THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 30, 1995 TAG: 9510280067
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
WILL THEY ever learn?
In a quest for a large audience during ratings sweeps in the past, the networks programmed violent films and mini-series such as ``Murder in the Heartland.''
The result: U.S. senators and congressmen who consider themselves the voice of the American conscience came down hard on the network bosses.
If you will not clean up your act, we will do it for you, said Sen. Paul Simon of Illinois. The thought was echoed by a sizable number of congressmen, and one even introduced a bill that would require TV sets to be manufactured with a ``V'' chip by which programs that might offend children could be blocked out.
``There should be less violence on television and it should not be glamorized,'' Simon said recently before a gathering of the National Council for Families & Television.
His words fell on deaf ears.
Wait until the senators and congressmen get a peek at ``Larry McMurtry's Streets of Laredo,'' a distasteful five-hour miniseries that starts Sunday, Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. on CBS.
This latest revival of the ``Lonesome Dove'' saga will have members of Congress rushing to push the ``V'' chip bill into law. The violence in ``Streets of Laredo'' is random and occurs often.
In one scene, a character played by George Carlin shoots off a man's ear and then stuffs it into his watch pocket. A young outlaw played by Alexis Cruz shoots men dead with sniper fire just for the fun of it while he says in a whisper, ``I only like gringos when they are dead.''
Women are raped, lassoed and dragged behind horses. Animals such as pigs and pack horses are shot on camera. When 16 men are drilled and killed by Garza in train robberies, James Garner as Capt. Woodrow Call says in an understatement, ``He's doin' this for the killin', not the robbin'.''
Keep your kids away from CBS on Nov. 12 and Nov. 14 when Garner, Virginia resident Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard, Ned Beatty and Randy Quaid appear in what CBS says is the last TV adaptation based on the ``Lonesome Dove'' characters. Let's hope so.
Also during the November sweeps, when ratings help set advertising rates at local stations in the months to come, CBS has scheduled a four-hour miniseries based on a Sidney Sheldon book, ``Nothing Lasts Forever,'' starting on Nov. 5 at 9 p.m. Three female doctors (Vanessa Williams, Brooke Shields and Gail O'Grady) strive to make their marks in a big-city hospital where men run things.
Also on CBS, Arsenio Hall on Nov. 22 at 9 p.m. will host ``The Soul Train 25th Anniversary Hall of Fame'' special. The Reba McEntire special, ``Reba: Starting Over,'' airs on Nov. 24 at 10 on CBS.
On ABC, the big news of the November sweeps is a six-hour special, ``The Beatles Anthology,'' which starts Sunday, Nov. 19 at 9 p.m. Might the three remaining Beatles sing together again in public? Stay tuned.
NBC has for its sweeps headliner a four-hour miniseries, ``Dead By Sunset,'' beginning at 9 on Nov. 19 plus a special on Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. hosted by Jay Thomas, ``Extremely Weird,'' which is about the weirdness all around us. And, ``All New All-Star TV Censored Bloopers'' with Dick Clark airs Nov. 22 at 10 p.m.
On Thanksgiving at 10 p.m., ``Frasier'' star Kelsey Grammer hosts a salute to Jack Benny, whose timing and delivery has been the envy of many comics. Benny's popularity grew as he moved from vaudeville to radio to TV.
Grammer isn't ashamed to admit that he does a bit of Benny from time to time. ``I do borrow his deadpan approach, his takes, that slow burn thing he did without ever saying anything. He was the ultimate performer who knew what was funny,'' he said.
The Benny estate said it was OK for Grammer and NBC to use such old Benny props as the vault where he kept his fortune, the Maxwell car and the violin he treasured.
``He pretty much introduced situation comedies to television,'' said Grammer. ``He was Jack Benny playing the part of Jack Benny.''
As Jerry Seinfeld plays Jerry Seinfeld on ``Seinfeld,'' perhaps? The same approach, said Grammer.
NBC strolls down TV's memory lane again on Saturday, Nov. 25, with ``TV's Funniest Families: The Neighbors.'' What's a situation comedy without friends and neighbors dropping in to launch one-liners? Benny had Phil Harris. Seinfeld has Kramer.
Fox revives a series from the 1960s, ``The Invaders,'' in which Scott Bakula stars. It's a four-hour special that begins on Nov. 12 at 8 p.m., going head to head with ``Streets of Laredo.'' The aliens that menaced architect David Vincent in ``The Invaders'' couldn't be any more revolting than some of the characters who emerge from ``Streets of Laredo.'' by CNB