The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 83

2003:02:11:14:47:40 TELEVISION RADIO CALENDAR E23 LOSANGELESTIMES television was pretty awful in the 1960s and which stop me and many contemporaries from absorbing untold hours of rigid-looking animation usually the more violent and less socially redeeming the better. Perhaps why, for all the studies citing a correlation between TV viewing and aggression, many rational people who came of age during those decades fret much about the likelihood of little Johnny watching animated fantasies and offing his parents; still, there is cause for concern about the resurgence of series that deal in punching and kicking things and, most insidiously, inspire kids to clamor for the action figures. This weekend, ABC premieres a new Saturday morning twist on which, in its heyday, had kids all over making like Jackie Chan joining a Mutant Ninja revival on Fox Box as well as that 1980s toy-industry and the Masters of the flexing its muscles on Cartoon Network. These programs arrive on the eve of Toy Fair, a massive trade show that begins Sundayin New York City. The annual event doubles as a launchpad for TV programs that kids will be asked to love and, more pertinently, consume in the years ahead.

And consuming, really, is what television is about, with many shows serving as a rightfully pejorative term coined in the 1970s meant to demonstrate corresponding toy lines. Fox Box, for example, is a brokered arrangement in which 4KidsEntertainment the licensor behind the popular and essentially rented Saturday morning space in a four-year, $100-million transaction. Federal guidelines might obligate Fox stations to broadcast a few hours of enriching kids programs each week, but the ultimate goal is to enrich Fox, while providing 4Kids a haven to showcase its wares. Although 4Kids Chairman Al Kahn said the kids advertising market has been healthier than anticipated, no secret the company is banking on merchandising tie-ins to make the venture profitable. Appropriately, then, promotion for includes displays in 270 shopping malls.

have to look at this like brand new to noted Kahn, who downplayed pressure on 4Kids to find another hit soon, saying, is a marathon, not a Whatever you call it, the race is to create the next product- moving mechanism something every kid will want in their Christmas stockings, mining the same vein that resulted in the sale ofa reported $500 million in merchandise last year. Seeking to play Grinch to this frenzied consumerism, meanwhile, is a coalition of health and child-advocacy groups, which haspetitioned the Federal Communications Commission to take media into account as it goes about reexamining and potentially revising media ownership rules. raises a lot of concerns for younger children because of their vulnerability to commercial said Patti Miller, director of the nonprofit group Children Children Media program. Certainlykids have never had more viewing options, though in some instances even that can be illusory, with the same shows spread across multiple outlets. So look for Rangers Ninja not only on ABC but sister cable network ABC Family, just as lineup is plucked from a fellow Viacom asset, Nickelodeon.

actually think going to be less diversity of programming for Miller said, adding that in the past both Congress and the FCC have recognized children to be a special audience meriting protection that includes commercial influences in Managing that, however, is no small feat, especially with advertisers becoming more aggressive about wanting to squeeze their messages into prime-time programs. At a forum last week, Coca-Cola President Steven Heyerthrew down that gauntlet to Hollywood, saying the soft- drink goal is to be involved with programs from the outset we can embed what we need to say in the As for the notion of whether such arrangements compromise creative integrity, Heyer sniffed, my little And while the teenagers whose teeth Coke is rotting are doubtless more media savvy than ever in identifying thinly veiled attempts to convince them hip, the little exoskeletons shielding children from their daily shower of product tie-ins are less fully formed. There are some venues that treat kids like somewhat more than simply pint-sized consumers. In addition to lineup, TLC and Discovery Kids share a programming block for preschoolers, Set which relaunches with new series on Feb. 24.

The venture is billed as a zone for the under-6 set. no question that the economics of the kids business are being driven by cable the ability to generate off-air said Discovery Kids General Manager Marjorie Kaplan, referring to the combination of cable subscription fees and merchandising. Still, she also cited the ad-free appeal to parents, noting that the youngest kids be exposed to commercial messages, to the degree Broadcasters, of course, receive subscriber revenue, so the financial pressure on them is more severe. Moreover, the reality is that, in the battle for viewers, nourishing fare inevitably struggles against confections such as whose preliminary results sharply improved Fox previously sluggish ratings. Unfortunately, the next step is for the little darlings who tuned in to plead until they turn green for tchotchkes, eroding parental resistance until purchased the whole set.

the winning formula in a business where watching the show is no longer enough, and Set remains the prevailing war cry. Brian column appears Wednesdays. He can be reached at brian.lowry@latimes.com. ON TV BRIAN LOWRY These animated shows, and their toys, look familiar Dong Woo Animation Co. MASKED MEN: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are part of Saturday morning package on Fox.

