Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 22, 1994 TAG: 9401220332
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE DUFFY KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: PASADENA, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
And the network wants to assure hardcore football fans that it won't be putting Al Bundy in charge of cheerleader acquisition. In fact, Fox Sports president David Hill said there are no plans to seriously tamper with an American institution.
"We realize we've been given a sacred trust, in sporting terms, and we're going to treat it with the reverence it deserves," said Hill, an Australian who previously launched Fox owner Rupert Murdoch's successful Sky Sports network in Great Britain and two other sports networks in Europe and Australia.
"Let me assure you," said Hill, "we're not going to trivialize (the NFL). Homer Simpson will not be in the broadcast booth."
Though Fox had been rumored to be dickering with CBS football analyst John Madden, Hill declined to name the jock glitterati he's trying to hire.
"We're obviously looking at a lot of people and talking to a lot of people," he said. "But I've got this quaint, old-fashioned belief that negotiations should be conducted one-on-one, and not in the pages of the press."
One change from CBS coverage will be an expanded one-hour pre-game show.
"The quickest snapshot I can give you for our version of the pre-game show," Hill said, "is a combination of `NFL Today,' `60 Minutes' and `Entertainment Tonight.' "
Despite the good news about football, Fox is still dealing with some old problems. The network has had a rocky time trying to expand its schedule to seven nights the past year. So far, Mondays and Tuesdays have been a big ratings headache.
And such older Fox hits as "The Simpsons," "Married . . . With Children" and "In Living Color" have been showing their age with declining audiences this season.
In other Fox developments:
Despite the instant collapse of "The Chevy Chase Show" in September, top Fox executives Lucie Salhany and Sandy Grushow said the network is determined to launch another show in late night by next fall or winter. And, no, despite rumors to the contrary, radio shock jock Howard Stern won't be the Fox late-night host, Grushow said. Any final thoughts on the Chase disgrace? Said Salhany, chairwoman of Fox Broadcasting Co.: "What went wrong? I guess just about everything."
With the strong premiere of Henry Winkler's "Monty," Fox may finally have found a show that can help boost its weak Tuesday night ratings. The Rush Limbaugh-inspired sitcom attracted a 17 percent share of the 18- to 49-year-old audience. Over the past year, such series as "Class of '96," "Key West" and "Tribeca" flopped badly on Tuesday nights. And "Roc" - switched there this season - has fallen off sharply in the ratings and may not survive past this spring.
"Living Single" and "The X-Files," two Fox fall series that have clicked big with the network's young adult viewership, have been assured renewal for next season.
Monday nights are still a mess, with especially erratic performances by Fox's made-for-TV movies. Gary Hoffman, recently put in charge of Fox's TV movies and miniseries, said he will focus on the network's core audience of young viewers. One interesting project in the works is a new two-hour "Alien Nation" movie, using original cast members from the old Fox series that was canceled in mid-cliffhanger.
Punkette celebrity Shannen Doherty has been in the news again after reportedly being fired from "Beverly Hills, 90210" by producer Aaron Spelling. But hold on, said Grushow, president of Fox Entertainment.
"No final decision has been made. The door is open. I think that if things go well with Shannen and the Spelling company between now and the end of the year, there is a possibility that she could come back." And if not? Drew Barrymore is supposedly being considered as a Doherty replacement.
Also planned for Fox are former MTV joker Pauly Shore ("Encino Man") and "Baywatch" babe Pamela Anderson, who will play co-hosts from Hawaii during "Fox's Wild Adventures in Paradise," a Feb. 14-20 summer-themed week of counterprogramming to CBS's Winter Olympics coverage from Lillehammer, Norway.
And the final kicker: Fox is developing a four-hour miniseries on Mia Farrow's life. "Mia: Child of Hollywood" will follow the actress from age 8 through her tumultuous life and times with Frank Sinatra, Andre Previn and Woody Allen.
by CNB