reveals the real-life cat fights that went on

behind the scenes.

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DYNASTY: THE MAKING OF A GUILTY PLEASURE

Sunday, 9 p.m., ABC

DRAMA

Love, Sydney

CAN Sydney Bristow get her groove back? Well, probably. The question is really just a way of introducing Sydney’s new boss on “Alias” – Angela Bassett, star of movies such as “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” and “Waiting to Exhale.” Bassett, as CIA Director Hayden Chase, is introduced in this week’s two-part season premiere of “Alias,” which is moving to a new night and time – Wednesdays at 9 p.m. – for its fourth season. As the season gets under way, plucky secret agent Sydney (Jennifer Garner) will be coping with much more than a new boss. After

three seasons, she’s still struggling to define her relationship with her untrustworthy dad, Jack (Victor Garber). And her newly discovered half sister, Nadia (new cast member Mia Maestro), could either turn out to be a blessing or a curse. Time will tell.

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ALIAS

Wednesday, 9 p.m., ABC

SCIENCE

Welcome, Earthlings

A year and a day after the unmanned rover named Spirit bounced onto the surface of Mars, “Nova” presents a look at what Spirit and a companion rover, Opportunity, have discovered about the red planet. The two rovers are on opposite sides of the planet, but both have been searching for the same thing, with considerable success: evidence that enough water once flowed on the planet to sustain life.

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NOVA: WELCOME TO MARS

Tuesday, 8 p.m., WNET

INTERVIEW

Amber goes public

THE other woman in the Scott Peterson murder case – Amber Frey – is ready for her closeup. Matt Lauer gets first crack at the prosecution witness and newly minted author, who’s about to be seen all over TV promoting her new book, “Witness: For the Prosecution of Scott Peterson.” Lauer’s interview with Frey, taped recently, is described by NBC as “candid and at times intensely emotional” as Frey recounts her romance with Peterson and remembers the night she found out he was Laci Peterson’s husband.

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DATELINE

Tuesday, 10 p.m., NBC