Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 29

Lansing State Journal Thursday, May 11, 1995 5D TELEVISION III fa' i': mm LYiliQ Hughes Television Maws are actor's specialty A TV actor has his needs, you know. He needs a character 4. flaws, failures, frustrations. He needs quivering masses of -problems. Then there's David Schwimmer.

On "Friends," he seems to have hit the mother lode. "The writers find it easy to write me," Schwimmer said, "be- I'm an open wound." tji No one wears a wound quite as Think of a taller Dustin Hof f-Hian, then add sight gags. Sellers was my favorite tactor as a kid," Schwimmer said. tU've always loved that kind of physical humor." Ross on "Friends," he has 'Reasons to fall and fumble and flub. 'More often, he says, he simply gropes.

"I'm the only character who's always in an emotional state," Schwimmer says. Ross wife left him for a lesbian lover, she learned she's -jjregnant. He cherishes the idea of being a father even if the logis tics aren what he expected. Now that's part of a huge night wwmt News 237 CBS Evening Wheel-Fortune Jeopardy! a Murder, She Wrote: "Mirror, Mirror on the WaB" (S)H 2053 48 Hours: "Slamming the News Late Show (S) Late Late Show (S) Kitmazoo 11 17 News 817 6782 701 Door" (S)B 1188 7889140 28510508 5527305 i wdiv News 879 NBC Nightly Wheel-Fortune Jeopardy! Mad About iHope Gloria (Seinfeld (S) iFriends (S) ER: "Motherhood" (S) News Tonight Show (S) a Jenny Jones 5525947 News a 459 4324 343 You 3072 9879 3817 55528 2430 7887782 6834898 fi wlns News 68 17 CBS Evening Ent Tonight Hard Copy Murder, She Wrote: "Mirror, Mirror on the WaB" (S) si 48 Hours: "Slamming the News Late Show (S) SI Late Late Show (S) ffi Lading 9 3 News 7169 8782 6053 96898 Door" (S) 16643 6005527 82675850 2844580 7 wxyz News 62817 ABC World Ent. Tonight Before They Were Stars Part lUltimate TV Trivia Challenge: Day One a 16689 News Nightlinea inside Edition AmJournal Gordon Elliott 1 ggjt 16 News 2503 8409 III: (S) a 89508 (S) 92072 6092053 5560169 7074909 1863893 72 18251 a wood News 1985 NBC Nightly Ent Tonight Inside Edition Mad About IHope 4 Gloria Seinfeld (S) a Friends (S) a Eft "Motherhood" (S) a News Tonight Show (S) a Late Night (S) a 2846923 Gfand Rapid, 8 18 News 2237 3850 al121 You 9898 1633 50508 65904 93701 6090695 5271343 1fl wilx News a NBC Nightly Star Trek: The Next Mad About Hope Gloria Seinfeld (S) a Friends (S)B ER: "Motherhood" (S) a News a Tonight Show (S) a Late Night (S) a 8415522 4 10 5343 News 6695 Generation (S) a 12850 You 3256 5091 18546 72879 11121 2731053 9185237 19 wjrt News 1351 ABC World Inside Edition I Ent Tonight Before They Were Stars Part Ultimate TV Trivia Challenge: Day One 46817 News Nightlinea I Cheers a Mercury Media Hard Copy a Punt News 4091 a 2904 3575 III: (S) a 23966 (S)a 36430 4436481 4778324 3135251 5176909 2130560 Simpsons (S) Martin Living Single New York Undercover (Series Kung Fu: The Legend Cheers a Murphy Brown Jon Stewart (S) 636893 Psychic line 54237 78817 44362 67701 20782 49817 Finale) (S) a 70430 Continues (S) a 80817 59459 58343 266183 wkar Euro.

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(S) 'R' 6381879 27365522 on Channel 10. Consider. -I 08 p.m., 8:30, 9: New episodes of "Mad About and Gloria" and "Seinfeld." 9:30: "Friends" has one of its funniest episodes yet It's time for Carol (Ross' ex-wife) to have her baby, amid the usual chaos. 10 p.m.: "ER," already an event, adds two more elements. 1 There's an elaborate plot with all its strands pointing toward Moth-! ePs Day.

There's also a guest-directing stint by Quentin Tarantino, the "Pulp Fiction whiz. To the immense credit of "ER" j-and Tarantino, you'll barely know someone else was in charge. -A Week after week, "ER" is di-j i rected with style and skill. Hiring a L-j iwhiz kid isn't much of a detour. Jj And Tarantino is smart enough to avoid overwhelming the show.

t-'vHe adds a few touches, but mainly "ER" be itself. At various i "points, that is tragic, exhilarating and sweetly, softly moving. "Friends," by comparison, is just fun. In its world, everyone is surprisingly sweet-spirited. Under those perfect faces are people who keep groping for a life.

