ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 22, 1996 TAG: 9610220047
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: HOUSTON
SOURCE: MICHAEL GRACZYK ASSOCIATED PRESS
Put someone who resembles Timothy Leary in an Oprah-like setting, have him dispense guidance like radio shrink Dr. Laura, televise it from Houston and youget some idea of the ``The Bradshaw Difference.''
While the show may have a familiar look, with a host wandering through the audience and a procession of guests growing on the stage with each segment, the ``difference'' is John Bradshaw, says the best-selling author, lecturer and therapist, himself a frequent guest on the Oprah-and-Sally circuit.
``America says they want this, they want positive television,'' Bradshaw says. ``They don't want the sleaze. They don't want revictimizing, a voyeuristic sideshow. And if they don't, we're offering them an alternative.''
Nancy Alspaugh, Bradshaw's executive producer and a veteran of former talkers ``Leeza'' and ``Vicki,'' is more to the point.
``No nuts and sluts,'' she says.
And no viewing audience.
``Right now we're the lowest-rated talk show, according to what I'm getting,'' Bradshaw acknowledges, yet he insists he will do it his way or no way. The show is syndicated and airs locally at 9 a.m. on WDRG-Channel 24.
After all, here's a guy who said "no" to a talk-show proposal from Steven Spielberg, and turned down MGM repeatedly before agreeing to ``The Bradshaw Difference.''
``I'm not going to live and die by the ratings,'' he says. ``I'm going to do what I know to do and what I'm proud of.''
So Bradshaw, whose show first aired Sept. 16 and is seen in 106 markets covering 80 percent of the country, does programs about courage and virtue and dealing with life's adversities - like a guy whose body is covered with warts - or how people deal with the sudden loss of a loved one.
He has the guests and in-studio audience of about 100 people go through meditating exercises. He offers what he believes is guidance to coping with their problems and ends each show with ``The Bradshaw Moment,'' a brief commentary that may quote Shakespeare or Dostoevski along the way.
In the process, he may tick off one of the guests seated a few feet away - like the mother of a 2-year-old girl who already is a veteran of kiddie beauty pageants and even has her own agent.
``The mother said I crucified her in `The Bradshaw Moment.' I didn't. I let her have her say,'' says Bradshaw, who hopes his concluding comments raise public consciousness. ``Why can't we have a strong opinion? I take a really strong opinion at the end.''
The bearded, gray-haired Bradshaw, 63, could be talk-show fodder without a show of his own. Abandoned by an alcoholic father, he became an academic overachiever, earned three university degrees and studied for the Roman Catholic priesthood, backing out just before ordination.
In 1965, acknowledging a drinking problem, he checked in to the Austin State Hospital, left six days later and got into an alcoholic recovery program. Participation in the program spawned lectures at a local church, where his prowess as a speaker grew into a business and coincided with his own work as a therapist.
Bradshaw was ``discovered'' in 1981 with a PBS series called ``Bradshaw On: The Eight Stages Of Man.'' That led to nationwide speaking engagements, books that topped the best-sellers lists, video and audio tapes and a couple of more PBS efforts.
``I'm not going to play humble pie,'' he says. ``I don't know of a person out there that knows what I know, that's counseled people for 25 years, that's done 250,000 people in workshops around the country. I've got two master's degrees, a degree in psychology, philosophy and theology. I have four years at Rice [University] in psychology and religion and just haven't finished the doctorate.''
It's in his contract that the show originate from Houston, his hometown. After a decade of traveling a quarter-million miles a year on the lecture circuit, he figures he has enough frequent-flier mileage. And it's in his contract that he gets veto control over show topics and guests.
But after being pretty much a one-man band as an editor and writer for his PBS programs, Bradshaw is finding daily television a different animal. And he's got just 13 weeks to prove to MGM and the stations running his show that he's worth a season-long renewal and can survive in the TV jungle.
``We're still sort of groping for a voice,'' he says. ``It's gotten a lot easier. I feel comfortable out there. The first couple of weeks I felt like a deer caught in the headlights.
``I'm a teacher. It seems there's a possibility here of tapping in to people who don't necessarily watch PBS. It seems valuable to do it, to try it anyway.''
LENGTH: Medium: 86 linesby CNB