Well, Shannen, the Thing Is, You See, It's Not Us, It's You

(Oxygen - Oxygen)

So you want to break up with your significant other and don't have the heart to do it yourself. Who you gonna call?

Shannen Doherty!

Hers isn't the first name that comes to mind, of course, but the Oxygen network hopes to hit the viewer's irony bone by giving the twice-married "Beverly Hills, 90210" star and '90s tabloid superstar -- not known for her winning interpersonal skills -- a relationship show to call her own.

In "Breaking Up With Shannen Doherty," which debuts tonight, the host does the dumping for those in broken relationships who are too spineless to do the deed.

The potential for laughs is there, considering Doherty's police-blottered past, which includes a former boyfriend seeking a restraining order and her being forced to attend anger management classes.

Regrettably, what we get is a kinder, gentler, Oprahesque Doherty, and what could have been an amusing debacle winds up being an annoying muddle.

Doherty doesn't do much actual breaking up at all. She winds up serving as a facilitator in a hidden-camera show, which sets up situations designed to determine the character of relationships gone bad.

First up is Tamara Henry, a former Miss Arkansas and ex-TV anchor in Fresno, Calif., who wants to break up with Steve, the biggest jerk to appear on a reality show in weeks.

Steve, whom she's been dating for 16 months, says things like, "We got into a huge fight last night but it was your fault, right, honey?" and "Technically, I'm a lesbian." (Get it, because he's a guy who likes girls? And lesbians like girls, too. Hee-hee.)

In a confusing setup that Tamara is in on, she and Steve arrive at a fake restaurant where an actor portraying a "psychic chef" tries to draw out the worst in Steve. It works.

Doherty watches it all from a TV screen just outside the setting, muttering such things as, "I cant wait to dump you," and "Oh, you're a brute."

But all she does is walk into the scene, after Tamara exits briefly, introduce herself and proceed to deliver a videotaped message from Tamara in which the girlfriend says it's over.