Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 225

Late nightJan; ICVRI I Spelling works days air! jl- By Jay Bobbin Tribune Media services Time and again, he's Don Ohlmeyer told him, 'We're going to sell this like prime-time has come to That's why we worked so hard to get people like Lesley-Anne Down and Leigh Taylor-Young, but also, generated hits for prime-time television, but can Aaron Spelling do the same for mm- PLACE daytime? NBC is banking on that, since the network is introducing the veteran "Beverly Hills, 90210," FOR YOUR Melrose Place and Savannah" producer's first THOUGHTS, daytime serial on Monday at 1 p.m. on KARe-TV, Ch. 1 1 "Sunset Beach" holds to the format's traditions by drawing various characters together, Diary often against the backdrop of actual southern California beaches. some ot these people who come from daytime are amazing. Peter Barton did the CBS revival of 'Burke's Law' for us, and he said he wouldn't go back to daytime until he read the scripts; now, he loves this." Actually, Spelling has a history of recruiting actors from daytime TV, as demonstrated by the presence of Jack Wagner and Lisa Rinna of Our on "Melrose Place." According to Spelling, "When you put somebody from daytime in prime-time, others act like, 'Good grief! What is that producer coming Hey, these actors are really good.

Nobody we have ever used from daytime has disappointed us." Weekday-drama talents have a particular discipline, since the demanding work schedule requires them to deliver the "He came home one recently," the elder Spelling" says, "after getting over the flu, and he said, 'Dad, I did 1 1 pages of dialogue He'd done about 11 pages total in three appearances on but he loves this." Spelling says Randy wasn't prone to do another of his shows, but "The president of our company said, 'We need this young kid to play Lesley-Anne Down's son. Can I talk to I said, 'OK, but don't let it come from me." Finally, Randy's agent told him, 'You should do Though Spelling the author of the autobiography "A Prime-Time Life" also proved his serial-drama skills during the 1980s with "Dynasty," he claims using them in weekday television is quite different. "This is the wildest thing I've ever done in my life," he says. "If you want to make last-minute changes, you can't, you're already on the air. We have had the chance to spend a lot of time on the first five episodes, but we're Just praying things wHI go well enough so the time factor isn't that crucial." Since much of "Sunset Beach" is being staged on the southern California shoreline, Spelling allows that the cost of making the show Is "more than we ever anticipated, but we promised to bring a prime-time quality to daytime.

Before we ever shot anything in a studio, In a cast that boasts 21 regulars, familiar faces include Lesley-Anne Down as the dissatisfied wife of a powerful oowtNnfl croafclnff I had my 40th birthday Hill uinvner. It a lifnificam mile-une. I fretted liulc about my widening wain and purchated my Ant lube of under-eye camouflage cream. But. happily, my overall reaction a poiinvc.

I Ml older audwiter. Uaul a month later whea I ruioed to Byeriy't for party wool t. Aa the young clerk tlid my groceriei over the canner, I men-tionad that my Koum wa 100 yean old and we were throwing a parry for K. Wilhnul hesitating or Muling evea a Utile, the eiked. "Have you lived there the whole timer -Lerl JafcuM.

HlHmrappItt lawyer (Sam Behrens), Emmy-winner Leigh Taylor-Young as a waffle-shop owner who seems to know everyone's business, Peter Barton as a cop gone bad, Laura Harring and Hank Cheyne as more-upstanding police officers, Kathleen Noone as a local socialite, Ashley Hamilton (George's son) as the grandson of the town's founder and Randy Spelling (Aaron's son) as Down's and Behrens' offspring. "Our broadcast time is going to be different all over the country," Spelling acknowledges, since "Sunset Beach" will air in the late morning In some places and the early afternoon in others. "Daytime TV is a strange world to me, but NBC has done a terrific job of promoting this, and I'm excited by what I've seen of the work so far. We're very lucky to get Gary Tomlin as our executive Producer; he's been in daytime Days of Our Another World', and we've put him together with Chuck Pratt from 'Melrose who's Look for our Diary oolumn on the front page of Metro State every Sunday and some weekdays. You'll find observations and anecdotes about everyday life written by Mlnnesotans like yourself Although you wont receive a nickel, getting published Is a reward In itself.

If you have a story to share, you can: send It to Diary, Star Tribune, 428 Portland Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 68488 mail us at dlaryOsiartrtbuiie.oom call the Diary Phone Line at 67S-B060 visit Star Tribune goods consistently with little chance for retakes. "Our dream was to get enough people who had done daytime to help the rest of the cast, who not only hadn't done daytime in some cases, but hadn't done anything series-wise," Spelling says. That's especially true for Jason George, whose hiring to play a "Sunset Beach" lifeguard resulted from cold-call casting sessions Spelling staged across the country: "We found him at the last moment in Philadelphia, and he just killed usl I hate goatees, and everybody was telling me to get him to shave it, but I said, No, leave it on. On him, it's As Tori Spelling does on "90210," her brother Randy Is keeping things In the family on "Sunset Beach," after working for his dad (who affectionately calls him "that little in last spring's short-lived "Malibu Shores." we aid two weeks of production on the beach, doing scenes from various episodes." Fox has renewed "90210" and "Melrose" for next season (with a "Melrose" spinoff also planned for spring), but Spelling says when he interviewed actors for "Sunset Beach," he wasn't necessarily sizing them up for his evening shows at the same time. Still, he says, "We talked to some people who said they felt 'i they'd done enough daytime, so we sometimes asked, 'Would you be interested in We'll find something for them on '90210' or 'Melrose' or the upcoming! spinoff." Onllne's Pun and Oames section at httpt consulting on me snow, ana r.rtartribuna.oom love our cast, it a real mix oi daytime and prime-time.

Indeed, Spelling recalls that NBC programming executive.