Santa Maria Times from Santa Maria, California • 11

Santa Maria Times Thursday, June 19, 1997 B-3 WHAT'S ON HOLLYWOOD TELEVISION NEWS Things are looking up for women Spielberg ready to work with Zemeckis i if ri lW writer trie Roth penning a film version of, "Cat in the Hat" a project to which Tun Allen is attached. But what will Imagemovers and DreamWorks do together? "I'm committed to finding a property." savs Zemeckis. MAKING BOOK: Quincy -4MM4aiag, ow these days author James MeBride. who's soaking up information about the multifaceted com-. poserproducer lor the autobiography on which he's collaborating with Quincy, They're around four months into the process.

Jones says. McBnde. who wrote the acclaimed The Color of Water: A Black Man's Jnhuie to. His White Mother." recently spent time in fans chatting with some ol Jones" French connections, like Michel LeGrand and Charles A.naour, who once shared the same classical composition teacher with and still share the philosophy, says Quincy, that "lite is a sireat celebration." THK 1NSIDK. TRACK: Smgerke boardistcomposer.

I'atnee Kushen is being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award the YVUT this Saturday. And it conies al a time when Rushen couldn be hotter. Will Smith has done a rap rendition ol her 1982 hit. "Forget Me Nots." that is the theme song lor the new SmitliTommy Lee Jones starrer. ''Men in -Black." Rushen.

who composes the music tor "Die Steve llarves Show." is also scoring the independent film "Hundred Percent." and completing her debut symphony, which will be read b) the Minneapolis St. Paul Orchestra this summer. Her new Discover) Records CD. is being released July 15 and the lirsi single. "Das Gone By," has earned the distinction of being the number one most added single in America in the lirst week of ABC Barbara Walters, seen here with "2020" co-host Hugh Downs, has been a driving force in television news for several decades, blaz ing a trail for women anchors who want to be taken seriously.

More anchor teams are now led by women than ever before. By Kristin Tillotson Minneapohs-St. Paul Star Irlbune An old cartoon shows man in a bar tin- miovl-s on tin-woman sitting next to him-, saying. enough to he a model, an actress or a TV new anchor!" v0riiKrrfllIaHhaTToTircpr was more lael than hpeihole. Male anchors were hired to he the voices ol authority; women were their sidekicks, whose main responsibilities were to "huniaiiie" the news and dress up the television screen.

The superficiality ol telegenics is a pitfall for male journalists, too. but to a lesser degree. Anyone who doesn't admit that TV's gender bias will continue as long as society'-, dues ought to he writing copy lor Virginia Sinus ads. New ertheless, since they lust began to appear, widely on the air in the lc)70s. TV newswomen have come a long way Barbara Walters, then Jane Pauley and Diane Sawyer paved the way for women who wanted to he taken senottslv.

given the tough interview and the spotlight jobs. But at the anchor desk, a "butch or bombshell" code has remained in elfeet. when there is a female presence at all CBS's Dair Rather. NBC's lorn limkaw ami ABC's Peter Jennings still have the last and lust words hi network pnme-time news, What's missing at twilight is gaining ground at dawn, however. Rep: Susan Moliuari.

is ditching politics lor a ncu CBS weekend morning news prourani. And with Katie Comic at the. helm. "The Ioday Show" has gone up another K) percent in the ratings this year. tCoune and Malt l.auer receive equal billing: but as the relative okl-timei, is the unollicial top han.iii.i.i "Just because1 you're tule and lun doesn mean you're not a hell ol a lournalist." said Ioday Show" producci Jell ueket.

ticker, whc's in his Mh. said that assigning stones based on iia-ditional gender roles has its roots in I1) WK 'Had drives the car' mentalitv. Part of it's a eeneia- By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith HOLLYWOOD Two of the most successful moviemakers in history announced this week they're joining forces in a deal that will see Robert Zemeckis make films through his new Imagemovers company, which Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks SKG will finance and distribute. So what are they going to do first? "I'm taking a year off." says Zemeckis. "After I make 'Saving Private Ryan' this summer, I'm taking a year to 18 months off I've promised my family that," says Spielberg "And next year we will make our family move to New York." In an exclusive interview with the.

filmmakers. Zemeckis, who has "Contact" hitting theaters next month, reminded this column that he always takes a lengthy hiatus after the release of one of his films. But. he-pointed out, that period of so-called leisure is actually "a time of personal development, when 1 decide where 1 want to go with my next movie." Zemeckis is partnered in Image-movers with Jack Rapke, former co-chairman of the powerful CAA talent agency, and "Forrest Gump" producer Steve Starkey. And according to Rapke.

