THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 31, 1995 TAG: 9508310087
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: Long : 153 lines
IN THIS COLUMN today, I intended to write a snappy sneak preview of ``The Crew,'' a new Fox sitcom that signs on tonight at 8:30. But just as I sat down at the keyboard, a telegram arrived from Fox telling me to hold everything.
The first episode has been re-written and reshot, said Fox.
It has a new tone - different sets, wardrobe and lighting, too.
There is also a new character played by an actress familiar to soap opera fans, Dondre T. Whitfield.
``What you saw earlier of this series may very well never be aired,'' said Paul Gendreau, vice president of entertainment for Fox in his telegram to Television Critics Association members.
The series title was changed from ``Cabin Pressure'' to ``The Crew'' weeks ago. Now this, virtually a complete overhaul.
What has not been changed in ``The Crew,'' which follows the season premiere of ``Living Single'' tonight at 8 - Regina leaves her roommates behind - is that it revolves around flight attendants who are based in Miami with Regency Airlines.
Kristen Bauer and Rose Jackson star as roommates who have their lives invaded from time to time by other airline employees played by David Burke, Charles Esten, Christine Estabrook and Lane Davies.
Jackson is cast as Jess, the unconventional stew who makes certain the passengers pay attention to safety instructions when she announces, ``Our job is to save your pathetic lives. Put on you seat belts! If we crash, I don't want your sorry butts piled up in my nice clean aisles.''
With dialogue like that, is it any wonder Fox ordered rewrites?
Marc Cherry, executive producer, said his series will not show flight attendants as ``bimbos in the sky'' when he met with the TV press in Los Angeles recently.
``We have no intention of doing anything that is insulting,'' said Cherry. How ever does he expect to keep the Fox audience happy then?
``The Crew'' is one of six new sitcoms and two new dramas joining the network this fall. One of the dramas, ``Space: Above and Beyond,'' was created by two men (Glen Morgan and James Wong) who helped to produce ``The X-Files'' last season. The magic touch?
``Space: Above and Beyond'' premieres with a two-hour show on Sept. 24. It reminds me of ``Battlestar Galactica'' from the 1970s.
That could be Starbuck and Apollo in the cockpits manned by Fox's Space Cavalry. ``Bandits at two o'clock, Red Leader!''
Said Wong to the TV writers, ``We're doing a war show in which we put characters in the crucible of life and death, fear and courage, and all the other things that drive drama to great heights.''
The year is 2063. The plot revolves around Marine Corps fighter pilots training to stop aliens who bleed green from conquering Earth. But we have no idea why the aliens, massing for the mother of all attacks on the edge of the galaxy, are so hostile.
Maybe they don't care for the earthlings with navels in the back of their necks - the ``in-vitros'' or ``tanks'' who were bred in laboratories to do menial work.
The stars include Morgan Weisser, Rodney Rowland and Kristen Cloke, who looks like she was liberated from ``Baywatch.'' They enter battle to the music of Pink Floyd. See hand-to-hand combat on dusty, red Mars.
A quick critique of the series: OK special effects. Characters with no heart. Won't make it to 1996, much less 2064.
In addition to keeping Earth safe in the 21st century, these actors have a far more important job Sunday nights at 7: Hold on to the audience of young males who have been watching professional football on Fox.
The producers hoped for this horse opera in space to precede ``The X-Files'' on the Friday night schedule. A cushy time slot.
Instead, it will fall to the space cadets to save Sunday night for Fox. Big challenge.
Other new shows from Fox:
``Too Something,'' Sunday at 8:30 p.m. The pilot episode of this sitcom was also reworked after it was screened for TV critics in July. This is buddy TV with Eric Schaffer and Donal Lardner Ward playing a writer and photographer working day jobs in a mailroom until their careers take off. Portia de Rossi plays an executive smarter than both these guys. It starts Oct. 1.
``Misery Loves Company,'' Sundays at 9:30 p.m. Norfolk's Stephen Furst, who will appear in three TV series this fall, co-stars with Julius Carry and Dennis Boutsikaris as three recently divorced types coping with alimony, loneliness and TV dinners. This pilot has also been made over by Fox - all of a sudden, it's become a picky network. No stretch for Furst here. He plays a sensitive, likable role as usual. The premiere is Oct. 1.
