ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 26, 1996 TAG: 9610280020
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN LEVESQUE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
The clock in Kate Montgomery's office isn't working.
When Kate (Mary Steenburgen) and her ex-husband, Mike Logan (Ted Danson), do a haven't-seen-each-other-in-10-years tango to set the sexual tension in the new CBS comedy ``Ink,'' the clock remains resolutely stuck at 9:15.
If only time had stood still for Diane English
She might have, she might have, well, she might have had a chance to put a battery in the clock.
English, the celebrated creator of ``Murphy Brown,'' was brought in to rework ``Ink'' after just about everyone connected with the show decided the first go-around was less than memorable.
In five weeks, she has created a show with considerably more energy, better chemistry and more likable characters. It finally premiered Monday.
It's not quite the comedy hit of the season, but let's give English a break, shall we? In a few weeks, it very well could be, and even now ``Ink'' is far better than a lot of shows that have the conventional five- to six-month gestation from concept to pilot.
Last week, English admitted she'd have liked a little more opportunity to tweak ``Ink.'' She even said delaying the show's debut until January, making it a midseason replacement, would have been nice.
But that would have whittled the season to 13 episodes, a proposition that CBS and the Dreamworks SKG studio found extremely yucky, to use the fiscal terminology. They already have eaten an estimated $4 million - the cost of shooting and shelving four episodes of the old ``Ink'' - and also had to compensate performers and other people from the old show whose contracts weren't re-inked. A short season would have cut into advertising revenues too deeply, she said.
As it is, CBS will air only 18 episodes of ``Ink'' instead of the usual full-season commitment of 22.
``Ink'' will probably be much better by episode 18, but it really is off to a pretty decent start. It fits well between ``Cosby'' and ``Murphy Brown,'' and most likely will keep CBS smiling about its recent fortunes on Monday night.
Danson, who English calls ``the Fred Astaire of comedy,'' dances lightly, if not fantastically, over his lines. He plays a superstar columnist for the New York Sun, recognized by everyone on the street and - in the finest tradition of Sam Malone - quite needful of the cheers.
Steenburgen plays the paper's new managing editor, a position she has earned after years as a foreign correspondent. That she is now her ex-husband's boss is the bedrock premise of the show and the source of most of its humor. Steenburgen is bright and witty and is obviously having fun with her character.
``We do have to deal with the outside world,'' English allowed, noting that the show, after all, is about people who cover the news. ``Knowing that I had three shows [airing] right before the election, I did pepper it with that stuff,'' she said.
Knowing that she had only five weeks to produce a show was another thing entirely.
``I've never been a gun for hire,'' she said. ``I create my own shows from scratch. This was a big decision for me. I ultimately did it because I just felt like life is too short to be that cautious.''
It also helped that it was a Danson/Steenburgen vehicle. English's company, Shukovsky English Entertainment, was one of many that were interested in creating a show for the couple, who are married in real life and wanted to do a show together.
But Dreamworks, the studio created by Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg, won their hearts and put them together with Jeffrey Lane, who had been an executive producer on NBC's ``Mad About You.''
Lane is the one who came up with the idea of their being divorced and working together at a newspaper. But the pilot episode that TV critics viewed in July didn't have the spark that Danson and Steenburgen wanted, nor did it have the appeal that Les Moonves, president of CBS Entertainment, expected when he shelled out big bucks to bring Danson back to prime time.
Second only to ``Cosby'' in the network's new-season pecking order, ``Ink'' was a key part of CBS's Monday night plan, which was to pair two new comedies with big-name stars, follow them with two established ones (``Murphy Brown,'' ``Cybill''), and anchor with ``Chicago Hope.''
When the first Inkwell ran dry, Moonves boldly decided to move ahead with a hasty reformulation and covered the ``Ink'' spot with ``Pearl,'' a new show starring Rhea Perlman.
As the show's would-be savior, English is as diplomatic and as complimentary toward her predecessor as she can be.
``I'm a big fan of Jeffery Lane and his writing,'' she said. ``When a pilot doesn't work, it's not because they didn't try.''
Nonetheless, she succinctly summarized what she - and many others - thought was wrong with the first incarnation of the Danson and Steenburgen show.
``I think there was not any chemistry between the characters they were playing. The supporting cast, all fine actors, were just there to do individual unrelated bits, rather than weave them into the fabric of the series. I think Jeffrey was trying to do an homage to great newspaper comedies of the '40s, but I don't think that quite worked. Even Ted's clothes didn't really suit him.''
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Ted Danson plays a newspaper columnist and Maryby CNBSteenburgen is his ex-wife and new boss in ``Ink,'' airing Monday at
8:30 p.m. on WDBJ-Channel 7.