THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 21, 1994 TAG: 9411190081
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
I DON'T GET IT. People complain to high heaven about the junk on TV, but when shows of high quality are on, nobody watches.
Viewers can't get enough bubble gum for the brain in shows like ``Wings,'' ``Married With Children'' and ``The Nanny,'' but ignore two of the best dramas on the networks - ``Party of Five,'' on Fox tonight at 9 after ``Melrose Place,'' and ``My So-Called Life,'' an ABC series airing Thursday night at 8.
The last time I checked, ``Party of Five'' ranked 87th out of 88 shows in the Nielsen ratings while ``My So-Called Life'' was 81st.
Fox is sticking with ``Party of Five,'' a series about five young people striving to stay together as a family after their parents die in an automobile accident.
ABC says it is committed to ``My So-Called Life'' through early in 1995. In that series, viewers experience high school through the eyes of actress Claire Danes. Both shows, new to network TV this season, are well-crafted, marvelously acted dramas about the good and bad times of growing up.
Fox and ABC want to keep them on the schedule, but no show pulling in less than 6 percent of the viewers will be around very long in this era of the quick-draw remote control. Before long, ``Party of Five'' and ``My So-Called Life'' will be resting in peace in that great big network burial ground for quality drama that nobody watched - in a plot next to ``Homefront,'' ``I'll Fly Away,'' ``Byrds of Paradise'' and ``Class of 96,'' to name a few.
A pity.
Fox, the network of sex, sleaze and silliness, stunned the TV world when it asked executive producers Chris Keyser and Amy Lippman to create an intelligent, sensitive series in ``Party of Five.'' Said Keyser, ``It's different from the kind of stuff you see on `Beverly Hills 90210.' ''
One thing that's different about ``Party of Five'' is that the kids on the show worry about money. Ever notice that in most TV series, with the exception of ``Roseanne'' and lately, ``Beverly Hills 90210,'' now that Luke Perry's had his fortune embezzled, nobody ever frets about the money to pay the rent?
On ``Party of Five,'' it was a catastrophe when the eldest Salinger survivor, 24-year-old Charlie, was ripped off for $12,000 in a building and renovating business. In a recent episode, Julia Salinger sent her brothers and sister into a rage when she wrote a check for $800 to pay for photographs.
Julia, played by a stunning actress from Canada, Neve Campbell, fell under an enterprising photographer's spell. She wanted to prove to the kids in her sophomore class that was pretty and photogenic.
``I'm very happy to be doing this role because it allows Julia to grow as a young woman,'' said Campbell when she met with TV writers in Los Angeles.
On ``My So-Called Life,'' it is Danes as Angela Chase who does the growing up on camera. Both series have dark shadows in them. But that's OK because being 15, 16 and 17 is about dark and light periods. The kids who watch TV should be flocking to their sets to experience these things with Danes.
But they aren't.
Teens are avoiding these shows by the millions.
The performance of A.J. Langer as the unconventional, rebellious friend of Angela's, Rayanne Graff, is reason enough to watch ``My So-Called Life.''
``My So-Called Life'' is TV too good to ignore.
Same story with ``A Party of Five.'' It was a bold idea to create a show set in San Francisco in which five children, ages 24 to infancy, attempt to carry on life as usual after the parents die.
The other night, the children confronted the man who, while driving intoxicated, caused the crash that took the lives of their parents. ``I just wanted to see what you looked like,'' said Claudia Salinger, played by actress (Lacey Chabert), who is mature far beyond her 11 years.
It was a moment that stopped your heart. All TV should be this good. by CNB