THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 2, 1996 TAG: 9602290034
SECTION: TELEVISION PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, TELEVISION COLUMNIST
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
WHILE IT DOESN'T HAVE the sweep of ``Gone With the Wind,'' Turner Broadcasting's ``Andersonville'' is a darn impressive four hours of moviemaking about a disgraceful chapter of the Civil War.
``The American public for the most part has never heard of Andersonville, an inhuman place where thousands of Union troops were incarcerated,'' said director John Frankenheimer when he met with TV writers in Los Angeles not long ago. He is so right.
Have you ever heard of Andersonville?
Come Sunday at 8 p.m., when ``Andersonville'' premieres on TNT, viewers with cable will get a history lesson about a war in which Americans did deplorable things to other Americans. Part II will be on TNT Monday at 8 p.m., and then TNT will run Parts I and II on March 10 at 4 p.m. and March 16 at 10 p.m.
In 1864 and 1865, captured Union troops were sent to a camp near the Georgia town of Andersonville - a camp built to accommodate 8,000 prisoners which eventually held 45,000 POWs. While waiting for a prisoner exchange that never came, they were deprived of food, water, medical attention, and even worse, they were victimized by brutal prisoners called Raiders.
Part II concentrates on a prisoner uprising as the deaths and abuse continue. Andersonville's inhumanity took the lives of 12,915 - 12,914 Union soldiers and Confederate camp commander Capt. Henry Wirtz who was executed for war crimes after the fighting ended. The madman is played by Jan Triska.
This was a challenging role for Frederic Forrest, Jarrod Emick and the 80 other actors who had speaking parts. Frankenheimer used 2,200 people on camera in battle sequences and in scenes filmed in the wretched stockade. Turner built a 27-acre layout to bring the scope of ``Andersonville'' to TV.
``As far as the actors were concerned, it was very tough for the guys to work day in and day out in a setting that re-created the desperation of Andersonville,'' said Frankenheimer. ``It was a very difficult picture to make because the subject matter is so intense.''
Frankenheimer brings ``Andersonville'' to TV through the eyes of a young corporal named Josiah Day, played by Emick. ``It was tough stuff,'' the director said of the assignments given to Emick and Forrest, the sergeant who strives to keep his men safe and sane, as well as the others in the cast.
They lived in mud for weeks, these actors.
``We show how America for once in its history had prison camps as horrible as any we have seen and read about in other countries,'' said writer-producer David Rintels.
Elsewhere on the tube in the week to come, WHRO begins the spring membership drive to pump up the budget at the public broadcasting station in Hampton Roads with about a dozen specials to come between now and March 16. First up on Saturday at 9 p.m. is ``Peter, Paul and Mary: Lifelines.'' This reunion brings the trio together with friends from the old days in Greenwich Village including Odetta, John Sebastian and Richie Havens. Yes, you will hear ``The Times They are a Changin' '' on this special.
More music to make the WHRO cash registers sing: On Friday at 9 p.m., it's ``Marvin Hamlisch and the Pittsburgh Pops.'' Nell Carter, Pete Fountain, Marilyn Horne, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Hal Linden, John Tesh and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band also appear. So, where's Hootie and the Blowfish?
CBS is the first network to show off a new product in March in ``Good Company,'' a sitcom set in the world of advertising, which is a million laughs. It premieres at 9:30 p.m. Monday. Think of it as ``Friends'' at the office. Wendie Mallick from ``Dream On'' is a hoot as Zoe, the boss from hell.
Network television's Second Season, which began in January in the past, has spilled over to March in 1996. ``Buddies'' premieres Tuesday at 9:30 on ABC. Standard sitcom with Dave Chappelle and Christopher Gartin playing friends who have been called the Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton of the 1990s by the show's producers. Don't you believe it.
The premiere-new-series-in-March thing has reached cable, too. The USA network on Saturday at 8 p.m. unveils ``Pacific Blue,'' which is bit like mixing ``Baywatch'' with ``Silk Stalkings.'' Cops on bikes patrolling Venice Beach in Southern California. They could do a series like that right here in Virginia Beach.
Sampling other TV treats in your immediate future:
With Academy Award fever building by the day - Go, ``Babe'' - Turner Classic Movies has launched ``Thirty One Days of Oscar,'' featuring wall-to-wall performances by people and pictures who have won Oscars or been nominated for one. Isn't that everybody except Pauly Shore? On Saturday at 7 p.m., Katherine Hepburn shows what won her the 1933 statue in ``Morning Glory''. . . The Discovery Channel crews went inside the famous battleground - it's never been done before - to film ``The Battle of the Alamo,'' which premieres Sunday night at 9. It's the 160th anniversary of the last stand by Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett and other Texans who faced 3,000 Mexican troops. . . Here's the answer to the question, ``What ever happened to David Hartman?'' When Joan Lunden visited David Letterman last week, she told Letterman that she had no idea what her former partner on ``Good Morning America'' is doing these days. Hey, Joan. David on Sunday at 2 p.m. is hosting ``Rediscovering America with David Hartman'' on Discovery. On Sunday, he re-discovers Ben Franklin. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
John Frankenheimer's "Andersonville"
TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES
TCM presents ``Thirty-One Days of Oscar,'' featuring films that have
won Best Picture awards. ``Annie Hall'' airs Sunday at 7 p.m.
by CNB