The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 27

The Ottawa Citizen, Sunday, January 26, 1997 C5 Preview Biggest TV event, or the biggest money can buy? T. ers, snack-food companies and sporting goods manufacturers flock to the Super BowL The Oscars are sponsored principally by cosmetic companies and clothing retailers. The upshot is that not only do companies spend more for Super Bowl airtime (almost twice as much as they do for commercial time on the Oscars), they also become part of the hoopla itself, with stunts such as 3-D commercials, or commercials that are produced and edited during the game. The Super Bowl's producers add to the program's drawing power with the If you were asked to choose a host for the biggest television event of the year, would you pick Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen DeGeneres or John Mad-jden? If you thought about it for a moment, you'd choose Madden, the unlovely and, in the great scheme of things, un-STknown football commentator. That is the biggest television event of each and every year (officially, at least) 1 has nothing to do with the entertain-ment side of TV that dominates the rest of the year.

TV's behemoth is, of course, the Supper Bowl, that great, oily blemish that Ilrises to a head in the crease between programming and the Feb-ruary ratings sweeps. Madden will be hosting this year's edition at about 6:18 p.m. tonight on Fox and Global. The question is, how did an artifi-daily inflated American football game with little history tradition or even tZ' genuine excitement become the biggest annual TV event in the world, 'boasting not only the largest official -audience (somewhere around 140 viewers) and the most expensive commercial spots (about $1.5 million 'ZZJJ-S. for 30 seconds), but also the most outlandish attendant antics (like com-; mercials with higher production costs and more keenly anticipated pre--jnieres than some Hollywood movies)? On the surface, everything militates against the Super Bowl's coronation as the world's top TV show.

First there is the matter of the sport's profile. While Monday Night Football is undoubtedly jthe most successful sports program in "the U.S., even among Americans it is "nowhere near as popular as such dra-mas as E.R. or sitcoms like Home Improvement. In Canada, where NFL football has AP photo Would you choose this man as host of the biggest broadcast event of the year? The unlovely John Madden is front and centre in TV's behemoth, the Super Bowl, tonight on Fox and Global. point of view of a consumer economy chiefly designed to gratify the desires of sweaty young men.

Little more than one-third of the audience for the Oscars is male. The Super Bowl has a much more desirable and, strangely more equitable split. The audience analysis for one recent Super Bowl found it to be 57 per cent men and 43 per cent women. That means that TV advertising's biggest and most flamboyant spenders beer companies, automobile mak numbers the bulk of which are in the U.S. show the Academy Awards trailing the Super Bowl, it is generally estimated that the Oscars are watched by a largely unrecordable worldwide audience that tops one billion.

Ah, but you see it is only the U.S. numbers that count among TV's kingmakers: the advertisers. And in the U.S. ratings, the Academy Awards show is a double loser. Not only is its overall audience smaller, its demographics are wrong at least from the WEEK'S TV HIGHLIGHTS Tony Atherton TELEVISION its greatest support outside the U.S., the sport is easily eclipsed by Hockey Night In Canada.

In the rest of the world, NFL football has proved itself to be about as exportable as a Dennis Rodman Color-Me-Bad Hair Dye Kit. On top of this you have the distinct lack of entertainment value in the game itself. Super Bowl games are routinely lopsided affairs; you can get as much excitement in three hours of watching the community billboard channel. The truth is that the Super Bowl is not the top TV event, but a pretender to the throne with the backing of a lot of powerful courtiers. The true and rightful TV event of the season is the Academy Awards show in March.

True in the sense that the Oscars are a truly international event; American movies and movie stars have an infinitely greater hold on the world's imagination than American football and football stars. Rightful in the sense that the Oscars' claim to TV supremacy is as old as the medium itsetf. Sure, the official records show that the biggest TV audience belongs to the Super Bowl, but audience records are less reliable, it seems, the further you stray from A.C. Nielsen's New York head office. While verifiable audience THIS in a motorhome.

