THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 24, 1996 TAG: 9601240055
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
DATELINE: PASADENA, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
OVER A LUNCH of tender veal chops, Carroll O'Connor was saying how easy it would have been for the producers of ``Party of Five'' to find an actor to play grandfather to the Salinger brood on the Fox drama.
There must be at least a hundred actors in Hollywood who could fill the role, and do it well, said O'Connor.
``It's not a hard part to play.'' he said. Prime requirement: a nice head of gray hair.
The producers of ``Party of Five,'' which is showing signs of finally catching on among young viewers, didn't want just any actor to play the last living relative of the Salingers.
They wanted O'Connor, a TV icon.
And he wanted them. O'Connor, who of late has been producer as well as star of ``In the Heat of the Night'' and who, in the past, did the same on ``All in the Family,'' said he wanted just an acting job this time.
For five episodes.
No sweat.
``Everything is so easy for him,'' said 12-year-old Lacey Chabert, who will discover in an episode later this month that the O'Connor character is her grandfather. The five in ``Party of Five'' are the children, aged 2 to 26, of parents who were killed by a drunken driver.
What's that easy-does-it technique of Connor's?
``I get my lines. I look them over. I look them over again in the makeup chair. I rehearse and we shoot,'' he explained.
Chabert, as Claudia Salinger, is in a rebellious phase of smoking (``cough, cough''), sampling alcohol, skipping school to hang at the Cineplex and, worst of all, giving up the violin. O'Connor arrives when Claudia badly needs a guiding light.
``Claudia will get to feel that someone has come along who is responsible for her, and that everything will be OK,'' Chabert said. Maybe. The O'Connor character left his wife when the kids' mother was about the same age as Claudia today.
Her sister, played by Neve Campbell, is in no hurry to embrace her long-lost grandfather. Sounds like a plum role for old pro O'Connor.
``When the producers asked me to do the series, I asked them to send me a script and tapes of the show,'' he said. ``It didn't take me long to see it was a good part.''
There are cynics who say O'Connor is being brought in to give star power to a series that is far from a ratings smash. The same cynics, including your humble columnist, say the producers have turned up the sexual energy - Julia lost her virginity after a champagne binge - for the same reason. Ratings.
Not so, say producers Amy Lippman and Chris Keyser.
``We have not been pushed to increase the characters' sexuality to get ratings,'' Keyser said. ``We're telling a story of kids who have started having long- and short-term relationships, and as normal teenagers do, they consider having sex as an option.
``Ours is not a risque show.''
Fox kept ``Party of Five'' on the schedule when it was down among the 80th- and 90th-rated series. After the series won the Golden Globe and Humanitas Prize, viewers started to notice. Lately, ``Party of Five'' is pulling better ratings among young women than ``Beverly Hills 90210.''
``With the addition of Carroll O'Connor, we expect the show to take off,'' said Fox Entertainment president John Matoian. One of the first things Matoian did a year ago after assuming that position was to issue this memo: ``Party of Five'' stays on the air until the viewers discover what a fine show it is.
From what I've seen of upcoming shows on this Television Critics Association press tour, a very good show just got better with O'Connor aboard. MEMO: Larry Bonko is reporting from the twice yearly Television Critics
Association press tour. by CNB