Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 40

PITTSBURGH POST-OAZETTE MONDAY, JANUARY 11. 1999 TELEVISION ARTS ENTERTAINMENT HliiiqaviuiuiiiM. up TP A. CBS aims high with '60 Minutes II' Network encoumged by lead in rulings after several dismal seasons voyager's' Mulgrew hopes for hasty exit Ov Midseason al CBS much faith in the study. "They gave an A to some station in Indiana and praised them because this station never, ever runs any foreign news coverage," Rather said.

"I have a lot of difficulty saying a station gets an A in its newscast partly because it never runs any foreign news, so I hope I'll be forgoven if I don't take it too seriously if that's the way they're grading." He said KDKA is "trying very hard, like the rest of us, to hold onto the old values that are worth preserving and at the same time adjust to the realities of the marketplace. "This is very difficult," Rather said. "I've described it as like trying to change the fan belt on a moving Mercedes, Things are moving every day. But I know I KDKA is trying to run an integrity-based news opera Jott Katz photo Kate Mulgrew loves her character, Kathryn Janeway, on "Star Trek Voyager," but love of family comes first. tion and at the same time hold their ratings up." MORE FROM UPN: Entertainment president Tom Nunan said that despite a deal with Barry Son-nenfeld for a new series next season, UPN won't revive Sonnenfeld's Shows slated for mid-season on CBS include: "60 Minutes II" (premieres Wednesday at 9 p.m.) Yet another newsmagazine, albeit one with a strong pedigree.

Chances of success: Better than average. Viewers have gobbled up all the permutations of "Dateline NBC" and "2020," so why not "60 "Turks" (premieres Jan. 21 at 9 p.m.) The last of the Irish dramas to premiere this season, this one stars William Devane as the patriarch of a Chicago family of cops. Chances of success: Average. Thanks to football, CBS is skewing more male.

If "JAG" can be a hit, "Turks" at least has a shot. "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn" (premieres March 30 at 12:37 a.m.) The well-coiffed star of "The Daily Show" goes network, replacing Tom Snyder. Chances of success: Average. Conan O'Brien will still win in the ratings, but Kilborn should at least draw younger, more advertiser-friendly viewers than Snyder. "Payne" (premiere date has not yet been announced) This is an American version of the British sitcom "Fawlty Towers" with John Larro-quette in the John Cleese role.

Chances of success: Below average. Larroquette excels at playing the obnoxious leading man, Taut two previous attempts to Americanize "Fawlty Towers" failed. Rob Owen "Maximum uod, wnicn naa a snori run on ABC last summer before disappearing. "We considered it, but it was an expensive show and it was on a fairly profound downward trend in the ratings," Nunan said. "We didn't' ni'inl in ni.b un cbmi thnt hnH rim By Rob Owen Post-Gazette TV Editor PASADENA, Calif.

With plans to boldly go to the altar and marry this summer, "Star Trek: Voyager star Kate Mulgrew (a.k.a. Capt. Janeway) wants to be beamed off her series. The question is when. In a free-wheeling interview Friday that began with Mulgrew promising she would be frank, but that she was not complaining or acting petulant, the actress said she wants to spend more time with her children and her fiance, Tim Hagan, a Cleveland politician.

"I wish I could do this to absolute completion, with great grace, because I know that I'Star Trek: The Next Generation' star Patrick Stewart did that. But he's a man; he wasn't raising kids," Mulgrew said. Although she has a year left on her contract, Mulgrew said she'd like to see her character, the first female captain on a "Star Trek" show, go out in a casket at the end of this season. "If I were them, I'd do a cliff-hanger with a dying Janeway this year, and then I'd come back and I'd let her go after three episodes," Mulgrew said, adding she wouldn't want openings for her occasional return as a guest star. "When you love a character as much as I love her, it's like a love affair: You end it" But does she really mean it? Mulgrew spoke to the press Friday and admitted she hadn't talked to her employers about her plans.