It attempts to be an inner travelogue, chronicling not jut the peregrinations of these nomads but their thoughts on love, sex, friendship, death and the afterlife. There's a sense that this film started out to be one thing an examination of a fascinating subculture and ended up to be something more personal and less frolicsome. It was co-produced with the NFB by filmmakers David Mortin and Patricia Fogliato. Movie Highlights: The Omega Man (Charlton Heston, 1971, Citytv at 1 p.m.); A Thousand Clowns (Jason Robards, Barbara Harris, Bravo! at 2 p.m.); Blame It On The Belboy(Dudley Moore, Bryan Brown, CHRO at 4 p.m.); The Joy Luck Club (Kieu Chinh, 1993, NBC at 8 p.m.); Black Orpheus (Marcel Camus film, 1959, Showcase at 11 p.m.); Youngblood (Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Citytv at 12:05 a.m.); Lost Hon-zon (Peter Finch, Liv Ullman, Bravo! at 12:30 a.m.); Oxford Blues (Rob Lowe, Ally Sheedy, Citytv at 2:35 a.m.); Bunny Lake is Missing (Carol Lynley, Laurence Olivier, at 4 a.m.) Tuesday Titanic's Lost Sister: PBS at 8 p.m. Largely buried beneath the avalanche of folklore about the Titanic and its fateful maiden voyage, is the fact that shipwrights created two nearly identical sister ships to the luxury ocean liner, with improvements to the hull design to prevent the kind of calamity that befell the prototype.

One of them, the Britannic was sunk just four years later, at the height of the First World War, the victim, it was presumed, of enemy fire. But why would the Germans torpedo what had been refitted as a hospital ship for the war, and why would the ship sink as quickly as it did as the result of one torpedo? In this Nova episode, oceanogra-pher Robert Ballard leads an expedition to the sunken ship to see whether some of the ship's mysteries can be solved. naimme snow, 10 mmutes oi tne most overproduced schtick in show business. It is precisely the kind of tackiness that the Oscars consciously shed years ago. Obviously, what the Oscars need is a fresh infusion of tackiness.

It could start by broadcasting the Oscars on Sunday instead of Monday nights. That way Barbara Walters could team up with Entertainment Tonight for a pre-awards show, with the awards show itself scheduled at a reasonable 6 p.m., thus accommodating boozy Oscar parties on both sides of the continent. Oscar producers should also consider glitzy production numbers featuring the American Gladiators and stars of the WWF paying homage to the oeu-vre of Dolph Lundgren. And finally, at the midpoint of the Oscar show, strategically placed after the video clips for the new award for best performance by a naked supermodel, the program should pause for a halftime football game. Then watch those beer ads start pouring in.

You can read this column, plus previous Atherton columns, at the Ottawa Citizen Online, http:www.ottawacitizen.com project. It hearkens back to a 1991 show that determined that the U.S. "war on drugs" was a waste of time, money and human life. Movie Hiehliehts: Little ShoD of Horrors (Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Citytv at 1 p.m.); The Jungle Book (Sabu, 1942, Bravo! at 2 p.m.); The Caretakers (Robert Stack, Joan Crawford, CHRO at 4 p.m.); Freejack (Emilio Estevez, Mick Jag-ger, ABC and Citytv at 9 p.m.); The Adventures ofFaustus Bidgood (Andy Jones, Greg Malone, CBC at 1 a.m.); Agatha (Vanessa Redgrave, Dustin Hoffman, Bravo! at 12:30 a.m.); Hopscotch (Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Citytv at 2:25 a.m.). Friday Biasfear: CBC at 3 p.m.