The most floundering is Ross. He misses his wife (played by Jane of "Herman's and Marcel of ijs monkey (played by He also has an un- 1 spoken love for Rachel (Jennifer 1115 sisiei uigniy 11 iciiu. This is a guy who's always struggling, which means that viewers feel a bond with him. "It's workin to my advantage," Schwimmer said, sheepishly. "Women kinda want to assist me.

Guys aren't threatened by me." His real life is frustrated mainly by geography. Schwimmer was born in New Vork, grew up in Los Angeles, then studied (Northwestern University) and did theater in Chicago. Now he's in Los Angeles, his show is set in New York and his girlfriend is back in Chicago. Sbmeday, things may work out. What do you think? Call Mike hughes at 377-1 15t His column appears Monday through Friday.

represents Continental Cablevision, represents TCI, Please see guide in TV Week for Horizon and Eaton Rapids cable conversion listings. KB Closed Captioned; (R): Repeat; (S): In Stereo; (PA): Parental Advisory. VCR PIUS Questions? Call the VCR PIUS toll-free hotline: 1-800-432-1 VCR. has lost a lot off its power By James Endrst Hartford Courant On TV "VR.5" 8 p.m. Friday Channel 47 I sty curring? It's her subconscious trying to direct his, so when she steps in, she's stepping into a moment of time that he has chosen as much as she has." Singer, who is married and the mother of a 4-year-old boy, was trained as a cellist at the Julliard School before becoming an actress.

And she hasn't progressed very far in the world of computers, despite her work in the series. "I'm not someone who is maniacal over it the way Sydney Bloom is," says Singer, though she describes herself as computer literate. "But I think they are the future. Everything is going to be completely computerized, and if you don't understand the computer at least how to push the keys the right way and all that you're going to be left way behind." She admits to finding some of what's ahead in reality or virtual reality, as the case may be a bit frightening. Nevertheless, she says, "Its potential its potential for good is spectacular." With so many life-altering experiences behind her on "VR.5," what would Singer change in her life, given the chance? Her answer is the one you'd expect to hear from Sydney Bloom.

"I'd just love to have my father alive," says Singer, recalling her father, Jacques, a symphony conductor. "He died 12 years ago, just when I started working." ment show," she says. "Each one is like a mini-film. So, in certain ways they do follow, but in other ways some of the clues jump around a bit. It's quite impressionistic especially for television and flies by pretty fast But that's the fun of it It's almost like a game.

She's caught in a game and the viewers are, too." But will there be any attempt to make the show more "Decipherable?" she volunteers, laughing. Precisely. Even for those familiar with the information superhighway, the travels of Sydney Bloom most of which take place in the subconscious, with the help of a modem are a mind-bending stretch. "The idea is that she has something imprinted on her retina which allows her to go into the machine and make an instant connection," says Singer. Which is where The Committee, a mysterious group that has pressed Sydney into service, comes in.

Each week, besides delving into the virtual world of her family (in-cluding Oscar-winner Louise Fletcher as Sydney's mother, Nora), Sydney is probing the mind of a new subject chosen by The Committee. "What she's concentrating on very much is the moment of transition in the subject's life like a big question mark. Why is this oc Maybe in the realm of virtual reality "VR.5" has what it takes to be a hit. But here in the real world, even Lori Singer, the star of Fox Broadcasting's Friday night companion to "The X-Files," knows her show is short "a few crucial million" viewers. Though "VR.5" the brain-child of producerwriter John Sa-cret Young opened to electrifying ratings in March, the hour has been losing juice ever since, falling to about half of its original audience.

Will Fox pull the plug after this week's season finale? Will time and cyberspace run out, just as Sydney Bloom (Singer) telephone lineswoman by day, computer hacker and explorer of subconscious minds by night -closes in on the father (David McCallum) and twin sister she'd thought was long dead? Sources at the network give "VR.5" a 50-50 chance of survival. Singer a 32-year-old actress whose credits include the TV series "Fame" and the feature films "Footloose," "The Falcon and the Snowman" and Robert Altaian's "Short Cuts" says she's not worrying about it. "I look at it artistically," she says. "And artistically I'm very proud of it." Dressed in black jeans, blue jacket with white lapels and black ankle boots, Singer, a Daryl Hannah look-alike who was just named one of "The 50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People magazine, stretches out in the Manhattan office of her public relations representatives and presses on. She's obviously enjoying what's left of the ride.

"What are fans like?" she is LSkCt "Weird" she mouths silently. "They're very intense, very devout," she says. "They ask very specific questions about certain details. It's like a cult, I guess." Unfortunately, broadcast television doesn't cater to cult audiences, which is why "VR.5" is in trouble. Many viewers complain that the show, which has been compared with everything from "The Prisoner" and "The Fugitive" to "La Femme Nikita," short-circuits them with a rat's nest of plot lines and details.

Singer doesn't necessarily disagree. Nor does she offer far-out defenses. "It's definitely a moment-to-mo RICHARD CARTWRIGHTFox Virtually vulnerable: Lori Singer is Sydney Bloom in "VR.5." The actress isn't just sitting around wondering if the new show's other shoe is going to drop..