THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 25, 1996 TAG: 9601250093
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: PASADENA, CALIF. LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
THE FAMILY Channel - that little bit of Hollywood tucked away in the Lynnhaven section of Virginia Beach - trotted out a 6-foot-8, 600-pound sumo wrestler before the nation's TV critics earlier this week to make this point:
We're big and getting bigger.
I don't know which was more impressive, the earth-shaking visit of sumo yokozuma Emmanuel ``Tiny'' Yarbrough - he'll soon be in a ``Hart to Hart'' film on FAM - or The Family Channel's announcement that it is making another great leap forward in cable programming and production.
Consider these announcements laid before the Television Critics Association:
Starting in April, The Family Channel will sign on at 1 p.m. Monday through Friday with ``Home & Family,'' a two-hour TV magazine hosted by Cristina Ferrare to originate from the Universal Studios theme park in Southern California.
Four of television's marquee names - Robert Urich, Donna Mills, Jaclyn Smith and John Schneider - have committed to produce or star in films for The Family Channel in 1996. Urich, the busiest TV actor in the business, has already completed work on ``Captains Courageous,'' and Schneider (an alumni of ``The Dukes of Hazzard'') is wrapping up ``Night of the Twisters.''
Mills and Smith have yet to announce their FAM projects.
More breaking news: The Three Stooges will soon be coming to The Family Channel. So will The Four Stooges - Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Harvey Korman and Vicki Lawrence - in reruns of ``The Carol Burnett Show,'' which ran on CBS for 12 years starting in 1967.
The Family Channel began playing in a league with Hollywood's heavyweights about a year ago when International Family Entertainment Inc. brought in savvy Anthony B. ``Tony'' Thomopoulos to run its MTM Entertainment division.
He knows the Hollywood landscape better than the California Highway Patrol. Before Thomopoulos joined Family Entertainment, he ran Amblin Television for Steven Spielberg. Before that, he was a movie maker (``Rainman''), and before that, he was president of the ABC Broadcast Group - the man who gave us ``Charlie's Angels.''
When you want to move your TV operation into the big leagues in a hurry, who do you call? You call Tony T. with the snow-white hair.
``We are looking for greater recognition in the marketplace,'' he said when telling the TV press about the deals with Urich and the others. The Family Channel's profile increased greatly a few weeks ago as its original film starring Mary Tyler Moore, ``Stolen Memory: Secrets From the Rose Garden,'' gave FAM its highest one-night ratings ever.
Ratings are up overall for the country's 11th largest cable channel, and up considerably among women ages 25 to 54. They should go even higher when Ferrare signs on with ``Home & Family.'' You might remember her from the times she sat in for Kathie Lee Gifford on ``Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee.''
They are building a no-fooling, for-real home at Universal for Ferrare. It will be the studio for ``Home & Family,'' which will be a wide-ranging two hours covering everything from how to feed four dinner guests something really good on $25 or less to the risks of women having children in their 40s.
Once the home in ``Home & Family,'' is up, it will become part of the Universal Studios tour, which attracts thousands each year. Executive producer Woody Fraser said the Universal folks will give FAM and ``Home & Family'' the run of the place - even the creepy Bates Motel from ``Psycho.''
Avoid the showers, Cristina.
``We'll be doing something on all of Universal's television and movies, and we'll hang out in the Universal theme parks in Southern California and Florida,'' said Fraser, who knows about doing a show like this. He produced ``The Home Show'' for ABC.
With daytime schedules hip deep in talk-show trash, FAM thinks it's a perfect time to launch an uplifting show like ``Home & Family.'' About the only dirt they'll dig there is out back in Ferrare's rose garden.
``We intend to take out the trash in daytime television,'' Ferrare said.
FAM, which was born small 18 years ago as the Christian Broadcasting Network cable channel with God in its heart and Hopalong Cassidy in the saddle, has grown to a service of 64 million subscribers. It's in 67 percent of all U.S. television households and 99 percent of homes with cable.
Now it wants to be a major player in Hollywood with the suave Thomopoulos pulling some of the biggest names in show biz into the FAM picture. The Family Channel has clout, Mills said.
``It's a big thing now,'' she said.
And it is a very nice environment, indeed, for actors and producers who do not wish to work on the dark side of film making.
``I am against violence on television. I have turned down I don't know how many films where they had me running around with a gun. I'm happy to be with a company that promotes the values I support,'' Mills said.
I guess the wicked ways of ``Knots Landing'' are OK with Mills. She's to be in the reunion special on CBS.
Urich, too, is searching for work in TV projects that don't beg for a V-chip. In the past, he's had to cover his children's ears and hide their eyes when his family sat down to watch TV. Urich leaped at the chance to work the wholesome FAM way.
``I put out the word to my agents some time ago to look for parts in films I could watch with my kids without being uncomfortable,'' he said. ``I don't want to see another script about husbands murdering wives or fathers having sex with their children.''
In ``Captains Courageous,'' you will see none of the above. In previews, it looked darn exciting, as did ``Night of the Twisters.''
The next time I see Urich, I'll ask if he lets his kids see reruns of ``Vega$.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Christina Ferrare will host a new show.
by CNB