Remote patrol

In "Children in War" (9 tonight, HBO), the viewer is brought eye to eye with a generation of victims from war-torn Bosnia, Israel, Rwanda and Northern Ireland. Not only are children in these countries made orphans, cripples and casualties by the fighting, they are doubly victimized by the loss of their childhood. Some are pressed into service, while others freely take up arms to avenge the losses of their parents or friends, often to other underage killers. Filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond are single-minded in their effort to expose the children's suffering. Susan's bloodless narration sets the tone, as do her almost clinical interviews with the young ones. This may strike some as exploitative, but it's hard to overplay the horror these kids have witnessed. Here is how one Rwandan girl describes the day Hutu militias came to her home: "We were hiding, my mom, my dad and myself, and they came and killed us." Later she says it again: "They killed us." @ART CAPTION:Rwandan boys interviewed in "Children in War." @ART:Photo

Doing battle along the 'Digital Divide'

I assumed that "Digital Divide," a four-week series beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday on KCPT (Channel 19), would be one of those periodic looks into the disparity between those well-to-do communities where every student has two computers - one at home, one at school - and those where having a single Internet-equipped PC in the classroom is considered a great step forward. "Digital Divide" is partly about that. But it is also about other divides: between computer-savvy kids and teachers who resent the intrusion of "life-sucking electronic boxes"; between teachers who have thrown their lot with technology and those who want computers far away from the classroom; between boys, for whom a great deal of technology is geared, and girls left to fend for themselves at Barbie.com. We visit a school in a not so well-to-do part of Silicon Valley. Generous donations from computer empires have the building stocked with PCs. But there's been little training, so the kids go it alone while their teachers look on unhappily. One of them grumbles, "A video game that teaches you to add and subtract is still a video game." At a school in Philadelphia, however, not only are the teachers trained - they are told they never have to use anything they've learned about computers on their students. The ploy has its intended effects. Subsequent weeks of "Digital Divide" will show how race, gender and educational institution often determine the quality of training one gets in technology. Two new characters descend on "The Sopranos" at 9 p.m. Sunday on HBO. One is a scary associate of Uncle Junior's named Richie Aprile (played by David Proval, who broke into the movies as Tony in "Mean Streets"). Richie has just finished serving a 10-year prison sentence, and around the old neighborhood everyone comments on how tan and trim he looks. He's into yoga and meditation. He's also brutally eager to get back his piece of the action - and perhaps seek revenge for the killing of his brother Jackie (part of last season's bloody denouement). Richie starts by cold-cocking someone with an everyday restaurant item. By episode's end his upward mobility will send a chill through nearly everyone. And yet, this being "The Sopranos," there will be a wild card - a very wild card, indeed: Tony's sister Janice (Aida Turturro), who dated Richie 20 years ago. There's also an amazing game of parental poker involving Tony (James Gandolfini), Carmela (Edie Falco) and Meadow (Jamie Lynn Sigler) after Meadow throws a party that gets out of hand. Tony and Carmela know she should be punished, but as they talk over their options in private, they realize Meadow is holding all the cards. What's so engaging about these scenes is that no one ever points out the obvious: Given Tony's many indiscretions and Carmela's acquiescence to them, what right have they to ride herd on their kids? And Tony's relationship with his estranged shrink, Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), will take a not-unexpected turn, thanks to her shrink, played by Peter Bogdanovich. Once again, Cartoon Network cleverly repackages classic cartoons into a Super Bowl parody with "Road Runner vs. Coyote: Big Game XXVIII." Don't let the Roman numerals fool you; it's only Year II for this four-hour special, which airs at 5 p.m. Saturday and again at noon Sunday. Pat Summerall and John Madden supply play-by-play for the big matchup, Len Dawson and the rest of HBO's "Inside the NFL" supply analysis and CNN/SI's Jim Huber does a tongue-in-cheek expose of Acme, the company that sold Wile E. Coyote all those would-be Road Runner traps. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit TV Barn at www.tvbarn.com @ART CAPTION:Siglar @ART:Photo

Remote patrol

"Sunflower Journeys" begins its lucky 13th season at 7 tonight, showcasing the culture and history of Kansas. It airs for 13 consecutive Thursdays on Topeka's KTWU. Tonight's broadcast celebrates three recent centennials: a look at Gage Park, 80 mostly serene acres on the west end of Topeka; a brief history of the American Royal; and the story of the enterprising Abilene man who in 1899 began building a telephone empire. (If you live in Johnson County, KTWU is carried on cable. Otherwise, better find a TV antenna.)