At one point she mentioned how she guest-starred four times on "Murder, She Wrote" and saw the lead of that show, Angela Lansbury, work only three days a week. Maybe Mulgrew just wants a less demanding schedule. "I've given them 150 percent, which is perhaps where I made a little bit of a mistake," Mulgrew said. "Perhaps if I had given them a bit less, maybe they would expect a little bit less now. Mulgrew said she felt privileged its course with viewers." As for UPN's family soap "Legacy" (8 p.m.

FYiday on WNPA), executives had high hopes it would become a hit for the network this past fall. That hasn't panned out. Fixes to the senes will include a taster pace and more conflict in upcoming said. "Some of the components may change, the essence will not. Anything can be worked out creatively." Her biggest concern both before and after her conversations with Paramount executives was that reporters know how much she appreciates the cast and crew of "Voyager." "I would never ask them to sacrifice that for me," Mulgrew said in the first interview, hedging her plans to leave this year.

"I'm not going to take work away from these people. So if it comes down to that, I'll have to figure something out. But I don't think it's necessary that I work 80 hours per week. That's what I can't take anymore." Mulgrew praised her co-stars most of them, anyway. "There's not one bad apple," Mulgrew said.

"Jeri Ryan is new, so I'd set her aside for a minute. But I love my company of five years. There's real luck in that chemistry." Ryan, who was credited by some with saving the show last season when she joined "Voyager" as the sexy redeemed Borg character Seven of Nine, addressed her relationship with Mulgrew in a separate interview. "It was a tough season for her last year," Ryan said. "It's not anything we talked about directly, but I was aware of it, and it's understandable.

I was fully expecting to have some hurt feelings somewhere because of the situation." and happy to have the job on "Voyager," but she regrets losing time with her kids. "I asked them to grow up well before I should have," she said. "I asked them to understand that their mother was a celebrity, a concept no 10-year-old boy should have to deal with as he's entering puberty. And furthermore, I asked them to applaud me. They just wanted a good meal, a slap on the butt, a mother.

"I have at certain points in my life made very strange and epic decisions to accommodate love of children, of self, of family, but I've missed this," Mulgrew said. "I didn't marry a man with this feeling, I didn't have children with this feeling, and I am damned if I'm going to miss it now." UPN executives were caught off guard by Mulgrew's comments, and in a classic Hollywood shuffle, they made sure the actress called several reporters Friday evening to clarify her comments. "This is a combination of fatigue and lack of wits in the moment," Mulgrew said. "I'm under contract through the sixth season, which I will honor. I love my kids so much and this man in my fife.

I need more time, that's definite. I will do that well within the confines of a contract I've honored, I hope, with great dignity." She held fast to the idea that something about her schedule must change. "There's a future here," Mulgrew episoacs. "The Logans will be visited by a treacherous character," Nunan said. "A wolf in sheep's clothing will enter their lives.

It took us longer to learn what a Heather Locklear type could do for the show, so don't be surprised if you see a villainess sooner rather than later." By Rob Owen Post-Gazette TV Editor PASADENA, CALIF Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick. Is it a bomb or the opening of "00 Minutes Could they be one in the same? Not if CBS can help it. The network made the newsmagazine the centerpiece of its presentation Saturday as part of the Television Critics Association winter press tour. "60 Minutes II" debuts Wednesday with correspondents Dan Rather, Bob Simon, Vicki Mabrey and Charlie Rose. Well-respected executive producer Jeff Pager will be at the helm.

Fager said "II" will resemble the original "60 Minutes" with three stories per week, a commentary (from Jimmy Tingle) and letters. lie also promises the same level of journalistic excellence that's become a "60 Minutes" hallmark. "When you see that stopwatch, our stories have to live up to the expectation that the viewer has," Fager said. "That is something that, considering that so many of us are veterans of '60 I feel very confident we'll be able to do." Rather will have the busiest schedule in the upcoming weeks, anchoring "The CBS Evening News" and Senate impeachment coverage and reporting for "60 Minutes II." This past weekend, after meeting with reporters, he planned to report a story for "60 Minutes II" before returning to anchor duties Monday afternoon. Although some of the correspondents for the original "60 Minutes" expressed reluctance when talk of a spin-off began, they've now accepted the newcomer.

