THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 20, 1996 TAG: 9604180056
SECTION: TELEVISION WEEK PAGE: 1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, TELEVISION COLUMNIST
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
AHOY, MATES! Prepare to cast off. You are about to be carried away from your mundane world by a handsome New England schooner and magnificent luxury liners, including the fastest one ever built - the United States.
It was constructed and launched in Newport News in 1952, laid up in 1969, spent more than 20 years rusting next to piers in Norfolk and on the Peninsula, and was sold at auction for $2.6 million in 1992.
Where is this once-majestic ship with the black hull and red, white and blue smokestacks in which U.S. taxpayers once invested $42 million? Read on.
TV on Sunday has two programs made to order for this seafaring television market. On Sunday at 7 p.m., The Family Channel premieres ``Captains Courageous'' starring Robert Urich and Kenny Vadas as the 14-year-old spoiled rich kid who learns that life aboard a fishing schooner isn't so bad compared to the alternative - being lost at sea.
Vadas as Harvey Cheyne Jr. tumbled off a passenger liner - ``Kid overboard!'' - which is a very nice segue into our second pick of the week, a miniseries about the grandest passenger ships ever assembled: ``Floating Palaces.''
The two-parter begins on A&E Sunday at 8 p.m. and continues Monday at 9 p.m. A&E covers the United States' story all too briefly in Part 2.
The Pentagon, to be prepared if the Cold War of the 1960s should heat up into World War III, pushed to have the United States built - a swift commercial liner that could be converted to a troop carrier.
But alas . . .
``By 1969, jet travel had arrived and the United States became an obsolete Cadillac of a ship, costing a lot of money to operate. That put an end to her career, and rather quickly,'' said historian William Miller.
The United States, able to achieve speeds of 43 knots, was tied up motionless in Norfolk for years, and then packed off to Turkey where today it waits for $250 million to materialize so that it can be converted to a cruise ship or floating casino.
As for seafaring in ``Captains Courageous,'' the cast and crew filmed aboard an authentic 1930s' schooner, the Sunderland, in Canadian waters. The producer said it had the proper gritty feel he wanted.
The Family Channel is hoping that ``Captains Courageous'' will do for FAM what ``The Night of the Twisters'' did last winter - deliver 4.3 million TV households and new highs in ratings for a Family Channel film.
Other programming of note in the week ahead:
What? Another awards show? You bet. Two awards shows, in fact. ``The 27th Annual Dove Awards'' will be seen on The Family Channel Thursday night at 9 from Nashville. This ceremony honors the best of Christian and gospel music. Michael W. Smith hosts.
NBC on Wednesday night at 8 broadcasts ``The 31st Annual Academy of Country Music Awards'' from Universal City, Calif., and Florida, too, to be hosted by Faith Hill and Brooks & Dunn.
If the shows about the schooner and luxury liners appeal to the sailors among the viewers in Hampton Roads, here's a special from ``The New Explorers'' on PBS to catch the attention of aviation enthusiasts in general and Navy aviators in particular: ``Birth of a Jet Fighter,'' to air Wednesday at 8 p.m., is about the first flight of the Navy's FA-18-EF and what it took to modify the fleet's workhorse jet fighter. Good stuff.
``Tales from the Crypt,'' which recently returned to Home Box Office with new episodes, isn't the only made-for-cable spook series offering fresh programming this spring. Come Sunday at 8 p.m., Showtime launches ``Poltergeist: The Legacy'' as a weekly series of 43 episodes. A secret society in San Francisco called The Legacy defends humanity against fallen angels and other agents of evil.
Home Box Office on Saturday night at 8 p.m. makes this point: There was a time in the history of baseball when not all the best players were in the major leagues. ``Soul of the Game'' tells the story of Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Jackie Robinson and other marquee players of the Negro League. Blair Underwood plays Robinson, who eventually broke baseball's color line when he signed with Brooklyn in 1947.
American Movie Classics on Tuesday has scheduled a Shirley Temple marathon hosted by Marisa Tomei starting at 6 a.m. with ``Bright Eyes'' and ending with ``Susannah of the Mounties'' 23 hours later. In ``Bright Eyes,'' she sings her signature song, ``On the Good Ship Lollipop.''
It's back in time 65 million years for The Discovery Channel Sunday night at 9 with ``The Ultimate Guide: T. Rex,'' a special about the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the most famous dinosaur. This is the start of a 10-part series about the animal kingdom including sharks, snakes, whales and birds of prey. Discovery is declaring it ``Dinosaur Week'' starting Sunday at 10 with specials about prehistoric predators running through Thursday. ILLUSTRATION: Robert Urich
by CNB