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For those of you in the Kansas City area, we have a VCR alert tonight. At 7 p.m. CT, KCPT (Channel 19) presents from Lawrence, Kan., "Monkey Trial 2000: A Reenactment of the 1925 Scopes Trial" followed by a panel discussion on the teaching of evolution. Ed Asner and James Cromwell play William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow, reading actual transcripts from the watershed 1925 trial. PBS and NPR will carry the two-hour broadcast nationally (though most stations are apparently taping the live feed for later rebroadcast).

So go ahead — tape "Survivor." It won't kill you to wait.

(In a related story, radio station and Webcaster WGN will also commemorate the Scopes trial, reports Rob Feder.)

Also tonight, the kids are probably itching to see "Young Americans." The WB's zealously promoted semi-spinoff of "Dawson's Creek" makes its debut at 9 p.m. (ET).

At least there won't be any fighting over the remote at 11 p.m. (ET), when the fourth-season premiere of "Oz" begins on HBO ... that is, unless someone in the house is eager to see Famke Janssen, star of the new "X-Men" movie. She's Jon Stewart's guest on "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central.

ALSO TONIGHT: On "The Awful Truth," the legal system screws the poor

From the doghouse to the "Funhouse"

Finally, someone got the bright idea of offering Robert Smigel — only one of the funniest and least predictable comedy writers working in television — his own TV show.

The lucky network is Comedy Central, which brought Smigel out of exile Tuesday to make the announcement before TV critics in Pasadena, Calif. Through the miracle of cell phones, TV Barn caught up with him minutes after the announcement.

Smigel said the series will likely be titled "TV Funhouse," the same name he gave to the animated shorts that have been airing on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" the past four seasons. Ten episodes will air this fall, probably starting in November, with another 20 episodes to follow in 2001.

The show will be mostly made up of new cartoons and sketches featuring puppets. There will also be a cameo appearance or two from none other than the bete noir of Pets.com himself, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

Speaking of which, this is Smigel's first public appearance since his legal contretemps began with Pets.com. In that lawsuit, which you read about first here, the Internet pet supply dealer charged Smigel with trade libel for asserting that the company's sock puppet mascot was a blatant ripoff of Triumph.

"In an attempt to harm the Sock Puppet's audience appeal and market share, and to increase Triumph's popularity through a public 'controversy' or 'scandal,' Defendant (Smigel) has claimed on national television, the Internet and in print media that Pets.com stole the idea and creation for its Sock Puppet from Defendant," the suit alleged.

It's true that Smigel made such a claim in a letter sent to Pets.com the month before. But he had no idea he'd provoked a lawsuit until TV Barn phoned Jeff Ross, the executive producer of "Late Night," seeking comment.

"It was just a joyride that week," Smigel said ruefully, "and you took me on it."

So what the heck did that letter to Pets.com say?

"I don't know if I'm supposed to talk about the specifics of it, but it was pointing out the similarities (between the two puppets) that we later pointed out on the show. And it was a 'legal letter,' in quotes. But I didn't sue. It was just one of those letters where you're making people aware of your concern about it and could we please talk about it. That was the extent of it." (After this page was published, Smigel phoned in. "I was too flip about that," he said about the above quote. "It was, in fact, a standard bitchy legal letter.")

"Maybe it was the appearance on Jon Stewart ('The Daily Show') that made them react differently. I don't know if any of it would've happened if it wasn't for that. It was all so harmless. (The 'Daily Show' staff) thought (Pets.com's puppet) was a ripoff, so they invited me on. We had sent the letter off and in the interim the Stewart show had (called) so it just seemed like a comedy bit. I mean, we had (Triumph) ripping Kermit, too, you know."

The matter is now out of Smigel's hands. "I handed the thing over to NBC lawyers and haven't heard about it for months," he said. "It's an NBC issue."

Smigel's longtime association with NBC began in the 1980s, when he was a writer on "SNL." There he met Conan O'Brien, who eventually made Smigel his first head writer on "Late Night" in 1993. Though that frazzled him out eventually, Smigel has contributed to the show ever since. Joining Smigel as executive producer on his new show is another Conan alum, Dino Stamatopoulos.

In a way, the new "TV Funhouse" will seem completely familiar to fans of his earlier work. All the old bits will reappear here occasionally, including "Fun with Real Audio" and "The Ambiguously Gay Duo." But look for lots of new cartoon ideas as well.

"I'm still going to be doing 'SNL' and Conan, so everything feeds into the other, like one big grotesque monster that feeds itself," said Smigel. "There's only so much time you can spend on puppets and animals on Conan ...

"The shortform cartoon sketch is an expandable format. I'd like to explore it more. We have a budget that will hopefully allow us to have two to three cartoons a week. If we need more money we'll have a telethon. Because it's a very important cause. Triumph will host it. He'd be a great host. I'd like to see him get really maudlin." Sounds like a future sketch.

Anything else?

"There'll be some short films that fit into the 'TV Funhouse' universe. Presumably directed at children — but not really."

One thing you won't see on the new show is Robert Smigel. He has studiously avoided the camera, save for his lips, which have been seen in hundreds of those "Clutch Cargo" talking-portrait bits on "Late Night."

"If anyone were to see the full face beyond the lips, it would be horrifying," Smigel said. "It'd be a comedy killer. You'll have to look for reruns of 'The Superfans' (sketch) on 'SNL.' I was the guy in between the two fat guys. I was the guy who people didn't know who it was."

EARLIER:

On this date...

in 1990, CBS strands a young Jewish doctor at an exotic locale with the chance to pay off his medical school bills. Among his fellow survivors in the sparsely populated Cicely, Alaska, are a cranky old real estate developer/former astronaut, a retired adventurer, a former cheerleader, a tomboy-ish air-taxi pilot, an elderly female shopkeeper and a hunky young disc jockey. Though the young doctor wishes he could be voted away, he'll stick around four years to enjoy the "Northern Exposure." -- Tom Heald

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