Remote patrol

One leg of the new Pax TV lineup on KXPE, Channel 50, (see cover story) is the nightly repeat of "Diagnosis: Murder," beginning with the 1992 made-for-TV movie "Diagnosis of Murder" at 8 tonight. Dick Van Dyke's (left) sleuthing M.D. has more spring in his step after the show recorded its best season ever, climbing into the Nielsen top 25 and helping CBS finish ahead of Fox in young adults on Thursdays. Expect to see a lot of Scott Baio; he was a "Diagnosis: Murder" regular during the show's first two seasons. Twice-nightly episodes begin at 8 p.m. Tuesday for two weeks before shifting to 9 p.m. only. Also, tonight is your last chance to see Howard Stern make a mockery of "The Magic Hour" at 11:30 p.m. on Channel 4.

Nick tries to make kids stick around another half-hour

Rupert Murdoch is spending an estimated $ 100 million this year to promote his newest acquisition, Fox Family Channel, and get kids interested in watching Pat Robertson's old network. Then there was the cable channel that didn't need to spend a dime to command the attention of millions of youngsters. All it needed to say were two simple words: New Rugrats! Nickelodeon is America's No. 1 basic cable network, and it has the animated adventures of four toddlers known as the "Rugrats" largely to thank. Now it is enlisting that show's creators to help the network push further out into prime time, reclaiming another half-hour that had been, for 13 years, the domain of golden-oldies Nick at Nite. Tonight, Nickelodeon begins branding its 7 to 8 p.m. hour as "Nickel-O-Zone" and introduces three new series there this week. They're led by "The Wild Thornberrys," a raucously entertaining new cartoon about a family that makes nature films. Nickelodeon's kid appeal is almost as legendary as the teen appeal of its sister network MTV. (Both cable channels, as well as grown-up VH1 and pay cable's Showtime, are owned by Viacom.) As a result, it can spend all day promoting new programs during its existing favorites - marketing muscle that every cable network, not just Fox Family, wishes it had. The success of "Hey Arnold! " convinced the network to do more kids shows at night. "Arnold! " has had a 7 p.m. time slot for two years. "The timing (of the "Arnold" launch) was critical for us, because it was a time when it looked like the networks had abandoned the kid audience in prime time," said Cyma Zarghami, Nickelodeon's general manager. Now it looks like the kids have abandoned the networks. Two weeks ago, when Nickelodeon launched a new series of "Rugrats" episodes, an average of 2.5 million viewers ages 2-11 were tuned in, more kids than were watching the top three networks - Fox, ABC and NBC - combined. Such is the popularity of "Rugrats" that the show's creators, Klasky Csupo Inc., didn't produce a new cartoon for three years, yet during that time not one but several airings consistently rated among cable's 20 most-watched shows each week. Klasky executives had been kicking around the idea of a child who talks to animals. "The Wild Thornberrys," which debuts at 7 p.m. Tuesday, evolved from that kernel. It's organized around what Nickelodeon calls its "first animated girl heroine," young Eliza Thornberry (voiced by Lacey Chabert of "Party of Five"). Accompanied by her best friend, a chimp named Darwin, Eliza travels the world with her nature-photographer parents, her older sister and her adopted younger brother Donnie (Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers), who spins around like a dervish and speaks only in whoops and grunts. Eryk Casemiro, who is supervising producer on "Rugrats" and this new series, says there are obvious comparisons between the famous toddlers and the Thornberrys. "These are experiential stories, whether on 'Rugrats' it's of a 2-year-old who's seeing the giant toilet for the first time and is in awe of this giant porcelain thing, or on 'Thornberrys,' where it's imposing the family life on this land that's vast and wild," Casemiro said in a recent interview. "Eliza's gift is experiencing things much as Tommy Pickles or Chuckie Finster do." Nickelodeon also will roll out two live-action series this week in its new prime-time block. "Cousin Skeeter," which follows "The Wild Thornberrys" at 7:30, pairs a real 13-year-old boy (Robert Ri'chard) with a smooth-talking "cousin" (voiced by Bill Bellamy), who's a cross between Li'l Penny and a Jim Henson Muppet. The show is produced by Michael Tollin and Brian Robbins, who've delivered the goods for Nickelodeon with "Kenan & Kel" and "All That." The third new series, "Animorphs" (7:30 p.m. Friday), is a live-action adventure about teens who can "morph" into horses, dogs, mice - any creature they can imagine being - then use their animal disguises to thwart the schemes of bad guys. It's produced by juvenile book publisher Scholastic. In fact, much of the new prime-time hour will be a showcase for some of Nickelodeon's greatest hits, a demonstration of the incredible cultural influence one cable channel can exert over its viewers. "The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo" (7 p.m. Sunday), "Nick News" with Linda Ellerbee (7:30 p.m. Sunday) and "The Journey of Allen Strange" (7:30 tonight) are among the returning shows airing new episodes this week. "Hey Arnold! " also launches in the "Nickel-O-Zone" at 7 tonight. Will Nickelodeon take its young viewers further into the night? Apparently not: Zarghami said the network's research shows that the number of kids watching TV remains high throughout the 7 p.m. hour but then "drops off significantly" after 8. The conclusion is inescapable even to a TV executive. "With respect to kids and parents, they need a bedtime," Zarghami said.

