THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 26, 1996 TAG: 9606260041
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: 89 lines
IF YOU'VE GOTTEN yourself hooked on ``CPW,'' it's too bad. After this week, you're not likely to see the filthy-rich, screwed-up Rush and Brock families on CBS again.
``CPW'' began life as ``Central Park West'' last September when CBS decided to pursue Fox Broadcasting's younger viewers with a glitzy prime-time soap created by the man who gave the world ``Beverly Hills 90210'' and ``Melrose Place'' - Darren Starr.
``Central Park West'' didn't have a Heather Locklear or a Jason Priestley, and didn't pull in the 18-to-34 audience, or much of any audience at all, finishing No. 81 in the ratings. It was dropped from the schedule shortly after Halloween with an apology from the CBS brass.
CBS immediately began rebuilding the prime-time schedule for 1996 with stars you'd never see on adolescent Fox - Dick Van Dyke, Bill Cosby, Ted Danson, Scott Bakula and Peter Strauss. ``Welcome to TV for grown-ups,'' CBS is saying about its new fall schedule.
In the meantime, CBS plays off eight new episodes of ``CPW,'' with the bonus of previously unseen episodes of ``Picket Fences'' shown before ``CPW'' airs Wednesday at 10 p.m.
There isn't much fresh programming in the Season of the Rerun. A sampling:
Remember Barry Corbin, who played the blustery astronaut Maurice on ``Northern Exposure''? He's back in series TV on cable (USA network) Aug. 11 at 10 p.m. in ``The Big Easy.''
Despite depressing ratings, Fox will continue with two new Monday night series - the sitcom ``Last Frontier'' at 8:30 followed at 9 by the drama ``L.A. Firefighters.'' The sitcom is No. 78 in the Nielsens, the less than real-life ``L.A. Firefighters'' No. 62.
On Fridays at 8 p.m., Fox has been slipping in original episodes of ``Sliders,'' the series about frustrated time travelers who can't get home. Fox has also been playing off new episodes of a sitcom, ``New York Daze,'' on Sundays at 8:30 p.m.
NBC is promising to show new episodes of its sitcom about Virginians playing dumb and dumber, ``Boston Common,'' in the middle of August. And from time to time, the networks will toss failed pilots at summertime viewers, such as ABC's ``The Bureau'' on July 6 at 9 p.m. ''
Getting back to ``CPW,'' after watching all six episodes of the reworked series, I can say it's far better than another recent glossy show of its type, ``Models Inc.'' But not as good as the semi-glossy ``Melrose Place.''
That's some endorsement.
It was a neat idea for Starr to bring in Gerald McRaney to play a Ted Turner-type named Brock, who duels with a character played by Ron Leibman for control of all media. McRaney is as solid as old oak, and it's been fun to watch him outsmart the Allen Rush tycoon played by Leibman.
One of the best things about ``CPW'' is hearing the cast toss outrageous one-line descriptions at one another like darts. Rush has been called a ``demented toad'' and ``a contemptible pig.''
The banging and clanging between the Rush and Brock characters was going along just fine until Raquel Welch, as Brock's ex-wife, showed up. She came into the series with the idea that it's campy, tossing out lines such as, ``You're a home-wrecking prize bitch.''
A series' campiness arrives by accident, not design. Starr never produced ``Melrose Place'' as a campy series. It just evolved into one. Has there ever been a campier character in prime time than Sydney of ``Melrose''?
Welch can't pull off what Locklear has accomplished on ``Melrose Place,'' which is playing ``a prize bitch'' without trying. It was obvious trouble was coming when Welch told TV Guide, ``I'll be funny, bitchy and a little over the top.''
Why did Starr bring on Welch while firing Mariel Hemingway, who was playing the editor of a slick magazine called Communique?
``I felt that this show needed this character,'' said Starr before ``CPW'' was launched with very little fanfare. CBS did not send out preview tapes. The network did not push interviews with the stars upon TV reporters.
``CPW'' just showed up twice a week, and after this week it will go away. The finale is Friday at 10 p.m.
It's not on the fall schedule That's not likely. McRaney is involved in a new series (``Home of the Brave'') that is on the CBS fall schedule. In its summer tryout, ``CPW'' has been no higher than No. 56 in the Nielsens.
(However, Infoline callers voted 2-to-1 to keep ``CPW'' on the air.
After ``CPW'' signs off this Friday with a bang you're not likely to see this bunch again, except in re-runs on cable.
It isn't enough to have a talented, beautiful cast dashing about in designer clothes and hanging out in chic watering holes, said Starr. ``A successful show is the right combination of a lot of things. You've got to have the writing, you've got to have the cast and you have to establish a compelling franchise that will involve the viewers week after week.''
Did ``Central Park West'' do that? Definitely not. Has ``CPW'' done that?
Starr's made-over series hooked me for the first four episodes, but then I started losing interest when the writers carried us down the ``Fatal Attraction'' detour, and before that, when Welch showed up doing her imitation of Joan Collins in ``Dynasty.'' MEMO: (The comment line for ``CPW'' is still open. Dial Infoline
640-5555, Category 3333). by CNB