The CBC's low-profile anthology series for up-and-coming independent filmmakers includes this very short, and cleverly titled, drama which frames every interaction in the course of its limited plot as a reaction to various stereotypes and prejudices and to the fear they engender. Rita Friends: CBC at 8 p.m. John McDermott returns as Rita MacNeil's guest along with singer Chantal Krevi-azuk and the band Soul Attorneys. Movie Highlights: The Last Starfighter (Lance Guest, Robert Preston, Citytv at 1 p.m.); Chapter Two (James Caan, Marsha Mason, Bravo! at 1:45 a.m.); Cold Turkey (Dick Van Dyke, Tom Poston, CHRO at 4 p.m.); Clear and Present Dan-ger(Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, Citytv at 8 p.m.); Cffhanger(Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, CJOH at 9 p.m.); The Road Warrior: Mad Max II (Mel Gibson, 1981, at 9 p.m.); Tne Best Intentions (Bergman film, 1992, TVO at 10. p.m.); Delta Force (Chuck Norris, 1990, Citytv at 12:05 a.m.); Catch-22 (Alan Arkin, Richard Benjamin, Bravo! at 2:30 a.m.); The Dresser (Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay, at 4 a.m.) reptitiously and often for ho discernible reason, to a largely unofficial blacklist of suspected subversives during the Cold War.

The film exposes Canada's spin on McCarthyism, far less flamboyant than the witch-hunts of the U.S. House Com mission on Un-American Activities, but, in some ways, more disturbing. The film also looks at Maurice Duplessis' Red Squads in Quebec, which raided houses and confiscated books in the name of stopping the communist menace. Primetime Live: ABC at 10 p.m. Barry Scheck, a onetime lawyer for O.J.

Simpson, talks about the breakthrough in criminal investigation resulting from DNA evidence, and his involvement in the "Innocence which analyses DNA samples in order to free falsely convicted individuals. Movie Highlights: The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (Citytv at 12:30 p.m., Paul Newman, Ava Gardner); The Great White Hope (James Earl Jones, Jane Alexander, Bravo! at 2 p.m.); Cotton Comes To Harlem (Godfrey Cambridge, 1970, CJOH at 12:35 a.m.); The Man In The White Suit (Alec Guinness, 1951, CBC at 1 a.m.); The Stunt Man (Peter O'Toole, Barbara Hershey, Citytv, 1:35 a.m.); 10 Rillington Place (Richard Atten-borough, Judy at 4 a.m.) Thursday The Lady's Not For Burning: Vision TV at 8:30 p.m. Originally telecast a decade ago by Yorkshire Television to mark the 80th birthday of playwright Christopher Fry, this 90-minute adaptation of Fry's whimsical, thought-provoking medieval drama stars a young Kenneth Branagh and Cherie Lunghi. The Nature of Things: CBC at 9 p.m. A couple of years ago, executive producer James Murray began updating old episodes of the show to make the most of the series' diminishing budget.

Tonight's program, Dealing With Drugs: New Options, is the latest renovation What Happened To Bobby Earl: CBS at 9 p.m. When a college kid (Drew Ebersole) disappears, his mother sets out to learn what happened in this TV movie. Women: A True Story: CTV at 10 p.m. In Body Politics, the third instalment in this six-hour documentary series, host and narrator Susan Sarandon examines the place of fashion, fitness and health issues as they have helped to define the place of women through the ages. Movie Highlights: Shore, Carla Gugino, Fox at 8 p.m.); A Passage To India (Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, Showcase at 11 p.m.); Eye of the Needle (Donald Sutherland, Kate Nel-ligan, Citytv at 11:35 p.m.); The Five Heartbeats (Robert Townsend, Michael Wright, Bravo! at 12:30 a.m.); The Lavender Hill Mob (Alec Guiness, Stanley Hol-loway, CBC at 1 a.m.) Wednesday Flash Forward: RETURN.

Family Channel at 8 p.m. Following up on a Gemini-winning four-part pilot series last year, this 26-half-hour series continues to examine the ups and downs of adolescence as seen through the eyes of lifelong best friends, Becca (Jewel Staite) and Tucker (Ben Foster) as they enter Grade 8. Life Times: CBC at 8 p.m. Patty Corv klin, the Coney Island peanut vendor who went on to found a popular Canadian carnival, is profiled. Conklin is best remembered for his development of the midway at the CNE and his gradual monopolization of the midways across Canada.

