ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 25, 1996 TAG: 9601250011
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Tom Shales
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: TOM SHALES
Dan Rather gives new meaning to the phrase ``dropping anchor.'' He's lowered 3,000 feet in an underwater capsule to take an anchorly peek at the ocean floor. ``What happens if you have a puncture in this submersible?'' he asks the scientist next to him. The answer is not pretty. Dan would be turned into Spam.
The Deep-Sea-Dan segment is one of five featurettes that make up ``Smithsonian Fantastic Journey,'' a fairly fascinating hour co-produced by CBS News and the Smithsonian Institution and airing tonight at 8. It's part of a joint venture with CBS to celebrate the Institution's 150th anniversary.
In addition, CBS began airing occasional ``Smithsonian Minutes'' on Jan. 20. The commercial-sized tidbits are similar to the ``Bicentennial Minutes'' aired in 1976. Each one offers a fun fact about the Smithsonian as delivered by a celebrity like Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Bush, Mike Wallace or Kermit the Frog.
Kermit also turns up as correspondent on one segment of ``Fantastic Journey.'' This one is a shameless but enjoyable plug for the Smithsonian's forthcoming two-year traveling exhibit. It's the first time ever that any of the Smithsonian's 140 million artifacts (normally stored in its 16 museums) has been sent on tour across the country.
The exhibit, scheduled to visit 12 cities, will be the only place you can see Amelia Earhart's flight suit, Judy Garland's ruby slippers, Pat Nixon's 1969 inaugural gown, Gen. Robert E. Lee's wartime chair and Lincoln's hat - the very one he wore on an ill-advised trip to Ford's Theater.
``Fantastic Journey'' is not about objects, however, but about things in motion. In the first segment, correspondent Russ Mitchell goes to India to find out how mahouts train elephants and perhaps to learn why captive elephants at circuses and in zoos sometimes go on rampages. Of course the answer to that seems obvious: They go on rampages because they don't like being in cages.
Ed Bradley follows volcano fanatics Steve and Donna O'Meara as they go searching for active volcanoes about to spout off. They've been to ``50 eruptions, all over the world,'' Steve proudly declares. As some amazing footage shows, volcanoes with their red-hot lava and white-hot fireworks are spectacular to see.
And besides, Steve explains, it helps adjust his perspective as a tiny human being in a big fat universe: ``We're losing quickly all semblance of anything greater than ourselves.''
In East Africa, Peter Van Sant joins scientists who are trying to determine why lions and other great cats carry around a feline version of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in humans, yet do not become sick themselves. The segment is confusing and gets off the track, but the lion footage, while hardly up to National Geographic standards, is compelling.
Dan Rather's underwater excursion is the last sequence on the show, which Rather also hosts. Rather prides himself on being intrepid and may indeed be the first network anchor to visit the ocean floor. Walter Cronkite, of course, wanted to go up in the space shuttle but so far hasn't made it.
In addition to the reports, the program is punctuated with Smithsonian minutes of its own. One is hosted by Robin Williams, talking about Albert Einstein. Unfortunately, the introduction to the show makes it look as though Williams will be a major part of it. He is a minor one.
Another ``Smithsonian Fantastic Journey'' special will air in August. This one is sponsored, an announcer says, by ``Smithsonian Corporate Partners.'' The Institution runs on both federal and private funding. Do you suppose one of our crackpot politicians will soon propose that the whole thing be taken over by the private sector - and maybe become just another giant theme park run by Disney?
We can only hope not. As ``Fantastic Journey'' makes clear, this great storehouse of national treasures is a national treasure itself.
- Washington Post Writers Group
LENGTH: Medium: 76 linesby CNB