Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 24, 1993 TAG: 9307240291
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: HAL BOEDEKER KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
During a press conference last week to promote the new CBS sitcom "Dave's World," Anderson stuck a small, plastic human hand on his tongue and pretended to be Godzilla.
At another point, Anderson told TV critics meeting here that Barry "suggested to me that I would look more like him if I cut my hair with a Bic lighter."
But the "Night Court" star turned reflective several times when asked what "Dave's World" means to him. "What's most exciting to me about this is the potential to put on a show for families, for real families, not imaginary families," he said.
"Night Court" was a show his kids couldn't watch, Anderson said, but "Dave's World" "is an opportunity to speak to my children through the direction they're facing, which is the television set."
Anderson, an intensely private man, brushed off questions about his children or his life away from Tinseltown since "Night Court" ended its run in 1992.
The "Dave's World" producers probably wish they could have ignored some pointed questions about the series, which debuts this fall on Mondays between "Evening Shade" and "Murphy Brown." CBS Entertainment President Jeff Sagansky has predicted "Dave's World" "will be the biggest critical and commercial hit on any network next season."
But some TV critics, fans of Barry's columns, have been lukewarm or even hostile to the show, saying his talent doesn't translate to television.
"They may be right," executive producer James Widdoes said. "I don't think we'll succeed or fail on how close we are to Dave Barry. I think we'll succeed or fail on whether we're putting out a product that the television public responds to."
Barry, who is not involved in the series, has praised creator Fred Barron's first script. "I thought the pilot was great," he said. "I have never looked taller." (The Pulitzer Prize winner is shorter than the lanky Anderson.)
The actor said he had talked to Barry, whom he called "a real neat guy," only on the phone. "I avoided seeing him because I was afraid I might end up trying to do an imitation, an impression," Anderson said.
If Barry becomes a TV household name, it will be because of Widdoes' father-in-law. He sent Widdoes a Barry column 10 years ago and suggested last summer that Barry's column should be a TV series. (Barry's columns are written for The Miami Herald and distributed to other newspapers by Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service.)
Widdoes wrote Barry a letter, noting in the last paragraph that he had played Hoover in the movie "Animal House." "On a hunch, I figured that might be Dave's kind of movie," Widdoes said.
Hollywood has approached Barry before, but the "Animal House" reference caught his attention and he wrote back, "Heck, yes, I remember Hoover."
The producers have bought two books, "Dave Barry's Greatest Hits" and "Dave Barry Turns 40." "Greatest Hits" gives them story ideas, and Barron said the humorist provides "a wonderful foundation" for his five-member writing staff.
"He can look at life very seriously and also see that it's funny, that humor is a weapon, a tool in coping," said Barron, who was an executive producer on "Seinfeld" and "The Larry Sanders Show."
The producers went to Miami to meet the Barrys and to find the home that will be the Barry TV household in exterior shots. They settled on a two-story Mediterranean home in Coral Gables; the show will be set in South Florida but filmed in Los Angeles. And the Barry character works for The Miami Record-Dispatch rather than The Herald.
Some scenes in the pilot will be reshot. The actor playing a plastic surgeon who is Dave's friend will be recast and played by a younger actor. (A CBS executive hinted that a minority actor would be signed.)
Blond actress DeLane Matthews, who plays Barry's wife, Beth, will have her hair color toned down to brown to make her look less like a TV star mom, executive producer Jonathan Axelrod said.
The producers have six scripts written and six more in the works. "I'll put boogers into everything," Barron joked. "I think we'll have canine flatulence before boogers. Boogers have been done to death. I want to move to that next level."
by CNB