Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 19, 1995 TAG: 9502170025
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Hailey based her book on letters her Texas grandmother wrote to her - in French - when Hailey was a student on the Hollins Abroad program in Paris. The main character, Bess, played by Sally Field, is loosely based on her grandmother; the granddaughter, Betsy, is modeled after Hailey herself. Hailey's own daughter, Brooke, plays Hailey in the series.
The scope of the novel, from Bess's first letter, written in the fourth grade in 1899, to the last, written on her deathbed in 1968, illustrates in personal detail the sweeping changes of the 20th century. The best-selling novel, published in 1978, is still popular today.
Although the TV version differs from the novel, Hailey has said it's a ``wonderful reinvention and is true to the spirit and true to the characters of the book.''
Hailey, class of 1960, has also written the novels ``Home Free,'' ``Joanna's Husband and David's Wife'' and ``Life Sentences.''
- Staff\ Great news on the Good Writing, Good Drama Front from NBC. As relayed by Variety, the network has reached an agreement with Universal TV for two more years of ``Law & Order,'' extending the series through the 1996-97 season.
- The Washington Post\ The Disney Channel's music special, ``Aretha Franklin: Going Home,'' explores the life of the queen of soul from her beginnings as a gospel singer to her rise to fame in the 1960s.
The show premieres tonight, the latest in Disney's ``Going Home'' series. As a profile, it chronicles Franklin's rocketing career in the '60s, when she sold more records than any female vocalist ever had.
Dramatic-performance footage is spliced with appearances by Bonnie Raitt and Gloria Estefan, who join Franklin for an update of ``You Make Me Feel (Like a Natural Woman).'' Also part of the tribute are Anita Baker, Rod Stewart, Smokey Robinson, Ray Charles, George Michael, Keith Richards and Clive Davis.
Repeats: March 2 and 25.
- The Washington Post\ The folks at Fox couldn't have asked for better promotion for ``Melrose Place'' than the pitch the show got from NBC's ``Seinfeld'' on Feb. 9.
Throughout the telecast, one of the key story lines revolved around Jerry Seinfeld's addiction to the steamy Aaron Spelling Monday-night soap.
The way it worked, Jerry was attracted to a woman who happens to be a police sergeant, and an expert in administering lie-detector tests. When she mentions to him that a prominent member of the ``Melrose Place'' cast was once given such a test, he sniffs and tells her he's never seen the show. Like he's above such common fare. She doesn't buy it and challenges him to a lie-detector test. Eventually, he does, hoping to outwit the machine, but ends up breaking down and confessing to his addiction, citing his involvement in several ongoing plot lines.
At the end of the show, Jerry and friends settle down in his living room to watch ``Melrose Place.''
Cross-network and same-network program mentions are nothing new to television. Indeed, a recent episode of NBC's ``The John Larroquette Show'' included mentions of ``Cheers'' and ``Seinfeld.''
But the extent of ``Seinfeld's'' attention to ``Melrose Place'' is, if memory serves correctly, unprecedented. Typically, such mentions are fleeting, at best.
It's not just that NBC promoted ``Melrose Place,'' it promoted a show that airs directly opposite two of its own Monday-night shows that seek a similar audience, ``Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' and ``Blossom.''
According to an NBC spokesman, the ``Melrose'' content of ``Seinfeld'' was ``never an issue,'' because the storyline wasn't specifically promoting the Fox show.
``It was in the show because it was a very entertaining plotline,'' he said. ``[NBC] didn't see it as advantageous to another show.''
Said a Fox spokesman: ``Its not such a big deal, because its a little known fact that some of the residents of `Melrose Place' watch `Seinfeld'.''
- NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
by CNB