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

DATE: MONDAY, October 30, 1995                   TAG: 9510300061
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GAIL SHISTER KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

`THIS WEEK' WITHOUT DAVID BRINKLEY? COKIE DOESN'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT

If the 75-year-old Mount Rushmore of Journalism steps down, as threatened, after the '96 elections, ``he can't be replaced,'' says Cokie Roberts, the only female regular on ABC's Sunday-morning political sparring session.

``David is unique,'' says Roberts, 51. ``He brings a patriarchal quality to the show. Everybody turns on their set and says, `There's David Brinkley. He's the most comfortable person on Earth to look at.' That combination of authority and comfort is hard to replace.''

A major factor in ``This Week's'' success is its family-like cast of characters - Brinkley the world-weary dad, Roberts ``the sensible sister,'' she says, with George Will ``the smart brother'' and irascible Sam Donaldson ``the smart-aleck.''

Like any family, ``This Week'' ``will be affected when Dad is gone,'' she says. Roberts, who covers the Capitol and subs for Ted Koppel on ``Nightline,'' won't say if she wants the anchor job. She won't even say whether she'll stick with ``This Week'' post-Brinkley.

``It depends on what kind of show it is. I love getting up Sunday mornings and doing the show, but I love doing it with the cast of characters I'm doing it with. What happens next depends on the cast. This is not an industry known for a lot of advance thinking.''

Another factor: Disney, which undoubtedly will have taken over CapCities/ABC by the time Brinkley retires. ``Who knows what kind of role it will play?'' Roberts says. ``I'm not saying they'll do something terrible to the show, but big bosses do like to weigh in with questions and opinions.''

While Tim Russert's ``Meet the Press'' on NBC usually wins the ratings battle in Washington, ``This Week'' and ``Press'' are in a tight national battle for Sunday-morning superiority. Bob Schieffer's ``Face the Nation'' on CBS is third.

Despite her friendship with Russert, Roberts says ``This Week'' is better ``because we do more `outside-the-Beltway' stories and people relate more to our cast of characters. Timmy's show is Tim.''

Russert concedes that ``This Week's'' cast ``is more interesting, collectively, than I am, individually,'' but says his show has a different mission. ``We are the meat-and-potatoes of Washington. We didn't do any O.J. Simpson programs. They did seven. I watched them. I counted.''

Russert, 45, idolizes Brinkley, saying he ``redefined Sunday-morning television. He set the bar at the very highest level. Our expanded, one-hour format would not exist but for David doing it at ABC. We are in his debt.''

|n n| On another topic, Russert says he felt bad for colleagues Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric a few weeks ago when Simpson suddenly pulled out of their scheduled live interview on ``Dateline NBC.''

``I talked to Tom and Katie that day and they were prepared for a superb interview,'' Russert says. ``They had read everything - the opening and closing statements, the original police reports.

``The reason Mr. Simpson gave for pulling out was he was concerned about pending civil litigation, which is ironic. If he has a simple story to tell, he had more than ample opportunity to tell it live on NBC and respond to follow-up questions.''

Once the civil suits are settled, Russert says Simpson ``may look for a softball forum. He won't get that at NBC.''

Says Roberts: ``NBC was manipulated. Something happened. Either there was massive miscommunication or he [Simpson] was sandbagged.''