SEASON OPENERS RATE MIDDLING MARKS

This week, ABC rolls out its new series, CBS debuts its all-new

Wednesday-night lineup, and Fox releases more new shows. NBC and CBS roll out

most of their new fall offerings next week. Here are report cards on new shows

premiering this week; we'll revisit these new series in a few weeks:

''Partners,'' debuting after its Fox companion show, ''Melrose Place,'' at

9 p.m. Monday on Channel 2, is about the eternal triangle -- guy, guy's best

friend, guy's girlfriend. This sitcom is set in S.F., where childhood friends

Bob (Jon Cryer, last seen on CBS' ''Teddy Z'') and Owen (Tate Donovan) now run

a business together. But in this buddy/romantic comedy, the glib Bob isn't

happy when Owen announces he's marrying Alicia (Maria Patillo). And Alicia

wants to know why Bob gets veto power over her wedding date.

Overall, ''Partners'' is too frenetic and too predictable. Each fall we

roll out our Back-toSchool grading system for the new series, and the so-so

''Partners'' rates a flat C.

''The Monroes,'' ABC's new prime-time soap focusing on a Kennedy-esque clan

from Maryland, previews at 10 p.m. Tuesday on Channel 7, moving to its regular

time spot at 9 p.m. Thursday.

William Devane, last seen as extroverted tennis coach Lou DeLarosa in ABC's

''Phenom,'' was also in ''Knots Landing,'' so he knows this genre. He's the

best thing about this formulaic potboiler, with Tylenol pitchwoman Susan

Sullivan -- she makes a ''landmark'' finger gesture on Tuesday's opener

-playing the icy wife of Devane's amoral patriarch character John Monroe. One

of the Monroes' son is a Congressman who gets caught with his pants down at

the Capitol, another is a principled astronaut, and the daughter is carrying

on an affair, possibly with the President.

The dialogue can make you wince. Devane makes a Joe Kennedy-esque

public-service speech, telling his astro-son: ''We've got the money, we've got

the power ... we get to play in this game.'' James (David Andrews): ''I'd like

to think it's more than a game ...'' You get the idea. Overall, ''The

Monroes'' is C-Minus, but thanks to the watchable Devane, it gets a B-Minus.

''Bless This House,'' premiering at 7 p.m. Wednesday on Channel 5, is one

of CBS' biggest hopes for its completely retooled Wednesday night. Some women

will write off ''House'' because it co-stars former misogynist comic Andrew

Clay (his act and middle name of ''Dice'' are gone) in this nouveau

''Honeymooners'' sitcom. Starring as Clay's no-nonsense wife is Cathy Moriarty

(''Raging Bull.'') In this insult comedy, neither side gets the upper hand.

If you like New York-style insult humor (and lots of wide diphthongs),

you'll probably like this as much as I did, despite uneven writing and vulgar

anatomical references. Clay has always been a decent actor (''Ford

Fairlane''), and here he and Moriarty have good comedic chemistry. She's tired

of renting, and Clay (a postal worker) says defensively, ''In China, this

place'd be the Ponderosa.'' Moriarty: ''Here, it's the apartment on 'Good

Times.''' ''Bless This House'' shows promise. B-Minus.

''Central Park West,'' a second new prime-time soap debuting at 8 p.m.

Wednesday on Channel 5, is an exemplar of CBS' desperation to get younger

demographics. To create this young-adult series, CBS lured producer Darren

Star away from Fox's ''Melrose Place'' and ''90210.'' Madchen Amick from

''Twin Peaks'' plays the punky villainess; and her bad-girl character could

get as much attention as Heather Locklear's ''Melrose'' vixen.

This glossy series centers around Mariel Hemingway, who's just come to New

York from Seattle to save floundering Communique Magazine. Her after-dark

columnist Carrie (Amick), whose father owns the mag and wants his bratty

daughter fired, immediately becomes Stephanie's (Mariel's) nemesis. The

columnist goes after Steph's writer husband (Tom Verica). The first catfight

Wednesday comes in the first 10 minutes, the initial utterance of the phrase,

''That little bitch!'' soon after. Rating: C.

ABC's new ''Drew Carey Show,'' premiering at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday on Channel

7, is probably the best new sitcom of the fall season. It features the

crew-cutted, necktie-adjusting offbeat Carey (a former ''Tonight Show''

regular) as a personnel director in Cleveland. This new series, the latest in

ABC's recent tradition of giving comics their own shows (Tim Allen, Roseanne,

Ellen DeGeneris) looks like a hit.

This sitcom's basically an extension of Carey's offbeat stand-up act: Carey

darts about tossing off goofy one-liners like, ''Did you know that if the

Domino's guy doesn't come back in an hour they call police?'' Thanks to

Carey's winning personality and his irresistibly mean-spirited gags, this

could become a big hit. B-Plus.

''Courthouse'' is a new CBS courtroom drama premiering at 9 p.m. Wednesday

on Channel 5. The pilot starts off violently when a judge is murdered by a

defendant, and Patricia Wettig (''thirtysomething'') is the top surviving

judge in this urban court. The show, from the writer-producer of the turgid

''Lois & Clark,'' tends to be overwrought and cloying. Wettig's run-ins with a

handsome new judge (played by Brad Johnson) from Montana are forced, and Robin

Givens as an overzealous public defender is given awful lines. The jury's out

on this one. C.

ABC's new sitcom ''The Naked Truth,'' debuting at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday on

Channel 7, stars Tea Leoni (from Fox's ''Flying Blind'') as a divorced

socialite forced to take a job as a photographer for a tabloid. Her colleagues

revel in digging up pictures of potatoes that look like Liza Minnelli or

candid shots of The Queen giving the finger. Recently widowed model Anna

Nicole Smith was in the series' pilot I screened, during which she spilled

urine from her pregnancy test into Leoni's purse. (This show may have to be

re-cut, given her millionaire husband's death). If this sounds crude, it is.

Still, it's probably only a matter of time before Leoni's a big star. This

uneven series might do it. C.

''Strange Luck,'' premiering from Fox on Channel 2 at 8 p.m. Friday, stars

D.B. Sweeney as Chance Harper, an aptlynamed photojournalist who's had

uncommon luck since he was the only survivor of a plane crash. He hits the

lottery every time. He can sense a building about to catch fire. He just

happens to be in jail when a Congressman is booked. Click.

''Luck'' has a quirky feel to it that should make it a solid companion show

to the hit that follows it, ''The X-Files.'' Friday's pilot has a strong

story, and Sweeney (''Lonesome Dove'') has a good feel for his unusual

character. Rating: B.

''Maybe This Time'' is a new ABC sitcom premiering at 9:30 p.m. Friday on

Channel 7. moving into its regular time spot at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. It's

singer Marie Osmond's first series. Here Marie's a newly divorced mother whose

Mom (played by the always-pleasant Betty White) is a matchmaker who runs a

small-town cafe. A Scottish cook (Craig Ferguson) and Marie's highly

precocious 11-year-old daughter (Ashley Johnson) add color. C.

You can e-mail On Q media critic Bill Mann with questions or suggestions at

newsmann@nbn.com. Bill Mann's Internet World Wide Web page is located at:

http://www. hooked.net/alex/auto/mann.html