Popular Science: TLC at 8:30 p.m. The mechanics of a modern-day rock concert are exposed on tonight's episode. And not just any rock concert, but one of the glitziest and most effects-laden travelling show around: the KISS Worldwide Tour. The Un-Canadians: Citytv at 9 p.m. Starting with with his own father, filmmaker Len Scher considers the fate of Canadians whose names were appended, sur Today Andy Griffith Show Marathon: TBS beginning at 10:05 a.m.

Pucker up, because you'll be whistling this vintage sitcom's theme song for 16 hours if you to spend your day in laid-back instead of on an over-hyped 'football gridiron. Super Bowl Sunday: Fox andor Global, -i i 'various times. The Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots kick off at a 6:18 p.m. assuming you're interested In the game itself, probably the least glamorous aspect of Super Bowl Sunday. The real audience draw is the high-priced commercials and the halftime show, which this year has a blues theme inspired by the game's Louisiana Super-dome location.

Ottawa's Dan Aykroyd is joined by his latter day Blues Brothers Jim Belushi and John Goodman for a 10-minute performance that will also feature the original Soul Man, James Brown, and bluesy rockers ZZ Top. Earlier (1:30 p.m. on Fox), John Madden spends 90 minutes unveiling his choices for an all-star Super Bowl team of players from the past three decades. That leads into a mammoth 3V2-hour pre-game show. Roch Voisine: Kissing Rain: CBC at 8 If you've got a hankering to see how the New Brunswick lad is adjusting to life in L.A.

(he drives a Mercedes convertible and lives in a timber-and-fieldstone plea-'-" sure palace), this may be the show for you. You'll just have to excuse host Sonia Benezra's need to ferret out some Canadian connection in every nuance of Voi-. sine's life. The hour-long special also features some carefully stage-managed concert footage from Montreal. My prob-lem with the sweet-voiced Voisine is that -the more I see of him, the rftore I think of Ottawa comedianproducer Derek Diorio doing parody of a smarmy balladeer.

Movie Highlights: Lawrence of Arabia (Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, WNPE-PI- PBS at 10:20 a.m.); Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (4-hour TV mini-series, Powers Boothe, at 11 a.m.); Blind Date (Bruce Willis, Kim Basinger, WTN at 2 p.m.); The Wizard of Oz (Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, YTV at 6 p.m.); All Creatures Great and Small (Anthony Hop-kins, 1974, TVO at 6:30 p.m.); Doc Holly- vvoodfMichael J. Fox, Bridget Fonda, NBC at 7 p.m.); Monkey Business (Cary I Grant, Ginger Rogers, WTN at 8 p.m.); National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, NBC at 9 p.m.); Beaches (Bette Midler, Barbara Hershey, CTV at 9 p.m.); Back To The Beach (Annette Funicello, 1987, Citytv at 1a.m.); Honeysuckle Rose (Dyan Can- non, Willie Nelson, Bravo! at 1 a.m.) Hi Monday Sarah McLachlan: Live In Concert: MuchMusic at 8 p.m. Clips from a con- cert last year in Montreal and footage of the singer songwriter at her recording studio in this Big Ticket special. The American Music Awards: ABC and CTV at 8 p.m. Slated for three hours from the Shrine Civic Auditorium in Los Angela les, the 24th annual awards show will include a tribute to Little Richard, and the presentation of the International artist award to the BeeGees.

Comedian Sinbad hosts the show whose winners, chosen by public ballot, could include Canadians Alanls Morissette and Shania Twain. The pair will also almost certainly feature in a Garth Brooks celebration of women in music in the past year. The American Experience: PBS at 9 p.m. Tonight's dramatic history lesson tells of Llli'uokalani, Hawaii's last queen, trained in western ways by missionaries, but still a symbol of traditional Hawaiian culture when her throne was taken at gunpoint by the U.S. In 1893.

Knife To The Heart: PBS at 10 p.m. On the 30th anniversary of the first success- ful heart transplant (by South Africa's Dr. Chrlstlaan Barnard), Connie Chung looks at the history and the legacy of the now relatively common surgery In this four-Z part documentary series, which contirv ues on subsequent Mondays. 10 p.m. A portrait of three senior citizens, each of -whom is spending his or her retirement travelling the highways of North America PRIMETIME 'SUNDAY, JANUARY 26 I Source I 7:00 p.m.

