THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 3, 1996 TAG: 9608310143
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By Larry Bonko, Television columnist
LENGTH: 47 lines
``The Cape''
Network, time: Syndicated series from MTM (owned by Virginia Beach-based International Family Entertainment). It premieres tonight on WVBT at 8 p.m. and will be repeated Sundays at 5 p.m.
Cast: Corbin Bernsen, Bobbie Phillips, Tyra Ferrell, David Kelsey, Chad Willett, Cameron Bancroft, Adam Baldwin and Bobby Hosea.
Plotline: Bernsen, formerly of ``L.A. Law,'' plays crusty astronaut Henry ``Bull'' Eckert, director of astronaut training at the Kennedy Space Center. To keep the drama level up, the producers send Bernsen and his charges into outer space to solve tough problems such as the dilemma in episode No. 1, which is to retrieve a Russian nuclear-fueled satellite that's in a decaying orbit.
Mini-review: NASA cooperated with the producers, which means you'll get to see actual footage of astronauts on tricky missions. That's the best part of ``The Cape,'' which is otherwise a run-of-the-mill TV drama knee deep in cliches including the long-suffering, lonely astronaut wife. Doesn't she realize that being an astronaut means you have to be away from home a lot? It is nice to see Phillips - the stunning Julie in ``Murder One'' - back on the screen again. Two stars (Out of five).
``The Burning Zone''
Network, time: UPN, Tuesday night at 9 p.m.
Cast: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Tamyln Tomita, James Black and Michael Harris.
Plotline: The cheerful concept of this series is that there is a killer virus out there just waiting to wipe out the human race. And it may be the virus discovered in a cave in a Costa Rican rain forest that was sealed 15,000 years ago. It's up to the young, hip bio-crisis team to save us all.
Mini-review: Nice mix of science fiction and fact here, but a little too heavy on the zombie themes. I see a little of ``Silence of the Lambs'' here, too. There's too much friction among the team members. The guys on the team seemed stunned to learn that women can be brilliant and beautiful. This is for ``The X-Files'' gang. 2 1/2 (Out of a possible five). ILLUSTRATION: MTM color photo
"The Cape"
UPN color photo
"The Burning Zone" by CNB