Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 27, 1994 TAG: 9408310020
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-24 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By KEN PARISH PERKINS CHICAGO TRIBUNE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Of course, there exists a nagging truth behind these things. Shows that have been held up for recognition among the Viewers for Quality Television crowd - "I'll Fly Away," for instance - are often the ones that end up in the TV morgue while other, more brainless fare enjoys longevity and skips merrily into rerun or syndication heaven.
It is significant to learn that "Brooklyn Bridge," the tender and thoughtful dramatic comedy that aired on CBS during the 1991-93 seasons, will return. The catch: It's in reruns and only on Bravo, the superb but scantily carried film and arts cable channel. Thus, the show's return serves only as reminder of good TV now gone.
Starting at 10 p.m. Monday, Bravo will begin airing all 35 episodes of the acclaimed half-hour series, which starred teen-ager Danny Gerard and Marion Ross (``Happy Days'') as endearing family matriarch Sophie Berger.
Based on the childhood experiences of its writer-director-producer Gary David Goldberg, in its network run "Brooklyn Bridge" unfolded through the personal reflections of a 14-year-old Jewish boy.
Gerard portrayed Alan as a brainy, baseball-crazed kid who lived with his younger brother, Nathaniel (Matthew Siegel), and his parents (Amy Aquino and Peter Friedman) in a small apartment in a lower-middle-class section of the Bensonhurst section of the borough. Alan's Russian-immigrant grandparents lived in the two-flat's downstairs apartment.
Based in the 1950s, "Brooklyn Bridge" delivered tales that were sweet and enchanting, wise and witty, historically and culturally significant. But its unapologetic zeal for telling dramatic stories with humor made it one of those slow-to-catch-on series.
It was, some like to say, too good for TV.
In June of last year, Bravo began airing a series of second-run programming that strived to present high quality and a unique artistic insight. They called it "TV Too Good For TV." The series has already aired "Twin Peaks" and "Max Headroom." "Brooklyn Bridge" will air under this series umbrella weekdays.
Unlike networks, independent stations and cable channels bidding for ratings winners, Bravo's criterion is artistic merit. "We look for programming that didn't get what we felt was an adequate opportunity on traditional TV," says Kathleen Dore, Bravo's senior vice president and general manager.
Still, the presence of "TV Too Good For TV" brings up the troubling question of whether some shows really are too good for television.
It's something to ponder. Cable's expansion and the fracturing of the viewing audience has cut deeply into the networks' ad revenues and made them trigger-happy with slow starters.
Given the economic model that has driven traditional TV in the past, Dore thinks success now is a matter of being good or simply lucky.
Goldberg also was with "Family Ties," which ran for seven years on NBC. But after "Brooklyn Bridge," he exited television, vowing not to return. He's currently in post-production on "Bye, Bye Love," a feature film he produced and co-wrote with buddy Brad Hall.
"Every person who has a show canceled feels it didn't get enough time and is certain how it could have been a hit if, dot, dot, dot," Goldberg says during a phone interview. "But, yes, that particular show was a fragile one in a hostile environment. It needed more stability and patience. I do feel that the networks have to take a certain responsibility and be more nurturing to certain shows."
The cancellation of Fox's risky anthology series "Tribeca," set in Lower Manhattan and featuring an eclectic range of stories and characters, brought protests from viewers, but Fox Entertainment President Sandy Grushow says audiences have no one to blame but themselves. "We gave it a nice run," he says. "The audience never came."
Fox gave it a short run, actually, airing only a half-dozen episodes. But he raises an interesting question. Do we say we want "I'll Fly Away," but watch "Baywatch"?
And when will cable channels - apart from HBO - stop relying on network rejects and cough up the big bucks to produce their own programming?
Goldberg is impressed with the ratings of such shows as "Frasier" and "NYPD Blue," both backed by the activist watchdog group Viewers For Quality Television.
So is Dore. "I really do think the audience is no longer willing to settle for the lowest common denominator programming," Dore says. "TV has the opportunity to mold tastes, as well as reflect what the population wants. It's really a matter of whether that's what it wants."
by CNB