Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 24, 1995 TAG: 9506270004
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TED JOHNSON LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: HOLLYWOOD LENGTH: Long
For years, TV executives saw opportunity in launching new shows during the summer months, only to watch the recent likes of ``Hotel Malibu'' and ``Johnny Bago'' quickly bite the dust. This year, however, their schedules are chock-full of reruns or new episodes of shows that didn't make the fall cut.
Among them: The now-canceled ``Northern Exposure'' returns July 5 at 9 p.m. with the first of three original episodes, including a finale (shot as a season finale before writers knew it actually would be a series ender). Perhaps it's fitting, given that the drama is one of the few shows that became a hit after its own summer debut.
Even though there's a drought of new fare on the networks, there still will be a bevy of documentaries, stand-up and sketch comedy series and original movies on cable. And one summer staple that defies categories, ``The Real World,'' begins its fourth season on MTV this week with a group of roomies sharing a London flat.
Here's an overview of what's new (exact air dates for some shows were not available). Sit back and channel surf.
New series
``Aeon Flux'' (MTV): ``Liquid Television's'' animated secret agent gets her own show. Mondays, premieres Aug. 7.
``The Clinic'' (Comedy Central): Adam West plays an alcoholic administrator who presides over the warped staff of a Northern California medical clinic. August.
``Comedy Product'' (Comedy Central): Janeane Garofalo hosts a sketch/stand-up series aimed at twentysomethings. Saturdays, premieres July 15.
``Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist'' (Comedy Central): Animated comedy about a wry psychiatrist (the voice and likeness of Jonathan Katz) and his patients. Sundays and Tuesdays.
``Hollywood Lives'' (Disney Channel): True stories of nine young performers seeking a big break in Hollywood. Thursdays, premieres Aug. 3.
``Howie Mandell's Sunny Skies'' (Showtime): The surgical glove-wearing comic stars in a new sketch comedy. Fridays, premieres July 14.
``Road Rules'' (MTV): It's ``The Real World'' on the road, as five strangers go cross-country in a Winnebago. Wednesdays, premieres July 12.
``Sherman Oaks'' (Showtime): In this sitcom, a filmmaker finds a new subject: a middle-class family in the San Fernando Valley. Sundays, starting Aug. 6, premieres July 16.
Original movies
``Body Language'' (HBO): Tom Berenger as an attorney who defends a Mafia thug. July 22.
``Convict Cowboy'' (Showtime): A lifer at a Montana prison ranch (Jon Voight) gets a newly sentenced inmate (Kyle Chandler). July 16.
``Dancing in the Dark'' (Lifetime): Victoria Principal as a woman who is committed when she accuses her father-in-law of making a sexual advance. July 5.
``Down, Out and Dangerous'' (USA): Richard Thomas as an escaped convict who torments an unsuspecting family. Aug. 23.
``The Four Diamonds'' (Disney Channel): A 12-year-old cancer patient writes a medieval tale that reflects his struggle against the disease. August.
``Hiroshima'' (Showtime): A three-hour documentary/dramatization on the events leading up to the dropping of the bomb. Aug. 6.
``Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron'' (Showtime): Sean Astin and Christopher Plummer in the author's satire about a future where everyone is absolutely average. Aug. 13.
``Letter to My Killer'' (USA): A blue-collar couple (Mare Winningham and Nick Chinlund) crack a murder and try to outwit the perpetrators. Aug. 9.
``Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (Disney Channel): A new telling of the tale of a boy who believes he's the heir to a royal English fortune. July 14.
``A Mother's Prayer'' (USA): An AIDS-stricken mother (Linda Hamilton) tries to find a home for her son. Aug. 2.
``Roger Corman Presents'' (Showtime): The B-movie king launches 13 new sci-fi horror flicks. July 11.
``The Sister-In-Law'' (USA): A woman (Kate Vernon) seeks revenge on the wealthy man (Kevin McCarthy) who killed her parents in an auto accident. July 12.
``Sahara'' (Showtime): James Belushi in a remake of the Humphrey Bogart classic of a World War II tank commander leading troops through the desert. July 30.
``The Tuskegee Airmen'' (HBO): Laurence Fishburne stars in the tale of the first squadron of black Army fighter pilots in World War II. Aug. 26.
Documentaries
``Carrie Fisher: The Hollywood Family'' (A&E): Stardom, through the eyes of Tinseltown-bred Fisher. Aug. 13.
``Fight Back'' (MTV): Tabitha Soren looks at sexual and physical abuse within American families. July 11.
``History's Turning Points: The Atomic Bomb'' (The Learning Channel): On the 50th anniversary, a chronicle of the first dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Aug. 6.
``Mandela's Fight for Freedom'' (Discovery): Three-part miniseries on the life of South African President Nelson Mandela. July 3-5.
``MTV News Unfiltered'' (MTV): News stories conceived, written and shot by MTV viewers. July.
``Naked News'' (A&E): Producer Nick Kent, who probed the entertainment industry in ``Naked Hollywood,'' turns to the American news media. July 23.
``Seekers of the Lost Treasure'' (Discovery): A two-part look at real-life Indiana Joneses. July 30-31.
``Shark Week '95'' (Discovery): The eighth annual event, including new specials on the golden hammerhead, California's great whites and the whale shark, the world's largest. Aug. 13-20.
by CNB