The first scene in NBC's new fall sitcom "Whoopi" begins with the star, Whoopi Goldberg, puffing on a cigarette, ignoring a nearby "No Smoking" sign. "You know, secondhand smoke kills," says an irritated guest of the hotel Goldberg's character owns. "So do I," she shoots back, glaring at the guest. Scheduled to premiere Sept. 23, the show is designed to be a Norman Lear-like commentary on American society, in the same vein as the groundbreaking "All in the Family." That show was built around bigoted jokes that boomeranged on Archie Bunker, while "Whoopi," featuring a relationship in which her brother...