LA. DENTISTS
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Dr. Frank Kowalski (Ed Begley, Jr.) is Manhattan's top gum surgeon. But when he discovers his partners in their high-priced dental clinic are more concerned with creating a root canal factory than making sure the children have proper dental hygiene, the disillusioned DDS packs it in and heads for swampy Ripstop, Louisiana, where his uncle, Jellison, still practices dentistry the old fashioned way -- with a heart. And with pliers.

It's like going back to dental school for the accomplished Dr. Kowalski who, in what will surely qualify as one of television's instantly classic moments, quickly learns that all the fancy stainless steel instruments in the world can't help a crocodile with a toothache.

Joining the Emmy-nominated Begley is Peter Horton (thirtysomething) as the brilliant yet troubled Dr. Trip Wagner. Once, Dr. Wagner had created a revolutionary gelatin retainer that would have set the dental world on its ear. But chastised by jealous colleagues, Dr. Wagner fell into the sensuous grasp of nitrous oxide addiction. Now sober and reinvigorated, the bayou backwoods give Wagner the perfect testing ground for his radical theories... if he can just stay on the wagon.

Helping the dashing dentists in their quest of self-discovery is Uncle Jellison (Wilford Brimley), the cajun DDS with a heart of gold. "Uncle Jelli's" own special brand of dentistry-grade moonshine provides a safe, sensible alternative to laughing gas. And his safe, sensible advise helps keep Drs. Kowalski and Wagner on the straight and narrow.

Nicollette Sheridan (Paper Dolls) rounds out the cast as Jeni Friday, the beautiful single mother who can't help but be drawn to the mercurial Dr. Wagner despite the recent death of her husband (Harry Hamlin) in a tragic swamp boating accident. But when Dr. Kowalski firsts eyes the widow Friday sparks fly -- and a heated romantic triangle is born!

Romance, tension, flossing, blackened catfish -- La. Dentists has it all... and then some!

PLASTIC MAN
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Dr. Langdon Brewer (Jamey Sheridan) is more than just the best plastic surgeon in Laguna Niguel, California. He's also the most brilliant criminologist west of the Mississippi.

By day, the good doctor tucks tummies and eliminates wrinkles. But by night, he takes to the streets, foiling the evil schemes of high-powered criminals and nefarious n'er do wells.

And he uses the tricks of the plastic surgery trade to do it. Thanks to a deft hand and lots and lots of silicone, Dr. Brewer can assume any physical disguise -- an old man, a young adult, an aging starlet with a recent breast job.

"After seeing Jamey's stellar work in Chicago Hope and The Stand, you knew here was a guy who could play multiple roles seamlessly," producer Debra Jo Levine (Lois & Clark) says. "I mean, I can't tell any of his characters apart, and that's what we're aiming for in Plastic Man."

Helping Dr. Brewer in his quest to right the world's wrongs is mysterious billionaire Phillip Greene (David Doyle) who funds the cosmetic surgery crusader's extracurricular activities through his Greene Foundation. That gives Dr. Brewer the latest in crime fighting gadgetry... and a new liposuction machine for his practice.

Hot on the trail of the Plastic Man is cub TV reporter Mabel Devine (Yancey Butler), who senses there's something not quite right about Dr. Brewer, but can't put her finger on it.

In the series premiere, Brewer and Greene join forces to quash a silicone implant smuggling ring being run out of a rival medical practice. Will this plucky plastic physician get the goods on his fearsome foes? You bet your sagging, dimpled buttocks he will!

HMO
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For the doctors at Medtrex Health Wellness Corporation, healing the sick and comforting the dying is more than just a fairly lucrative ancillary business to the company's main medical supply operations -- it's about people, too. And the crusading doctors of Medtrex will go to any lengths to get the best care for their patients so long as it has no material impact on the corporation's bottom line.

It's two c.c.s of high drama delivered every Monday night to you, courtesy of this network!

Dr. Rance Mulliniks (Jeff Conaway) is the top doc at Medtrex -- a caring, dedicated professional who's as adept with diagnosing a ruptured spleen as he is filling out forms in triplicate. But even as Rance rises to the top of his profession, earning the respect of his peers, his marriage to icy Chief Nurse Kelly Gruber (Kyra Sedgwick) is falling apart -- but only because of her affair with Dr. Garth Iorg (Campbell Scott), Medtrex's dashing pediatrician.

With that torrid love triangle raising temperatures, it's all the other doctors can do to give the best available care while maximizing shareholders' return on value. Dr.Jesse Barfield (Rebbeca Romajin) tries to keep her drinking problem under wraps while filling out generic prescription orders with aplomb. Third-year resident Dr. Lloyd Moseby (Omar Epps) hopes to put his bungling ways behind him to finally become a valued -- and fully-vested -- member of the Medtrex team. Claims adjuster Jimmy Key (Robert Carradine) can cut through the paperwork to get the patients at Medtrex the bare minimum treatment required by law. And smart talking orderly Willie Upshaw (David Alan Grier) leaves patients in stitches as he clowns around in the always crowded Medtrex waiting room.

Overseeing this motley crew is Dr. Bobby Matlick (Ned Beatty), the flinty chief of staff who, through all these years, hasn't forgotten what's most important about medicine -- making sure each admitted patient has the proper form of insurance.

Under Dr. Matlick's watchful eye, these frenetic physicians may bicker and battle. But when the chips are down, they'll pull together to patch up patients with the best medical technology reimbursable by major insurance plans.

HMO -- so much like a hospital, you'll think that you've come down with something!