Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 126

Austin American-Statesman Show World Sunday. December 31, 1995 5 TV twists through real-life dramas skr it fcr 1 z''' fl .01 3 i CU.L Celebrities of all ranks and sizes were willing to tell all, turning interviews into news events, exemplified by Princess Diana's hour of confession on the BBC in November. news was the arrival in October of KNVA Channel 54's 5:30 p.m. weekday newscast anchored by Ron Oliveira, part owner of the station and former Channel 24 anchor, and co-anchor newcomer Leslie Cook. In an unusual partnership, Oliveira also moved into the 6 p.m.

anchor position on Channel 36, the station with which Channel 54 shares studio space and has a license management agreement The confusion and competition in local news thus far has strengthened Channel 24, which dominates in the ratings, and Channel 36, which has moved from last to a strong No. 2 in some time periods. How viewing patterns will settle down in the coming year is anybody's guess, but Channel 7's initial slide is likely to level off. Celebrity interviews as news In national TV news, the Oklahoma City bombing followed the Simpson trial as the big story of the year, although the war in Bosnia, ignored for too long, has begun to move to the front Embarrassing celebrity interviews were the most-watched news programs of the year, starting with Diane Sawyer's drippy chat with Mr. and Mrs.

Michael Jackson and concluding with Princess Diana's -strange infidelity confession to the BBC that was carried in the United States on ABC. ABC News continued to rule in the -ratings, dominating NBC and CBS, which abruptly ended its Dan Rather co-anchor experiment by dumping Connie Chung, who might have nailed her fate by prompting Newt Gingrich's mom to call Hillary Rodham Clinton a nasty name. CNN found itself facing the prospect of competition from two new all-news cable channels next year, one on ABC and one on NBC. But CNN won't feel the ratings pinch soon because most cable operators have little or no room to add more cable channels. Prime-time dramas notable Despite all the criticism of talk-show sleaze and allegations of violence on TV in "95, the year was notable for its superb prime-time dramas.

A few critics even called it the New Golden Age of Drama, with acting and writing that was far superior to most motion pictures and theatrical productions. Among me finer offerings were NBC's superb cop shows "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "Law Order," ABC's new "Murder One" and the Emmy-winning "NYPD Blue," Fox's chilling "The X-Files," NBC's fast-paced medical drama "ER," CBS's character-driven medical drama "Chicago Hope" and Fox's fine family drama "Party of Five." Most of those dramas are doing well in the ratings and are likely to thrive in "96, but with all the favorable time periods taken (weeknights at 9 p.m. is best), it's unlikely the new year will see a herd of new dramas. Unlike the happy heyday of drama, comedy collapsed under the weight of Continued on next page O.J., celebrity interviews, and talk shows drew more attention than fictional programming as true stories held all that was bizarre in '95 By Diane Houloway American-Statesman TV Critic Holy moly, what a strange and twisted 12 months. The defunct year in television was dominated by fact rather than fiction the slayings of a woman and a young male friend, a white Bronco surreally cruising down an LA freeway, a trial that dragged on and on.

And on. Instead of gathering around the tube to enjoy an episode of some happy-go-lucky sitcom, Americans either endured or relished the long drama of a real-life tragedy and its aftermath. Maybe the 0. J. Simpson trial set the downbeat mood ffJ viewers in '95, and maybe it made television even easier prey than usual for politicians heading into an election year.

Television often is seen as a scapegoat for politicians, and this year found Washington clamoring about TV violence and touting the magical computer invention known as the V-chip (to allow parents to block reception of certain shows). Others, however, saw the V-chip as censorship. Some of the politicians also took on the daytime talk shows, many of which had fed off the O.J. trial. Maybe Washington felt it was time to protect the viewing public from its own prurient interests as reflected on television, because there was no question that view-ers tuned in by the millions to the trial coverage and, until recently, daytime sleaze.

The Simpson trial, also known as "The Ultimate Reality Series," was far and away the TV event of '95. The dramatic conclusion, when the verdict was read, attracted a record-breaking audience. The tantalizing combination of a gruesome murder and a handsome celebrity defendant proved irresistible to the throngs who tuned for months into Court TV, CNN and The star-studded cast included the ex-football star, his "dream team" of attorneys headed by the impeccably dressed Johnnie Cochran, the dogged prosecutors headed by the hard-hitting Marcia Clark, the supporting players headed by Kato (the man and the dog) and the weary ringmaster, Judge Lance Ito. By the time the not-guilty verdict was rendered in October; people who had seemed insatiable suddenly said they were sick of the sordid mess. Response to the verdict, which divided along lines, was reported and analyzed ad nauseum.

Although the nine-month media circus surrounding the trial officially ended, the big, overblown production had spawned a scary new standard for live coverage of trials, with rumors though politicians make it sound as if 1 television is all blood-and-guts, the overwhelming majority of TV violence occurs in feature films airing on cable and a handful of syndicated action series. At issue in the V-chip debate, which will continue into the new year, is how violence will be defined, who will define it, and who will rate the programs. Very subjective tasks indeed. Austin newscasts multiply In Austin, the biggest TV event of '95 was the July network affiliation switch of KEYE Channel 42, formerly Fox's KB VO and now CBS, and KTBC Channel 7, formerly CBS and now Fox. Viewers who had been watching CBS on Channel 7 for nearly half a century were confused and will continue to be so for months.

The switch brought a slate of new newscasts to the city, since Channel 42 had not had a complete news operation as a Fox station, and brought former Channel 7 anchor Neal Spelce back to the airwaves on Channel 42. If viewers weren't already confused by finding CBS programming on a different station, they probably were confused by the anchor shuffling that accompanied it The two other affiliate newscasts NBC's KXAN Channel 36 and ABC's KVUE Channel 24 entered a more intense era of competition, resulting in more promotions and more on-air gimmicks (such as labeling almost every section of every newscast). Adding to the explosion of local TV and unsubstantiated reports about what might have happened and what jurors might be thinking replacing reasonable, balanced reporting about what actually happened. How the Simpson trial will affect future high-profile criminal trials is uncertain. Either the mistakes will be corrected, or they'll multiply.

Talk-show craze waning The pre-election year found politicians looking for a villain to chase and finding it on television. The daytime talk-show sleaze that so shocked Washington in '95, however, was nothing new. Sally Jessy, Geraldo and the rest have been celebrating the sickest, weirdest of humankind for years, but with an election on me horizon, it was time for a crusade. Sen. Joseph Lieberman and former drug czar William Bennett took to the airwaves with moral ferocity, and a lot of people nodded in agreement It will be interesting to see if this issue remains hot, however, now that the talk-show craze appears to be waning.

Advertisers have abandoned a couple of shows, and most programs are seeing their ratings decline. The new year might prove to be the year when view- -ers finally clean up their acts instead of waiting for the government to do it for them. Congress has struggled to live up to its legislation regarding the controversial V-chip, a computer chip that would be installed in new TV sets to allow viewers to block violent programming. Al i i 4i.