The debuts of Jennie Garth's WB sitcom "What I Like About You" (Fridays at 8) and husband Peter Facinelli's Fox drama "Fastlane" (Wednesdays at 9) mark the first time in TV history a married couple have both starred in brand new shows in the same season.

Move over Lucy and Ricky - make way for TV's new First Family.

What's even more remarkable is that both shows might very well survive the their first season.

"We'll see," says Garth on a break from her show, which has debuted to so-so ratings on the WB's Friday night lineup of family shows (anchored by "Reba") but garnered some positive reviews.

For Garth, her show about a young woman on the go in New York City who takes in her younger sister (played by Amanda Bynes) gives the actress a chance to show off her "inner Lucy."

It's not a side of Garth viewers - who know her best from her long-running stint on "Beverly Hills, 90210" - have ever seen before.

"It's so much more fun to get shot and raped and stabbed," says the 30-year-old actress sarcastically.

For Facinelli, who has appeared in small roles in a number of films like "The Scorpion King" and "Riding in Cars With Boys," the eye candy of "Fastlane" is a chance for the 28-year-old actor to strut his leading man stuff as Van Ray.

A tongue-in-cheek drama about undercover cops playing outside the rules, "Fastlane" also stars "90210" alum Tiffani Thiessen as his boss.

By far the most over-the-top bit of silliness on the air this year, "Fastlane" makes "Miami Vice" look like a History Channel documentary. And now that the World Series is over, it will have to prove itself opposite "The West Wing."

Still, Garth is grateful for the huge leap in profile "Fastlane" is giving her husband.

"We were both successful in our own right but he's never had his payday," says Garth.

So who has the tougher job? Shouldn't a sitcom be an easier gig than a drama?

"That's what you would think - and that's what I thought," says Facinelli, who met Garth on the set of the 1996 TV movie "An Unfinished Affair" and says they became friends first before getting serious.

"But it's a different kind of exhaustion because she's pregnant. [Garth is due in December with their second child.] I could work 30 hours a day and I'd never match the energy she's putting out because she's carrying a child."

But despite her pregnancy, Garth says an hour-long drama is more of a burden.

"The hours are much better for me," insists Garth. "It's really tough on him. They do 14 hours a day, one episode right after another, five days a week."

When they first met, Garth says, "there was a mutual electric energy between the two of us. We were pretty much inseperable."

Now married for nearly two years, they're both busier than ever on separate, demanding jobs.

For Facinelli, the time apart lets them appreciate the moments they do share.

"The weekends are golden for us," he says. "Besides, when you have very limited time, you really make the most of it.

"It's almost better in a way," he says.