Girl Group Just Wants to Be Famous (Again) The Electric Barbarellas was the name of a girl group and of an MTV reality show featuring the group that ran for six episodes in the spring of 2011. Both would have come and gone largely unnoticed, if Sumner Redstone hadn't picked up the phone. Apparently incensed by a report in The Daily Beast that the show was a vanity project driven by his infatuation with the nubile, if not obviously talented, group members, Mr. Redstone, chairman of the MTV parent, Viacom Inc., took the irrevocable step of leaving the Daily Beast reporter a badgering voice-mail message demanding that he give up his source. David Carr of The New York Times called the two-and-a-half-minute message "a classic, a must-hear document of mogul prerogative in full cry." The series itself was not a classic, though it was not noticeably worse than others in the shrieks-and-cleavage genre of shows that exploit young women while supposedly celebrating their pursuit of fame. Though their show ended with a phone call from a record executive, followed by a lot of shrieking, the Barbarellas were not heard from again. Until now, that is. Perhaps the eye of Mr. Redstone, once caught, remains transfixed. In any case the spirit of the Electric Barbarellas, if not their entire lineup, is back for another six episodes on MTV, beginning on Tuesday under the new title "The Alectrix." The star of the show, as before, is Heather Naylor, a singer and entrepreneur with the fembot look of Daryl Hannah in "Blade Runner" and the temperament of a 1950s den mother. In "Electric Barbarellas" tension rose from her attempts to single-handedly assemble, finance and manage the group; in "The Alectrix" she hands over control to the producer Joe Simpson (father of Jessica), who generates tension right away by requiring all the Barbarellas except Ms. Naylor to audition for spots in the new group. This process, with its tearful dismissals of former Barbarellas and introductions of potential new Alectrixes, continues into the third episode, leaving us to wonder how much time there will be for the winners to perform together. If you want to skip all the staged drama and just find out who made it, the names are at the top of the group's Twitter page. But then, if you consider the previous show, it's probably just as well that we see as little as possible of the actual singing and dancing. The real point was that climactic phone call, "the call I've been waiting my whole life for," as Ms. Naylor put it. What will she say if "The Alectrix" ends the same way? She could probably be excused for repeating herself - in the reality TV business, two years is a lifetime. The Alectrix MTV, Tuesday nights at 11, Eastern and Pacific times; 10, Central time. Produced by Go Go Luckey Entertainment. Heather Naylor and Joe Simpson, executive producers. For Go Go Luckey Entertainment: Gary Auerbach, Julie Auerbach and Rob Cornick, executive producers. For MTV: Lesley Goldman, executive producer; Tamar Zohar, executive in charge of production.