It was supposed to be the comedy hit of the new television season. BARBIE AND THE BUDDHA was a zany show about a girl from the midwest sharing an New York apartment with The Buddha. Given the premise, hilarity was certain to ensue, but there was only silence and not the good Zen kind. The show was hated by not only midwesterners, but Buddhists as well. The network guys were never able to figure out what went wrong, but in the end, they blamed it on casting.