THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 7, 1995 TAG: 9501050088
SECTION: TELEVISION WEEK PAGE: 1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, TELEVISION COLUMNIST
LENGTH: Long : 116 lines
IF TELEVISION doesn't promote violence among children, how come the kids in an isolated community of British Columbia turned tough just months after TV was introduced to the town of 700?
The producers of ``Frontline'' on PBS raise that question in Tuesday night's broadcast, ``Does TV Kill,'' on WHRO at 9. You'll learn that after watching television, the Canadaian youngsters are fast catching up to American boys and girls who, according to one study, have witnessed 8,000 murders on the tube by the time they leave elementary school.
How can America cope with violence, be it inspired by television or other elements of the society? Public Broadcasting widens its focus with a Bill Moyers' special, ``What Can We Do About Violence?'' Monday night at 9 and continuing the same time Wednesday.
WHRO has taken the initiative in Public Broadcasting's act-against-violence campaign with ``The Class of 2000'' series. The newest chapter, ``Safe Schools,'' airs Tuesday at 10:30 p.m., right after ``Frontline.''
After TV came to the British Columbia town, which had been shut off from signals because of surrounding mountains, psychologist Tannis MacBeth Williams said she saw the children change for the worst almost immediately.
``We found a significant and fairly dramatic increase in both physical aggression and verbal aggression,'' she said.
The ``Frontline'' special also reports on a study in upstate New York that started when children were third-graders and continued through their adulthood. Conclusion: The more violent the programs that the children watched, the more violent and aggressive they became in school. For many, that aggressive behavior continued as they grew.
Stay alert, parents, to what your kids are watching.
In the days to come, TV does its annual salute to an icon who comes from a time when rebelling in school meant carrying a comb in your back pocket, chewing gum in class or - horrors! - smoking in the bathroom.
Elvis Presley would have been 60 Sunday.
The Disney Channel, now available to all 190,000-plus subscribers on Cox Cable, devotes Sunday night to an Elvis tribute starting at 9 with ``This Is Elvis,'' followed by an intimate 54 minutes of Elvis singing on a small sound stage in Burbank, Calif. Disney is promising some previously unseen footage here. The salute continues with an Elvis flick, ``Speedway,'' at midnight, followed by Elvis from Hawaii and other locations all the way to 4 a.m.
The Family Channel's salute to Presley includes two of his films (``Kid Galahad'' and ``Follow That Dream'') starting Saturday at 2 p.m. This is the two-fisted Elvis.
On TNT, ``The Elvis Weekend'' starts Saturday at 1 p.m. with the showing of ``Jailhouse Rock,'' which your humble columnist regards as Elvis' best film, followed by ``Viva Las Vegas.'' At 8, TNT reels off ``Elvis: The Early Years, Part 1.'' Part 2 will be seen Sunday at 4 p.m., followed by six other Presley pictures and a neat documentary about life backstage before a Presley concert, ``Elvis: That's the Way it Was'' at 3:15 a.m. Sunday.
Even the slightly stuffy Discovery Channel delves into the fairy tale-come-true about the truck driver from Tupelo, Miss., who became a super-superstar in ``Elvis - His Life and Times'' Saturday at 9.
Elvismania!
It's January, and that means some tweaking and adjusting of prime-time schedules.
Fox is bringing back ``Get Smart'' Sunday night at 7:30. Agent 99 rides again!
Corbin Bernsen returns to TV on ABC Monday night at 8:30 in ``A Whole New Ballgame.''
A new network is launched here (on WVBT, Channel 43) and elsewhere when the Warner Brothers network starts up Wednesday at 8 p.m.
On the USA cable network, Greg Evigan stars as Jake Cardigan in a series set in 2045, ``TekWar.'' There's an hour-long sneak preview Saturday night at 7. Starting Monday at 10 p.m., ``TekWar'' settles into its regular time slot (and will also be seen Sundays at 9 p.m.). The series is based on William Shatner's novels. He's the executive producer and will appear in the series.
In 2045, it's a paperless future with dial-and-see phones for everyone, a money system that's the same worldwide and a novel way of handling the prison population. No cell blocks or bars. Prisoners are frozen and serve their sentences in a state of hibernation.
Sad but true, crime has followed mankind into the 21st century.
Also on USA Saturday night at 10:30, Super Dave Osborne begins a sitcom, ``Super Dave's Vegas Spectacular.'' He's cast as a stuntman who also runs a Vegas hotel.
Who says cable is nothing but a valley of reruns?
Elsewhere, ``The Lou Rawls Parade of Stars United Negro College Fund Telethon'' cranks up at 7 p.m. Saturday night on WTKR. . . . E! Entertainment Television's ``The Gossip Show'' evolves into a nightly program starting Monday at 7 p.m. Heather Hartt, who writes a gossipy column in Canada, is the host. . . . The Statler Brothers, who host the highest-rated show on The Nashville Channel, begin their fourth season of ``The Statler Brothers Show'' Saturday night at 9. Alan Jackson is their guest. Also on TNN, Loretta Lynn, a legend in country music herself, begins hosting ``The Legends of Country Music'' on Thursday at 8 p.m.
Marathon update: Hardly a week goes by without some cable channel running a marathon. This week is no different. Comedy Central offers seven hours of stand-up comics Sunday starting at noon in ``Stand-Up Stand Up.'' Starting on Friday at 5 p.m. and continuing through 5 a.m. Saturday, the Sci-Fi Channel puts on a whole bunch of episodes of ``Friday the 13th: The Series,'' which is an underappreciated sci-fi work. . . . ``Biography'' alert! One of cable TV's consistently outstanding series profiles Roy Rogers on Monday at 8 p.m. Bet you don't know his real name? Leonard Slye. Happy 84th birthday, Roy. . . . Saturday night at 8 on PBS, ``Jeeves and Wooster'' return to WHRO in five new episodes for ``Masterpiece Theater.'' Wooster's a twit and Jeeves is his valet. You'll either love these two or despise them. . . . Robert Urich, the hardest working actor in TV, revives his role as a Boston private eye in ``Spenser: A Savage Place'' on Lifetime Sunday at 5:30 p.m. It's a cool franchise. . . . The folks at The Learning Channel, well aware that viewers are worried about their weight after the holiday binging, have scheduled ``Only Human: Too Fat? Too Thin?'' for Saturday night at 10. ILLUSTRATION: MICHAEL ANSELL
Bill Moyers talks with a young offender at The Ventura School, a
juvenile prison in California, in "What Can We Do About Violence?"
Documentary reports and interviews focus on solutions to growing
violence.
by CNB