THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 8, 1995 TAG: 9507060078
SECTION: TELEVISION WEEK PAGE: 1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Larry Bonko, Television columnist
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
IN THE TELEVISION week ahead, A&E revives the terror and heroism of the Apollo 13 mission. MTV takes a break from music videos to focus on child abuse. CBS brings back ``Northern Exposure'' for one last hurrah. And the Baseball All-Star Game returns to network television with nervous ABC executives wondering how many viewers care.
Who said the TV summer is nothing but reruns?
When the folks at A&E saw the hype surrounding Ron Howard's feature film about the scary Apollo 13 flight, they scrambled to schedule a show that brings back TV coverage of the mission 25 years ago. Mike Wallace recalls the days of high tension in outer space in ``Apollo 13: Crisis in Space,'' part of the network's ``20th Century'' series on Wednesday at 10 p.m.
The special, says A&E, ``allows viewers to hear the horror and terror in the voices of the astronauts after an explosion damaged the spacecraft before it reached the moon.'' See again how the networks covered the story that shook the nation at a time when Americans were growing blase about space travel.
While there are shows on MTV such as ``Beavis and Butt-Head'' and ``Singled Out'' that have no redeeming social value, the music channel at times suggests it has a conscience by scheduling thoughtful programming. When that happens, it's usually Tabitha Soren (who spent some of her growing-up years in Hampton) handling the heavy subjects.
Soren hosts ``Fight Back: An MTV News Special'' on Tuesday at 5 and 10 p.m. MTV promises that the 30-minute special will give kids good advice on how they can take on the abusers and molesters who want to victimize them.
On a lighter note, CBS on Wednesday at 9 p.m. begins playing off the last three unseen episodes of ``Northern Exposure,'' which has been canceled. It's your final chance to bid adieu to the gang in Cicely and Morty the Moose.
The Baseball All-Star Game telecast starts Tuesday at 8 p.m. on ABC with all involved worried that viewers will greet the game with indifference. In the wake of last season's strike and bitter contract negotiations that robbed fans of the World Series, attendance is down at the parks and ratings have fallen for locally televised games.
This is baseball's first time on national TV since the strike. Will fans by the millions boycott the telecast from The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas? Will they send a message to baseball to get its house in order? We'll see.
This week's TV awards show - they have multiplied like gerbils - has a sports theme and it is also on ABC. ``The Jim Thorpe Sports Awards'' will be on Saturday night at 9 from Los Angeles.
They are given to athletes simply for having great careers - athletes such as Jerry Rice of pro football, Greg Maddux of baseball and Andre Agassi of tennis.
Unlike the four networks, Home Box Office gets rolling when the summer heat and humidity arrive. Later this month, HBO will bring on new episodes of ``Dream On'' and ``The Larry Sanders Show Starring Garry Shandling.'' In the week ahead, HBO beams out two new specials.
One is for laughs, the other for tears. On Saturday at 10 p.m., Kathy Najimy (``Sister Act'') and Mo Gaffney bring their off-Broadway show to the tube in ``HBO Comedy Hour: Kathy & Mo, the Dark Side.''
It's skit comedy with the women playing a number of characters including New Jersey teens pondering the meaning of love, sex and ``West Side Story.''
On Tuesday night at 7:30, it's quite a different project from HBO in ``Eagle Scout: The Story of Henry Nicols.'' The hemophiliac Eagle Scout goes public with the story of how he acquired AIDS from a blood transfusion.
Showtime also checks in with new programming in July with films from Roger Corman and Howie Mandel's ``Sunny Skies'' special on Friday at 11:30 p.m.
Elsewhere on the great sea of entertainment we call TV, Bravo on Saturday at 7 p.m., and again on July 15 at 7 p.m., presents Shirley Bassey in concert in Cardiff, Wales. Right off the bat, she belts out the theme from ``Goldfinger.'' . . . Mr. Country Music, Ralph Emery, returns to the tube Monday at 9 a.m. on The Nashville Network with (what else but?) ``The Ralph Emery Show.'' The menu is talk and tunes. . . . There's a rip-roaring stagecoach chase in the early going of ``The Desperate Trail,'' a TNT original that will remind you of many other Westerns including Clint Eastwood's ``Unforgiven.'' Linda Fiorentino, who hasn't achieved superstardom with talent, looks and a terrific screen presence, co-stars with Sam Elliott in the premiere Sunday at 10 p.m. Why is this woman not as famous as Sharon Stone? ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Sam Elliott and Linda Fiorentino...
Photo
Mo Gaffney, left, and Kathy Najimy bring their distinctive cast of
characters to HBO Saturday night at 11.
by CNB