CBS replants 1992’s `Grapevine’ in today’s looser thematic soil

A span of eight years has to be some kind of record for a series to be finally picked up by a network.

A handful of people may recognize “Grapevine,” which debuts at 9:30 tonight on CBS before moving to its regular 8:30 p.m. time slot next Monday. It appeared as a six-week summer series in 1992, also on CBS. One of its stars, Steve Eckholdt, even returns in the new version, albeit in a different role.

“Grapevine” was ahead of its time in 1992, when characters didn’t break down the fourth wall and explain their feelings and motivations directly to the audience nearly as regularly as they do today. So now creator David Frankel (“Miami Rhapsody”) gets six weeks to see if the show can find an audience in a more open-minded TV environment.

The single-camera comedy, set and filmed in Miami, centers on a small group of friends and their lives and romances. Susan is played by TV newcomer Kristi Swanson, the original Buffy, the vampire slayer. Marketing director for a cruise line, Susan is frequently fixing up or meddling in the lives of her circle of friends. Her best friend is David (Steven Eckholdt, “It’s Like, You Know”), a restaurateur who’s long carried a torch for Susan, but who is afraid that acting on his feelings will mess up their friendship.

Rounding out the cast are David’s younger brother, studmuffin sportscaster Thumper (George Eads, “Savannah”), and hotel manager Matt (David Sutcliffe, “Cold Feet”), a sensitive mutual friend who is recently divorced.

Unfortunately, while it’s well executed and has a uniformly appealing cast, “Grapevine” has a been-there, done-that feel. While it once would have been considered revolutionary, now it’s one of dozens of shows satirizing the problems of young, beautiful people. It’s an improvement on the lame sitcom it’s displacing (“Ladies Man”), but it’s hardly anything original now, as the same ground has been more successfully covered by “Seinfeld” and “Friends.” Timing is everything, and “Grapevine’s” time has passed.