Climbing Nielsen's ladder Pax TV lays plans for cablelike success, but has KMCI to deal with here

Evangelical Christian businessman Lowell "Bud" Paxson launches his family-friendly broadcast network Pax TV today. Anchored by repeat episodes of such wholesome dramas as "Touched by an Angel" and "Promised Land," Pax TV will make its debut at 11 a.m. on KPXE, Channel 50. Although Paxson has set extremely modest audience goals for his network, KPXE will have a battle on its hands to achieve even those locally. That's because KMCI, Channel 38 - which carried Paxson's previous venture, Home Shopping Network, for eight years - has had a family-friendly schedule of its own since 1996. On a national level, Paxson says his network will make money with just 1 percent of the viewing public tuned in - and some in the TV business believe him. By comparison, top-rated NBC hopes to attract, on average, about 10 percent of the viewing public for its evening programs. Fox is hoping for about a 7 rating, and smaller networks WB and UPN should average in the 3 range. How can he succeed with 1 percent? Paxson's secret is that while he is technically a broadcaster, in practice he is much closer to a cable operator, with heavily centralized operations and low overhead. Very little of Pax TV's programming will originate at the local level but will instead be beamed out of a state-of-the-art facility in Florida. As even KPXE general manager Lisa Bench readily admits, "We're not really a local station - we're a network." KPXE runs on a bare-bones staff of 18, a third of whom are sales people. The local contribution to KPXE's broadcast day will consist of several hours of paid programming, including infomercials and religious services. Like the typical start-up cable network, Pax TV's programming is heavy on "acquisitions" - shows that aired somewhere else first. Sprinkled in are some new shows, mostly talk shows, that are relatively cheap to produce. It shouldn't be surprising that Paxson's network resembles a cable service. He founded the Home Shopping Network and made it an enormous success before selling it off to begin buying up TV stations. When his current round of deal-making is over, Paxson will own or operate 90 stations capable of reaching 75 percent of the country - all of them airing Pax TV. And a broadcast-cable hybrid is not unknown to Paxson, either; Home Shopping Network was retransmitted by a network of broadcast stations so that people in the one-third of American homes without cable could also buy fake diamonds and ceramic collectibles over the phone. From 1988 to 1996 one of those broadcast affiliates was Lawrence-based KMCI. Today that station is called "38 Family Greats" and is one of the few in the country that can claim to be doing a family format already. While Paxson can brag that Pax TV is endorsed by James Dobson of "Focus on the Family," KMCI has the first-ever endorsement given to a TV station by the pro-family values Parents Television Council. The first skirmish has been won by KPXE, which stole away KMCI's daily reruns of "Dr. Quinn. " Pax TV now holds exclusive rights to the show beginning Sept. 14. Monte Miller, KMCI's president, admires Paxson's ability to pinch a penny and his salesmanship. "If anybody could sell refrigerators to Eskimos, Bud could do it," Miller said. "At some point he will make an impact on the market, but like everything else it takes a little longer to get there than you might think." Miller still has the press kit Paxson sent out a couple of years ago touting the benefits of his all-infomercial network. That was what KPXE began airing after Paxson bought Channel 50 from Kansas City Youth for Christ last year. "I'm doubtful that he really ever met those expectations," Miller said. "I think he set the bar too high." Over time, said Bench, KPXE's general manager, the consistency and quality of Pax TV programming will distinguish the station from its main local competitor. She said that with former CBS executive Jeff Sagansky at the helm of Pax TV - he put "Touched by an Angel" on the air - the network's future is in good hands. "But right now we're just focused on building up our name and image and telling people they can rely on us," Bench said. KPXE will still air infomercials and religious programming 10 hours a day. Most of the paid programs will be sold locally. Paxson's commitment to the family notwithstanding, he has been criticized for not putting diversity high on his list. One Pax TV advertisement that appeared in print this summer attacked other networks for airing shows that "peddle alternative lifestyles" - probably not referring to people who eat while standing over the sink. What may harm Pax TV's financial outlook more directly is that, other than "Touched by an Angel" and "Promised Land," most of its programming appears aimed at viewers 55 or older. Advertisers pay more money to reach younger viewers. By contrast, KMCI has a block of shows historically popular with teens, including "The Simpsons," "Full House," "Home Improvement" and two "Star Trek" franchises. Weekday schedule Pax TV will subsist on a diet rich on infomercials and classic TV and light on new programming (indicated in bold). Its weekday schedule, which begins at 11 a.m. today: 7 a.m.: "Great Day America" (repeat of previous day) 8 a.m.: Paid programming 11 a.m.: "Here's Lucy" Noon: "The Love Boat" 1 p.m.: "Woman's Day" (talk) 1:30 p.m.: "Reel to Reel" (game) 2 p.m.: "Eight Is Enough" 3 p.m.: "The Hogan Family" 3:30 p.m.: "Dave's World" 4 p.m.: "Great Day America" (talk, live) 5 p.m.: "Highway to Heaven" 6 p.m.: "Life Goes On" 7 p.m.: "Touched by an Angel" 8 p.m.: "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" (Sept. 14) 9 p.m.: "Diagnosis: Murder" 10 p.m.: "Father Dowling Mysteries" 11 p.m.: "Highway to Heaven" Midnight-7 a.m.: Religious/paid programming