7:30 p.m. 8:00 p.m. 8:30 p.m. 9:00 p.m. 9:30 p.m.

10:00 p.m. 10:30 p.m. 18 24 TVO "(iiio) Movie "All Creatures Great and Small" Heartbeat National Geographic (CC) A.Gregg Mastermind 12 6 Global (6:00) NFL Football: Super Bowl XXXI: Green Bay Packers vs. New England Patriots. (Live) (CC) Super Bowl Postgame The X-Files (CC) Q23 (EBP Monde cesolr jftein les bras (R) 1 Grands reportages (CC) Le Journal RDI(CC) Scully RDI Telejoumal (CC) Second regard (CC) 5 49 CFGS Sonia Benezra rencontre L'HeureJMP Movie "Plule noire" (1989, drame policier) Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia.

(CC) (until 11:40) 7 "l3 CJOH Lois Clark: New Adventures of Superman (CC) Funniest Home Videos Funniest Home Videos Movie "Beaches" (1988, drama) Bette Midler, Barbara Hershey, John Heard. (CC) (until 11:30) 7 WWNY (6:00) NR Football: Super Bowl XXXI: Green Bay Packers vs. New England Patriots. (Live) (CC) Super Bowl Postgame Touched by an Angel (R)(CC) 2 4 CBOT Wind at My Back (CC) 1 Roch Voisine: Kissing Rain iDawnoftheEye Sunday Report (CC) (10:25) Venture (CC) 20 10 WHEC Movie "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" (1989, comedy) Chevy Chase. (CC) C3 10 40 CHOT fr30) Movie "Les AventuresdeZaketCrysta" I Movie "Medeclne Man" (1992, drame d'aventures) Sean Connery, Lorraine Bracco, Jose Wilker, NouveHes(CC) CI 3 9 CBOFT Surprise sur prise (CC) Movie "le Club de la chance" (1993, drame) Rosalind Chao, Tamlyn Tomita.

France Nuyen. (CC) Telejoumal (CC) (B 39 TFO Schubert Movie "Louis, enfant roT (1992, drame historique) Carmen Maura, Maxime Mansion, Paolo Graziosi. Destinations 21 8 WROC Cronkrte Remembers (R) (CC) Touched by an Angel (R) (CC) Movie "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story" (docudrama) (CC) 14 60 CFMT Jump Cut Agenda South Asian Newsweek (CC) Mandarin Lens Chlnese Business Hour Chinese Tangram 19 13 WOKR LoisS Clark: Superman (R)(CC) Funniest Home Videos Funnlest Home Videos Movie "Hijacked: night 285" (1996, suspense) Casey Sander, Anthony Michael Hall. (CC) 11 18 WNPI All Creatures Great Small Nature (CC) Masterpiece Theatre (Conclusion) (CC) EastEnders EE 6 5 CHRO Savannah (CC) Funniest Home Videos Funnlest Home Videos Movie "Beaches" (1988, drama) Bette Midler, Barbara Hershey, John Heard. (CC) (until 11:30) E8 22 RC22 Fanfare College Basketball: Toronto vs, Carleton, (Tape) ED 58 (VSKTJ Day of Discovery Possessing the Nation Let's Sing Again! Songs of Praise Bemlce Gerard Ministries Catch the Fire iDoorofHope 68 45 CHIP Small Talk (CC) ReBoot(CC) Afraid of the Dark? They Must Be Madl HrtUst(CC) S3 24 (N W) On the Une With Patrick Conkxi Air Farce Farce The Passionate Eye (CC) National Sports (CC) 05 CWTN3 Marilyn Monroe: Her Ufe Her Death A Change of View Sunday Se Show 63 43 12 CFCF Lois Clark: New Adventures of Superman (CC) Funniest Home Videos Funnlest Home Videos Movie "Beaches" (1988, drama) Bette Midler, Barbara Hershey, John Heard.

