TUNED IN

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Offbeat 'Chronicle' Prints Good News

By STEVEN LINAN
TIMES STAFF WRITER

Stop the presses!
�����"The Chronicle," a spry new Sci Fi Channel series about a tacky tabloid covering out-of-this-world phenomena, is the daffiest diversion of the summer.
�����Lifting bits and pieces from "Men in Black" and "The X-Files," this cheesy yet breezy adventure is light, frivolous, farfetched fun with enough throwaway lines to fill the funnies.
�����The cynical protagonist here is Tucker Burns (Chad Willett), a lean, likable Columbia School of Journalism grad in dire need of a job.
�����Answering a classified ad, the desperate Tucker ends up at the Chronicle, a disreputable rag running incredible stories about your UFOs, poltergeists and demonic household pets (Angry Siamese Twins Tell Off Sister, screams one of the paper's sensational headlines).
�����The amusing kicker here is that each of those stories turns out to be true, which is something Tucker discovers on his first assignment involving the Brooklyn Bloodsucker, a funky, lizard-like creature that comes out only at night (natch).
�����Tucker's quirky co-workers include Grace (Rena Sofer), an aggressive reporter who was hired after several alien abductions (six, to be precise), and Pig Boy (Curtis Armstrong), a partly porcine researcher who oversees the paper's bizarre archives. "He's a smart guy, but a lazy pig," says the paper's droll editor in chief (nicely underplayed by "Homicide's" Jon Polito).
�����Created by Silvio Horta ("Urban Legends"), this harmless piece of fluff moves quickly, dropping in occasional gags on the fly. "I'm sorry, the Alien Autopsy contest is over," says a chirpy receptionist as Tucker arrives for his interview.
�����Willett is engaging, Sofer is sassy and Polito approaches his offbeat material knowing that nothing should be taken seriously.

� "The Chronicle" can be seen tonight at 9 on the Sci Fi Channel. The network has rated it TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children). Another episode airs at 10 p.m.