Remote patrol

Capitalizing on the endless interest in in-line skating, the Disney Channel presents "Brink! " at 6 p.m. "Brink" is a boilerplate team-sports story merged with the nonstop action of blading. Among other movie offerings, all starting at 8 p.m.: Shannen Doherty and Jeremy London are former TV stars killing time in 1995's "Mallrats" on Channel 9, Dylan Walsh and Laura Linney go ape in "Congo" on Channel 41, and Showtime airs the eh remake of "Lolita" with Jeremy Irons.

Investigative producer loses position in KSHB budget cuts

Citing a sharp downturn in ad sales, KSHB, Channel 41, terminated three employees, including the producer of the Emmy award-winning "Public Defenders" investigative team. The NBC affiliate, owned by E.W. Scripps Co. of Cincinnati, made the moves as part of a belt-tightening requested of all nine Scripps-owned stations. Management said the General Motors work stoppage earlier this year, which wiped out all GM advertising for several weeks, was a major factor. Station officials announced the changes to a stunned news staff Aug. 20. Some staffers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they were "devastated" and "discouraged" over what they viewed as a body blow to the station's investigative unit. Kim Kruger, the "Public Defenders" producer, was a skilled projects leader; his replacement, Tom Christiansen, has no investigative experience. General manager Jim Swinehart said the only fair way to meet Scripps' request was to cut the people with the least amount of company seniority, and that meant Kruger. "As far as I'm concerned, we have not lessened our commitment to doing investigative work," Swinehart said. Kevin Petrehn moved from investigative to general-assignment reporting earlier this year, and Al Deal recently accepted a position in Atlanta. There were rumors that his position would not be filled, but Swinehart said a replacement for Deal is being sought. Two sports positions also were eliminated, a move Swinehart said was also related to 41's loss of Chiefs football. More than one staffer was appalled that sports producer Steve Mehl had been let go while reporter Alan Shope, whose position also was terminated, was allowed to take another position at the station as a news photographer. Shope, you may recall, recently served a one-week suspension, reportedly for digging through fellow reporter Lisa Holbrook's purse to have a look at her pay stub. Swinehart said that firing Shope at this point would be illegal. "These people were not fired for cause. This was a reduction in force," Swinehart said. "And one thing we do as company policy is that if there's an opening that someone is qualified to fill, you offer them the job." Part-time reporter Amanda Jahn is no longer working at 41, although Swinehart said that was not related to the other terminations. De Alva gets weekend work Christine de Alva, who joined WDAF, Channel 4, last year as a reporter, has been named the new anchor of WDAF's 7 a.m. newscasts on weekends. The native of San Jose, Calif., previously worked at stations in El Paso, Texas, and Chico, Calif. She will be teamed with meteorologist Joe Lauria starting Sept. 5. Got the blues each day A locally produced showcase of music from Club Mardi Gras, a blues bar at 19th and Vine, is going daily. "BTV: Blues Television," featuring guitarist Sonny Kenner, will begin airing at 8 a.m. weekdays on Time Warner Cable's Channel 4 Monday. Kenner will be co-host with Aquilla Tubbs. Tubbs and her husband, public-access TV veteran Taju Tubbs, produce the show. If you're a regular viewer of Channel 4 you've seen their work under various titles in the past, including "KC Jass Flavors," which also airs at 9 a.m. Mondays on KPXE, Channel 50. Laurie Everett returns to KMBC, Channel 9, Monday on a part-time basis following back surgery. She will appear on the 10 p.m. news only. Ronda Scholting has left KMBC to take a reporter's position in Denver. StarTouch: 889-7827 and enter 8852 (TVKC). E-mail: writeme@tvbarn.com.

Remote patrol

In this repeat of a "Candid Camera" that aired earlier this year, the TV show played a trick on one group of people you can't afford to annoy: TV critics. At a recent press enclave individual critics checked into the hotel only to be assigned a room with no TV set in it. Then the cameras waited for the critic to pick up the phone and call the front desk. Fortunately for Peter Funt (left, with co-host Suzanne Somers) and company, the results were a hit with critics; you'll see them at 7:30 tonight on Channel 5. At 10:35 p.m. on Channel 5, the last of a fortnight of "Late Show With David Letterman" repeats. Dave returns from vacation Monday and, gee, I wonder what he'll talk about?