Cartoon Network ACTION FIGURES: and the Masters of the has been retooled. By Mark Sachs Times Staff Writer Awoman celebrating her 27th birthday plummets from the balcony of a hotel room to her death more than 100 feet below. Was it a tragic accident that ended a night of heavy drinking and clumsy romance with her married boss, or was it a flat-out case of murder? ASouthland jury reached its decision in November, but you have an opportunity to assess the evidence for yourself tonight at 10 as Hours rehashes the details of the well- publicized 1996 death of Sandra Orellana. The weekly newsmagazine usually tackles more timely issues than this, but the sordid circumstances and controversial verdict probably helped extend its shelf life in the minds of producers. Yet the sense of drama the program toils so diligently to create works best if you managed to miss the reporting of the case the first time around.

Orellana and Robert Lee Sala- zar were in the city of Industry as part of a business trip for their Houston company. After drinking throughout dinner and then later in the hotel nightclub, the two ended up in hotel room, where what happened next, only Salazar knows for sure. The prosecution contends that his spurned sexual advances led him to throw Orellana off the balcony. The defense says the liaison was consensual, and that the death occurred when she, with a blood-alcohol level of nearly three times the legal limit for driving, fell over the railing while trying to hoist herself up, clad only in a camisole. behavior over the next few hours was so bizarre that it would have left O.J.

Simpson shaking his head, and the case even ended up getting entangled in fallout from the Simpson case as well as personnel changes in the Los Angeles County district office. The verdict may leave you shaking your head. TUNED IN Genaro Molina Los Angeles Times CASE REVISITED: Robert Lee Salazar, center, was accused in the slaying of Sandra Orellana. A drunken night, a hotel room and a murder trial SERIES Playing house: When away, she and Eric get a glimpse of married life on (8 p.m. Fox).

Man of peace: Capt. Archer uses diplomacy to prevent war between the Vulcans and Andorians on (8 p.m. UPN). Explosive plan: of the (8 p.m. KCET, KVCR) A historical investigation looks at the creation, testing and deployment of special bombs designed to destroy German dams during World War II.

More cuts: Two more contestants will make it to the next level of (8:30 p.m. Fox). SPECIALS Hate crimes: The Al Roker is the host of Farmingville which follows the investigation of a hate crime on Long Island in September 2000 when two Latino day laborers were beaten without provocation (8 p.m. Court TV). MOVIES All shook up: Japanese tourists, an Italian widow and a British outlaw are among those staying at a quirky Memphis hotel in (7 a.m.

IFC). On the eve of war: Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor star in the 1940 drama (7 a.m. TCM). Wartime murder: Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte star in (8:20 a.m. AMC).

Rebel slave: The restored version of director Stanley 1960 gladiator epic (5 p.m. TCM) stars Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Laurence Olivier and Jean Simmons. Springtime for Hitler: Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder star in Mel 1968 classic (8 and 11 p.m. Bravo). SPORTS Pro Basketball: The Lakers play at the Denver Nuggets (6 p.m.

KCAL). Highlights The Early Show host Jeff Probst; Brendan Fraser; women and heart disease. 7a.m. KCBS Today Jon Bon Jovi. 7 a.m.

KNBC KTLA Morning News Jennifer Garner; Susan Miller. 7 a.m. KTLA Good Morning America Niki Taylor; Joe Pantoliano; Rachel Hunter. 7 a.m. KABC Good Day L.A.

Colin Farrell. 7 a.m. KTTV The Caroline Rhea Show Al Roker; Jeff Probst; model Frederique Van Der Wal Mole 8 a.m. KCAL Live With Regis and Kelly Evan Marriott Roma Downey; Hall and Oates. 9 a.m.

KABC The View Dr. Michael Baden, forensic pathologist. 10 a.m. KABC The Wayne Brady Show Merv Griffin; Jeff Probst; Susan Tedeschi. 10 a.m.

KCAL Good Day Live Bernie Mac display of Oscars. 10 a.m. KTTV Oprah Winfrey The best in food, cars, clothes, etc. 3 p.m. KABC Dr.