(CC) (until 11:30) ED 39 (MM) Combat des Clips Rock Roll (CC) Elvis: The Early Years MuchMuslc Countdown SD 32 QStfl Snooker: World Cup Quarterfinal Match. (Tape) Iworid's Strongest Man Competition World's Strongest Man Competition ED 28 CAE0 Ancient Mysteries With Leonard Nlmoy Daredevils! America's Castles (CC) EB 40 CTNff) In-Flsherman Bill Dance Outdoors GoFlshl Back Road Adventures Championship Rodeo RaceDay NHRA Today SD 38 (CNN3 Capital Gang Sunday crossfire Sunday PrlmeNews (CC) Route '97 (R) CNN Presents (CC) The Worid Today EB 36 CTLC BodyStyles BodyStylet whySe7 The Biology of Love EB 15 fJVSj Nouvelles(CC) LaToumeedu grand Due Bouillon de culture Nouvellet EB 31 CF 0)Q (6:00) HR Football: Super Bowl XXXI: Green Bay Packers vs. New England Patriots. (Live) (CC) super Bowl Postgame The X-Files (CC) EE (SHOW (6:00) Movie "The Wild Pony" (1982, drama) Movk "The Accident" (1983, suspense) Terence Kelly, FlonaReid, Frank Perry, Tracey Ullman Hale 4 Pace CB 35 rjRAV02 Festival of Animation EmltyCarf (Conclusion) Bob's Birthday Movte "La1bcfrir" (1976. biography) Roger E.

Mosiey. Paul Benjamin. Mange Sinclair. 0) 33 CRDSJ (6:00) Football de la Ugue Natlonale: Super Bowl XXXI. (Live) Le Monde du sport Shl: TamTam Ski Show, CB 34 CpiSQ Dlscovory.ca(CC) Jaguar Year of the Cat In the Wild (CC) Kingdoms of Survival (CC) CB 37 ClIFEQ Animal Adv'tures Nature Walk Chatelaine Company Gardening Martha Stewart living A Day In the Country Homes by Design Real Collector's Guide CD 54 CSBK) Cheem(CC) Cheers (CC) Viper (R) (CC) News M'A'S'H CB 52 CTBS3 (7:05) Andy Griffith Andy Griffith (8:05) Andy Griffith (8:35) Andy Griffith (9:05) Andy Griffith Andy Griffith (10:05) Andy Oritfrth (10:35) Andy Ortffrth CD 53 (WCN) Brotherly Love (R) ICQ Nick Freno: Teacher Sister, Sister (R) (CC) The Parent 'Hood (R) Unhappily Ever After life With Roger (R) News(CC) (10:40) 'nstsnt Replay QD JWPIX) Brotherly Love (Ri(CC) Nick Freno: Teacher sister, Sister (R)(CC) fhe Parent 'Hood (R) unhappily Ever After life With Roger (R) News (CO HP (KTLA) (6:00) Movie Movie "Plppl on the Run" (1977, children) Inger Nilsson, Maria Persson, Par Sundberg.

Coach (CC) Brotherly Love (R)CC) Ntck Freno: Teacher jfl 50 rjfltyp Mysterious Island Rash Forward (CC) Movie "Trading Mom" (1994, fantasy) Sissy SpaceK, Anna Chlumsky. (CC) Movie "By the Light of tne Silvery Moon" (1953, musical comedy) ED 51 PIX Movie "36 Hours" (1964, suspense) James Garner, Eva Mane Saint, Rod Taylor, Movie "The Decline of the American Empire" (comedy-drama) (CC) (10:45) Movie EB 48 QMpI) (6:00) Movie "Apollo 13" (1995, historical drama) Tom Hanks, (CC) AriISS (CC) Movle romancecomedy) Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, Greg Kmnear, (CC) CB 8 30 CIVO En plelne nature Plalslr de lire ICC) Windows CB 17 "57 CITY loohlala(CC) Speakers Comer MedlaTelevlslon(CC) Movie Television (CC) Mov)e "A Dream Wish Yww toartMikM: The Aro 1 I.