The Messenger from Madisonville, Kentucky • 30

I I I1 14 TV Guide This Week Thursday, January 2, 1997 fnA i oNu Spelling takes the dive into daytime withSunset Beach i mmm i "Santa He also was an executive story editor on "Melrose Place" and "Models, Inc." Sunset-Beach is a small town that was created out of the. love of a handsome European aristocrat and a woman he met on the beach at sunset. The couple married he built a beachfront castle as a monument to their eternal love. But today's Sunset Beach is a typical Southern California oceanfront community. The stories focus on the lives of the very wealthy and the regular working Joes who make up the population of the fictional town.

Ashley Hamilton BY TAYLOR MICHAELS TV Data Features Syndicate My mother and I arehav-ing a disagreement about the recent TV movie remake of "Bye Bye Birdie." I say Jason Alexander played Conrad Birdie, but my mother says no. Who's right? -A fan in Montpelier, Vt. Your mom has you on a technicality. Alexander did star in the TV movie, but he played Albert Peterson, Conrad Birdie's manager. Newcomer Marc Kudisch played Birdie himself.

Could you please tell me about the actor who played Phil on "Murphy Brown" and why he was written out of the show? -Bill Bolen, Sarasota, Fla. Pat Corley, 66, walked away from his "Murphy" role after eight seasons simply because he wanted to do other things, says CBS publicist Toni Moston. Before he struck gold on "Murphy," the Dallas-born character actor had series roles in the short-, lived drama "Bay City Blues" and the equally brief sitcom "He's the Mayor." Among his films on video are the 1981 TV movie "Of Mice and Men," "Mr. Destiny, Night Shift" and "Silent Witness." I understand from an Internet newsgroup that has picked up the syndication rights for "Northern Exposure," but we have heard conflicting dates about when they will actually begin airing the episodes, either in January or September. Do you know? Also, will they be complete and unedited? -S.

Proto, Shelton, Conn. "Wow, the license doesn't even start until next October," says publicist Kathie Gordon, who adds that the episodes will begin airing at some undetermined point after that. She says it is possible that will air the unedited episodes (as. your letter implies, the commercially syndicated repeats were lighjjy edited), but it7 just too early to know for sure. Lunch is riding on this: Is the Terry' O'Quinn who has guest 1 starred on "Millennium" the same actor who played the psychopath in "The San Francisco.

Yes, he is.one.and thsame. BY CANDACE HAVENS TVData Fealures Syndicate Aaron Spelling is taking the plunge into daytime with "Sunset and the world will be watching to see if he sinks or swims. NBC's launching of the new soap, its first new serial in eight years, is like nothing seen before in daytime. The network is hoping the Spelling formula that made "Melrose Place" and "Beverly Hills, 90210" such hits will payoff in daytime. The Spelling touch is evident in all areas of production of the show, which premieres Monday, Jan.

6, on NBC. "We are doing more location shots than you see on most daytime shows," says Gary Tomlin, executive producer of "Sunset Most of the beach scenes are shot in Seal Beach, Calif. "We nyeded scenes in Kansas so we went to Kansas to shoot," Tomlin says. "There are prime-time production values to the show. But we are a soap opera." There has been a learning curve for the successful production company.

"We went on location for two Weeks, and the Spelling people looked at me like I was from Mars," Tomlin says. "They didn't think there was any way we could get that much material done. They are used to shooting one show in seven days, 26 shows a year. We shoot 260 shows a year." The setting for "Sunset Beach" is a small coastal town known for its romantic beaches. The cast has a Spelling feel; there are experienced actors mixed with fresh faces.

Sam Behrens Lesley-Anne Down, Kathleen Noone and Leigh Taylor-Young star with a variety of beautiful men and women. Spelling, known for taking unknowns and making them household names, now has a cast full of new faces. One of the newcomers viewers will meet is Susan Ward, whose character, Meg Cummings, sets the tone and pace of the show. "Meg goes through more in one day man most heroines go through in five years," Tomlin says. Now only tipie will tell if viewers decide to take the plunge with Spelling on 'Sunset Sunset Beach 0 hoping tomake a big splash BY CANDACE HAVENS TVData Features Syndicate It has been eight years since daytime fans have had a new serial to sink their teeth into.

It's been-even longer since there was a cast like the one Aaron Spelling has pulled together for "Sunset premiering Monday, Jan. 6, on NBC. This is Spelling's first foray into the daytime scene gind it promises, if nothing else, to be an interesting one. The cast Spelling has created is a mix of top names in television and new faces. It's as if Spelling went to the actors' department store and picked four heavy hitters, a couple of well-known daytime faces and some new ones to complete the mix.

Lesley-Anne Down, Sam Behrens, Kathleen Noone and Leigh Taylor-Young bring a certain class and depth to the show. Daytime fans will also rec-. ognize Peter Barton, Laura Harring and Timothy Adams. There is a serious hunk factor on the show thanks to Ashley Hamilton, son of George Hamilton and Alana Stewart; Nick Stabile; Clive Robertson; Jason George; Dax Griffin and Randy Spelling. Robert Guza, head writer and co-creator, says creating a show is "like playing God.

You create a world where you populate it with all these different people and then you complicate it," Guza says. "It's a blank canvas you can literally go anywhere. With a new show like "Sunset there's ho 20 years of back story to remember." Guza knows his soaps. He was a head writer for -'General Hospital" and Cohead writer and lM vmpmm "T'T" Hr.