ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 6, 1996 TAG: 9604090040
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
When a sitcom stars such dominant personalities as Cybill Shepherd and Christine Baranski in ``Cybill,'' it seems hard for supporting actors to make a score.
Yet, Alan Rosenberg manages to do just that.
In a quiet but telling manner, Rosenberg contributes a sense of stability in the antic goings-on of the two madcap women while collecting some laughs on his own. He plays Ira Woodbine, author and screenwriter, Cybill's second husband and father of her red-haired, terminally bored daughter.
Rosenberg's achievement is notable since he is a newcomer to situation comedy, having established himself in television as a dramatic actor. He appeared in ``Civil Wars'' as Eli Levinson, a role he continued in ``L.A. Law.''
``Debi Mazar and I sort of made television history when they took our characters and moved them to another show on another network,'' he said proudly.
When ``Cybill'' was offered to Rosenberg two years ago, he became an enthusiastic recruit.
``I knew it had possibilities of going all the way,'' he recalled. ``I thought it was the funniest half-hour script I'd read in a long time, if not ever. My wife [actress Marg Helgenberger] read it, and she thought it was hysterically funny. I was pretty sure it would be a hit.
``I was a little more apprehensive about my participation in it. I wasn't sure I wanted to work in a half-hour comedy; I'd never had a great time guest-starring on ones I'd done. I really enjoyed one-hour dramas, which I had been doing for the three years previous to `Cybill.'
``I thought as a half-hour comedy it would come down to - which to some extent it has - a show between Cybill and Maryann [Baranski]. I wasn't quite sure it was the right place for me.''
He found out it was, especially in this second season when his character has become more defined.
The show itself has had a rockier time. It soared in the ratings last season, following ``Murphy Brown'' on Monday night. CBS, apparently in a move to bolster its Sunday lineup, then placed ``Cybill'' in the presumably safe spot after ``60 Minutes'' on Sunday night (airing at 8 p.m. on WDBJ-Channel 7). Bad move. The ratings tumbled. A better time period may be in the works for next season.
Rosenberg, Helgenberger and their 4-year-old son live on a quiet street in a 1926 California-stucco house that is a bit of Hollywood history. It was built by silent screen western star William S. Hart.
``I've become something of a William S. Hart fan,'' Rosenberg said. ``I have several of his films on tape, I have his autobiography, `My Life - East and West,' and I've been out to his ranch and museum in Newhall.''
Rosenberg was born and raised far, far from Hollywood - in Passaic, N.J. His father had been a swing band leader and amateur actor, and he influenced his sons to enter show business. The late Mark Rosenberg became president of Warner Bros. Pictures. Alan became an actor.
During the turbulent '60s at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, Alan mixed political activism with acting classes. That led him to the Yale School of Drama, and he followed with New York plays, making his debut in Neil Simon's ``Lost in Yonkers.''
Rosenberg, an intense man of 45 with thick black hair that dangles over his forehead and a leathery voice that makes him sought-after for voice-overs, has discovered that a half-hour comedy requires a certain discipline.
``In hour dramas, you can put your interpretation on it, and the audience can react in a myriad of ways,'' he reasoned. ``There's not the pressure of getting a laugh on each page.
``I get the feeling it's much more difficult to write a half-hour comedy. Our schedule as actors is pretty relaxed, compared to an hour drama. We work two weeks on, one week off, because the writers need time to catch up.
``The writers work incredibly hard. It's that pressure of having to come up with the comedy. It's a big responsibility for the actors, too.''
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Alan Rosenberg stars in the CBS comedy ``Cybill.''|by CNB