ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 25, 1996 TAG: 9603270011
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: TOKYO
SOURCE: SETH SUTEL ASSOCIATED PRESS
Every Wednesday night at 8 p.m., people across Japan eagerly await visitors from America - mainly space aliens, mutant monsters and deranged killers with psychic abilities.
They beam into Japanese homes thanks to America's leading supernatural horror show, ``The X-Files,'' which has become the first foreign TV series in years to make it big in prime time here.
About 15 percent of all households tune in every week, a good showing for the competitive ``golden time'' evening hours. In a spinoff, eight publishers have been cranking out books to satisfy fans of ``Ekksu Firu,'' as the show is known in Japanese.
Some attribute the show's success to a Japanese fascination with unexplained phenomena that has been heightened by uneasiness left over from last year's earthquake and poison gas attack.
But others see the sucess of the ``X-Files'' as part of an emerging demand for fresh, high-quality programming from abroad that seems sure to grow as cable, satellite and other TV delivery systems spread.
``The transfer of popular culture from the United States via mass media is much faster now,'' says Kazuhiro Nozawa, editor of TV Guide, Japan's biggest television magazine. ``People want to keep up with what's popular in America.''
The slick production and special effects on major U.S. dramas like the ``X-Files'' also stand up well in Japan, where the visual fare is heavy with low-budget clunkers like quiz and variety shows, greasy-haired crooners and mass-produced samurai dramas.
U.S. shows have been playing in Japan for years, but they usually appeared very late at night and often were programs long out of fashion in the United States, like ``Kojak'' and ``Ben Casey.''
A handful, including ``Columbo'' and ``Perry Mason,'' have had incredible staying power and are widely known in Japan. The granddaddy of them all, ``Little House on the Prairie,'' still airs every day in the early afternoon.
Younger, better-traveled Japanese audiences have been building a hankering for modern U.S. shows for several years, but so far the only outlet for current hits like ``Friends'' and ``The Simpsons'' has been Wowow, an expensive satellite channel.
Brand-new shows from America were usually considered too risky for mainstream Japanese TV because of fickle audience tastes and the danger the show could be suddenly canceled, leaving the Japanese broadcaster in the lurch.
``Twin Peaks'' broke that jinx in 1991, enjoying a massive cult following that even spawned a guided tour to Snoqualmie, Wash., where the series was shot. But no foreign show has been able to duplicate that feat since then.
Even shows that are blockbuster hits in the United States have no guarantee of making it in Japan - a lesson some broadcasters learned the hard way. Shows with huge followings in the States like ``Dallas,'' ``Dynasty'' and ``The Cosby Show'' all flopped here.
But as TV executives fine-tune their readings of what viewers want and spend more on dubbing and promoting big-ticket shows, more appear to be looking abroad for programming to flesh out their line-ups.
The high cost of dubbing and cultural differences, particularly in humor, remain tough obstacles for new shows, but many feel U.S. shows have a distinct advantage over home-grown ones.
``Many of these shows are far better made than Japanese shows,'' says Masahiro Kimura, who sells broadcast rights to foreign shows at Movie Television Inc. ``There are some Japanese viewers who tire of the variety and quiz shows seen so often here.''
Even Japan's ultraconservative public broadcaster, NHK, is joining the fray next month with evening broadcasts of the hit medical drama ``ER'' on its premium satellite channel.
While NHK already carries ``Murphy Brown'' and ``Beverly Hills 90210'' reruns in late evening slots, as well as several foreign educational and family oriented shows like ``Alf,'' ``ER'' is its first major play in the high-profile, current drama market - and more may follow.
``There's plenty of room for other foreign programs,'' says Mahito Onimaru, deputy director of acquisitions at NHK. ``There is much more demand now.''
In fact, Onimaru says, ``the competition for foreign programs among Japanese broadcasters has been getting fierce. It's quite a different situation from several years ago.''
While bidding fights for popular U.S. shows may cause stress for Japanese broadcasters, U.S. entertainment providers would love to see more of them. They view the slow but steady growth in cable and satellite service providers as good opportunities to increase their presence here.
``If the `X-Files' and `ER' are successful, we hope that other Japanese stations will be looking to buy more American shows,'' says Teruji Mochimaru, managing director of Warner Bros. Television International in Japan.
Still, skepticism lingers over how well American shows will do in the insular world of Japanese TV.
``Japanese networks have pretty parochial interests,'' says William Penn, a newspaper columnist who has written about Japanese TV for nearly a decade. ``I think maybe a few other programs might sneak in. I wouldn't call it an invasion - it's more like a ripple.''
LENGTH: Medium: 95 linesby CNB