Remote patrol

Don't miss a chance to see Ted Koppel in lockup tonight on "Nightline in Primetime" (9 p.m. on Channel 9). Koppel visited a high-tech prison in Huntsville, Ala., a few years ago to check out its inordinate, some would say inhumane, amount of video monitoring and the rationing of such resources as water. Then Koppel spent the night there and reported his own misgivings about this new breed of incarceration. Copyright 1998 Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service The Kansas City Star

Remote patrol

After Earvin Johnson's pathetic talk show, "The Magic Hour," was canceled, he lamented that there would no longer be any talk show venues for African- Americans. That shows how little Johnson knew about TV. One of late night's best programs is "BET Tonight" (10 p.m. weeknights on BET). There's no whooping or hollering or band-generated din on "BET Tonight" - just the capable Tavis Smiley and his guests, engaged in something I thought had been outlawed in late night: meaningful conversation.

Remote patrol

Teacher and artist Tim Rollins, who has been turning around the lives of at-risk kids in the south Bronx for 17 years, is the focus of this month's "Cinemax Reel Life" documentary selection. "Kids of Survival" airs at 5:30 tonight on Cinemax. These teen-agers, most of them problem cases, learn to read and discuss literature and then interpret the works visually through paint. For many of them it is a transforming experience, as we see here when we meet several of Rollins' students.

Remote patrol

They were editing "Hillary Rodham Clinton: First Lady on the Front Line," right up to the last minute; a revised edition of the special, which airs at 8 tonight on A&E, landed on my desk last week after the president's admission of an "inappropriate relationship" with Monica Lewinsky. In her earlier interview, Mrs. Clinton refers to the Lewinsky matter as "a footnote in history" - words that will have a hard time finding sympathetic ears this week. NOW president Patricia Ireland, former presidential adviser Dick Morris and historian James MacGregor Burns are among those interviewed.

Capital improvement didn't suit 'GMA' temp Bryan Busby

Bryan Busby's substitute-weatherman gig on "Good Morning America" this week wrote itself an unexpected chapter called "Mr. Busby Goes to Washington." As part of his tryout for the job Spencer Christian is giving up in January, the KMBC chief meteorologist went to New York to spend five mornings with "GMA" co-anchors Lisa McRee and Kevin Newman. The week started with McRee in Washington covering President Clinton's testimony and Busby and Newman stationed in New York. But the show's producers apparently thought McRee and Newman shouldn't be apart so early in their on-air marriage - Newman replaced Charles Gibson earlier this year - and flew him and Busby down to join her. So on Tuesday, while New York basked in beautiful weather, Busby was standing outside, in the dark wool suit he'd brought with him for studio work, doing the weather in the brutal Washington heat. "The funniest thing was when Lisa McRee tossed to me saying something like, 'Here's Bryan on a hot, sticky, clammy morning,' " Busby told TVKC by phone. "And I said that was very insightful of her, considering where she was, which was inside an air-conditioned studio." There's been little else for Busby to sweat. The network has treated him like royalty, he said, shuttling him to and from his hotel in a limousine and furnishing him with makeup and hairstylists. Busby also got to play with the "GMA" weather map, an $ 80,000 rear-projection screen that eliminates the need for a monitor off-camera. "It's easy to get caught up in the glamour of the job," Busby said. "But honestly the weather center we've built at Channel 9 is better equipped than the weather center at 'GMA. ' " Busby has maintained all along that he may not be ready to trade off the security of working at a top-rated station and the freedom KMBC has given him to take a position at ABC. This week he sounded as though he hasn't changed his tune. "I'm making sure to stop and smell the roses," Busby said, "knowing that not too many people get invited to this ball." Katherine Bliss to Chicago WDAF, Channel 4, announced this week that longtime reporter and news anchor Katherine Bliss has accepted a similar position at WBBM in Chicago. Bliss said that although her responsibilities at WBBM have not been completely worked out, she will be a general-assignment reporter and anchor in late September. Her last day at WDAF will be Sept. 4. Stan Knott, WDAF's general manager, said she would be missed. The feeling, said Bliss, is more than mutual. She grew up in Kansas City and has spent the last 10 years here, eight of those at WDAF. (From 1991 to 1993 she was manager of public relations for Sprint.) "Channel 4 made me feel welcome to stay and gave me the opportunity to stay in a very nice way," Bliss said. But Bliss said it was the persistence of WBBM news director Jeff Bartlett that convinced her to make the move. Bliss and Bartlett had worked together 12 years ago at a station in Tulsa, Okla. He had made her two previous offers. "She's an excellent reporter with a wealth of experience," Bartlett said in a statement this week. "She'll be a wonderful addition to our team." Bliss appeared ready to try something in one of the country's top markets. She also interviewed for the morning anchor's position at KRON in San Francisco this year. In the end, though, it was the chance to work for Bartlett and the WBBM newsroom in a major market close to Kansas City that won her over. Any downside? "The winters and that lake-effect wind," she said. "It's hard to believe, but I'll actually miss Kansas City winters." StarTouch: 889-7827 and enter 8852 (TVKC). E-mail: writeme@tvbarn.com.

Comcast buys Jones Intercable Purchase makes Philadelphia cable company third-largest.

