Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 481

ON THE COVER There's a New Soapie in Town the The theme song fairly oozes sap: Neighbors everybody needs good neighbors 5:30 on a weekday afternoon You're tuned to an independent commercial station This can't be "Mister Rogers" so it must be a rerun of an insipid family sitcom that grew old and died in network prime time Right? Wrong-o mate ''Neighbours'' (note the British Commonwealth spelling) is an Australian soap opera that made its local debut last week on WWOR 9 However hardly brand-new began life on Australia's Channel 7 in March 1985 but got the ax after only four months The following January the serial resurfaced on Channel 10 and ratings soared Aussies developed a fascination with teenage lovers Charlene Mitchell (played by Kylie Min-ogue who went on to pop singing stardom) and Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan) When the BBC picked up in the fall of '86 Brits flipped as well The as they say Down Under launched a bi-coastal invasion of America this month establishing a Los Angeles beachhead at KCOP 13 Rather than deny New York-area viewers the least bit of historical background Ch 9 started from the very first of the 1515 half-hours taped thus far If you begin watching tomorrow you'll have to sit tight for approximately 170 episodes before Scott meets Charlene (In the early going Scott is even played by a different actor Darius Perkins) Who else is worth spying on among the residents of Ramsey Street in suburban Melbourne? be well advised to keep an eye on Daphne When picked 'Neighbours' 1 986 flipped (Elaine Smith) the stripper who moved in with Des (Paul Keane) after his fiancee Lorraine (Antoinette Byron) jilted him at the instigation of his meddlesome ex-girlfriend Julie (Vikki Blanche) Meanwhile hormonal Scott is trying to strike up a little action with shy Kim (Jenny Young) despite the interference of his friend Danny (David Clencie) who secretly monitored their first tryst and the opposition of her mother (Maureen Edwards) a teacher who seems monumentally uptight about sex especially steamy as soapies go In fact Daphne is surprisingly wholesome for a strip-teaser preferring housecleaning to home-wrecking Scott's father Jim (Alan Dale) is an easygoing widower whose biggest problem last week was starting his balky lawnmower Noticing that Jim stands up and yawns at the same time each evening his mother-in-law (Anne Haddy) remarked in a rut Jim Robinson" Jim took this as a compliment The liveliest of the neighbors is the most obnoxious Max (Francis Bell) father of Danny demeans the kid at every opportunity while relentlessly training his other son Shane (Peter O'Brien) for the Olympic diving trials Of course idea of training is nonstop yelling also in a stew over Daphne claiming the presence of a known ecdysiast will lower neighborhood property values This flaming drongo (Aussie slang for idiot) is chronically narky (ill-tempered) As a thoroughly middle-class unglamorous soapie "Neighbours" has appropriately modest production values The acting however is uniformly competent It rates a polite Terry Kelleher BBC up in Brits as well THE STARS Pillow Talk': Rock and Dorisat their teasing zenith Fri at 6 am on (SHE Cage aux Folles': The gayrench farce Thu night at 3 am on (PSA) BUFF STUFF Steele Is Missing" Thu at 1:30 5:30 pm on (ABC) Marlene Dietrich: "Destry Rides Wed at 7 pm 1 am on ABC the following all Thu on THE "Blonde Venus" noon 8 pm Express" 1:35 pm 3 am "Song of Songs" 3 pm 4:30 pm "Witness for the 6 pm "The Scarlet Empress" 9:45 pm "A Foreign Affair" 11:30 pm "Seven Sinners" 1:30 am 'Suspicion': Hitchcock has Cary Grant menace Joan Fontaine Mon at 7 pm 2 am on (ABE Quirky comedy puts Burt Lancaster in Scotland Mon night at 2 am on (D Come Back Charleston The return of Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Tue night at 2 am on CD The Caine Mutiny': Bogart squirms Wed at 9 am on (BAX) 'Manhattan': Woody Allen's island Wed at 3 pm on Hondo': John Wayne in 3-D on TV for the first time Wed at 8 pm on The Naked Civil Servant': John Hurt as Quentin Crisp Thu at 9 4 am on CB A Face in the Crowd': Andy Griffith makes it big on TV in fiction Thu at 10:35 pm on (TNT) Sergeant York': Gary Cooper at war Thu at 11:15 pm on (TBS) MOVIE THEMES 'Four Compilation from Buster Keaton Laurel Hardy Charley Chase Sun at 7 pm 2:30 am on (ABE 'This Is Your Life': Harold Lloyd Sun night at 4:30 am Phil Harris Wed at 2:30 6:30 pm on ABC Reflections on the Silver Screen': Gregory Peck Thu at 10:30 pm 4:30 am on ABE The Making ot "Terminator Schwarzenegger said he'd be back Thu at 10:35 pm on (SHE) Champlin on Film': Kevin Costner Sat at 7:30 pm and next Sun at 5 am on BRV Diane Werts Abbott Costello: Meet Frankenstein" Sun at 8 a 4:40 a "Meet Boris Karloff" Sun at 9:30 a and Fri at 8 a on CHE1 "Africa Screams" Tue at 10 a on COM William Powell: "Ziegfeld Follies" Sun at 10:30 a and Thu at 1:05 pm on MAX) "My Man Godfrey" Mon at 10 am and "Libeled Lady" Sat at 8 am on IS HO James Stewart: Glenn Miller Story" Sun at 12:30 pm on SHO "Ziegfeld Girl" Wed at 8 a on THE 'Destry Rides Again" Wed at 7 1 a and "American Movie Legend" profile Sat at 2:30 9:30 pm on Came Carole Lombard: My Man Godfrey" Mon at 10 am and "We're Not Dressing" Wed at 1 0 am on (SHE "Nothing Sacred" Tue at noon on "Mr and Mrs Smith" Tue at 7 pm 12:30 am on ABC The Barrymores: John in Dick" Tue night at 3:05 am and "The Mad Genius" Fri at 10 am on TNT John Jr in "Quebec" Tue at 4 pm on (TNT) Lionel in "Ah Wilderness!" Mon at 6 am on SHE Peter Lorre: "The Mask of "The Face Behind the and "The Beast With Five Fingers" Wed at 10 am noon 1:30 pm "Mad Fri at 11:45 am all on TRT The Falcon: "Strikes Back" Mon at 8:30 am and Thu at 11 am 3 pm both on ABE the following all Mon on (TNT) "In Hollywood" 10am "And the Co-Eds" 11:30 am Gay Falcon" 1 pm "In San Francisco" 2:30 pm Monkey business: "King Kong" Wed at 3:30 pm of Kong" Thu at 2:30 pm and Joe Sat at 1 pm on TNT) "Kong Island" Sat night at 4:07 am on Directed by Orson Welles: "Citizen Kane" Thu at 8 pm on (TNT) "The Magnificent Ambersons" Sat at 4:30 11:30 pm on ABC Movie Guides 6 Cable Conversion Guide Sports 20 Daily Logs 21 Other Channels 56 TV Line 57 Crossword 57 Off the Wall 58 Listers Norma Davenport Betty Meehan Lesley Mooney Patricia Stewart Covor Photo: Grundy Television JUST FUN TV Plus Manager Ronnie Gill Assistant editor Carol Burton Terry Henry V': Kenneth Branagh's 1989 Shakespearean romp premieres Sun at 9 pm and Thu at 9:30 pm on (DIE NEWSDAY 5 JUNE 23 29 199!.