"Our company believes in all types of movies the big event, the franchise. 'Lost World," Forrest Gump' and smaller films like Spielberg and Zemeckis (who won an Oscar lor directing "Forrest could be collaborating on a project that has nothing to do ith either Imagemoveis or DreamWorks. Steven tells this column that a sequel to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is in development at Disney, and il it goes into production, it would be made us a joint venture of that studio and his Amblin Entertainment. How would Zemeckis teel about directing another He says. "I can only make a judgment after there's a screenplay, but I can tell you this: It would he very dilli-cult.

The world has gotten so sophisticated in regards to the technicalities of creating spectacular images, making the movie would be a tall order." Well, how would Steven feel about making a third "Jurassic "I'm so full of dinosaurs now. ask me in a year and we'll see if my appetite has come back." Zemeckis does have a film in development based on "Alvin and the Chipmunks" but he'd make that for Universal. And Spielberg and his DreamWorks partners Jeffrey Katenberg and David Getfen have "Forrest Gump" Associates. "You'd be surprised at the number of markets across the country where anchor teams are led by women, most in their 40s and 5()s," he said. For the No.

1 -rated newscast in Portland, the anchor team is two women, and in Seattle the top-rated competing anchors are both women. In Miami, WPLG anchor Ann Bishop dominated the market for 30 years. At KSDK in St. Louis one of the highest-rated local newscasts in the country Karen f-'oss is Numcro Uno on the popularity scale. At WCVB in Boston, one of the lop 10 markets, Natalie Ja-cobson has been the leading anchor for more than a decade; her co-anchor is her husband, Chet Curtis.

The Center for Media and Public Affairs, a D.C.-based watchdog group, reported in March that for the second year in a row, the amount of on-air time for women and minority reporters on the top, three network evening newscasts had declined. (Because numbers for both are so much smaller than those for white men, a couple of job changes can significantly alter the data.) Another news-monitoring nonprofit group. Rocky Mountain Media Watch, takes an annual "snapshot" survey of newscasts at 100 stations in 55 markets. Out of 383 anchors recorded, 73 percent were male but the figures sportscasters and meteorologists, both predominantly male fields. In Minneapolis, KARE anchor Pat Miles knows what it's like being pegged as young and green: In her first job in front of the camera, in Denver, she was called "perky Pat." Now a seasoned veteran.

Miles has occupied an anchor chair since she began sharing WCCO weekend-newscast duties with Don Shelby in 1978, graduated to the 10 p.m. newscast and moved to KARE nearly 10 years ago. hile she feels that her on-air relationship with co-anchor Paul Magers is that of an equal, she said, "I don't know if that translates into making as much money or having the same position." iional ilung I didn't grow up with stereotypes." agreed that even five years ago. someone with Courie's pert looks and peppy demeanor would have been considered too much ut cheerleader stereotype lo take a leading role. Nor would ellin faced NBC reporter Kelly O'honnell.

who was assigned to cover one of the most important stories ol the year, the Timothy McVeigh trial. lelevision has long been "an old man's business and a young woman's business." said James Carey, who teaches journalism ethics at Columbia. "Discrimina-tion can work both ways." In olh-ei words, while only dewy-fresh leinale laces gel anchoring opportunities, men must wait until hey 'v gone gray at the temples. I hat's another old rule that's getting broken more often these days; at least on the women's side, according to Eric Braun, vice president of the broadcast-talent consultant group Frank Magid and TOWN CENTER SAVINGS CINEMA i in r.rv-v ALL SEATS 1.50 ALL JHOWS JUST SMOWTIMB FOP. WK OHUNE JUNE 19 ONLY EXCEPT SPKIAlENCACEMtNT AP ON TV iPKIAt admission 12 10.

