Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 9, 1994                   TAG: 9407090039
SECTION: SPECTATOR                    PAGE: S-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By BOB THOMAS Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                LENGTH: Medium

PBS STARS NEW COMIC STEVEN BANKS IN A SITCOM, SORT OF

Not to worry. "The Steven Banks Show," which debuts Monday in an eight-weekG summer run, bears no resemblance to "Roseanne" or "Home Improvement." TV viewers with long memories might compare it to Dave Garroway in his Chicago days, or early Ernie Kovacs.

The show exhibits Banks' multiple talents. He can sing, play his own compositions on a dozen or so instruments, imitate anyone from Katharine Hepburn to Paul McCartney, tell jokes, take falls and act silly.

"A lot of the show was designated by budget limits," Banks says. "We couldn't afford to hire more than two actors. I think it gives a feeling of uniqueness to have just two other actors playing all the parts, except for an occasional guest star."

Teresa Parente plays Steve's mother, girlfriend, housecleaner, even a pair of sinuous hands that deliver messages at the door. Michael Kostroff is Steve's friend, a salesman, self-help guru, etc.

The show is no magic act, but some sort of sorcery had to be done to meet its budget. Banks reports that the entire 13 segments (five will appear later) cost about the same as one pilot comedy he once did for Disney - $840,000.

Banks, a loose, low-key comedian with an bottomless bag of tricks, hangs his comedy on the slimmest of situations. Most of the show takes place in his hopelessly cluttered apartment, where he is visited by an assortment of rare characters. Actually, there are only two other actors, plus periodic guest stars such as comedian Louis Nye, magicians Penn and Teller and onetime Monkee Peter Tork.

Banks honed his talent in front of the most demanding of audiences - and no, that doesn't mean the hardened habituees of comedy clubs.

"When I first started suporting myself, I played assemblies in junior high and high schools," Banks said. "Also in colleges. That was my bread and butter."

Challenging a few hundred unruly students to watch and listen - and ultimately to laugh - might destroy anyone less ambitious than Banks. He carried on, discarding the gags that didn't work and polishing the ones that did.

"There were low points, of course, then you sort of tighten your belt," he recalled. "Being a writer, I'm always able to find something to do. Usually, something comes along at the right time.

"The only thing I know how to do is performing and writing and show biz. For me, there's no other choice. It can be tough, especially when you have a wife and two kids to support."

Banks still lives in nearby Glendale, where he grew up. His father, an advertising artist, and his mother always tolerated their son's show biz leanings, attending performances in school.

"They never said, `We don't think this is a good idea, find something else,' " he said.

Like Steven Speilberg, George Lucas, Steve Martin and other future achievers, Banks haunted Disneyland and was enthralled by its magic. Like Martin, he idolized Wally Boag, the bagpipe-playing, prat-falling zany who starred in the Golden Horseshoe Revue enough times to make the Guinness Book of Records. Boag turns up as a guest on "The Steven Banks Show."

"The Music Man" also influenced the comedy hopeful.

"I loved that movie," Banks said. "As a kid, that's what made me want to go into show business. My father's from Iowa, so that gave it added value."

An unprepossessing man of 39, Steven Banks has been prepping for the big time long enough. The TV show stems from "Steve Banks' Home Entertainment Center" that he performed in small theaters in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where it lasted 11 months. It became a special for Showtime.

"After that, I had a development deal at Disney," Banks said. "I did a pilot there, but it didn't work out for various reasons.

"I always wanted to do a show that would take the sitcom format but go off in different directions," he said. "PBS had approached us wanting to get into comedy. Randy Feldman at WYES in New Orleans had seen my show and suggested me."

What happens next? A partner in "The Steven Banks Show" is Brandon Tartikoff, the onetime NBC and Paramount Pictures chief who recently became chairman of the independent New World Entertainment.

Tartikoff has announced plans to take New World into all areas of TV programming. Steve Banks may well go along for the trip.