Phil Twins seek help. 4 p.m. KNBC The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Ben Affleck; Dave Chappelle; Lionel Richie. 11:35 p.m. KNBC The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn Katey Sagal; actor Jonathan Silverman.

12:35 a.m. KCBS Late Night With Conan Goran Visnjic; Heidi Klum. 12:35 a.m. KNBC Last Call With Carson Daly Scott Foley; Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. 1:35 a.m.

KNBC Listings include talk shows that provide a guest list. Talk Shows TIPS FOR TODAY 9-11 a.m.—Larry Airtalk: Dialogues: Drinking KPCC-FM (89.3). 10-11 a.m.—Morning Symphony: Schubert contralto Marian Anderson, pianist Franz Rupp, recordings), KCSN-FM (88.5). p.m.—Talk of the City With Kitty Felde: Summit on Los Angeles County guests include Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke and Long Beach Mayor Beverly KPCC-FM (89.3). p.m.—The Treatment: David Thomson, author of New Biographical Dictionary of KCRW-FM (89.9).

p.m., a.m.—The Third Man: Lime (Orson Welles) meets a couple of would-be alchemists (originally broadcast Jan. 11, 1952), KNX (1070). DRAMA-COMEDY FAMILY 11 a.m.-1 p.m.—B.B. Good, live from Walt Disney World Resort, KDIS (1110). 1-5 p.m.—DJ Web Fingors, live from Disneyland Park, KDIS (1110).

5-10 p.m.—Ernie KDIS (1110). 10 p.m.-3 a.m.—Sheryl Brooks, KDIS (1110). p.m., a.m.—Tales of the Texas Ranger: Politicians try to sway agrand jury (originally broadcast April 15, 1951), KNX (1070). POP-COUNTRY- FOLK-JAZZ 6-9 a.m.—Sinbad Friends, KHHT- FM (92.3). 9 a.m.-noon—Morning Becomes Eclectic, KCRW-FM (89.9).

10 a.m.-1 p.m.—Global Village FM (90.7). 1-4 p.m.—Gary Owens, KLAC (570). 8-10 p.m.—Rhapsody in Black, doo-wop, KPFK-FM (90.7). 10 p.m.-midnight—Chocolate City, KCRW-FM (89.9). Midnight-6 a.m.—Overnight Jukebox, KCSN-FM (88.5).

Radio Michael reputation as the king of sweeps remains intact, as two-hour interview with the singer topped the rating charts despite some heavyweight competition, based on viewing estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. actually bested the first half-hour of the Jackson special, but the show steadily built to win the 9 p.m. hour versus top-rated show, Crime Scene A follow-up retained much of that rating, resulting in the smallest audience ever for an original episode of delivered astrong performance as well, easily surpassing tune-in for West in its hour. highlights, however, were balanced by lowlights, with the new Monday-night dramas The and looking in need of the latter and suffering as it was sandwiched between them against The new also cooled a bit in its second shift, as tune-in dropped from its premiere. meanwhile, is rubbing off on the scripted programs adjacent to it, as the and Bernie Mac all appeared to enjoy a ratings bump last week.

The first cable telecast of the NBA All-Star Game also resulted in record basketball ratings for TNT, which averaged 10.8 million viewers, with another 4.8 million watching the Saturday event featuring the slam- dunk competition. Lowry Jackson interview tops chart Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (Feb. 3-9) as compiled by Nielsen Media Research. They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish. Nielsen estimates there are 272.04 million potential viewers in the U.S.

