‘Moesha’ Matures as Fall TV Season Begins

And so it begins. The last television season of the 20th century officially kicks off tonight, with UPN unveiling its fall lineup ahead of the other networks, which will introduce their schedules during the next month. Gaining the distinction of the first show of the new season is the veteran comedy “Moesha,” starring Brandy as the precocious-teen-turned-young-woman. The series is going into its fifth season and will have a more mature tone as the title character takes on life after high school. “We’re definitely going to see a more grown-up Moesha,” said executive producer Vida Spears. The story line has Moesha deciding to skip college and instead attempting to jump-start a writing career by working at Vibe magazine. But naturally the road to independence does not run smoothly. Singer Mary J. Blige appears as herself in tonight’s opener at 8 p.m., and will also perform. Next week, Moesha, eager to get on the fast track at Vibe, pretends to be a reporter to land an interview with Maya Angelou. But her reckless ambition, coupled with Angelou’s advice, lead Moesha down an entirely different path than she’d planned. Other changes in the series include the addition of Ray J. Norwood, Brandy’s brother, to the cast. Countess Vaughn, who played Moesha’s best friend Kim, has left the comedy to star in a spinoff, “The Parkers,” which premieres Aug. 30. Meanwhile, “Moesha” is followed at 8:30 tonight by the premiere of “Grown Ups,” a new comedy starring Jaleel White, who formerly played Urkel on “Family Matters.” The other UPN premiere this week is the wrestling show “WWF Smackdown,” which starts Thursday at 8 p.m.

‘Puffy’ Combs: No. 1 or Sophomore Slump?

Is Puffy really No. 1? Sean “Puffy” Combs makes that claim in the chorus of “P.E. 2000,” the first single from the new album “Forever,” which hits stores Tuesday. But will “Forever” prove to be the rap mogul’s bombshell follow-up to the mega-selling “No Way Out” in 1997 or a disappointing sophomore slide for a celebrity who of late has made headlines for an assault charge and lavish parties instead of music? “P.E. 2000” hit radio and video channels last month to build a buzz for the album, but some retailers privately say the fan response to the remake of the Public Enemy classic “Public Enemy No. 1” has been surprisingly tepid. “It’s not exactly burning up the radio,” says a buyer for one major chain. But other retail executives, such as Scott Levin of Musicland, say Combs is still the big daddy in hip-hop. “Absolutely,” Levin said. “It will be almost a slam-dunk seller for us. Clearly it’s the biggest release of August.” The album certainly features some big-name guest stars, such as Jay-Z, R. Kelly and the late Notorious B.I.G. Violet Brown of the Wherehouse retail chain expects the Puffy buzz to build with the upcoming release of two offbeat, alternate versions of “P.E. 2000”--one featuring Combs rapping entirely in Spanish, the other a rock rendition teaming Combs with Chuck D of Public Enemy. “He made different videos for all three versions and I hear the videos for those [Spanish and rock] versions are really good, so that will add to the hype,” Brown said.

Attempted Launch for Depp, Theron

Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron are two of Hollywood’s brighter young acting talents, but the industry is still waiting to see if they are popular enough to open a film. Whether they have enough chemistry to ignite the box office of New Line Cinema’s new sci-fi thriller, “The Astronaut’s Wife,” will be judged this weekend when the movie arrives on about 2,000 screens across North America. Written by Rand Ravich, who makes his directorial debut, the film stars Depp as a charming flyboy-turned-space-hero who is married to a schoolteacher and devoted wife, portrayed by Theron. Their world is turned upside down, however, when he returns from an aborted space mission during which he experienced two minutes so terrifying that he refuses to talk about it. Instead, he focuses on his wife’s unexpected pregnancy with twins. The early buzz on the R-rated film has been mixed. One online Internet site gives it a “6 out of 10,” while a recent screening for theater owners in Los Angeles prompted this remark: “I thought it was a decent movie, but it kind of droned on and lost its appeal at the end. I liked Johnny Depp’s performance.” Known as a rebellious risk taker, Depp seems to eschew movie stardom. Although he appeared as part of an ensemble cast in Oliver Stone’s 1986 film, “Platoon,” which went on to gross $138 million domestically, his highest-grossing movies since then were “Edward Scissorhands” ($56.4 million) and “Donnie Brasco” ($41.9 million). Other films such as “Don Juan DeMarco,” “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” “Ed Wood” and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” have been character studies that never generated box-office heat. As for Theron, the South African-born actress is really only beginning to test the waters as a leading actress. Her highest-grossing films have been with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves in “The Devil’s Advocate” ($60.9 million) and in Disney’s remake of “Mighty Joe Young” ($50.6 million).

--Compiled by Times staff writers