DAG marks the return to series tv for Delta Burke, comic genius. She is, of course, best known for her Emmy nominated role as Suzanne Sugarbaker on Designing Women. Burke left the series in 1991 and hasn't landed in a hit since. In DAG she stars as self-absorbed First Lady, Judith Whitman. After its largely watched premiere on NBC Tuesday, November 14th (top 25 in the Nielsens) - Burke might have another hit on her hands.

The first episode set the premise of the series as Secret Service Agent Jerome Daggett (David Alan Grier), one of the top agents on staff, was assigned to protect the President of the United States. However, he dives the wrong way (away from the bullet and the President) during an assassination attempt at public appearance by the President's family. If you missed the show, I know you saw the add - it was very overplayed. But I'm glad I tuned in - all that happened before the opening credits, from there we got to meet the show's humorous characters and their reactions to the dive in the wrong direction.

Daggett is promptly re-assigned to the less glamorous B-Team that protects the demanding First Lady, perfectly portrayed by the wonderful Delta Burke. His new team is quite the piece of work as well, which lends itself to weeks and weeks of laughs. Daggett, being highly trained and overly serious begins struggling to bring order to the First Lady's unit. His challenges are mainly the staff including Edward Pillows (Stephen Dunham), who thinks he's great, he looks the part of a great agent, but can't quite get his act together and Susan Cole (Emmy Laybourne from Superstar), a female agent who spends most of her time training and only about three hours a night sleeping.

Daggett also has his hands full with Ginger Chin (Lauren Tom, from Grace Under Fire) the First Lady's no-nonsense secretary, Sullivan Pope (Paul F. Tompkins), the First Lady's power-hungry Chief of Staff and the First Lady's teenage daughter, Camilla (Lea Moreno Young), who isn't adjusting well to being the White House.

Daggett's greatest challenge, and DAG's greatest source of comedy, is the First Lady herself. She's not big on protocol or White House rules. For example, in the second episode, Camilla needs, desperately, to talk to her mother so Judith and she go undercover, wearing platinum wigs and dining out at a nearby family restaurant - without telling anyone, least of all Agent Daggett. This of course sends him and his staff into a frenzy to try and figure out where the First Lady is. The worst possibilities are considered: kidnapping, terrorists, etc.

Of course, I'm biased, but Delta Burke is really at her best giving us a slight hint of Suzanne Sugarbaker in Judith Whitman but not a cookie cutter copy - she mixes a satisfying blend of wit, charm, compassion, strength and a few other elements to create this First Lady with top-notch comic flare!!

DAG has one pitfall so far, it has a somewhat over-produced, calculated feel but its easy to get past that because Burke and Grier have outstanding comic chemistry between them. Also I appreciate the ensemble feeling, not just focusing on the two main characters but instead using the strengths of the entire cast (not as much as Seinfeld did, but equal to that of Frasier or Will and Grace) - that's something that has been missing from this season's new shows thus far. And the story of a goofy yet very dedicated Secret Service agent and a very difficult first lady has a lot of comic potential (not to mention the nice time slot, following Frasier). And DAG is a lot more entertaining than Bush and Gore.

Robert Bach is a writer and musician and former entertainment editor for an East Coast publication.

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