THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 19, 1996 TAG: 9609190055
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: 96 lines
HEY, NBC. I have news for you. The new and revised ``Suddenly Susan,'' which premieres tonight at 9:30 (see mini-review below), isn't any better than the original ``Suddenly Susan.''
How could it be superior when Elizabeth Ashley, that marvelous shrew with the drop-dead delivery, was written out of the sitcom after the pilot episode?
The producers also gave star Brooke Shields' character a new job in a different city, added a totally new supporting cast, and wrote the boyfriend out of the series early in episode No. 1. ``We re-shot the pilot in its entirety,'' said executive producer Gary Dontzig.
It's been that kind of a TV season out there in Hollywoodland. Changes, changes and more changes.
CBS and the producers of the new Ted Danson sitcom, ``Ink,'' agreed that the show was a mess and ordered the first four episodes dumped. I'm not surprised. The producers were so out of touch with the real world that they had Danson playing a reporter who bangs out his copy on a manual typewriter.
I haven't seen one of those in the newsroom since Richard Nixon was in the White House.
Fox took a look at the Monday night sitcom ``Party Girl'' and decided it wasn't ready for prime time. Fox brought in Swoosie Kurtz as a fussy librarian to give the series a little stability, but at the same time diminished the show's sparkle.
Christine Taylor as the ``Party Girl'' doesn't party nearly enough in the revised format.
The eight executive producers of ``Cosby'' on CBS - plus Bill Cosby as executive consultant - went back to the drawing board after episode No. 1 was taped. Out went the actress who played Cosby's wife and the young woman cast as his daughter.
Cosby brought in Phylicia Rashad to again be his wife on TV and re-cast the role of his daughter with T'Keyah Crystal Kaymah. Doug E. Doug now plays Cosby's young neighbor.
Is the re-shot first episode of ``Cosby'' any better than the pilot? Not really.
In this series, Cosby is crankier than he ever was as Cliff Huxtable on NBC. There are not a lot of laughs in the half hour. Rashad doesn't do much except carry a feather duster and wear an apron.
I've seen several episodes of ``Cosby,'' and let me tell you that the show falls off in quality.
CBS has committed to 44 episodes. Don't bet that ``Cosby'' will be around that long.
Cosby says he won't hold CBS to its' $50 million deal if ``Cosby'' tanks. ``If the show is not going good, if I feel it's failing, and is low in the ratings, I will not cost CBS any more money,'' Cosby said.
The changes on ``Cosby'' and ``Party Girl'' are relatively minor compared to the overhaul of ``Suddenly Susan.'' (CBS has not released the revised ``Ink.'')
When NBC put Shields into ``Suddenly Susan,'' she played an editor in a Pasadena publishing house where the Ashley character (Charlotte Sinclair) was the star novelist with 52 best-sellers, including ``Malibu Stonehenge'' behind her. In the second pilot, Shields became a columnist on a hip San Francisco magazine (The Gate) run by Judd Nelson. Barbara Barrie replaced Nancy Marchand in the grandmother role.
``Susan's column will be based on life experiences,'' Shields told TV writers soon after the changes were ordered. ``The producers put my character into an environment where she can learn more about life and herself.''
The boyfriend, Ted, is history.
``In the original episode, Susan spent half her time saying goodbye to him. Now we have her dealing with the matter quickly,'' said Steven Peterman, also an executive producer.
Tonight, you'll see Susan leave Ted standing at the altar.
Also revised is a scene in which Shields as Susan chug-a-lugs Jello shooters in a singles bar while trying to drown the miseries of breaking up. NBC felt that would be bad for Shields' wholesome image. So, you'll see less of the loaded Jello in tonight's premiere, and you'll also see Susan's grandmother put her to bed after the big night out. Will that cute Susan ever grow up?
Shields as Susan flops around a bit doing physical comedy. That this woman with the cover-girl looks and modest acting skills could emerge as a sitcom star is pretty incredible. I mean, she's no Lucy.
``After seeing her do the guest spot last season on `Friends,' I said to myself, `Wow! Brooke is an untapped comedy resource,' '' said Peterman.
Shields' career did, indeed, turn around on a single performance last January - a woman obsessed with Matt LaBlanc's soap-opera character. Before that, says Entertainment Weekly, nobody in Hollywood had work for Shields because her recent films were disasters.
Now she's on the No. 1 network in the best timeslot in television, between ``Seinfeld'' and ``ER.'' Shields did not leap at the opportunity, however.
``I had to ask myself over and over if this was something I wanted to be involved in for years,'' she said. ``After seeing the script, I decided I could be comfortable as Susan. Physical comedy is liberating. I'm fearless.''
She could be Susan for years, unless at 9:30 on NBC, the ratings fall off appreciably from ``Seinfeld.'' If that happens, ``Suddenly Susan'' will suddenly disappear.
Over on CBS, ``Ink'' is still waiting to appear.
Its Sept. 16 premiere has been pushed back to Oct. 21. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
[Brooke Shields...] by CNB