THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 15, 1996 TAG: 9606130076
SECTION: TELEVISION WEEK PAGE: 1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, TELEVISION COLUMNIST
LENGTH: 74 lines
LOOK HERE, Thomas Wolfe. You can go home again. Lyle Lovett and Joanne Woodward prove it on television in the next few days as they headline specials on cable.
Texan Lovett and His Large Band (16 pieces) put on a concert for The Disney Channel Sunday at 9 p.m. in ``Lyle Lovett: Going Home.'' Lovett, with horns and soulful singers to accompany him, was filmed at the Majestic Theater in San Antonio. It's been 10 years since Lovett left Texas to record his first album and crash pop music's upper echelons.
Asked to define his style, Lovett recently told TV reporters, ``I just try to get through a song all the way. If people call it style, than I guess it's style.''
On Saturday at 9 p.m., Lovett also appears on PBS with Willie Nelson in ``A Songwriter's Special.''
Long before Lovett left home to make his mark, Woodward kicked Georgia's red clay off her heels and set out for the theater in New York City and later the studios of Hollywood. Along the way she married a dude named Paul Newman.
The Travel Channel invited her to go home again, and that is what she did as the host of ``Southern Star: Portrait of Atlanta,'' which TTC shows Thursday at 7 p.m. Woodward and TTC introduce you to the City of the Olympiad.
CNN on Sunday at 9 p.m. also gives cable subscribers a view of Atlanta, but from a different perspective. ``CNN Presents: Guarding the Games'' is about lessons learned during the bloody 1972 Munich Olympics and applied to the Atlanta games.
Continuing the countdown, cable also offers this programming: Showtime on Sunday at 8 p.m. premieres ``Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story,'' which is about the sprinter who beat a physical handicap to become an Olympic gold medalist.
If you want to see the real Devers, check out her pre-Olympic form in the 100-meter hurdles on ESPN2 on Friday afternoon.
ESPN and ESPN2 show how the competition for medals in Atlanta is heating up in June with coverage of the ``U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials'' beginning Monday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN and continuing Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2. The trials will be seen on both channels Friday from 3 p.m. until 10:30 p.m.
Devers is to compete in the last hour of ESPN2's Friday afternoon coverage that runs to 6:30 p.m. (NBC has also scheduled 10 hours of the trials beginning Sunday afternoon and continuing next weekend.)
If you are weary of the Olympics already, not to worry. TV has lots more to offer between now and June 21, the first day of summer:
JUNE RITUALS - Country Music Television recognizes Father's Day with ``The CMT Big Ticket Father's Day Special'' on Sunday at 8 p.m. With June brides heading for the altar in droves, Lifetime on Sunday at 8 p.m. puts on ``Weddings of a Lifetime.'' The Learning Channel on Monday at noon shows a sneak preview of a fall series about real-life brides and grooms (``A Wedding Story'') with a two-hour special called ``A Wedding Day.'' Fox's Father's Day Special Sunday at 7 p.m. is ``Bad Dads,'' in which viewers will see fathers behind bars face up to their responsibilities with the help of teens.
JUNE COMEBACK - The Young Indiana Jones series didn't click with ABC viewers, but Young Indy has been a hit with The Family Channel audience. Come Sunday night at 7, Indy is back for a fourth FAM special, ``Young Indy and Travels With Father.''
JUNE PREMIERES - MTV on Tuesday at 10 p.m. brings on ``Buzzkill: The MTV Show,'' which is about three guys named Dave, Travis and Frank engaged in hidden-camera stunts and scams in Miami, New Orleans and Atlanta. Yes, Atlanta again! Lifetime on Monday at 11 a.m. launches ``The Main Ingredient,'' a show about cooking with recipes that are easy to follow.
JUNE PROFILES OF WOMEN YOU LIKE - Bravo on Wednesday at 10 p.m. invites Carol Burnett (a smash in ``Moon Over Buffalo'' on Broadway) to take part in its ``Inside the Actors Studio'' series. The busy folks at Lifetime present a 90-minute documentary about Natalie Wood at 9 p.m. Sunday, ``Intimate Portrait: Natalie Wood.'' A&E on Thursday at 8 p.m. profiles Princess Di's soon-to-be ex-mum-in-law in ``Elizabeth II: The Making of A Queen.''
Oops. Almost forgot. MTV's ``House of Style'' puts on its annual swimsuit edition Monday at 10:30 p.m. I seriously doubt if anyone will watch this sexist stuff. by CNB