Mike Wallace still gets first dibs on stories, Rather said. "And that's the way it should be, because he's earned it The ones he doesn't want to do or doesn't know about, then the rest of us have the right to squabble over it." For the youngest member of the "II" crew, aspects of the new job can still be unsettling. Correspondent Vicki Mabrey said she was in New York a few days ago taping openings for her pieces in a studio. "IThat's a really foreign environment for me, because I'm used to being out in the field, and I just felt so uncomfortable reading those first opens," Mabrey said. "And then they said, 'We've got to tape one other thing before we let you and they put three words up on the TelePrompTer, and suddenly I relaxed and it all came home.

Those three words were, 'I'm Vicki RATINGS LEADER: CBS executives didn't come out cheering "We're No. but they might as well have. For the first time since the 1992-1993 season, and the first time in the tenure of CBS president Leslie Moonves, the network is on top. "When our group came to CBS 3'i years ago, we really felt the place was a mess," Moonves said. "Our goal was stability, and that is what we've accomplished." The increased ratings this season for "JAG" and "Everybody Loves Raymond," the success of Ted Danson's "Becker" and improvements in the network's young male demographics have all helped CBS, Moonves said.

Future CBS initiatives include further attempts to "broaden our demographics (i.e. draw a younger audience), eliminate sweeps as much as possible so there aren't as many repeats throughout the year and create more original programming for the summer. Other items of note from CBS: CHOPPY WATERS: Low rat-, ings led WB executives to oust; Joseph Dougherty as executive pro-' ducer of "Hyperion Bay" (9 p.m. Mondays). Former "Melrose Place" executive producer Frank South takes over when new episodes begin airing Jan.

25. South's mission: to "finally turn the key and start the engine of this cVinu' Tn thnf nnH vimiprc pan hi "The Nanny" will conclude its run in May. Moonves wouldn't say what he thinks of "The Howard Stern Radio Show," which is distributed by CBS's syndication arm and airs on CBS-owned and operated stations, including KDKA. CBS claims it broke even on the NFL the first season it got the rights to football back. A "Dr.

Quinn, Medicine Woman" TV movie is currently being written, Moonves said, and Jane Seymour is committed to return to the title role. assured of more sex. "Did you see the early episodes of 'Hyperion asked WB's Kell-ner. "They held hands once and everybody on the programming staff cheered." Spicier stories will be accompa-; nicd by new cast member Carmen Electra a new theme song (Richie Sambora's "Hard" Times Come Easy" replaces a-Hootie and the Blowfish tune) and expanded roles for female charac -73 i ''5 ters. From a strategic standpoint, the last change makes the most sense because The WB already draws many young women with shows like "Buify" and "Charmed." But by changing the show to "Hyperion Place," it's even less compatible" with its lead-in, the wholesome "7th I leaven," than it had been before.

mm" H. RATHER IMPRESSED: We've all seen those KDKA-TV promotional spots with CBS and CNN personalities praising the station, but have you ever thought to yourself, "How do they know whether or not KDKA is any good since they don't live in Pittsburgh and can't see the station on a regular basis?" Dan Rather admitted he's sometimes asked to do promotional work and "take it on faith" that a station lives up to his compliments, but that's not how he feels when singing the praises of KDKA. "I'm happy to say I've been in and out of Pittsburgh quite a bit over the years, so I know what I'm talking about," Rather said. "If you asked me about some station in Wyoming, I may not, but with KDKA I know they are a rock-solid, hard-news operation." And, of course, a CBS Rather said he wasn't concerned about the grade KDKA received in a broadcast news study released last week, because he didn't put '4 rf lrr'PR'tglrJ A 'Wonder Boys' starts filming here Feb. 1 IMP.

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Pittsburghers will get the chance to meet Hanson on Wednesday when he will take questions from the audience at "A Conversation with Curtis Hanson." The program begins at 8:30 p.m. at the University: of Pittsburgh's Frick Fine Arts Au- dilorium in Oakland. Admission is free. "I look forward to it," Hanson said. "Since I got to Pittsburgh, I've been doing my best to absorb the city.

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