DATE: Thursday, October 9, 1997             TAG: 9710090050

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Larry Bonko 

                                            LENGTH:   63 lines

NAVY CARRIER TAKES ALONG MUST-SEE TV

AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER is 97,000 tons of floating steel and 5,700 sea-going sofa spuds.

When the sailors aboard the nuclear-powered George Washington go to sea, they want Oprah, Jerry Seinfeld and the detectives in the 15th squad on ``NYPD Blue'' to go with them.

With that in mind, the Navy in Norfolk recently sent the GW on a six-month cruise with 216 hours of network programs on tape, three satellite dishes to pull in signals from miles above the ocean's surface, and a fully-equipped TV station.

Just because you're hundreds of miles from the nearest cable hook-up doesn't mean you have to do without ``Jeopardy!'' With the tons of supplies that came aboard the GW before the carrier eased away from Pier 11 at the Norfolk Naval Base like a slumbering gray whale coming to life were tapes of talk shows, sitcoms, game shows and primetime dramas.

As those tapes are used up, the Naval Media Center Fleet Support Detachment Norfolk sends more. It would be great if a carrier were able to pull in TV signals from satellites all the time, but that's not possible in rolling seas or when the ship's captain uses the satellite dishes for Navy business.

So, the next best thing to seeing ``Seinfeld'' live on Thursday night at 9 when it airs on NBC is watching it on tape. The programs are duplicated on hundreds of tapes in Culver City, Calif., flown to Norfolk and other ports, and then carried to ships at sea.

The sailors will see this week's episode of ``Seinfeld'' much later than the rest of us. But isn't that better than not seeing it all?

With the Navy, TV is a priority.

It's a morale thing, said Navy journalist G. Scott Mohr, a chief petty officer who is assistant public affairs officer aboard the GW. Like a chow line with three desserts and a holiday routine on Sundays, TV helps make life bearable aboard a crowded, noisy warship operating around the clock.

``We serve the crew 24 hours a day,'' Mohr said. The GW has three TV channels and a radio station (WFLY) staffed by Mohr and his colleagues.

They also put out a daily newspaper called The Guardian, complete with TV listings.

What's on WGW Channel 2 at 0700 or 7 a.m.? Re-runs of ``Beverly Hills 90210.'' There is also Channel 4 for training films (``Electrical Safety'' gets awesome ratings) and Channel 6 for movies.

With the GW, commanded by Capt. L.G. Rutherford, being a floating city with 2,000 telephones and all, it deserves to have its own newscast, and does. ``GW Now,'' anchored by Iowan Alex Carfrae, signs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 2 and 6 p.m.

The public affairs staff, headed by Lt. Joe Navratil, regards the GW as one big beat to be covered stem to stern for ``GW Now.'' Mohr says his folks look for stories everywhere on the ship that is - here comes a cliche - longer than three football fields.

The GW records its 10,000th arrested landing. Story! Flight-deck personnel spotted not wearing properly stenciled clothing. Story! The GW's officers' mess introduces eggplant parmesan. Story!

Carfrae says anchoring ``GW Now'' is an apprenticeship for life outside of bell-bottoms. It's TV on a small scale. But so what?

TV is TV. And the Navy eats it up like baked ham and steamed pasta, which is on the lunch menu this week. ILLUSTRATION: Color NBC photo

"Seinfeld"

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