THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 11, 1996 TAG: 9605090040
SECTION: TELEVISION WEEK PAGE: 1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, TELEVISION COLUMNIST
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
WILL VIEWERS ever tire of the exploits of Woodrow Call and Gus McCrae? Ever get saddle sores from riding the dusty trails of the Old West with Larry McMurtry's heroes of the 1840s?
ABC doesn't think so. The network is committing five hours of May sweeps primetime to ``Larry McMurtry's Dead Man's Walk'' starting Sunday at 9 p.m. Part 2, the better half, concludes Monday night at 8. Be advised that there is strong language and graphic violence.
This is about the early days of Call and McCrae, when they were wet-behind-the-ears, slightly goofy 20-year-olds who enlist in the Texas Rangers under command of Caleb Cobb, played by F. Murray Abraham. From that point, the adventures begin.
In Part 2, our heroes get captured by Mexican troops under command of a captain played by Edward James Olmos. Call and McCrae are put in shackles and forced to march across a desert known as Jornado del Muerto, or Dead Man's Walk.
A walk, indeed.
``We walked through desert day after day after day,'' said Olmos when he met recently with TV writers in Los Angeles. ``Physically, it was a very demanding shoot. It was ugly to be out there in that territory for this filming.''
This is first-class TV drama, recalling ``Lonesome Dove'' in spirit and tone with a mix of motley frontiersmen, nasty animals, flashes of romance, a Lady Godiva holding a serpent, and a ferocious Comanche chief named Buffalo Hump.
McMurtry has not been involved in all the TV projects, including a syndicated series, which sprang from ``Lonesome Dove,'' but he's had control of this project from start to finish. The McMurtry touch is there.
``People are fascinated with this story and its characters because we are now an urban nation, when all we have of that time is memories,'' McMurtry said. ``The Old West is still in our genes, I believe. It was a time when, between the Mexican and Canadian border, there was not a single fence. That time breeds a fascination for today's Americans.''
With it being May sweeps and all, the networks do what they usually do to get the ratings' edge: Put on a wedding, or at least a near miss. On ``Caroline in the City,'' Caroline and Del head for the altar - reluctantly. On ``Ellen,'' Paige and Matt walk down the aisle - maybe.
There's some local TV of note in the next week, with two programs from WHRO. The PBS affiliate on Monday night at 11:30 begins the weeklong ``Regent University Student Film Festival.'' Four short comedies make up the first night's viewing. On Sunday at 5 p.m., WHRO puts on ``Odyssey on the James River,'' which follows 20 students who travel by raft and tug on the River We Take For Granted.
On Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., ESPN brings the Virginia Beach Shamrock Sportfest and Shamrock Marathon to cable viewers on ``Saucony Running and Racing.'' The segment repeats on May 29 at 12:30 a.m. Worldwide Television News beamed the marathon to more than 80 countries.
It's the Mother's Day weekend, and that's the cue for TV to do something special for Mom.
``Path to Stardom: Mother Knows Best'' on The Nashville Network Saturday at 10 p.m. and 1 a.m., features four country artists (Naomi Judd, Marty Stuart, Joe Diffie and Tim McGraw) talking about how their mothers supported them in their careers.
At 5 p.m. on FAM, a special for Mom: ``Mother's Day on Walton's Mountain.'' At 9, FAM repeats its highest-rated original film, ``Night of the Twisters,'' which is sort of appropriate for the day because it's about family bonding.
Also upcoming: The third season of ``Singled Out'' begins Monday at 7 p.m. on MTV. It's the series that made Jenny McCarthy an international sex symbol. interviewers on ``The Siskel and Ebert Interviews'' Wednesday night at 8 on CBS. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg field the questions. . . . Andrew Dice Clay, who tried to con America into thinking he wouldn't do crude or vulgar comedy after he starred in a CBS sitcom, proves it was all a sham on Home Box Office Saturday night at 10. In ``Andrew Dice Clay: Assume the Position,'' it's wall-to-wall gutter comedy. Be warned.
``Frontline'' is a bit late getting on the Unabomber story, but that doesn't mean you won't see the usual well-done hour from the producers of the PBS series when ``Unabomber'' airs Tuesday night at 10. . . . ``Goosebumps,'' which is just about the hottest kids' show going, returns to primetime on Fox Friday night at 8 with ``The Werewolf of Fever Swamp.'' R.L. Stine's books have taken over children's TV. . . . The USA network, home of the most watchable but admittedly tasteless films on cable, continues on the same path Wednesday night at 8 with ``Lifeline.'' Kidnapping young women for the white-slave trade is bad enough, but these guys are also selling human organs! It's Lorraine Bracco to the rescue. ILLUSTRATION: Old West, new spin
BUENA VISTA TELEVISION
Gene Siskel talks with Meryl Streep at Yale Drama School during the
``The Siskel and Ebert Interviews'' Wednesday night at 8 on CBS.
by CNB