TV/26/mark1st/dp2nd
By FRANK SWERTLOW
Staff Reporter
Network television’s spinmeisters were out in full force during three weeks of sessions with TV critics from around the country to defend the penchant for young, beautiful and decidedly Anglo faces in this fall’s programming lineup.
To a man (and sometimes the odd woman) they announced plans to meet with NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, who has attacked the fall schedule as a “whitewash” and who threatened to ask for government hearings on station licensing, network ownership and programming.
Clearly hearing his message and threats, which could have enormous economic implications as well as create bad will, network executives in Pasadena were busy making some last-minute adjustments for the fall.
ABC, for example, said it was adding two “significant” minority characters to “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” and one to each of two new shows, “Wasteland” and “Once and Again.”
Acknowledging the lack of diversity in its fall schedule, Pat Fili-Krushel, president of ABC Television Network, said there are plans afoot to swiftly correct the imbalance.
“It’s easy to stand up here and talk about it, but you need to judge us by our actions,” she said. “This is a very serious situation, and we are addressing it.”
NBC’s Scott Sassa, who happens to be Asian American, said that merely putting a minority on the screen isn’t enough. “When you see (African American) Eriq LaSalle on ‘ER,’ this is a guy you want to be,” he said.
Yet the addition of African American actress Michael Michele to the “ER” cast was made after criticism of the networks surfaced, suggesting how quickly the networks can move when pressed.
Chris Albrecht, president of HBO original programming, said what the networks were doing prior to the uproar reflects an economic decision and nothing more.
“Each of the networks have decided who their constituency is and they are spending their money against that constituency,” he said. “They’ve made a business decision to spend where they think they are going to get their biggest return for their clients, who happen to be the advertisers.”
Even so, Albrecht, whose network is interested in gaining more subscribers, said the lack of minority faces comes as a surprise because of the growing pressure for niche audiences.
Another hot economic topic at the Pasadena sessions was the merger of Walt Disney Co.’s TV operation and ABC. Hollywood producers have become concerned that an independent producer who sells a show to ABC would find himself a second-class citizen when competing against Disney shows on the schedule.
CBS said it probably wouldn’t be doing business with Disney in the future. NBC, however, said it might and has had talks with other companies, like Imagine Television, which make their home at Disney.
ABC executives said the merger was created to help streamline costs. “What we’re actually looking to do is avoid a lot of duplication that exists right now in the current system with the studio and the network,” said Lloyd Braun, co-chairman of ABC Television Group.
Industry cost cutting was obvious to any veteran TV critic. This year, all the networks and even cable outlets used the same stage equipment for press conferences, instead of hauling in their own props and sets. Also absent were lavish dinners and lunches even trays of cookies between sessions.
When ABC didn’t have one outside event at a local Pasadena restaurant like most of its competitors, one critic was seen grumbling in the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel. “They better watch out,” he huffed. “They could disappear.”
By comparison, the Discovery network, whose viewership could fill a thimble compared with ABC, tossed a lavish soiree at the Huntington Art Gallery, complete with dinner, music, a comedy show, tours of the grounds and easy access to such masterpieces as “The Blue Boy.”
“X-Files” star David Duchovny had pretty much insisted last year that the popular TV series be shot in Los Angeles, not Vancouver, B.C., so he could be with his wife, actress Thea Leoni.
So what was it like being in a TV production that ran the other way?
“I got to live at home,” he said. “I got to live with my wife. My wife got pregnant, which probably wouldn’t have happened if I was in Vancouver, and if it did, I would have a lot of questions to ask.”
Professionally, working in Los Angeles wasn’t as easy as it was north of the border in Canada.
“It was a tougher show to do, logistically, in Los Angeles,” Duchovny acknowledged, “just because of locations being further spread apart and traffic and all the things we associate with Los Angeles. So that was tougher. I miss Vancouver, in terms of shooting, and in terms of having relationships with a crew for five years. But it was time for me to make a change.”
Duchovny may be making more changes. The series is in its seventh and possibly last season. Would the star consider returning for another?
“I’d be fine if it were the last year,” he said. “Seven years is a long time to be doing one show, and I have other things to do, but then again, I don’t know.”
When UPN announced it was going to air professional wrestling on Thursday nights in an effort to bolster its ratings, critics began badgering the executives. One described the shows as “sexist, racist, homophobic and even Satanic.”
“I think there’s clearly a disconnect between some of you guys and the audience that watches it and enjoys it,” replied UPN President Dean Valentine.
Another critic pressed the prez. “Call me old-fashioned, but convince me how a wrestler called ‘The Pimp,’ who brings his ‘Ho’s’ into the ring is not sexist?” he asked.
“Hey guys,” the exasperated Valentine said, “it’s a comedy. Lighten up.”
CBS has come up with a way of grabbing TV movie viewers. It’s got an upcoming thriller, “Aftershock: Earthquake in New York,” starring Cicely Tyson, Sharon Lawrence and Lisa Nicole Carson. Back in 1985 the Big Apple felt a few 4.9 tremors, but no one expects any more until we are way into the next millenium. What would some of the actors do if confronted by a quake?
“I hope I am under a big strong man,” said Carson.
What would Carson take with her if she had to leave home during a quake?
“Chanel No. 5,” she replied.
