THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 20, 1994 TAG: 9408170024
SECTION: TELEVISION WEEK PAGE: 01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, TELEVISION COLUMNIST
LENGTH: Long : 112 lines
HERE IT IS, the day before Home Box Office presents Barbra Streisand in concert, and I am already goose-pimply with anticipation.
Think of it. Barbra herself! On stage! Backstage! Live on tape! Backed with a 64-piece orchestra conducted by Marvin Hamlisch! In my living room!
And I don't need a ticket to see her! Fabulous!
As August melts into September, and the network reruns grind on, it's nice to know that somebody in the TV business thinks enough of us sofa spuds to schedule some fresh and light entertainment that is as welcome as lime sherbet. This month, TV has a song in its heart. And laughs. Lots of laughs.
And there is the thrill-a-minute WHRO Public Broadcasting pledge drive.
* HBO is excited about showing ``Barbra Streisand: The Concert'' on Sunday at 9 p.m. This is HBO's gift to those of us who were not lucky enough to be among the concert goers in six cities who paid $49.7-million in ticket fees to see Streisand do 16 performances. (Locally, the HBO special will be a simulcast, with WFOG-FM (92.9) hooking up with the Westwood One radio networks to beam in the concert that took place in Anaheim, Calif.).
Tonight at 11, the Disney Channel showcases a singer who is very nearly as hot as Streisand - Tony Bennett. He's seen in concert in ``Fly Me to the Moon'' doing the standards that have made him a hit with the over 50-crowd and the kids who watch MTV religiously. The special repeats Thursday night at 4 a.m.
* Are you ready to rock n' roll? on Friday at 9 p.m., PBS and WHRO presents ``Huey Lewis and the News - Four Chords and Several Years Ago.'' With Lloyd Price and Sam Moore aboard, Lewis and his group toasts the early years of rock n'roll, a musical revolution that swept aside many recording stars of the 1940s and 1950s such as Perry Como and Frankie Laine. . . but not Tony Bennett.
You want more than music on the tube? You got it.
On Monday at 10, the critically acclaimed but ratings poor CBS series of 1991-93, ``Brooklyn Bridge,'' returns to television on Bravo, where it will be seen Monday through Friday. On Thursday at 8 p.m., ABC gives viewers a sneak preview of what this humble critic regards as the best new series of the fall season, ``My So Called Life,'' which is about the angst of being 15 in 1994.
New programming from producer Aaron Spelling will be on the air starting Thursday on WGNT. Channel 27 will introduce the new shows from Spelling (``Heaven Can Wait'' and ``Robin's Hoods'') starting at 8. Ricardo Montalban plays an angel - sitting down. He's had spinal surgery. Linda Purl stars as mother hen to sexy parolees in ``Hoods.'' Would you expect less from Spelling?
And on Friday at 8, Fox eases us into its fall season with the first episode in a new sci-fi series, ``M.A.N.T.I.S'' starring Carl Lumbly.
Isn't that some kind of a TV feast? And there is still more to see.
Showtime, which has become the comics' best friend lately, really goes for the laughs this weekend starting tonight at 9:35 with ``The Montreal International Comedy Festival '94'' to be followed at 11:05 by ``Comedy From the Danger Zone.'' Brett Butler and Kelsey Grammer will be on the scene in Montreal along with Jonathan Winters, Bobcat Goldthwait, Gilbert Gottfried, John Mendoza and Jeneane Garofalo from Garry Shandling's HBO sitcom.
The Showtime Comedy Weekend continues Sunday at 8 p.m. with ``National Lampoon's Attack of the 5-2 Woman'' starring Julie Brown in a spoof of the lives of two of the biggest headline grabbers in recent months. She's a riot doing Tonya Hardly and Lenora Babbit. Brown, who has been on the verge of major stardom for years, is as devistatingly sharp as Tonya and Lenora as she was in doing Madonna in a send-up of ``Truth or Dare.'' Also on Sunday, starting at 9:30 p.m., Showtime has scheduled specials starring comics Bill Bellamy, Robert Schimmel, Rondell Sheridan and Jenn Dunham.
Butler, Tim Allen and Dennis Leary will also be in that comedy mix in a special, ``Best of the Showtime Comedy Club Network.'' Ever notice how many sitcom stars were discovered in comedy clubs? Who's the next big discovery? Could it be the Bobcat? Is that enough laughs for you? It isn't?
Than catch Comedy Central Sunday at noon for seven hours straight of the best of the series that made John Candy a star, ``SCTV.'' Or tune in to the USA network today at 11 a.m. for the seven-hour ``Facts of Life'' marathon. Re-live the growing up years of Tootie, Natalie, Blair and Jo.
Public Broadcasting in Hampton Roads (WHRO) isn't fooling around this weekend when it rolls out its summertime pledge drive. Channel 15 is uncorking its big guns here. Starting at 11 a.m. on Sunday, WHRO will air seven hours of the splendid World War II documentary, ``Victory at Sea.'' The episodes will be seen again on Aug. 28 starting at noon.
On Sunday night at 7, WHRO presents ``The Story of Lassie,'' hosted by June Lockhart. It's a one-hour program about the 50 years of Lassie. Trivia note: all eight Lassies seen on TV and in films over the years have been males.
On Monday at 8 p.m., WHRO premieres producer Mike Sinclair's special about life in Hampton Roads when there were ferries and street cars on the scene, ``Gone But Not Forgotten.''
And tonight at 8 on Channel 15. . . the smashing return of The Three Tenors: ``Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti in Concert With Mehta.'' You get all this on WHRO and angels, too. The station puts on ``In Search of Angels'' on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Debra Winger is the narrator of a program about angels of all kind, from guardian angels to the Blue Angeles to the Los Angeles Angels.
Also new to the tube in the days to come: National Geographic returns to TBS with a fresh series of Explorer programs starting with ``Into Africa'' on Sunday at 9 p.m. It's a terrific 2-part series about life in the African wilderness, but maybe not be for everyone, particularly viewers who aren't intrigued by the sight of hyenas feasting on an elephant carcas. . . MTV, sensing its responsibility to its young viewers, addresses drug abuse in program scheduled for Tuesday at 10 p.m., ``Straight Dope: An MTV News Special Report on Drugs.'' It's stark stuff. . . Eleanor Mondale, whose father was once a heartbeat away from the presidency, pops up as a talk-show host on E! Entertainment Television Wednsday at 8:30 p.m. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
``Barbra Streisand: The Concert'' will air Sunday night at 9 on HBO,
and a simulcast can be heard on WFOG-FM (92.9), beaming from the
concert that took place in Anaheim, Calif.
Julie Brown, center, stars in a Showtime spoof of Tonya Harding,
airing Sunday night at 8.
by CNB