4.40, 9 00 fftl MON THUR 4 40 9 00 Deb the psychic forecasts fall TV season THE SAINT SAT-SUN 10 6 30 fRI. MON-THUR i 10 6 JO JUNGLE TO JUNCLE 'pa SAT -SUN 12 05 4 35, 8 fRI MON-THUR 4 35.8 50'' SIXTH MAN "61" SAT -SUN 2 20 6 45 fRI MON-THUR 5 20 6 45 VOLCANO lP4U1 SAT-SUN 12 00 4 30 840 fRI MON-THUR 4 30 8 40 SAT -SUN. 2.15 6 35 FRI MON-THUR 3 15 6 35 chief. Jamie Tarses. should feel secure despite rumors that her job already is in jeopardy: Deb sees her as an explosive arrow "shwting for the The vibes wilted, however, for "Total Security," an ABC drama about a high-tech security force starring James Belushi and James Remar.

And Deb worried that "The Gregory Hines Show," a new CBS comedy, might not properly showcase the actor-dancer's talents (although she said the network's hunt for younger viewers will pay off). Saving the biggest prediction for last, we offer Deb's take on "Dhar-ma and Greg." a romantic comedy on ABC about a hippie offspring and her blueblood love. Dharma "is gonna be the new word of the "90s." Deb said, defining it as the step beyond karma in the realm of Eastern spirituality. "Dharma is when you close out the karmic book and have no more debts to pay. You're an enlightened master.

That has so much subliminal "BAM!" lo it." Take her reaction to NBC's new sitcom "Jenny" starring MTV pinup Jenny McCarthy as formed with the help of soothsaying cards. "I'm going to do one quick (card) butterfly on it to see how the energy flows that jumped off the deck! That's gonna be a hit!" exclaimed Deb. Her take on "Veronica's Closet." an NBC sitcom starring Alley as the owner of a Victoria's Secret-like lingerie business, was equally enthusiastic. "I'm really, really picking up a good feeling about it. There's an aspect of Kirstie that makes her America's sweetheart of the '90s.

I really sense some good expansion, conceptually, around the show." Two psychic thumbs up, as well, for "Hiller and Diller," a new ABC sitcom starring Kevin Nealon and Richard Lewis as TV writing partners struggling with fatherhood. "I think it's already funny," Deb said. "I like each of their energies individually and collectively. I bet the synergy is just an absolute. The outtakes of that would probably have you on the floor.

A big hit." (ABC's fledgling programming Thursday viewing Scrlpps Howard News Service "Our Turn To Play," 7 p.m., Lifetime. Actress Geena Davis hosts a one-hour special that marks the 25th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, which mandated that women's sports should be funded at the same level. "Seinfeld," 9 p.m NBC. Jerry joins a tennis club where the pro is a lousy player; George is too late in concocting a wtty comeback to an insult. One of the funniest episodes of the season, and.

as NBC so adeptty points out, if you haven't seen it, it's new to you. "Turning Point," 10 p.m., ABC. Scheduled: an investigation into the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. ponders whether James Earl Ray actually killed the civil rights leader. "Cla of 2000," 10 p.m., CBS.

What this year's high-school freshmen think of their futures and the problems facing America. utive sacrifices. Maybe the intuitive approach would be more productive. Besides. TV's current love affair with the paranormal X-Files." et al) made ii feel spiritually correct.

In picking a psychic service fronted by a certain Hollywood quasi celebrity, we luckily stumbled on to Deb (first names only, please). "Wow!" she said, when confronted with the challenge, immediately sensing its significance. Although a Midwest resident, she had once moved in Hollywood circles; clearly. Talc5 had brought us together. The cost to peer into the future was not cheap S3.

99 a minute but it proved a bargain. Deb's predictions for new shows tended to parallel those of fellow secis like Media Group, an-ilysts who boast a "94 percent accuracy rate in projecting new series successes and failure." Given little more than a new show's title. network and sometimes star. LVb popped out instant analysis rivaling the coherence of "The McLaughlin Group" or "Capital And much more entertaining. ALWAVS 2 MOVIES KiDS FREE OPENS 8 00 8 30 ADDICTED TO LOVE By Lynn Elber AP Television Writer LOS I.S We jiisl couldn't wait to see what will be hoi on television this tall.

So we dialed up Deb, the telephone psvehk. Let media analysts and anxious networks pore ovci computer punt outs; Deb merely needs to feel the vibe. She connected with the llW7 season, and it was good Well, good for some Kifs'tie Alley. you are America's situuli queen' i. itisup pointing for othefs.

As a bonus. rb even threw in a little cosmic insight With a record 120-plus series on the six broadcast nelwoiks this Sep teniher. including 37 new shows, we'd decided that serious guidance was required. So Deb was the. one we hand-picked you would like to be connected to the next available psychic, press 2 to take us through the TV maze.

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