THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 16, 1996 TAG: 9609140045
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: 124 lines
IT WAS AN afternoon in July, just a few hours after CBS had announced that Lily Tomlin would be joining the cast of ``Murphy Brown,'' which begins its ninth season tonight at 9.
Tomlin took time to schmooze with TV writers in Los Angeles, saying she didn't have a clue how to play Kay Carter-Shepley, who succeeds Miles Silverberg (Grant Shaud) as executive producer of ``FYI'' on ``Murphy Brown.''
``How should I behave?
``What will work?
``How should my character react to Murphy Brown?''
There wasn't much time to decide. Taping began in a few days.
While not yet comfortable in her role, Tomlin said she was pleased to be joining the cast of a long-running series - ``I think it's a great idea'' - but she has some reservations.
``What if I screw it up?''
Fat chance.
Tomlin is a marquee name and mega-talent coming aboard a show that needs a spark, a little perking up. Some juice. She has decided that Kay Carter-Shepley will be hell on wheels.
If the ``FYI'' crew doesn't do as she says, she'll slice them up like chicken in a Chinese stir-fry. Hello, Lily. mlin is one of a handful of new faces arriving on established shows as the 1996-97 TV season cranks up on all cylinders this week. (Comedienne Sue Costello also joins ``Murphy Brown'' as the resident bartender, and Paul Reubens will be back as Andrew, the weasel nephew of the network boss).
Other moving and shaking:
Tonight, the third season of ``Chicago Hope'' begins on CBS at 10 with Mark Harmon in scrubs as orthopedic surgeon Jack McNeil. Rocky Carroll, formerly of ``Roc,'' is the new chief of trauma. As the new season opens, meanie Tommy Wilmette (Ron Silver) is running Chicago Hope, and his ex-wife, the emotional surgeon played by Christine Lahti, is in the slammer. Roxanne Hart has left the show.
``High Incident,'' airing Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC - there's a sneak preview Tuesday night at 10 - didn't click with the too-large ensemble cast it had last season, so the producers are bringing in Blair Underwood, formerly of ``L.A. Law,'' as an officer from the mean streets of South Central Los Angeles who is now working in suburban El Camino. Also new to the force are Lisa Vidal and Lindsay Frost, who's a kick-butt precinct sergeant.
``My character will be action-oriented and a little mysterious,'' Underwood said. ``It will be something different from what I've done before on television. I won't be walking around in an office in a suit and tie.''
He's bulked up as Officer Michael Rhoades and wears a moustache. In the season opener, his marksmanship saves lives.
``I had a shot and took it. . . .'' Cool.
On ``Law & Order,'' the Jill Hennessy character (Claire Kincaid) is in a coma and out of the loop for now. Producer Dick Wolf hired Carey Lowell to play the new assistant district attorney, Jamie Ross, who's 180 degrees removed from Kincaid. She's got a hard edge and doesn't mind confronting her boss, played by Sam Waterston.
The new season opens Wednesday at 10 p.m. with a smashingly good episode about the murder of a young mother. Great TV.
On ``Melrose Place,'' which is two episodes into Fox's new season on Mondays at 10 p.m., four new cast members, including Rob Estes from ``Silk Stalkings,'' have been added. In my humble opinion, that's too many to toss at viewers at one time. With Estes, David Charvet, Lisa Rinna and Brooke Langton joining the other beautiful people of ``MP,'' the look, feel and mood of the show has changed - and not for the better. Daphne Zuniga is history.
Other departures:
Gail O'Grady as Donna and Justine Micelli as Adriene will no longer be seen in the squad room on ``NYPD Blue.'' Bill Brochtrup, who played ``Upstairs John'' on ``NYPD Blue'' has left to join the cast of ``Public Morals.'' Alison LaPlaca will soon ease out of the cast of ``The John Larroquette Show.''
On ``Murder One,'' Anthony LaPaglia replaces Daniel Benzali as a high-powered trial lawyer with hair. (His brother, Jonathan, joins the cast of ``New York Undercover,'' airing at the same hour, 9 p.m. Thursday. How about that?) Virginia-born Dylan Baker also departs from ``Murder One.''
There's a new couple on ``The Single Guy,'' with Shawn M. Howard and Olivia d'Abo replacing Jessica Hecht and Mark Moses. Debbie Allen has left ``In the House'' to pursue projects in films. The producers of ``Almost Perfect,'' who include former Tidewater Tides play-by-play announcer Ken Levine, have cut loose Kevin Kilner, leaving Nancy Travis' character boyfriend-less.
``While their relationship was basically strong, it was limiting us in what we could do with Nancy's character,'' Levine said. ``It's awfully tough to come up with boy and girlfriend stories every week.''
Levine wrote TV scripts when he was on the road with the Tides.
Program note: The new season of ``Seinfeld'' starts Thursday at 9 p.m.
Among the other new faces on established series will be Omar Epps, joining the cast of ``ER'' starting Sept. 26, Michelle Forbes becoming the chief medical examiner on ``Homicide: Life on the Street'' at 10 p.m. Friday, and on ``Roseanne,'' which starts what could its last season Tuesday at 8 p.m., Sarah Chalke is back again as Becky Conner after replacing Lecy Goranson (the original Becky), who came back to replace Chalke in 1994. Got that?
On Jeff Foxworthy's new NBC sitcom Monday night at 8, premiering Sept. 23, virtually everything from his show on ABC last season has been changed. He has a new TV wife, new father, new neighbor and a new job. NBC also moved the setting of the show from the Midwest to Georgia, where Foxworthy's redneck humor was born.
Foxworthy said: ``I told NBC that I wanted my show to be set in Georgia with my kind of people, and by that I don't mean people in overalls with their car up on blocks in the front yard. I mean good, blue-collar working people.''
Tomlin and Anthony LaPaglia share an emotion as they walk into shows that have established their identities without them.
``While I'm excited and flattered to be part of such a smart, successful show, the prospect is daunting,'' Tomlin said.
``I have a lot to live up to,'' LaPaglia said, ``because I'm coming to a show that's established itself as one of high quality.'' The producers will deal with three cases this season.
First impressions of the changes: Tomlin is terrifically tart; I miss the softer Hennessey character on ``Law & Order''; and Underwood gives ``High Incident'' more grit, but this is still a show with two much going on among too many players. And why are the women officers the ones who get beat on and shot up in tense situations? ILLUSTRATION: CBS color photo
[Lily Tomlin joins the cast of "Murphy Brown"...]
ABC photo
Anthony LaPaglia replaces Daniel Benzali as a top trial lawyer on
``Murder One.''
CBS photo<
Bill Brochtrup has left ``NYPD Blue'' to join the cast of ``Public
Morals.'' by CNB