The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 124

6-Hillsborough-Pinellas-Pasco The Tampa Tribune-Times July 28-August 3, 1991 New female detective series is 'ClareMy sultry drama Walt Belcher This Week In Television Veronica Clare solves mysteries without firing a shot, getting into a high-speed chase or throwing a punch. She's a gumshoe with a feminine touch. She's Lauren Bacall without Humphrey Bogart. Clare, played by Canadian actress Laura Robinson, is the central character in a new drama series airing at 9 p.m. Tuesdays on Lifetime.

It's Lifetime's first made-for-cable drama. "Veronica Clare" debuted July 23 and continues with new episodes this summer. This stylish drama, with its jazz background and soft lighting captures the flavor of the 1940s in a 1990s setting. Clare is a beautiful woman of mystery. She's co-owner of a jazz dinner club, but on the side she solves little problems.

No one seems to know much about her. She has secrets. And each week, she recounts an adventure in a letter written to someone who remains unknown to the viewer. We learn her story in a flashback. Men, both villains and heroes, fall in love with her.

Even mobsters are polite in her presence. She's one of those smoldering blondes who looks soft on the outside but can be tough when need be. She's also clever, the kind of woman that Lifetime viewers admire. Lifetime officials conducted a talent search and saw more than 500 actresses before picking Robinson for the role. Robinson was a regular on the CBS late-night series "Night Heat." She also CEILMS (Labor Material 7 X7 Room Size) $(95 VX Dome Ceilings ijSw Starting At WffRfi s295 with her wits.

Pat Fili, senior vice president of programming at Lifetime, said the series is part of a $1 billion investment in new programming that Lifetime plans over the next decade. "It wasn't long ago that cable was thought of as broadcasting-television-wannabes by the three major networks, sort of poor cousins that wanted a chunk of the big time, but had to settle for network hand-me-downs," she said. But cable is carving up the Nielsen pie and doing so with entertaining new series such as "Veronica Clare," she said. Naked Hollywood No one is naked on "Naked Hollywood," a new series debuting Sunday at 8 p.m. on the Channel.

The title implies that "Naked Hollywood" is going to strip away the gloss of Hollywood hype to show us the inside scoop on the industry. But this British-made documentary is not as revealing as the title implies. For example, the episode on "stars" contrasts the film careers of Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Caan. It shows how Schwarzenegger has become a big box office draw with no acting talent and a lot of marketing while Caan, who is a much better actor, has trouble getting good film roles. The piece dwells too much on Schwarzenegger's self-made rise to fame but does include some insider information on how Hollywood handles the press.

Caan was filmed on the set of "Misery" and Schwarzenegger was filmed on the set of "Kindergarten Cop." But the episode has trouble making has appeared on "Cheers" and "Friday the 13th: The Series." In a recent interview in Los Angeles, she said she was attracted to the role because it was more of a "cerebral cat I and mouse game" than a traditional vio- lent detective series. SUMMER ALUMINUM SALE Screen Rooms Vinyl Rooms Glass Rooms Patio Rooms Carports Patio Covers Awnings Fascia Siding Soffit Concrete its point. Apparent 9858421 jpSj All Work 100 GUARANTEED "I think of her as a cross between Bogart and Bacall," she said. "She's got the brains and the strength and know-how that Bogey would have had in 'The Big Sleep' or 'To Have and Have Not' and yet she's got the same sass, sex appeal and smart mouth of Bacall. There's great dialogue in this." Born in Kingston, Ontario, Robinson started acting in high school.

She recalls that the first stage play she ever saw was "Bye, Bye Birdie." Robinson started working in commercials in Toronto. For four years she had a contract with ABC but the network never developed a series for her. She also has a musical background. Her father and brother are jazz saxophonists, and her mother is a singer. Robinson also sings, plays guitar and writes folk music.

She was negotiating to record an album in Nashville when the "Veronica Clare" series came up. "I always felt I was born a few years too late," she said. "I respect women like Bacall and Katharine Hepburn and those kinds of characters who could balance strength and femininity." Until this role came along, Robinson was being cast as femme fatales. On "Veronica she'll be solving crimes ly, Caan's career has suffered because he wouldn't market himself after a promising debut in the original "Godfather." Moody, reportedly difficult to work with, Caan has picked some really bad films in his I Iillii Ifc-'i Enterprise Metals, Inc. A FIRST CLASS QUALITY INSTALLATION WITH SERVICE AFTER THE SALE! THOUSANDS OF SATISFIED CUSTOMERS Licensed bonded insured Kent checkered career.

Schwarzenegger comes off as a shrewd businessman driven by an admirable determination. About the only things "Naked" turns up is that he may have used steroids when he was a body builder and that his managers used strong-arm tactics to discourage any negative articles. Slid Uinti RX0O54817.