THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 3, 1996 TAG: 9611010100
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: 93 lines
WTKR's Jane Gardner doesn't have a clue where to find the title for her car. When WVEC's Barbara Ciara was a kid, she fearlessly used the same tablewear from which her tubercular grandmother ate.
Kurt Williams, who is Gardner's sidekick at WTKR, will tough it through the winter without getting a flu shot.
The things you learn from watching two recently launched local TV shows.
In the past, Gardner, Ciara and Williams simply delivered local news on TV - who did what to whom where and when. Of late, they have evolved into chatty talk-show hosts, with Gardner and Williams elbow to elbow on ``News Channel 3 Live at Nine'' on WTKR weekday mornings, and Ciara joining Cathy Midkiff Lewis for ``This Week in Hampton Roads'' Fridays at 9 p.m. on WHRO.
That's six more hours of locally produced television - five by Channel 3, whose new general manager wasn't kidding when he said local programming would be his No. 1 priority. ``This Week in Hampton Roads'' forged a partnership between public broadcasting here and ABC affiliate WVEC.
``Live at Nine'' is a Channel 3 experiment in doing a local magazine show before an audience assembled in a recently refurbished theater at WTKR's studios in downtown Norfolk.
Both shows serve the public well.
Gardner and Williams hold a mirror to life in this diverse community. Inside that looking glass, you're likely to see anything from American Indians dressed for a powwow to Paula Miller doing a cover story on inner-ear problems.
Maybe that's why you're feelng dizzy.
``This Week in Hampton Roads'' in its first three weeks has touched on many subjects of local interest from public health to traffic snarls. Also included were regionalism and the prospect of light-rail commuting here.
On ``This Week in Hampton Roads,'' The Virginian-Pilot is contributing by having reporters who cover the business beat pop up on camera to talk about upcoming stories or, as Christopher Dinsmore did, explain what a possible Norfolk Southern-Conrail rail merger will mean to Southside Hampton Roads.
If you are an extraterrestrial who just dropped in on Hampton Roads, and have no clue what we are all about, I suggest you watch ``Live at Nine'' and ``This Week in Hampton Roads'' to get caught up in a hurry. If you're not from outer space, watch anyway and see Gardner, Ciara and Williams loosening up and letting viewers into their private lives as they evolve from reporters to Regis, Kathie Lee and Ted Koppel wannabes.
Would Williams really dress up as Barney to accompany his two young daughters on a round of trick-or-treating? He said he would last week. Did Ciara really tell the man from Lifenet that she wants to be an organ donor? And did she discuss her grandmother's tuberculosis?
I heard it on ``This Week in Hampton Roads.''
I also heard her going overboard with the throw-in-the-towel, the-party's-over, tossing-the-baby-out-with-the-bath-water cliches in a segment about Bob Dole's chances of carrying Virginia in the Nov. 5 election.
These two locally produced shows rate an A for effort, a C for execution. They need some tweaking and fine-tuning.
WTKR spent a considerable sum to make its small theater into a TV studio again, but I seldom hear Williams or Gardner say they are in that theater. The show does not have the look or feel of an hour done in such a novel setting.
They should make it a big deal.
Book more acts to show off the stage. Why not use the downtown Norfolk locale in much the same way David Letterman brings his Broadway connection into his show?
Let's hear from some Norfolk cabbies. How about a live shot from Waterside once in a while?
On both shows, there is much TALK, TALK, TALK, TALK. On ``This Week in Hampton Roads,'' the director should cue up some tape when Ciara and Lewis are doing those long, anchor-desk interviews with their guests - pictures to give us relief from the talking heads.
If I were the show's producer, I'd get the gang out from behind that desk when it's time to go one on one. The anchor desk is a barrier between the talking heads and the viewers.
These segments also run too long.
Make it more topics, shorter interviews.
Best of these segments so far: Eddie Baird of Metro Machine suggesting ferry passenger service between Williamsburg and Norfolk and other points hereabouts. I like ``The Last Word'' idea, which gives viewers a soapbox, as does the round-table discussion among just plain folks.
How about if the show gets into some livelier subjects? Gang-bangers, maybe? Mall rats? Navy brass explaining why the master jet base at Oceana has to be so noisy? Life on the assembly line at the Ford plant?
WVEC contributes news footage - Mike Gooding at the Bob Dole visit to downtown Norfolk, Sharyn Alfonsi at the AIDS quilt display in Washington, D.C. - as well as Ciara's presence. ``This Week in Hampton Roads'' repeats Sundays at 3 p.m.
Check it out. You never know when Ciara will reveal another tidbit from her personal life.
When reporter Tom Shean from The Pilot appeared recently on ``This Week in Hampton Roads'' to talk about ``rising costs for homeowner insurance in coastal areas,'' Ciara was there with the personal touch, saying she has a friend who owns property in flood-prone Sandbridge.
Really?
Tell us more, Barbara. by CNB