TV REVIEWS : ‘Blossom’ Loses Its Charms in 2nd Episode

“Blossom” did Thursday.

But “Blossom” doesn’t in its regular time period at 8:30 tonight on Channels 4, 36 and 39.

The new NBC comedy series starring Mayim Bialik as a witty, precocious 14-year-old opened last week with a charming bit of business about Blossom getting her first period.

Because she lives with her father (Ted Wass) and two teen-age brothers (Joey Lawrence and Michael Stoyanov), she had no one to consult about this profound change in her life. Suddenly she hallucinated: In the kitchen with Blossom was Phylicia Rashad, even more angelic and understanding than her super-mom character on “The Cosby Show,” sweetly explaining the intricacies of puberty.

Very, very nice.

But that was last week, when NBC gave “Blossom” its guaranteed half-hour of fame by deploying it after Cosby’s heavyweight hit series. Despite Bialik’s energy and the likability of her character, though, tonight’s episode just withers while attempting to wring laughs from a dopey story about Blossom’s dad trying to keep her from going to a prom with an older high school hunk.

Everything is in reverse here. The boy doesn’t act like a kid, Blossom’s father does. The straight lines are funny, the comedy isn’t.

Blossom is growing, the series isn’t.