THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 10, 1995 TAG: 9506080043
SECTION: TELEVISION WEEK PAGE: 01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, TELEVISION WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
TO A CERTIFIED couch potato, nothing is so irresistible as clips, clips, clips and more clips. I'm talking about specials that string together bits and pieces from films, documentaries, achievements in sports, music, comedy and just about anything else in the human experience.
Coming up in the next few days. . . lotsa clips.
Eight hundred clips on HBO alone!
These programs are produced to capture viewers with the shortest of attention spans, the itchiest of trigger fingers on the remote control.
First up, on Sunday at 9 p.m., The Discovery Channel puts together the highlights of its programming over the last 10 years in ``Great Moments of Discovery.'' Two hours of clips!
See whales, sharks, life aboard an aircraft carrier and a submarine on patrol, the workings of the brain, the space shuttle, the decisive battles of a great war. Bob Costas introduces the highlights from 40 documentaries seen on The Discovery Channel.
The special will show you what The Discovery Channel and its companion on cable, The Learning Channel, is all about. Which is. . . ?
``Addressing the basic human need for information and satisfying one's curiosity,'' said Grey Moyer, president and chief operating officer of the Discovery networks. ``We've proved over 10 years that you can attract a large audience with a documentary format.''
On Home Box Office, the festival of clips is ``The First 100 Years: A Celebration of Movies,'' which is playing throughout June, including Monday night at 10. HBO mixed together clips from 800 films with 68 interviews to show the evolution of movies from the jumpy penny arcade images to the wide-screen, techno-marvel, surround-sound pictures available at a theater near you.
Bet there is a scene from your favorite film in this mix.
You asked for Alfred Hitchcock's ``The Birds''? You got it. ``Easy Rider''? Done. ``Dr. Strangelove''? Of course.
Funny thing about movies, said Dustin Hoffman, ``They are 100 years old, but in many ways, movies are still an infant art form.''
This is a movie maven's feast.
Cutting to the movies of today, MTV is cranking up to show ``The 1995 MTV Movie Awards'' on Thursday at 9 p.m. Jon Lovitz, who was guilty of roaming hands on another awards show, co-hosts with Courteney Cox of ``Friends.''
Watch this guy, Court.
The competition is really fierce in the best kiss category. (If this were a TV competition, the winner would be Larry King and Marlon Brando.)
Also on the hip and hot movie scene, E! Entertainment Television on Sunday at 5 p.m. presents ``E!s Complete Guide to Summer Movies '95.'' See how hard it was to make the animated ``Pocahontas.'' William Baldwin hosts.
Other goodies from the TV Tipster:
Before there was ``ER'' and ``Chicago Hope,'' there was ``Medical Center'' on CBS starring Chad Everett and James Daly. TNT revives ``Medical Center'' on Sunday at 8 p.m. with ``The Best of Medical Center Marathon.'' On Monday, the show begins running daily on TNT at 1 p.m. The marathon includes a two-part show in which the late Robert Reed of ``The Brady Bunch'' undergoes a change of sex operation - a daring choice of roles for an actor who was rumored to be a closet homosexual at the time.
Who says there is nothing but reruns on TV in June? NBC on Sunday at 10 p.m. breaks the seal on ``High Sierra Search and Rescue'' starring tough guy Robert Conrad, who's pushing 60 but doesn't look it. I haven't seen the pilot episode, but this show sounds an awful lot like Conrad's most recent network flop, ``High Mountain Rangers.''
How do ordinary people manage to mimic the wounds that Christ suffered on the cross? On Saturday night at 2 a.m., The Discovery Channel looks into the ``miracle'' on ``Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Power: Stigmata.'' ILLUSTRATION: Memorable clips, including the AIDS quilt, are part of "Great
Moments of Discovery."
by CNB