Jones Intercable, which serves more than 90,000 customers in the area, has been acquired by Comcast Corp. of Philadelphia in a deal that will make Comcast the third-largest cable operator in the country, behind TCI and Time Warner. The transition from Jones to Comcast will be seamless, a spokesman for the area Jones franchise said Thursday. But the terms of the deal suggest that Comcast paid a premium for Jones' 1.5 million customers - a premium that could be passed along in the form of higher cable bills. Comcast, with large operations in the suburbs of Philadelphia, West Palm Beach, Fla., and the Baltimore-Washington area, historically has kept its rate increases in line with the industry average, so Jones consumers can expect the next rate increase to be in the 9 percent range. In the past, Jones has increased rates once a year in March. The purchase began in May, when Comcast bought a 30 percent interest in Jones held by Bell Canada International for $ 500 million. The deal included the right to buy out Jones' controlling interest in the company in 2001. But rather than wait until then, Comcast created an enticement that the company's founder and chairman, Glenn Jones, couldn't refuse: $ 69 a share for a stock that was trading at $ 28, or about a $ 200 million payday. Comcast also agreed to pay Glenn Jones $ 32 million in a side deal that was not announced at the time of the deal but was reported by an industry publication this week. When the deal is completed early next year, Comcast will hold 2.9 million of a total 5 million supervoting shares in Jones Intercable and with it the right to appoint 75 percent of the Jones board. Comcast will also own 12.8 million of the company's Class A shares, for a 38 percent economic interest. For Jones customers, Comcast may bring advanced services, such as cable modems, sooner. If so, the first systems to be upgraded for new technology would probably be in markets other than Kansas City where Jones Intercable has larger customer bases. Glenn Jones formed Jones Intercable in 1970. The company, based in Englewood, Colo., serves customers in 17 states and is among the 10 largest cable operators in the country. Comcast is No. 4, but with the Jones deal will leapfrog MediaOne in total customers owned or managed. Glenn Jones will stay on with Comcast, creating networks that Comcast will carry on at least some of its systems. Among the networks Glenn Jones has created are Knowledge TV and Great American Country, both carried locally on Jones Intercable. What about cable rates? Because Comcast Corp. keeps its rate increases in line with the industry average, customers of Jones Intercable can expect the next rate boost to be in the 9 percent range. Copyright 1998 Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service The Kansas City Star

Remote patrol

Wonder why the Fox network is suddenly getting nostalgic? Tonight, instead of the usual summer soup of police videos and world-record feats, we're getting two "Simpsons" episodes at 7 and a funny look back at commercials from the 1970s at 8 on Channel 4. Could it have something to do with the debut this Sunday of "That '70s Show," a retro-sitcom about kids growing up in the Me Decade? It might. Also tonight, Washington wire service press eminence Helen Thomas is profiled on "Biography" at 7 on A&E.

Remote patrol

You probably aren't going to like "Upright Citizens Brigade," the new way-out-there comedy series airing after "South Park" at 9:30 tonight on Comedy Central (see cover story). But it made me laugh like an idiot. The story line is a tad convoluted - something about an international conspiracy, a "bucket of truth," a cop who can't stop yelling at people, a Girl Scout who befriends the Unabomber and a really strange suburban home - and there is some drug humor. And a lot of yelling. Also tonight, the notorious Mr. Hanky returns in an all-new "South Park" at 9.

