THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 14, 1995 TAG: 9510120016
SECTION: TELEVISION WEEK PAGE: 01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
Television Columnist
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
IF P.T. BARNUM and his partner in ``The Greatest Show on Earth,'' James A. Bailey, were in business in the politically correct 1990s, they would be feeling the slings and arrows of people upset by how the men exploited ``human curiosities,'' circus animals and the public.
Barnum searched the globe for individuals who had been cursed by nature and put them on display in a sideshow.
Among them were the wild men of Borneo (actually, retarded brothers born on an Ohio farm), Jo-Jo the Dog-faced Boy, Charles Tripp, the Armless Wonder, plus all manner of frog swallowers, giants, dwarfs, tattooed wonders and members of ``savage tribes'' from continents far from America.
The Discovery Channel on Sunday returns viewers to a time before radio, movies, television and cyberspace, when Phineas Taylor Barnum brought the wonders of the world to people who hardly knew what was going on beyond their neighborhoods. ``P.T. Barnum: America's Greatest Showman'' runs for three hours on Sunday starting at 8 p.m. and repeats at midnight. There will be additional showings Monday through Wednesday at 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., and again on Oct. 29 at noon.
Karl Malden supplies the voice of Barnum, who believed that he was more than a showman. ``Cash is not my only reward,'' said Barnum. ``I give zest to life.'' He considered exhibitionism to be a power for good. And did he ever have exhibitions.
There was Zazel, the first woman to be shot from a cannon. And Lucia Zarate, a fully developed woman who weighed but 20 pounds. And there was Jumbo, the elephant that stood 11 feet tall and died when struck by a train in Ontario.
Barnum was often criticized for housing his animals in small cages, sending hunters abroad to separate prize species from their parents and allowing his handlers to mistreat the beasts as they performed. Many animals died in the five fires that struck Barnum's traveling shows and the circus' winter home, the Hippotheatron.
In the ultimate animal abuse, Barnum created ``The Fejee Mermaid,'' which consisted of a baboon's head on the torso of an orangutan with the tail of a giant fish sewed on. As the people flocked to see Fejee, word got out that Barnum said, ``There's a sucker born every minute,'' but in fact he denied saying that right up to the day he died in 1891.
The show is a hoot.
Elsewhere on the tube in the days to come, Fox takes dead aim at the young, hip audience that ``Saturday Night Live'' catered to all these years with ``Mad TV,'' premiering Saturday at 11 p.m. If ever ``SNL'' was ready to be taken, it is this year, when the show is unwatchable.
``Frontline'' on PBS cuts loose its aggressive reporters and producers on the events leading up to the standoff at Waco, Texas, in 1993 with ``Waco - Inside Story'' on Tuesday at 9 p.m. This is the premiere of the 14th season of ``Frontline,'' and the first show of the season is a good one about a story that won't die.
Where have the years gone? Starting Monday at 11 p.m., The Disney Channel begins running a new series, ``The Original Mickey Mouse Club: The 40th Anniversary Celebration.'' Can you name the original Mouseketeers?
For the offbeat documentary of the week, your humble columnist nominates ``Dog Day in Manhattan,'' which pops up on The Learning Channel Saturday at 10 p.m. See how Manhattan's rich pamper their pooches. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
"P.T. Barnum: America's Greatest Showman" runs for three hours
starting Sunday at 8 on TLC.
by CNB