Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 30, 1993 TAG: 9305270067
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GAIL SHISTER KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Harrold, classy refugee from NBC's "I'll Fly Away" (R.I.P.), says she joined Garry Shandling's HBO laugh-a-thon because it exists on a different planet from most network sitcoms. She debuts on the second-season opener Wednesday.
In traditional sitcoms, taped before a studio audience, "the acting gets a little pushed," says the Tazewell County, Va., native. "It's louder and faster than reality. "Larry Sanders" is more sophisticated and adult. It's just good acting. A lot of times, sitcom stars are not even actors."
Could that be an oblique reference to, gulp, Roseanne Arnold or her lovely husband, Tom, Miss Kathryn? "No comment," she says with a throaty laugh. "I don't want a picture of Tom Arnold's butt on my windshield tomorrow."
After two seasons on "I'll Fly Away" as Christina LeKatzis, the oh-so-serious lawyer involved with oh-so-serious lawyer Forrest Bedford (Sam Waterston), Harrold jumped at the chance to play Larry Sanders' ex, Francine. (Harrold's manager - now her ex-manager - voted against the deal.)
"I thought, boy, I really want a big change," says Harrold. "I felt it would be excellent for me to do comedy. I hadn't done it for so long and `I'll Fly Away' was so serious. As an actress, it was time for a different direction."
NBC was not kind to the low-key 1950's-era Southern drama. "Fly" was shuttled to different time slots and was frequently pre-empted. Not surprisingly, it bombed in the Nielsens. Production shut down in January, but the cast had to be available until this month, when NBC unveiled its fall lineup, in case NBC changed its mind.
"I felt like it was our show. How could NBC take it away from us? Then I realized it's their show. They can do whatever they want. It was hard to let go of Christina. I adored her. I loved the relationship with Forrest, but I wished they had showed more fun times between them.
"I felt I had more things to do with that character but I wasn't allowed to finish. I wish we had gotten a good time slot. I resented it horribly when we kept getting pre-empted by all these sports things. Who cares about basketball? I guess a lot of people do. I just tried to do my job."
On "Sanders," Francine, a free-lance journalist, gets back into Larry's life when she does a piece involving the show. Harrold has shot nine episodes; she says she's being paid for 13. If everything clicks, she'll stick.
Working in cable "feels a lot freer" than on a broadcast network, says Harrold. "We didn't have this on `I'll Fly Away,' but I understand that on most sitcoms, there are a lot of `suits' standing around giving their approval or disapproval on every joke. That would drive me insane."
On a more important topic, who's a better kisser, Oscar-winner Waterston ("The Killing Fields") or wise-guy Shandling? Says Harrold: "I'm not the type to kiss and tell, but Sam's a more serious kisser. Garry's a more comic kisser. They're both great guys."
I know, it's only rock 'n' roll, but PBS likes it.
"Rock & Roll," a 10-hour series tracing the history of the pop phenomenon, will begin production over the summer for the 1995-96 season, PBS said. Elizabeth Deane, whose credits include PBS's "The Kennedys," is exec producer for "Rock," a co-production of Boston's WGBH and the BBC.
by CNB