Cusack to debut on ABC ‘What about Joan?’ likely sitcom success

It’s been a season full of screen actresses moving to TV, with most falling by the wayside, including Geena Davis and Bette Midler.

Now it’s Joan Cusack’s turn. The always dependable, film supporting player tries her luck on the small screen in “What About Joan?” premiering at 9:30 tonight on ABC.

Bette was too large for TV, and Geena always seemed like she was slumming. Cusack should be a natural for a sitcom, with her vast collection of facial expressions and tics. And yet many viewers will find her to be too animated in her new show.

Cusack plays Joan Gallagher, who teaches an unspecified subject in high school. Her best friends are music teacher Betsy (Jessica Hecht), who’s been in a longtime on-again, off-again relationship with fellow teacher Mark (Wallace Langham), and psychiatrist Ruby (Donna Murphy), who tries without success to point Joan in the right direction in life.

What’s got Joan in a quandary is that her boyfriend, Jake (Kyle Chandler), has proposed to her after six weeks. She’s used to being in casual rebound relationships, and this new development has made her even more antic, if that’s possible.

With such a talented cast around her, especially Chandler (“Early Edition”), Tony winner Murphy and Langham (“Veronica’s Closet”), Cusack is in a perfect position to succeed. The show could well develop the necessary chemistry. But initially, the total is less than the sum of the parts.

In that, it suffers from the same predicament as the series it’s replacing, “The Geena Davis Show.” Still, it’s a stronger entry than the estrogen-athon “Three Sisters” on NBC and shows the potential to grow and improve.