Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 30, 1993 TAG: 9310300344
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAMES ENDRST THE HARTFORD COURANT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Are you watching any of it, or just talking about it?
The shows, with few exceptions, haven't been the kind that stir up viewer excitement.
Again.
That doesn't mean, however, that people don't have opinions.
Have you been thinking what we've been thinking?
The Talk Show Wars - You only had to watch one night of "The Chevy Chase Show" to know why Fox Broadcasting put the lights out after just a few weeks. Don't say you weren't warned. If you taped opening night, though, hold on to that video. It's a TV-hell hall-of-famer that's going to be worth money someday. Guaranteed.
As for CBS's David Letterman, NBC's Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien, et al. - Good luck guys. If we ever make up for the sleep deficit from all that late-night sampling, we may actually be able to make it past the 11 o'clock news one of these days. But if we do tune in, Dave's our guy.
"NYPD Blue" - ABC's new cop show - the most controversial show going into the 1993-'94 season - is fast becoming one of the season's most successful.
Last time we looked, "NYPD Blue" ranked No. 11 in the prime-time ratings race. How'd that happen? You can probably thank the Rev. Donald Wildmon and company for condemning the show so loudly before the first episode.
But it turns out naked butts didn't lead to the cessation of civilization as we know it - nor did it move television ahead creatively. But "NYPD Blue" is still one of the best new series on television.
"Beavis and Butt-head" - Maybe we've heard the last of MTV's cartoon cretins for a while, now that the show has been yanked from the early prime-time time slot.
The move came after a 2-year-old girl in Ohio died in a fire set by her 5-year-old brother. The boy, according to the child's mother, was obsessed with "Beavis and Butt-head," who had declared fire "cool" during one of their half-hour misadventures in social conduct.
MTV doesn't think "Beavis and Butt-head" are responsible for the child's death, and it may be right. That's why the show is still available at the far side of prime time (we're not going to plug the hour) for teens and the older audience it's meant for.
But if the people at MTV - so long the center of controversy - want to do themselves some long-term public relations good, they should consider pulling the show for good.
The Violence Debate - Everybody's been getting their licks in on this season's toughest TV issue, and now Attorney General Janet Reno has spoken.
"Government intervention is neither the best option nor the first we should try," she said the other day.
But, she added, if the TV industry doesn't clean up its act by January, she would support legislation forcing the industry to do so.
Do you think anybody at ABC, NBC, CBS or Fox heard her?
Doubtful. They're probably too busy lining up their next batch of true-crime-and-mayhem, women-and-children-in-jeopardy movies for the sweeps periods. Might as well draw up that bill now.
But anyone who thinks Congress can create better television through legislation hasn't watched television or Congress very closely.
The Shows We Were All Waiting For - "Frasier" and ABC's "Grace Under Fire" may not be discussed as often as "NYPD Blue," but their Top 10 status makes it look as if the critics picked a couple of winners and guarantees these shows will be around for a while. (Not that the "Frasier" spinoff is anywhere near the show "Cheers" was.)
> The First Shows To Go - Everyone knew "It Had to Be You," CBS's woefully misguided sitcom featuring Faye Dunaway and Robert Urich, would be among the first to go.
But hey, CBS, we were getting into "Angel Falls." It may not have been highbrow, but it was sexy.
You'll hear no complaints on axing "The Trouble With Larry," though. We just wish we could have watched when you did it and still wonder what you were thinking when you decided to put it on in the first place.
A Show We Used To Love - It was inevitable. "Murphy Brown" was destined to become too precious for words. Or is it jokes? Could Dan Quayle have been right?
The political correctness quotient in CBS's once smart and sassy sitcom seems unbearably high these days. Murphy's brief dating fling with her boss set a new yawning low.
Snap out of it, woman! Give somebody some real grief, and don't apologize. We'll love you for it. And by the way, whatever the problem, bringing in Scott Bakula probably isn't the solution.
The Shows That Make Us Proud To Be Couch Potatoes - If NBC took "Seinfeld" off the air, if Fox canceled "The Simpsons," it would be easy to become one of those people who says, "I just watch news and sports."
But with both shows off to fantastic starts creatively, there's no reason to worry.
by CNB