THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 19, 1995 TAG: 9509180233
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
BECKY ALERT! Tonight at 8 on ABC, the original Becky (Lecy Goranson) returns to ``Roseanne'' to replace Becky No. 2 (Sarah Chalke).
Too bad. I like Becky No. 2 better.
Later tonight on ABC, at 10 p.m., ``Murder One'' begins a limited run in the ``NYPD Blue'' timeslot. What's the best new show of the fall season?
This is it. ``Murder One.''
It's from producer Steven Bochco, who has revitalized network drama at a time when television is sitcom-crazy. His ``NYPD Blue'' recently won the Emmy in that category.
``Murder One'' is a little bit of ``NYPD Blue'' and a little bit of ``L.A. Law,'' which Bochco also created.
The difference here is that ``Murder One'' takes one homicide case and carries it through for 23 episodes. Even at that, it will be shorter than the O.J. Simpson trial.
Daniel Benzali, who worked for Bochco as a Mob mouthpiece on ``NYPD Blue,'' stars as a rich Los Angeles defense lawyer. He shaved his head for the role.
Why in the world an actor do that?
``To project a certain something about the character,'' he told TV writers in Los Angeles not long ago. It makes him look Kojak-tough.
Bochco isn't afraid to take chances. Remember ``Cop Rock''?
In ``Murder One,'' a show that requires dedication and concentration to watch, he expects to seize and hold the attention of a primetime audience that can flip over to ``ER'' on NBC, a show where stories change every five minutes. (``Murder One'' will move to 10 p.m. Thursdays when ``NYPD Blue'' returns to its Tuesday night timeslot Oct. 24).
One story. One season. Will ``Murder One'' not bore viewers of the MTV generation?
``People do not get bored with one story. They get bored when there is no story. We have a story,'' Bochco said. And here is that story, which unfolds not long after tonight's opening credits: A bound, naked 15-year-old girl is found murdered. The man who owns the apartment building in which the girl is discovered is charged with the crime. The dead girl's sister is his mistress.
With that, Benzali, as attorney Theodore Hoffman, is off and running.
Will viewers always see this story from the defense side?
``Yes,'' Bochco said.
Will viewers go the entire season not knowing for sure if the prime suspect is guilty?
``Yes.''
Will viewers who miss one or two early episodes be able to catch up?
``Absolutely. We've come up with a clever way to reprise prior events by doing a kind of `Court TV' thing where experts and commentators discuss this case. A little show within a show.''
Bochco also told members of the Television Critics Association that while the murder of the 15-year-old girl is the story that will drive the series, other plots emerge.
It's a large cast with Benzali joined by Barbara Bosson, Mary McCormick, Jason Gedrick, J.C. MacKenzie, Grace Phillips, Michael Hayden, Kevin Tighe, Stanley Tucci, Dylan Baker, Vanessa Williams, John Fleck and Patricia Clarkson.
They'll all be busy, Bochco said.
``There will be what we call the `B' story in almost every episode,'' he explained. ``That will be a smaller story with a beginning, middle and end. We're doing that to put faces on the young attorneys who are part of the firm handling the primary case.
``Even if the occasional viewer doesn't pick up the big story immediately, there will be another story going on to satisfy that viewer.''
Twenty-three weeks on one story? Wow! Will TV America, with the collective attention span of a gnat, stay with ``Murder One'' for that long?
Bochco says yes. by CNB