Remote patrol

"The Magnificent Seven" live to ride another day. The TV series, based on the 1960 film that in turn was based on Akira Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai," has had a bumpy ride since first appearing on CBS two years ago. The network tried it twice on Saturdays, then twice again on Fridays before dropping the show last summer. Now CBS has found a home for "The Magnificent Seven" on TNN, a cable network it owns. The show will have its debut on TNN at 9 tonight and repeat on Sundays at 4. Michael Biehn and Eric Close lead a group of gunslingers who help out the helpless citizens of a Wild West town called Four Corners. Look for more of this hand-me-down programming in the future. In March, "Harsh Realm," which bombed last fall on Fox, will reappear on its sister network FX. And "GvsE," canceled by USA Network, will head over to USA's Sci-Fi Channel under the new name "good vs. evil". @ART CAPTION:Biehn @ART:Photo (color)

No-compete clause faces a challenge

For years some of the city's top TV talents have vanished into a local version of the Bermuda Triangle, not to be seen or heard from for months. When they re-emerge, it's always with a new employer. That practice could end soon if a bill working its way through both houses of the Missouri Legislature becomes law. The bill (S.B. 569), introduced by Sen. William L. Clay Jr. of St. Louis, would strike down the non-compete clause under which employees can't make appearances on any other station in town for a period of time after their contract expires, usually six months. The non-compete is standard language in most on-air personalities' contracts in Kansas City. In recent years it cooled the heels of such notables as WDAF meteorologist Mike Thompson, KCTV anchor-reporter Dave Helling and KSHB reporter Michele Rooney after they switched stations. But the union that represents many TV workers has begun a national campaign to get non-competes overturned. Missouri is the third state where legislation has been introduced on behalf of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or AFTRA. "On-air personalities work hard to get to the positions they're in," Clay said. "Why shouldn't they be allowed to go into free market and shop their expertise? It's just so unfair. "I use the analogy of the reserve clause that they used to have in baseball. You couldn't leave the team. You were with the team for life unless the team decided to trade you. And that's the exact thing here." Similar efforts in Maine and Massachusetts succeeded in ending the non-competes, but backers of the Missouri bill say it is in for a tougher battle here. The Missouri Broadcasters Association opposed the bill in hearings last week in Jefferson City. It too is playing the fairness card. "It's unfairly discriminating in that it singles out broadcasters and says this one business should be denied the right to enter into a contract that is readily and freely available to other industries," said the group's executive vice president, Donald Hicks. Hicks said that the non-compete is commonly used by banks, computer firms - even beauty shops. (Clay's response: "Nobody from banks or beauty shops approached me.") In addition, Hicks said, stations like KCTV, Channel 5, that are based outside the state of Missouri would have an unfair advantage because they would still be allowed to use non-competes. Who was on first "I enjoyed your story on Channel 4," writes Tom Leathers in reference to last week's column. "But the first weather girl was Diane Brewster, not Essie Campbell. "I was a reporter on the Times in 1950 when Harry Kauffman, manager of WDAF (the studios were on the floor above the city desk), approached me one night. 'Tom, I need someone to be a weather girl on the new TV station,' he said. 'Do you know any pretty girls?' "I was dating a girl who worked upstairs - for Mr. Kauffman. (He had sight problems.) Her name was Diane Brewster. She was pretty. In fact, she'd been homecoming queen at KU. " 'Diane, the girl who works for you, would be good,' I told him. Mr. Kauffman did talk to her and asked her to do it. Diane agreed and became the weather girl. After a few years of doing well here, she headed for greener fields in Hollywood. And found them for years - she was the girl opposite James Garner in 'Maverick' on CBS." Besides her one-season stint on "Maverick," Brewster appeared on other TV shows, including the "Ina Ray Hutton Show" on NBC in 1956, a forward-looking program in which everyone who appeared on camera was female. Brewster died in 1991. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com @ART CAPTION:Brewster with Garner in their 'Maverick' days @ART:Photo

