ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 10, 1996 TAG: 9602150007
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-8 EDITION: METRO ROMA DOWNEY PLAYS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: LYNN ELBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
Martha Williamson is the kind of writer whose work is so sensitive, so heartfelt, it's made even television executives weep.
But Williamson generally is provoking tears of joy, not sorrow, at CBS: Her series ``Touched by an Angel'' is one of the few successes at the third-place network in recent memory.
The drama has brought God to network television and decent ratings to CBS. It's a miracle.
Williamson, a woman of faith as well as talent, is unsurprised that the adventures of busybody angel Monica (Roma Downey) in aid of wayward mortals are popular. Della Reese co-stars as Tess, Monica's supervisor.
After bouncing around in its debut season last year, ``Touched by an Angel'' found a Saturday home (at 9 p.m. on WDBJ-Channel 7) next to another family show, ``Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,'' and has seen its ratings spiral.
Although nowhere near the rarefied air of No. 1 ``ER,'' ``Angel'' has managed to win its time slot and ascended to the 40th rank out of 100-plus programs. A delighted CBS issued bulletins touting its ratings growth.
``I knew there was an audience out there. I knew from the letters we got,'' said Williamson, who as the series' executive producer has written or had a hand in each script.
The fan mail is atypical. She recalls the prison inmate who informed her ``I've never seen your show, but the guy who wanted to kill me down in Cellblock B did, and he's a different person.''
Or the young woman hit by blindness and overwhelmed by fear she would be unable to care for her children. ``One of the last things she saw was `Touched by an Angel,' and it kept her going,'' said Williamson.
``I never thought I would be doing something that would live beyond an hour on Saturday night,'' she added.
Don't call it a job; call it a TV ministry. And one that owes its sincerity and heart to Williamson, who was rushed in to doctor an existing series pilot before the September 1994 premiere.
``Let's talk about this,'' Williamson told a congregation of CBS executives, laying out her Angel Manifesto.
``We cannot do a show about angels without acknowledging God and who he is,'' she told them. ``I'm not gonna do a show that makes fun of God. And I'm not gonna do a show where the special effects override the message.''
The reaction? A hallelujah chorus.
``Do it,'' they told her. ``Everything you just said, go do it.''
Sit down for a chat with Williamson, a woman with energy and charm to burn, and it's clear she can deliver a rousing sermon.
Downey and Reese play ``angels with an attitude, the Thelma and Louise of the celestial kingdom,'' who carry a tough love message from the Boss.
``God has sent me to tell you're on the wrong track, pal, and you better get your act together,'' said Williamson, giving the shorthand version. ``And if you want him to help you, he's available.''
Her work on ``Touched by an Angel,'' which she said now consumes her life, started with Scriptural research which revealed angels to be a subject ripe for dramatization.
``Oh, they're not recycled dead people,'' she recalls discovering. ``Oh, that's great. Great for storytelling. Because you can have them be 1,000 or 5,000 years old.
``They don't have wings. It's not a special effects show. We don't have people popping in and out, wiggling their noses. They're messengers, they bring comfort and healing and protection.''
Those who dismiss the show as saccharine may be letting their discomfort with God cloud their judgment, Williamson suggested. One critic, she noted with pride, said that ``Angel'' tackles the same tough issues found on shows like ``NYPD Blue.''
While the show is spiritual, it is not religious, says ``committed Christian'' Williamson: ``You won't feel excluded if you're Jewish, Buddhist or Presbyterian.''
``Angel'' also comes devoid of a political agenda.
``Unfortunately, religion and politics are getting mixed up an awful lot these days,'' she says.
The fan mail, the ratings, the big-name guest stars like Maya Angelou, all are good signs. So were the tears shed by a CBS bigwig while reviewing a script.
``If you're hitting the network executives in their guts every week, people who've seen everything, read everything,'' you must be doing something right, says Williamson.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 linesby CNB