ERIC IDLE was trying something different when he accepted the lead in NBC's "Nearly Departed." He was attempting the unheard-of ... an American sitcom. Screams of horror, yes, I know. Nevertheless he seems to be having fun in his role as a professor killed before his time by a rockslide, and is by far the best thing about the series, to which he also sings the theme song. But Eric didn't write it, and as an obvious "Beetlejuice" clone with pedestrian plots and taped on sets straight out of "The Golden Girls," or "Empty Nest," well, let's just say it's not exactly groundbreaking. It is funny at times, though, which makes one almost sad it was canned after only four episodes. The superior show that followed it, "The Jim Henson Hour," did little better. Ah, c'est l'apres-vie.