Top 10 on why guest hosts are bad idea

David Letterman was in the recovery room, what - a day? if that? - when someone started floating the idea "wouldn't it be great if Johnny Carson came out of retirement and filled in while the host of the CBS 'Late Show' recuperated from bypass surgery"? By Tuesday the idea was in full snowball. Rosie O'Donnell and the host of TV's hottest show - Regis Philbin of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" - offered themselves as guest hosts. Readers have been sending me e-mails, each one straight out of the zeitgeist. Forget it, everyone. CBS has put the kibosh on the guest-hosting idea. "Our first and primary concern continues to be Dave's health and we're thrilled that all signs point to a speedy recovery," the network said. "In the meantime we plan to provide viewers with the best of Dave in repeats." For once, I'm with the pinheads at the network. Bringing in guest hosts for Letterman is one of those ideas that sounds like a can't-lose - that is, until somebody actually tries it. In the spirit of the Letterman show, here's the top 10 reasons why it doesn't work. Drum roll, please: 10. This isn't baseball. The idea of guest hosts is reminiscent of "The Tonight Show" during Carson's reign, but many of us are more likely to recall the time in the late 1980s when Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray was recovering from a stroke and superstation WGN scored a hit by hiring celebrity guest announcers to call the games in his absence. CBS, however, is not under any decree to keep playing new shows while its star is on injured reserve. The season will go on regardless. And CBS may even sell a few more concessions: "Late Show" repeats this week have been scoring nearly as high in the Nielsens as recent first-run shows. 9. Reruns allow Letterman to re-endear himself to former fans. Viewers who stopped watching Letterman over the years - since 1994 he's lost nearly half his audience - may be feeling a twang of sympathy for him. Perhaps they're checking out the reruns for old times' sake. What could be a more pleasant surprise for these wayward fans than to see the Dave who reinvented himself about 1994 - bespectacled, definitely starting to look his age, yet invigorated, brighter, funnier than he'd seemed in years? As he has done throughout his career, Letterman had caught another wind. The comedy seemed sharper. He was booking better guests. This is the Letterman CBS wants as many viewers as possible to see - and, one would think, so does Letterman. 8. Guest hosts would be more trouble than they're worth. No matter who is seated in Dave's chair, there would be so much to learn, both for the host and those running the show, that the results probably would not be very satisfying. Letterman has one of the most loyal and talented staffs in the business. They have learned to tailor their jobs around the quirks of their boss. But only a few of today's celebrities have ever sat behind a late-night talk show desk, which means Letterman's staff would be walking them through the basics every night, coaching in ways they've never had to before. 7. Guest hosts would dilute the comedy. With this sudden hiatus, Letterman's staff has been given the rare gift of time to write, shoot and bank material for future use. A guest-hosting system would blow that chance, since monologue jokes and comedy bits would be needed every day for the fill-ins. 6. Dave isn't Johnny. In his 20 years as a talk show host, Letterman has always wanted the stage to be his. Unlike Leno, Carson and Paar, he almost never allows more than one guest at a time by his side. And since it is Letterman's company, not CBS, that owns "Late Show," any decision on a seat-filler would have to come from the man who has never allowed his seat to be filled by anyone else. 5. Johnny isn't Dave. Since signing off for the last time nearly eight years ago, Johnny Carson has seen his television legacy swell to biblical proportions. He's now seen as a Moses standing at the other end of the Red Sea: All he has to do is show up and the parted waters of American culture will seal up once again. Well, maybe for a night. And after the novelty wears off, then what? Put yourself in Johnny's shoes. Would you fly to New York and take over a studio you've never seen before? For a show that moves at twice the speed that yours once did? Carson has already engineered one perfect departure; why tempt fate trying another? 4. We went through this last time. As NBC learned when it tried to replace Letterman in 1993, very few people are talented enough to do a late-night talk show. Chevy Chase, Whoopi Goldberg and Dennis Miller tried and failed. 3. CBS would be nuts to want guest hosts. Letterman's numbers have not exactly been boffo in recent years, but "Late Show," even in reruns, draws impressively from that pool of young male viewers that CBS has a hard time reaching at any other time. Make no mistake: Advertisers keep the networks in business, and advertisers want shows that skew young. Now imagine five nights of Johnny Carson, or Steve Allen or even Regis Philbin. Nostalgia buffs would love it, but a lot of younger viewers wouldn't - and CBS would hate that. 2. Not everyone has Dave's best interests in mind. The media don't write about the "late night wars" like they used to. They want fresh meat. Bringing in guest hosts would be just the ticket. Soon we'd all be arguing over which guest host was the best and which one might be "the next Dave." More heart medicine, Mr. Letterman? And the No. 1 reason guest hosts are a bad idea ... 1. Repeats will speed Dave's recovery. In 1988, during a writers' strike that dragged on for months, Letterman had to sit by while NBC aired endless repeats of his show. Finally he went back on the air with no material other than what he had scribbled down earlier in the day. (By the way, they were some of his greatest shows ever.) Trust me, after a few weeks of watching himself on TV - counting every imperfection and screw-up he makes - Letterman will work himself right back into fighting shape. Until then, the rest of us should just sit back and enjoy the show. Again. @ART:Photo (color) @ART CREDIT:CBS