``Partners,'' Monday night at 9 p.m. This is the best of the new Fox sitcoms, which is no surprise because the man who directs ``Friends'' on NBC (James Burrows) and two former producers on that show (Jeff Greenstein and Jeff Strauss) are producing it. It has a ``Friends'' feel with Jon Cryer and Tate Donovan playing business associates and pals from way back. Maria Pitillo as Alicia comes between them. ``Friends'' has Phoebe. This show has Alicia.
As with the cast of ``Friends,'' these actors have the gift of looking sexy while snapping off one-liners that would make Roseanne proud. The show signs on Sept. 11. Would be a sure hit if the competition (football and ``Murphy Brown'') wasn't so tough.
``Ned and Stacey,'' Mondays at 9:30 p.m. Another ``Friends'' clone. Thomas Haden Church and Debra Messing play attractive singles on the way up who meet when their chums fix them up for a dinner date. Church as Ned, breaking out of the ``Wings'' cast for his first starring role, can't get a big promotion unless he's married. Messing as Stacey wants to share Ned's neat Manhattan apartment so badly that she'd do anything for it, up to and including pretending that she is Ned's wife when his boss is around.
See it first on Oct. 1.
``Strange Luck,'' Fridays at 8 p.m. Fox chose a series nearly as offbeat as ``The X-Files'' to precede its Friday night smash. Trouble is, the concept behind ``Strange Luck'' is harder to grasp than any shadowy plot on ``The X-Files.'' After he survives a plane crash in his youth, a character played by D.B. Sweeney discovers the gift or curse to be in the right place at the right time when something wild and dangerous is about to happen.
Great talent for a photojournalist, which he is. You'll be asking yourself, ``If this guy can see good luck coming, why isn't he out buying a lottery ticket right now instead of taking pictures of fires and explosions?'' Sept. 15 is the premiere date.
``The Preston Episodes,'' Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. It debuts Sept. 9. Not a bad show. David Alan Grier, formerly of ``In Living Color,'' plays a stuffy sort in his late 30s who chucks a secure job to take up life as a writer in a tiny Manhattan apartment. To make ends meet, he works as a caption writer at a magazine that's sort of like People. Grier is much more subdued here than when he played Antoine Merriwether and other outrageous characters on ``In Living Color.''
Fox sometime in the fall will cut loose ``Mad TV'' on Saturdays at 11 p.m. to capture and hold the young ``Saturday Night Live'' audience. It will be an hour of sketch comedy with the irreverent approach of Mad Magazine, say the Fox publicists.
The ensemble cast includes David Herman, Orlando Jones, Phil LaMarr, Artie Lange, Mary Scheer, Nicole Sullivan and Debra Wilson.
Judging by Fox's decision to stick with a show the critics like, ``A Party of Five,'' and bring aboard two new dramas, plus a sophisticated sitcom like ``Partners,'' you get the impression that the network is outgrowing its Al Bundy image.
``Prior to the new regime at Fox, there was a sign on the door that said no one over the age of 30 or so was allowed to watch,'' said Fox Entertainment Group president John Matoian.
``We've taken that sign off the door. From now on, we will aggressively try to find programs that embrace a larger audience.'' The maturing of Fox.
For those who are immature viewers, and like it, Matoian was tossed a question about ``Beverly Hills 90210.'' Is it true, he was asked, that Luke Perry will be written out of the series, which has its sixth season premiere on Sept.13?
Said the Fox president, ``The reports of Luke Perry's character being killed off early in the season are not true. He has agreed to do a minimum of 10 episodes. He has never said, `I am not coming back.' ''
And what of ``Melrose Place,'' scheduled to begin new shows on Sept. 11? Will we see the explosion that threatened to wipe out the cast last May?
``The script picks up after the bombing takes place,'' said Matoian. ``The decision to show the bombing or not show it has not been made.'' He said that in July. By now, the first episode is filmed, edited and ready to air.
All in favor of seeing the blast, raise their right hands, please. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
FOX BROADCASTING COMPANY
The ``Crew'' cast, clockwise from left. Dondre T. Whitfield, Charles
Esten, Kristin Bauer, Rose Jackson and David Burke.
by CNB