TV REVIEW : KCET’S APPETIZING ‘ARTS ILLUSTRATED’ LACKS BITE

With its third edition of “Arts Illustrated,” airing at 9 tonight, KCET Channel 28 succeeds in demonstrating that it can produce a local magazine series comparable to its commercial rivals. The production is slick enough that it could have been called “Arts on the Town” or “Eye on the Arts.”

That’s the good news. The bad news is that it’s just about as superficial as KCBS’ “2 on the Town” and KABC’s “Eye on L.A.”

The hourlong program shows a good nose for stories about the local arts scene--from a feature on the making of raku pottery to a look at photographer Arnold Newman at work, from an interview with critic-turned-dramaturge Jack Viertel to a profile of the Kronos Quartet, a string quartet that plays Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.”

The problem is that in covering all this ground and more, “Arts Illustrated” gives short shrift to most of its subjects, whetting our interest but leaving us with unanswered questions.

The quarterly series has improved considerably since its premiere last December, which was frequently dull and inaccessible, but producer Roger Bingham, who hosts the show with Hunter Drohojowska, still hasn’t quite struck the right balance--right for public television--between a lively and a cogent presentation of ideas and information.