The British Owen is an unusually charismatic actor who comes close to carrying some of this nonsense off. Jackman, one of the show's executive producers, is as well-known in musical theater circles for "The Boy From Oz" and an "Oklahoma!" revival as he is to a bigger audience for "X-Men" and its sequels.

But they've been saddled with an impossible task: bursting into song and striding sexily through banks of slot machines while pretending that either of those things has anything to do with the "mystery drama" around them.

Musical TV dramas are rare but not unheard of. "Viva Laughlin," as you may have read, is based on a British original, "Viva Blackpool," that was a hit over there.

But in this case, I don't think the Americanization is the problem. Despite its popularity, I squirmed through a couple of hours of "Blackpool," too, when it aired on BBC America.

Golden boy Steven Bochco ("NYPD Blue") had a notorious flop in 1990 with "Cop Rock," whose songs were original and whose lifespan was mercifully brief. Maybe you've seen one of the better-known excerpts, with a jury breaking into a gospel-flavored "He's guilty!" Hallelujah, and pass the remote.

I've not seen more than a few clips from Dennis Potter's highly praised BBC miniseries, "Pennies from Heaven" (1978) and "The Singing Detective" (1986), and the unsuccessful movie adaptations of both, which feature actors singing along on vintage recordings of old-fashioned tunes.

For years, those miniseries have been on my short list of TV to catch up with. Having cringed through "Viva Blackpool" and now "Viva Laughlin," maybe I'll move Potter to the long list.

After this week's Thursday premiere, "Viva Laughlin" will move to 8 p.m. EDT Sundays starting Oct. 21.

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Fox sent out just a half-hour of highlights from its two-hour opener for "The Next Great American Band," so I haven't seen the host's patter, product placements and other fluff that pads "American Idol." The highlights, though, look and sound promising.

The supersize debut episode plops several dozen bands - pop, soul, death-metal, bluegrass, newgrass, you name it - onto a helipad outside Las Vegas, where they audition with both an original and a cover. At least a dozen of them really rock.

Who'd have thought a tween boy band called Light of Doom, which cites as its influences "ninjas, boobs and explosions," would sound so good? Or that Denver & the Mile-High Orchestra, a swing outfit, would kill with that Monkees chestnut, "I'm a Believer"?

I could have done without the cardboard horse's head, if that's what it was, worn by the leader of the Dirty Marmaduke Flute Squad, but maybe that's just me.

Judges Sheila E., John Rzeznik (the Goo Goo Dolls) and Ian "Dicko" Dickson ("Australian Idol") keep the chit-chat to a minimum, at least in the highlight reel.

The hourlong series, hosted by cutie-pie Dominic Bowden ("New Zealand Idol"), will air weekly at 8 p.m. EDT Friday, with the finale scheduled for Dec. 21.

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VIVA LAUGHLIN
When: 10 p.m. EDT Thursday
Where: CBS

THE NEXT GREAT AMERICAN BAND
When: 8 p.m. EDT Friday
Where: Fox

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