Philadelphia Daily News from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 42

PHILADELPHIA DATLY-NEWS MONDAY, 1998 PAGE 42 SONY I CENTER 1 MANN MUSIC PHIUIISUGUS 96 EAGLE SEATTLE 925 ELTON JOHN MUST HAVE JOB ACCOUNT Paxson could clean up with G-rated programs 1.03 BARENAKED LAOIESj 11j29 WWF AH Phita. N.Y. Theatres Sports GLASSMAN'j I'S STATEV1DE AGENCY 634-1 1 30 W. Alleahenv Ave. Mon-Fri.

Sot. STORM DOORS FROM $148 ri 1 if I t' ri I war "Dr. CBS dumped it anyway iamHUTl.lM-l!l.,iffQ-I-l-M LIVELY ARTS 'I I Mli ll.J.lLlU4.M?K.r.gfZE!.;.!.g NO CREDIT NEEDED 1-000-366-0566 1 LOANS IT MAIL II LESS TJUN 24 Mi ZOO i (1 Blk west ofFront REPLACEMENT WINDOWS 129 STORM WINDOWS I I 5299 JTUCI WWTt lMCOKt IPCHfS THE PHENOMENON RETURNS THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA September 30 December 12 Box office Now Open Mon-Sat or Call TELECHARGE (800) 447-7400 Groups: (800) 432-7780 FORREST THEATRE 1114 Walnut Stmt Don't Misal Previews start September 101 Arden Theatre Company PRIVATE LIVES by Noel Coward Directed by Aaron Posner Sponsored by harmeitn Media Sept. 10-Oct. 18 CALL 21 5-922-8900 Arden Theatre Company 40 N.

2nd Street TUESDAY AT 8PM RENT Special ASL Signed Perl. 912, 2PM Tickets at the Box Office or Call TICKETMASTER (215) 336-2000 Groups: (215) 732-1366 Service tee applies to all hcxets. MERRIAM THEATER 2S0 South Broad Street, Philadelphia 732-5446. STOMP TONIGHT THRU SEPT. Charge-by-phone 1-800-736-1420 XANADU THEATER SHOWROOM Trump Taj Mahal TONY TINA'S WEDDING Back by Popular Demand for the 5th OCTOBER 2 CHRISTMAS PARTIES Corporate Events, Group Discounts, Gift Certificates A Reservations 21 5-297-8540 OR TICKETMASTER VENICE PLAZA 18th A Snyder Avenue.

South Philadelphia www.tonyendtina.com HQ owell "Bud" Paxson, the founder of Pax TV, which launches today as the nation's seventh broadcast network, is not your average media mogul. Not because he believes God is on his side. Most media moguls appear to believe that. No, Paxson's different because he believes he can make money by serving an audience that most other networks are abandoning at the behest of advertisers an audience that wants at least some of its TV shows squeaky- clean and suitable for all ages. And while I'm not sure a merciful God would saddle us with seven broadcast networks, I think Paxson may be right.

I say that even after reading the infomercial king's book, "Threading the Needle: The Pax Net Story," a slim volume that's one part "Chicken Soup for the Soul" whose parables he ladles out liberally and two parts hooey. (Hooey, that is, unless, like Paxson, you believe that the satellite disaster last May that knocked out most of the country's pagers was God's way of letting Bud know he was on the right track with Pax Net, and, not incidentally, cutting his costs for satellite transponders.) I say that even though "Touched by an Angel," whose reruns form the centerpiece of Pax TV's mostly syndicated programming, is one of my least favorite shows. (I don't know what your vision of angels is, or whether you have one, but mine doesn't conform to the social- worker model.) I say it even though Pax TV's programming will be carried in many places on stations of which few people are even aware, including Philadelphia WPPX (Channel 61), which up until now has been running infomercials and religious programming. None of that really matters, because Paxson's idea makes all BITTER END It's the brutal, bloody season finale of "Oz." The Nazi guard (Bill Faggerbakke remember how sweet and dumb he was in tries to help two Aryans escape, Beecher realizes he's been betrayed and Alvarez attacks a guard, who then needs a transfusion from a prisoner. 10 p.m., HBO.

OUT OF THIS WORLD Even if you're an alien, you someday face a rite of pas- MH I Millions watched Jane Seymour's kinds of sense. For one thing, unlike the other networks, which own only a few of their stations and affiliate with the rest, Paxson owns his network of stations, so the money from advertising won't have to be shared. For another, his costs aren't going to be nearly as high. The model Paxson's using here isn't CBS or even the WB, it's more like the pre-Fox Family Channel, which served up old network reruns like "The Waltons" with the occasional original show. Most of all, though, I know there's a sizable audience for this stuff, even among those of us who wouldn't want everything on television to be rated G.

Occasionally, as in the case of "Life Goes On," whose reruns Pax will start airing at 7 tonight, I'm even going to be part of it. When CBS canceled "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" at the end of last season, it wasn't because no one was watching. An average of 11.6 million people watched that show last season. That's about 5 million more than watched the WB's "Dawson's Creek," a show regularly described as a hit.

CBS wasn't able to make what it considered enough money on it, because advertisers are more interested in the teen-agers who watch "Dawson's" than An alarming prospect for Dr. Katz sage. "The Journey of Allen Strange" starts its second sea- they are in the people who apparently make up "Dr. Quinn's" audience. But if even a fraction of that "Dr.

Quinn" audience occasionally drifts over to Pax TV to see reruns of Jane Seymour practicing medicine in the Old West (starting Sept. 14), Paxson, who says he's out to do good, may also find himself doing well. Better 'Day' ahead? Look for some changes in "Good Day Philadelphia" next month. Besides the Sept. 14 on-air debut of Dave Price, late of Chicago's WBBM-TV, as co-host, the show's adding a daily entertainment report and expanding the role of Los Angeles-based stringer Molly Mayock, WTXF (Channel 29) news director John Mussoni said last week.

Although it's clear Fox network execs aren't thrilled by the 2Vi-year -old morning show's ratings which dropped further after co-host Don Tollefson left to become sports anchor for "The Ten O'Clock News" Mussoni denied that anyone was "mandating changes." "Fox has not said, 'We don't like your show. Change We have said, 'We want our numbers to be better. Can you offer us some Mussoni said.B You can reach Ellen Gray by e-mail at by fax at 215-854-5852 or by mail at the Philadelphia Daily News, Box 7788, Philadelphia, Pa. 19101, son on that note Allen needs to pass "the test of the four Xelan ideals," or remain a human forever. 8:30 p.m., Nickelodeon.

AN OLD PROBLEM Ben worries he'll end up being his dad's caregiver a situation that would be trouble for both sides. It's "Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist," with guest voices by Gilbert Gottfried and Robert Klein. 10 p.m., Comedy Central. NEW SHOW WIN, PLACE or SHOW ME THE MONEY ijitt Certificates Avanabte Hofs'tirxivfes.

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