Catch some comedy at Gaslight Square

Column

Tampa couch spuds can get a free laugh in Lykes Gaslight Square on Friday afternoon.

Independent TV station MOR (WMOR, Channel 32) is setting up a "5 hour comedy block" between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. featuring stand-up comics.

Scheduled to appear in downtown Tampa are Tim Wilkins, a professional comic who also is the on-air spokesman for the station, Long Island Mary, Michael Murillo, Juanita Lolita, D. Russo and more.

Station President Ken Lucas says the event calls attention to MOR's new "comedy block" from 3 to 8 p.m. weeknights that includes "The Big Bang Theory," "30 Rock," "My Name is Earl," "The Office" and "American Dad."

CERTAIN HIT: For most new series, it's a crapshoot whether they will survive. But it seems highly likely that Fox's new "X Factor" will be an instant hit.

This fall version of "American Idol" has Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul doing their Sonny and Cher routine (she's Sonny). It's got young unknowns trying to snare the American dream of fame and fortune: a $5 million prize and a recording contract. It debuts at 8 tonight with a two-hour sampling of auditions held in six cities this summer.

COMEDY BLOCK: ABC's "Modern Family" owns most of the Emmys handed out for comedy on Sunday night. A new season begins at 9 tonight with an hourlong episode about the family's visit to a Wyoming dude ranch.

ABC's other Wednesday night hit, "The Middle," doesn't get as much critical acclaim, but it's about as good. Tonight's hourlong episode at 8 reunites Patricia Heaton with her former "Everybody Loves Raymond" co-star Ray Romano.

SURVIVING SURVIVOR: Tampa model and former Lingerie Football League player Mikayla "Miki" Wingle survived the first episode of "Survivor: South Pacific" last week. Her tribe won immunity. And from the looks of the competition, Miki probably will be around for a while. The second episode airs at 8 tonight on CBS. The ratings for the season premiere were down 15 percent from last year, the lowest in the show's history.

COMING BACK: Other returning series with debuts tonight include "Harry's Law," "Law & Order: SVU" on NBC and "Criminal Minds" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" on CBS. Ted Danson makes his debut as the new guy on "CSI."

GETTING EVEN: There's a mean-spirited tone to ABC's new mystery soap "Revenge" debuting at 10 tonight. And it's a real downer coming after "Modern Family."

Set among the rich folk of The Hamptons, this drama stars Emily VanCamp as a young woman determined to get even with the snobs who ruined her father. In a nod to "The Count of Monte Cristo," her character has returned rich and unrecognized. She's up against a cold society matron (Madeleine Stowe) who rules the community like the evil queen in "Snow White."

UP TONIGHT: NBC already is touting "Up All Night" as the season's first big comedy hit based on last week's ratings when it had no competition. The second episode airs at 8 tonight. Christina Applegate and Will Arnett star as clueless-but-cute first-time parents.

FOOTNOTE: Ashton Kutcher's debut in "Two and a Half Men" Monday night drew a series-high rating for CBS with more than 28 million viewers. Charlie Sheen's character, Charlie Harper, had met his fate. He slipped (or was pushed) into the path of an oncoming Paris subway train. His ashes accidently were scattered in his living room when his brother (Jon Cryer) was startled by Kutcher's character, who stumbled up to the front door after a botched suicide attempt. Murder? Suicide? And yet it was funny.