On the outside, Scott Baio looks as if he has it all: good looks, money, friends, a pretty blond girlfriend.

On the inside, he's one screwed-up dude.

And for viewers of VH1, that's going to make for a lot of fun in the coming weeks.

Baio is the centerpiece in the reality show "Scott Baio Is 45 ... and Single," premiering at 10:30 p.m. tomorrow. It's an entertaining hour built around the one-time Hollywood hunk's quest to find out why he's still single.

Oh, how we love to watch stars struggle!

"It crippled me," he tells a life coach of his celebrity status. "I was just easy. If I had any aggravation from any woman, she was gone."

Every married man in America will wonder what he's bellyaching about, of course.

But now, after a magnificent run through Hollywood's hotties, Baio is afraid of dying alone.

Baio rose to fame on "Happy Days," which led to the spinoff "Joanie Loves Chachi" and then "Charles in Charge." Along the way, he dated a who's who of beautiful women.

But Baio is now wondering why he's been unable to marry.

His life coach says he must put his girlfriend on hold for eight weeks and revisit past relationships to see what went wrong.

What emerges are meetings with past flames, talks with friends and revelations as Baio struggles with life. None of these flames holds back, and most seem to enjoy telling him the truth.

He visits Erin Moran ("Joanie"), with whom he lost his virginity, and she says they broke up because he had issues with his undersized manhood. And, in a tease for an upcoming episode, actress and Playboy model Julie McCullough dumps on him for cheating. "I had my first AIDS test because of you," she says. "That's how much you cheated on me."

It's hard to forget that some aspects might be played up for the camera on a show that is produced by Baio's friend Jason Hervey.

In the end, it creates a sympathetic portrait of a star who has avoided the usual pitfalls of celebrity on the road to bachelorhood.

(Richard Huff, New York Daily News)

BET show under fire

At least two companies have pulled ads from the debut of BET's "Hot Ghetto Mess," a series that critics say puts black stereotypes on display but the channel calls "a blend of tough love and social commentary."

State Farm Insurance Cos. and Home Depot asked BET to drop their ads from the series debuting July 25, trade paper The Hollywood Reporter said Tuesday.

Viacom Corp.-owned BET confirmed that sponsors asked to be removed but declined to specify the companies involved.

Other advertisers remain in place, and there are no plans to change the series at this point, the channel said Tuesday.

"Hot Ghetto Mess" combines viewer-submitted home videos and BET-produced man-on-the-street interviews that a press release said are intended to challenge and inspire "viewers to improve themselves and their communities."

The six-episode series, hosted by Charlie Murphy ("Chappelle's Show"), is based on a Web site that features photos of men and women, mostly black, with extreme hairstyles and clothing typically linked to hip-hop fashion. On TV, "Hot Ghetto Mess" includes people of all ethnicities, a network spokeswoman said. But the show and the Web site have drawn accusations of being demeaning to blacks from critics including What About Our Daughters, a blog that focuses on how black women are depicted in popular culture.

(AP)

Lady Bird tribute

To commemorate the life of Lady Bird Johnson, the 94-year-old former first lady who died this week, WQED will air the hourlong "Lady Bird" at 10 p.m. Wednesday, 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. Friday, and 6 p.m. Sunday.

Channel surfing

"Criminal Minds" star Mandy Patinkin didn't show up for work on the season premiere last week, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and may be dropped from the series if the impasse isn't resolved. ... Film director and Homewood native Antoine Fuqua will be a guest judge on Fox's "On the Lot" July 17.

(Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor)