DATE: Monday, May 12, 1997                  TAG: 9705100069

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Larry Bonko 

                                            LENGTH:   77 lines

JERRY SPRINGER'S BRIEF ROLE AS COMMENTATOR HAD A NORFOLK ANGLE

LOCAL NEWS and views to ponder while you wait for Rosie O'Donnell's first year anniversary as a talk show host Friday at 3 p.m. on WAVY:

Jerry gets no respect - If you were watching WAVY a few days ago, you may have wondered why the station's local newscast spent so much time on a story that originated in Chicago - the fuss about the NBC station in that city signing Jerry Springer as a commentator.

Saying that talk show host and sleazemeister Springer ``is a symbol of the worst that television puts on the air,'' the Chicago station's co-anchor (Carol Marin) quit. Why did WAVY take this story and run with it?

Because it was Lyle Banks, former general manager at WAVY, who ushered in Springer. Banks now runs WMAQ. When Banks was at WAVY, he learned that nothing jacks up ratings during the sweeps like stunt programming.

Enter Jerry Springer.

Why the fuss, asks Springer? Before his talk show, Springer was an anchorman and commentator in Cincinnati. He was also the city's mayor. Banks says Springer brings insight to the WMAQ newscasts. Not anymore, though. Springer quit Thursday due to the controversy.

Look, mom, it's Joe and Ed - Before his bosses at Belo Broadcasting re-assigned WVEC general manager Richard J. Keilty to a station in Charlotte, N.C., Keilty launched the ``Channel 13 Listens Neighborhood News Tour.''

It's WVEC's answer to WAVY's relentless boasting about being the station on your side. Do not confuse it with WTKR's ``News Channel 3 Neighborhood Bus Tour,'' which is sending Ed Hughes and his mates out among us.

What won't these stations do to score big during the May sweeps?

WVEC reporters, anchors and weather guy Jeff Lawson visit Kitty Hawk, N.C., Suffolk, Williamsburg and the Cradock section of Portsmouth this week to hear what's on the minds of plain folk.

See it live at 5 and 6 p.m.

Channel 13's tour of the provinces ends May 21 in picturesque Pungo, where (surprise!) WVEC discovers that sidewalks and bike paths are scarce.

Last week, WVEC showed that Virginia Beach isn't quite the pristine city that's pictured in the travel brochures. Graffiti artists are messing up playgrounds.

The never-seen crew behind the cameras on the neighborhood tour includes Mike Babcock, Byron Burney, Wes Jones, John Hinson, Laura Smith and Bette Hanson.

``In the Life'' enters TV life here - Think of it as the ``60 Minutes'' of the gay and lesbian culture. ``In the Life'' debuts Sunday night at midnight on WHRO in the backyard of Pat Robertson, who pops up in the first episode calling the gay lifestyle ``appalling and an abomination.''

On Sunday, ``In the Life'' looks into the Disney empire, and suggests that the homosexuals who work there contribute a ``gay sensitivity'' to Disney's TV and film projects. The timing is perfect here. Disney owns ABC. The network exploited Ellen DeGeneres' coming out party into a ratings' bonanza. ``Ellen'' was last week's No. 1-rated show.

``In the Life,'' which brings with it scenes of men kissing and a powerful political message (``America does not value the contributions of gays and lesbians''), is bound to be controversial in this most conservative community.

Buffymania - With the popular ``Buffy, the Vampire Slayer'' soaring higher than the Hubbell telescope, WVBT decided to air the show twice a week - Monday at 9 and a repeat Saturday night at 9.

Animal lover at the keyboard - Among those applauding Victor Borge's appearance in Virginia Beach last weekend for the Virginia Waterfront International Arts Festival were the folks at PETA headquarters in Norfolk. The pianist is an animal lover. And activist.

``His kindness knows no bounds,'' said Ingrid Newkirk of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Borge is among celebrities who appealed to the Secretary of Agriculture to stop cattle growers from hot-iron branding heifers and worse.

Mobley returns - Regina Mobley, WVEC news co-anchor at 6 and 11 p.m., returns to work today after taking time out due to a death in her family.

ILLUSTRATION: [Color photo]

AP PHOTO

Jerry Springer touched off controversy after being named a TV

vommentator in Chicago.

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