Sitting through the offbeat teen comedy ''Charlie Bartlett'' makes you feel as if you've just watched three episodes of a new TV series you can't wait to see more of - one that's so funny and smart and unpredictable, it would probably only survive one season on the air, if that, then gain a cult following on DVD.

''Fierce People'' is based on a forced premise: the idea that a family of super-rich New Jersey eccentrics is like a tribe to be studied anthropologically.