ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 18, 1996 TAG: 9607180031
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: TUNE IN TOMORROW
SOURCE: NANCY M. REICHARDT
Soon after the inception of ``The City,'' the show was touted in this column as the daytime equivalent of ``NYPD Blue.''
While ``NYPD Blue'' has soared to new dramatic heights, we must admit that ``The City'' has fizzled.
It was advised that we take a ``wait-and-see'' attitude, but the debut was so dazzling that we fell under some sort of a spell.
Soon after our glowing review appeared, we were asked if the show was taking too long to establish story lines.
At the time, we thought the lack of story might be due to building an interest in the characters. After all, if the audience does not know a character, how can it matter what happens.
``The City'' kept dropping hints at intriguing developments, and we were willing to wait.
The wait proved too long, and when the stories finally emerged, a more serious problem came to the foreground - pacing - or rather, the lack of it. For example, the story involving Azure C. (Carlotta Chang):
For months Azure was seen taking a mysterious medication that held a clue to why she was shunned by most of her family. Long before it was revealed that Azure was once a ``he,'' most of the audience had figured it out.
But weeks would go by without even seeing the character so that when her secret became front-page headlines, nobody cared.
Even worse, the show failed to explore the psychological ramifications to the character and those around her.
Instead, Azure faded into the shadows, and she now merely serves as one of many suspects in the murder of Jared Chase (Joel Fabiani), who was responsible for leaking her story to the press. And soon after the secret was revealed, the show announced that Chang and her co-star, Philip Anthony, who played her love interest Bernardo Castro, would be leaving the show.
Apparently, all the hoopla has turned into much ado about nothing. Much like the show itself.
While ``The City'' allowed stories to flounder, it made the Jocelyn Brown (Lisa Le Cicero) story front and center.
Le Cicero effectively played Jocelyn's tortured history of child abuse and prostitution to the hilt. But, while it was not enough to have her abused as a child, the show chose the distasteful plot ``twist'' of having her father serve as her pimp - he passed a young Jocelyn around to his friends like a rite of passage.
Oh, please!
Then there is the case of the disappearing Roscoe Born, who plays Nick Rivers. Born has had a successful soap career, but he has been critical of the medium.
The show's lead, Morgan Fairchild (Sydney Chase), personally coaxed him into joining the show. The two share a terrific chemistry. The show provided Rivers with a wonderful back story as an alcoholic ex-superstar badly in need of a liver transplant, with one - maybe two - previously unknown illegitimate children entering the picture.
For unknown reasons, the show has stopped giving Born and Fairchild any of the witty scenes together that were such a delight.
And Fairchild has now announced that she will be leaving the show when her contract is up.
Born's transplant story, combined with his questionable paternity of two characters who are in love, should make him front-burner, but he is seen only sporadically.
Almost everything is sporadic on this show.
Even the dazzling camera work and filming techniques are now used mainly for establishing shots at the beginning of scenes. This is expensive stuff, and, with the ratings plummeting, no doubt the show's budget is too.
There have been some encouraging developments of late, but, well, once burned - twice shy. We are leery of getting our hopes up.
But the rhyming clues ABC is running to garner interest in the Jared Chase murder mystery have sparked interest.
We roared with laughter when Sydney Chase, while viewing hubby Jared in his coffin, could not resist poking him with a stick pin to see if he was really dead.
If this keeps up, it might be possible to get hooked - again.
Send your questions about soap operas to Nancy M. Reichardt, ``Tune in Tomorrow,'' in care of The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491. Questions cannot be answered personally, but those of general interest will be answered in future columns. |United Feature Syndicate
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Morgan Fairchild: Soon to leave the cast of "The City."by CNB