Shows networks wouldn't do find a home on cable

If you want to know why TV network sitcoms are so dreadfully the same, says Dan O'Shannon, walk a mile in his shoes. O'Shannon, a veteran writer-producer for the classic comedies "Cheers" and "Newhart" _ as well as the less distinguished "Suddenly Susan" _ could not find a broadcast network interested in his sitcom about a 40-year-old married mother going through a midlife crisis because, he says, network executives thought 40 and married were not what people wanted to watch on TV. Ultimately O'Shannon left a well-paying development deal at NBC to create his show for Lifetime, the cable channel for women. "Maggie," as it's now called, stars Ann Cusack. It has its premiere at Tuesday night, one of three new series that are part of Lifetime's strategy to woo female viewers away from the networks. Besides "Maggie," Lifetime has given 13-episode orders to "Oh Baby," a sitcom about another near-midlife woman (Cynthia Stevenson) whose body is instructing her to get pregnant, with or without Mr. Right; and "Any Day Now," a drama about two women (Annie Potts and Lorraine Toussaint) reunited as adults after growing up in Birmingham, Ala., at the height of civil-rights tensions. ABC and NBC were among the networks that expressed interest in "Maggie" (not to be confused with the new Faith Ford sitcom "Maggie Winters," making its debut next month on CBS). But in a telling sign of how network programmers perceive reality, they wanted the character to be younger _ a lot younger _ than 40. According to O'Shannon, the networks also hated that Maggie becomes interested in a veterinarian at the clinic where she works after realizing her husband, a high-powered heart surgeon, has stopped paying attention to her. Watching the "Maggie" pilot, it's hard to figure out what the networks were thinking. Cusack plays the lead without melodrama or malice, the storyline is hardly a downer, the supporting characters (including the wacky vet Maggie falls for, played by John Slattery) are great, and the writing really crackles. It's quite possibly the funniest new sitcom of the fall. That's the problem, in O'Shannon's view. By trying to make every new show revolve around 30-year-old single gals, the networks are playing a short-term game of demographics. And they're doing it at the expense of what viewers ultimately reward: shows that move them and make them laugh. "Sitcoms in the last 50 years _ what's really changed about them except the technology?" O'Shannon said in a telephone interview last week. "If you watch 'Leave It to Beaver,' you learn it's bad to lie to your friends and that if you do, you'll get in trouble. If you watch 'Suddenly Susan,' you learn it's bad to lie to your friends and if you do you'll get in trouble. People grew up with sitcoms, but the sitcoms didn't grow up with the people." O'Shannon said that message repeatedly was driven home to him in regular "pitch meetings" with NBC executives. "Every time I had a meeting with Warren Littlefield" _ head of the network's entertainment division _ "he would listen to the premise of the show, the characters, what I wanted to do and say with the show. And after I presented, he'd go, 'Uh huh. I don't think America wants to see that. How about a '90s version of "Three's Company?"' Every four months, O'Shannon said, he would knock himself out thinking of innovative story ideas. Then he'd go to the pitch meeting and Littlefield would say, "I don't think America's screaming for that. How about a '90s version of 'Kate and Allie'?" It was after Littlefield suggested, at a subsequent meeting, that he develop a '90s version of "Chico and the Man" that O'Shannon flipped. "And I quit my deal. I said, 'Look, you're paying me a lot of money to create shows, when what you really want to do is re-create shows."' (Littlefield was on vacation last week and could not be reached for comment. But an NBC spokesman expressed regret that O'Shannon felt the need to dredge up long-ago conversations from their private meetings.) Lifetime CEO Doug McCormick said "Maggie" and the two other new series will shore up Lifetime's status as the No. 1 basic-cable channel for women ages 18-49. As is typical of a cable network, Lifetime is counterprogramming the networks where McCormick thinks they're most vulnerable. The two comedies are airing during the time networks are doing dramas and newsmagazines, from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., while "Any Day Now" airs opposite network sitcoms at 8 p.m. The strategy, said McCormick, has worked so far with its late-night magazine show, "New Attitudes," which gears monthly original movies to women, some featuring protagonists at the high end of the 18-49 age range, and with "Intimate Portraits," a "Biography" clone. Branching into sitcom and drama development was the logical next step. Top TV studios Paramount, Columbia TriStar and Spelling Television are on board, and McCormick believes he has three quality shows. "We were looking for shows that were definitely out of the ordinary from those you'd find on the broadcast networks, that would be women-centric and wouldn't have people living in $ 10,000-a-month apartments on $ 2,000-a-month salaries," McCormick said. "We wanted to get a little more real, and I think we've batted a thousand on that." (c) 1998, The Kansas City Star. Visit The Star Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.kcstar.com/ JOURNAL-CODE: KC

Media stars got part of the action But polls indicate public's interest in Lewinsky case lags.

Tom Brokaw interrupted his lunch for it. Peter Jennings cut short his summer vacation to be on hand for it. It, of course, was Monday's deposition by the president in the Monica Lewinsky matter - or as the cable news channels refer to it, the Lewinsky story. And everyone who was anyone in TV news seemed to be in Washington covering the story. But as this media chowdown approaches the end of its seventh month, the American public appears no longer to share the appetite of those responsible for keeping the story going on the Sunday morning talk shows, cable TV and the Internet. A CNN-Gallup poll last weekend showed that 62 percent of those surveyed think the details disclosed in Monday's deposition should be kept private. This follows a CNN poll last month in which the media's handling of the Lewinsky story was criticized by three out of four Americans surveyed. Clearly, people are starting to think they've gotten too much information about the president's personal affairs. That's not to deny that some news outlets have seen their audience levels surge this year in concert with developments in the Lewinsky story. But with the possible exception of "Dateline NBC," the big gainers have been TV services aimed at small audiences: Cable news, Sunday morning shows and Internet sites. Nonetheless, TV's blue-chip talent assembled in Washington for what CNN news anchor Bernard Shaw called "a day unlike any other in the history of the presidency." But it was a day with few developments and left the media horde finding creative ways to kill time. A restless Brokaw materialized on CNBC at noon to report merely that the president's testimony was under way. Elsewhere, reporters interviewed reporters. As the president and prosecutors conversed inside the White House, CNN conducted man-on-the-street interviews in a Little Rock, Ark., diner (and later, in a pointed choice of venue, at the Richard Nixon Library). A young woman interviewed in Little Rock bristled when asked whether she would be offended by the president's admission of a relationship with Lewinsky. "That's their business," she said. "He shouldn't have been asked if he had been sleeping with this person, that person, in the first place." On MSNBC, anchor John Gibson held court with two stars of scandals past, O.J. Simpson prosecutor Marcia Clark and Iran-contra defendant Oliver North. On MSNBC's Internet side, the chatrooms at www.msnbc.com were filling up as traffic at the site headed for a record day. As many as 1 million computer users checked the site by day's end. The president's deposition ended at 5:25 p.m. Central time - conveniently just minutes before the start of the three nightly newscasts. CBS' Eric Engberg reported the hardest news story of the night, giving a detailed scenario of what course an impeachment of the president might take. Impeachment, of course, would keep the Lewinsky story going. Ratings game When the Monica Lewinsky story broke in January, the three nightly network newscasts experienced only modest gains in viewers. Since then they have actually been down in audience overall compared with last year. Post-Lewinsky to present (Jan. 27 to Aug. 1): NBC: 7.8 Nielsen rating (down 0.1 from previous year same period) CBS: 7.3 (up 0.7) ABC: 7.4 (down 0.5) The Lewinsky story, however, has caused dramatic spikes in viewership of the 24-hour cable news channels. Percentage increases for the period Jan. 21-Feb. 28, compared with previous year: MSNBC: Up 68% CNN: Up 52% Fox News Channel: Up 57% Viewers apparently get up earlier on Sunday mornings, too. Percentage increases for Aug. 2, the weekend of the announcement that the president would testify: "Meet the Press": Up 32% "Fox News Sunday": Up 22% "Face the Nation": Up 12% Copyright 1998 Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service The Kansas City Star