ages 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions. Program Network View- ersProgram Network Viewers 1 ABC27.11 2 CSICBS25.60 3 FriendsNBC23.37 4 Primetime ThursdayABC22.74 5 Friends (8:30 p.m.)NBC21.99 --------------------------------------------6 ERNBC20.91 7 Joe MillionaireFOX20.60 8 Everybody Loves Raymond CBS20.35 9 American Idol 10 American Idol --------------------------------------------11 Law OrderNBC18.33 12 CSI: MiamiCBS18.17 13 The BacheloretteABC17.28 14 60 MinutesCBS16.86 15 Will GraceNBC16.49 --------------------------------------------16 Law Order: Criminal Intent NBC15.87 17 Still StandingCBS15.80 18 Law Order: Special Victims Unit NBC15.46 19 Fear FactorNBC15.26 20 Without a TraceCBS15.03 --------------------------------------------21 FrasierNBC14.89 22 King of QueensCBS14.86 23 Yes, DearCBS14.80 24 JAGCBS14.10 25 Star SearchCBS13.61 --------------------------------------------26 Judging AmyCBS13.56 27 The Simpsons (8:30 p.m.) FOX13.41 28 The SimpsonsFOX13.40 29 The West WingNBC13.03 30 My Wife and KidsABC12.90 --------------------------------------------31 Is Right: (Wed.) CBS12.84 32 24FOX12.62 33 Everybody Loves Raymond (Sun.) CBS12.54 34 Will Grace (9:30 p.m.)NBC12.42 35 That ShowFOX12.21 --------------------------------------------36 The GuardianCBS12.15 37 BeckerCBS12.10 38 Bernie Mac ShowFOX11.79 39 Malcolm in the MiddleFOX11.70 40 DragnetABC11.65 --------------------------------------------41 Third WatchNBC11.55 42 8 Simple Rules 43 A.U.S.A.NBC11.53 44 Is Right: (Fri.) CBS11.50 45 Fear Factor --------------------------------------------46 60 Minutes IICBS11.43 47 48 49 Funniest Home Videos (9 p.m.) ABC11.13 50 Mr. SterlingNBC11.10 --------------------------------------------51 52 NYPD BlueABC11.03 53 According to JimABC10.96 54 American DreamsNBC10.65 55 The DistrictCBS10.63 --------------------------------------------56 Celebrity Mole HawaiiABC10.62 57 HackCBS10.56 58 Funniest Home Videos (8 p.m.) ABC10.48 59 Dateline NBC 60 AliasABC10.28 --------------------------------------------George LopezABC10.28 62 The AgencyCBS10.09 63 48 Hours InvestigatesCBS10.03 64 Malcolm in the Middle (9:30 p.m.) FOX9.82 65 Crossing JordanNBC9.76 --------------------------------------------66 EdNBC9.75 67 68 CSI 69 70 Cedric the Entertainer: Presents FOX9.47 --------------------------------------------71 Boston PublicFOX9.17 72 Life With BonnieABC9.01 73 The PracticeABC8.90 74 Less Than PerfectABC8.50 75 7th HeavenWB8.38 --------------------------------------------76 King of the HillABC8.25 77 78 SmallvilleWB8.13 79 Fear Factor 80 Touched by an AngelCBS7.81 --------------------------------------------81 Law Order: Special Victims Unit NBC7.44 82 Veritas: The QuestABC7.21 83 MiraclesABC7.13 84 Law Order 85 EverwoodWB6.37 --------------------------------------------86 Gilmore GirlsWB6.20 87 King of the Hill (7 p.m.)FOX6.05 88 Meet My FolksNBC5.82 89 Shawshank ABC5.80 90 WWE --------------------------------------------91 RebaWB5.36 92 CharmedWB5.14 Fastlane (9 p.m.)FOX5.14 94 FastlaneFOX4.87 95 Joe Millionaire --------------------------------------------96 EnterpriseUPN4.40 97 One on OneUPN4.06 98 The ParkersUPN3.85 99 GirlfriendsUPN3.69 100 What I Like About YouWB3.68 --------------------------------------------101 PulseFOX3.57 102 Greetings From TucsonWB3.54 Network averages Here is the number of viewers (in millions) that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season. Network Last week Season to date CBS13.2612.79 NBC12.4311.85 ABC11.8010.79 FOX10.559.53 WB4.614.33 UPN3.633.71 National Nielsen Viewership From Associated Press NEW YORK An Atlanta- based cable company said Tuesday it plans to launch a 24-hour news channel aimed at black viewers late this year or early in 2004.

Major Broadcasting Cable Network, best known for airing the football and basketball games of black colleges, will call its new sister network News: The Urban The plans were announced two months after the much more established Black Entertainment Television announced a sharp cutback in its public affairs programming. Willie Gary, aprincipal of MBC, said the timing is coincidental. plan it that Gary said. clearly, a void there from the African American perspective that we will be MBC be modeled onCNN Headline News, has hired former CNN newsman Gordon Graham. It will show news, sports and weather reports on a 30-minute with occasional other programming.

With limited room for more channels on cable systems, the news network will face an uphill battle to survive. The 4-year-old main MBC network claims it is seen in 24 million homes less than a quarter of the TV households. MBC available in New York, but can be seen in Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit and Houston. News network plans to target black viewers.