A summer rerun you don't want to miss NBC's "The Rerun Show," is the most pleasant surprise of the summer (apologies to Justin Guarini and "American Idol"). By LAURA NACHMAN Courier Times NBC's "The Rerun Show," the lovechild of "Saturday Night Live" and "Nick at Nite," is the most pleasant surprise of the summer (apologies to Justin Guarini and "American Idol"). Using the concept of the early '90s play "Real Live Brady Bunch," "The Rerun Show" acts out two old sitcoms in a 30-minute show. So far, "Diff'rent Strokes," "The Partridge Family," "The Facts of Life" and "The Jeffersons" have been redone to hilarious effect. The unknown cast does perfect impressions of the old sitcom characters. Standouts are Candy Ford, who has played Arnold of "Diff'rent Strokes," Tootie from "Facts of Life" and Mrs. Willis from "The Jeffersons," and Paul Vogt, who does a dead-on impersonation of Mrs. Garrett from "Facts of Life." Actual stars from the old shows like Danny Bonaduce, Gary Coleman and Marla Gibbs have been incorporated seamlessly into the sketches. "The Rerun Show" is better than "Saturday Night Live" and "Mad TV" because it cuts to the chase. We see the funny parodies without sitting through other skits that are usually lame. Its debut last Aug. 1 hit the top 20 shows for the week with 9.41-million viewers. Not surprisingly, it hit the top five for viewers 18-49 who remember the shows the first time around. Its regular timeslot is Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. with a bonus episode Thursdays at 9:30. Future shows that will get "The Rerun Show" treatment are "One Day at a Time," "Bewitched" and "What's Happening." This is a rerun you don't want to miss. Reach Laura Nachman at [email protected]. August 13, 2002