The Lifetime lifeline Shows networks wouldn't do find a home on cable

If you want to know why TV network sitcoms are so dreadfully the same, says Dan O'Shannon, walk a mile in his shoes. O'Shannon, a veteran writer-producer for the classic comedies "Cheers" and "Newhart" - as well as the less distinguished "Suddenly Susan" - could not find a broadcast network interested in his sitcom about a 40-year-old married mother going through a midlife crisis because, he says, network executives thought 40 and married were not what people wanted to watch on TV. Ultimately O'Shannon left a well-paying development deal at NBC to create his show for Lifetime, the cable channel for women. "Maggie," as it's now called, stars Ann Cusack. It has its premiere at 9 tonight, one of three new series that are part of Lifetime's strategy to woo female viewers away from the networks. Besides "Maggie," Lifetime has given 13-episode orders to "Oh Baby," a sitcom about another near-midlife woman (Cynthia Stevenson) whose body is instructing her to get pregnant, with or without Mr. Right; and "Any Day Now," a drama about two women (Annie Potts and Lorraine Toussaint) reunited as adults after growing up in Birmingham at the height of civil-rights tensions. ABC and NBC were among the networks that expressed interest in "Maggie" (not to be confused with the new Faith Ford sitcom "Maggie Winters," making its debut next month on CBS). But in a sign of how network programmers perceive reality, they wanted the character to be a lot younger than 40. According to O'Shannon, the networks also hated that Maggie becomes interested in a veterinarian at the clinic where she works after realizing her husband, a high-powered heart surgeon, has stopped paying attention to her. Watching the "Maggie" pilot, it's hard to figure out what the networks were thinking. Cusack plays the lead without melodrama or malice, the storyline is hardly a downer, the supporting characters are great, and the writing crackles. It's possibly the funniest new sitcom of the fall. That's the problem, in O'Shannon's view. By trying to make every new show revolve around 30-year-old single gals, the networks are playing a short-term game of demographics. And they're doing it at the expense of what viewers ultimately reward: shows that move them and make them laugh. "Sitcoms in the last 50 years - what's really changed about them except the technology? " O'Shannon said in a telephone interview last week. "If you watch 'Leave It to Beaver,' you learn it's bad to lie to your friends and that if you do you'll get in trouble. If you watch 'Suddenly Susan,' you learn it's bad to lie to your friends and if you do you'll get in trouble. People grew up with sitcoms, but the sitcoms didn't grow up with the people." O'Shannon said that message was repeatedly driven home to him in regular "pitch meetings" with NBC executives. "Every time I had a meeting with Warren Littlefield" - head of the network's entertainment division - "he would listen to the premise of the show, the characters, what I wanted to do and say with the show. And after I presented he'd go, 'Uh huh. I don't think America wants to see that. How about a '90s version of "Three's Company"? ' " Every four months, O'Shannon said, he would knock himself out thinking of innovative story ideas. Then he'd go to the pitch meeting and Littlefield would say, "I don't think America's screaming for that. How about a '90s version of 'Kate and Allie'?" It was after Littlefield suggested, at a subsequent meeting, that he develop a '90s version of "Chico and the Man" that O'Shannon flipped. "And I quit my deal. I said, 'Look, you're paying me a lot of money to create shows, when what you really want to do is re-create shows. ' " (Littlefield was on vacation last week and could not be reached for comment. But an NBC spokesman expressed regret that O'Shannon felt the need to dredge up old conversations from private meetings.) Lifetime CEO Doug McCormick said "Maggie" and the two other new series will shore up Lifetime's status as the No. 1 basic-cable channel for women ages 18-49. As is typical of a cable network, Lifetime is counterprogramming the networks where McCormick thinks they're most vulnerable. The two comedies are airing in the 9 p.m. slot, when networks are doing dramas and newsmagazines, while "Any Day Now" airs at 8, opposite network sitcoms. The strategy, said McCormick, has worked so far with its late-night magazine show, "New Attitudes"; with monthly original movies geared to women, some featuring protagonists at the high end of the 18-49 age range; and with "Intimate Portraits," a "Biography" clone. Branching into sitcom and drama development was the logical next step. Top TV studios Paramount, Columbia TriStar and Spelling Television are on board, and McCormick believes he has three quality shows. "We were looking for shows that were definitely out of the ordinary from those you'd find on the broadcast networks, that would be women-centric and wouldn't have people living in $ 10,000-a-month apartments on $ 2,000-a-month salaries," McCormick said. "We wanted to get a little more real, and I think we've batted a thousand on that."

