THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 6, 1996 TAG: 9608060050
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: 102 lines
REJOICE, SOFA slugs. Rejoice.
It's August at last. My ``Debbe Dunning Tool Time Girl Calendar'' tells me that the long, hot spell of reruns is about to end.
If Fox shows ``Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction?'' one more time, I'll scream.
There is new programming just over the horizon. Approaching fast from the direction of the Peach Pit is the gang from ``Beverly Hills 90210,'' on the verge of being seniors - again.
The 1996-97 broadcast networks' TV season begins unofficially on Sunday, when NBC breaks out four fresh episodes of ``Boston Common'' in its new timeslot - Sunday at 8:30 p.m., after ``3rd Rock From the Sun.''
Fox launches the new season of ``Beverly Hills 90210'' - the final college year for Brandon and his pals - and ``Party of Five'' on Aug. 21. Eight days later, ``Living Single'' starts its fourth year on Fox, followed by the season premiere of ``New York Undercover,'' with co-stars Malik Yoba and Michael DeLorenzo, who are signed and no longer talking mutiny.
The Warner Brothers network said it will give viewers a sneak peak at its new season - WB has high hopes for ``The Steve Harvey Show'' - on Aug. 25.
Wondering about the ``Seinfeld'' season premiere? It's Sept. 19.
``Boston Common'' is the better-than-most sitcom with an actual Virginian (Anthony Clark) playing a Virginian (Boyd Pritchett) who accompanies his sister, Wyleen, to college in Boston, leaving Lynchburg far behind. The show was a hit in a cushy timeslot on NBC's must-see-TV night (Thursday), but now faces an uncertain future on Sunday night.
The new time period is fine with Clark, who has been in six feature films, appeared on Broadway and worked years as a stand-up comic but wasn't even close to being famous until ``Boston Common.'' Sunday night is a huge night for television-watching, Clark said. He sees a big potential audience for his little show.
``We'll be up against dramas on CBS, ABC and Warner Brothers. So we should have the sitcom audience pretty much to ourselves,'' he said. (Whoa, Anthony. You forgot ``Ned and Stacey'' on Fox).
Clark's a bright guy - an Emerson College grad - who has resisted pressures to dumb down and turn his character into a fugitive from the ``Hee Haw'' corn patch. ``There have been several times when I've seen a line of dialogue in a script and said, `I can't say this. I'm not doing a joke about sleeping with my cousins.'
``Some people in this business feel that sitcom characters from the South must all wear bib overalls and have chickens flying around their living rooms. We get pushed into a corner with Gomer Pyle. In fact, we're doing sharp, sophisticated, pointed dialogue on our show.''
However, Clark will do nothing to lose his accent. Or his Southern ways. This Virginian has charmed the cold, cruel hearts in show biz.
``My proper upbringing has helped me to get ahead,'' said Clark. ``People are impressed when you say , `Yes, sir,' and `No, ma'am.' ''
That wows network bosses.
``Boston Common'' is going over quite nicely with his family and friends in Virginia, said Clark when he he met with TV writers in Southern California not long ago. ``Back home, my relatives have neighbors over when the show is on, and throw parties and stuff.''
Clark is not alone in being annoyed by how Southerners have been portrayed on TV. Cybill Shepherd, who stars in the CBS sitcom ``Cybill,'' has experienced in her career what she calls the ``Hee Haw'' attitude.
``When I first went to New York City to do modeling in 1968, I had a thick Southern accent which led people to think I was stupid. Just because Southern women are friendly, kind and extend hospitality does not mean they are stupid or weak. We're iron butterflies.''
Here is more of what the TV stars had on their minds when they mixed with the TV press recently:
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, soon to be seen in the NBC movie ``London Suite,'' on the future of ``Seinfeld'': ``It would be fine with me if I played Elaine for the rest of my life. I'll soon sit down with the others in the cast and we'll decide if we want to go on beyond this year.''
Heather Locklear of Fox's ``Melrose Place'' on life at home: ``I don't do dishes. I don't scrub the floors. I don't sort the laundry. I do none of that.''
Peter Strauss of the new CBS drama ``Moloney,'' which goes up against ``Seinfeld'' Thursday night at 9: ``In that time slot, everyone assumes we're doomed.''
Scott Bakula, formerly of ``Quantum Leap,'' who stars in a new action-adventure show (``Mr. and Mrs. Smith'') on CBS: ``I'm drawn to this kind of a show because I have a fantasy about being Indiana Jones or James Bond.''
Conan O'Brien, who hosts the late, late show on NBC which has been renewed through 1997: ``When we began, 98 percent of the critics said emphatically, `We do not like this show!' When that happens, and the ratings are low, the show usually goes away. But despite all that, we're still here.''
Brooke Shields, star of the NBC sitcom ``Suddenly Susan'' on bad reviews: ``I just don't read them.''
Mel Harris of the new NBC sitcom ``Something So Right'' on the possibility of a ``thirtysomething'' reunion: ``I'm often asked that question, and my honest answer is that I don't know if it will happen. Trying to get the cast together again will be like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. It could happen. I never say never.''
Kevin Bacon, who worked with his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, on the Showtime movie, ``Losing Chase'': ``We're not actively pursuing a chance to work together again. We'd like to keep work separate from our marriage. When you work together, you are obsessed with the work 24 hours a day. There's not much left to give to the kids.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Anthony Clark... by CNB