Remote patrol

The newly renamed and revamped Fox Family Channel brags that half its programming is new, including a midday programming block at 10 a.m. with the new Captain Kangaroo, with John McDonough as host. But within the collection of older shows acquired by Fox Family are some real gems, too, including "Pee-Wee's Playhouse," Paul Reubens' marvelously oversized show from the 1980s, which airs at 6 a.m. weekdays and other times during the week; and "Eerie, Indiana," the spooky suburban thriller airing 10 a.m. Sundays.

Clinton's audience was electronic media But if he had hoped to curb their appetite, he was sadly mistaken.

President Clinton may have appeared to be speaking directly to the American people Monday night, just as he appeared to be speaking without the aid of a TelePrompTer. In reality, however, he was addressing his prepared remarks not to the public - which stopped caring about his affair with Monica Lewinsky months ago, according to opinion polls - but rather to the people in whose hands his fate ultimately rests: The electronic media that have feasted on his extramarital problems for seven months. Television's influence is felt acutely on Capitol Hill and at the independent prosecutor's office. But if the president's objective was to convince those responsible for keeping this issue alive to lay down their arms - or at least hold their fire for a few days - he failed. "This was a heavily lawyered speech where he conceded nothing legally," ABC news commentator Jeffrey Toobin said dismissively moments after the address ended. "This struck me as the work of lawyers, not poets." "Right message, wrong messenger," sniffed criminal defense attorney Jack Furlong, a regular on CNBC's "Rivera Live." Another "Rivera Live" panelist, former O.J. Simpson prosecutor Marcia Clark, went even further, blistering the president for trying to dodge public accountability for his actions. "I worry about the judgment about that person, and I worry about the security of our country in that person's hands," Clark said. Geraldo Rivera, whose career has gotten a tremendous boost from his nightly CNBC progam, has been called a too-strident defender of the president. So there must have been a higher priority working Monday night: The desire to produce good television. And what's bad for the president, Rivera has surely realized, is good for television. And that is why, minutes after the president had declared that his private matters were "nobody's business but ours," Rivera replied by showing a video from January in which the president pledged to cooperate and get "all the facts" out in public. But as this media chowdown known as the Lewinsky story approaches the end of its seventh month, the American public appears no longer to share the appetite of the media. A CNN-Gallup poll last weekend showed that 62 percent of those surveyed think the details disclosed in Monday's deposition should be kept private. This follows a CNN poll last month in which the media's handling of the Lewinsky story was criticized by three out of four Americans surveyed. Clearly, people are starting to think they've gotten too much information about the president's personal affairs. That's not to deny that some news outlets have seen their audience levels surge this year in concert with developments in the Lewinsky story. But with the possible exception of "Dateline NBC," the big gainers have been TV services aimed at small audiences: Cable news, Sunday morning shows and Internet sites. On MSNBC's Internet side, the chatrooms at www.msnbc.com were filling up as traffic at the site headed for a record day. As many as 1 million computer users checked the site by day's end. Ratings game When the Monica Lewinsky story broke in January, the three nightly network newscasts experienced only modest gains in viewers. Since then they have actually been down in audience overall compared with last year. Post-Lewinsky to present (Jan. 27 to Aug. 1): NBC: 7.8 Nielsen rating (down 0.1 from previous year same period) CBS: 7.3 (up 0.7) ABC: 7.4 (down 0.5) The Lewinsky story, however, has caused dramatic spikes in viewership of the 24-hour cable news channels. Percentage increases for the period Jan. 21-Feb. 28, compared with previous year: MSNBC: Up 68% CNN: Up 52% Fox News Channel: Up 57% Viewers apparently get up earlier on Sunday mornings, too. Percentage increases for Aug. 2, the weekend of the announcement that the president would testify: "Meet the Press": Up 32% "Fox News Sunday": Up 22% "Face the Nation": Up 12%

Take note

KCUR honored Public Radio News Directors Inc., which conducts the only national competition for local public radio broadcasts, recently awarded first place to KCUR-FM for best series or documentary at a medium-sized station for its documentary on Troost Avenue. The one-hour documentary, which aired in March 1997, originated out of Mayor Cleaver's announcement for the rehabilitation of Troost and examined the present and future of the neighborhoods adjoining the street, including Blue Hills, 49/63 and Troostwood. A historian, neighborhood activists and area residents were interviewed.