'Felicity' has hairy time paying tribute to 'Zone'

Probably a hundred times a day a TV critic can see proof of the old axiom that youth is wasted on the young. But it's been awhile since I've seen one as appalling as Sunday's episode of "Felicity" (7 p.m., Channel 62). The show's creator, J.J. Abrams, thought it would be a neat idea to write an hour of his coming-of-age relationship drama as though it were an episode of Rod Serling's TV classic "The Twilight Zone." He hired Lamont Johnson, a veteran of the original series that aired from 1959 to 1965, to direct the episode. Abrams also ordered a new soundtrack that riffed on the original "Twilight Zone" theme, with lots of droopy saxophone licks, twittery reeds and shrill crescendos. He picked out wardrobes and built new sets reminiscent of early 1960s TV dramas. And of course, he had the episode shot in black-and-white. Give a television crew a technical feat - in this case, imitating the look and feel of a 40-year-old TV series - and they often do admirable work. That's certainly true here. Several TV shows have tried on a retro look in the past year or so, but "Felicity" really nails the ambiance of "Twilight Zone." Abrams even got an unintentional assist this summer when the show's star, Keri Russell, decided to cut her long hair. The resulting 'do does Jane Wyman proud. Unfortunately, all of this careful visual landscaping is ruined by the script. The best Abrams could do was concoct a ridiculous rehash that borrows not from Serling but from countless "pod people" flicks. You know, the kind where our hero walks into town and notices that everyone else has turned into automatons. It usually ends with the hero, more or less against his will, becoming a drone. Bad enough we get that - presented here in the form of a mysterious "clinic" that cures people of their lovesick hearts - but because it only gets us two-thirds of the way through the episode, Abrams has to shift gears suddenly to a slightly less weak subplot. I won't spoil any more of it, because most of the audience watching "Felicity" is too young to recall "The Twilight Zone" and so will probably love this episode. (Reruns of "The Twilight Zone," however, are airing noon weekdays on Sci-Fi.) But the old-timers should be warned that this so-called "tribute" lacks any of the bitter humor that was Serling's trademark. Especially the cruel turns of poetic justice, like the man who learns the secret of eternal youth - only to be sentenced to life in prison. Or that classic when Burgess Meredith just wants to be left alone to read and endures an atomic blast o' destruction - only to step on his own eyeglasses. If Abrams really wanted to honor the genius of Rod Serling, he would've gone all the way and used one of his old scripts. My pick would be "The Eye of the Beholder," possibly the most beloved "Twilight Zone" of all time, in which a young woman undergoes numerous plastic surgeries in an attempt to rejoin society. As she emerges from her last cutting, now more beautiful than ever, we finally see the hideous faces of those around her and realize the doctors have failed. Off she goes to the leper colony. I'll bet the "Felicity" crowd would just love that. "Inside the U.S. Mint" is an incomplete title for this one-hour special (7 and 10 tonight, Discovery) that offers a behind-the-scenes view from not just one but three national mints. Most fascinating is the visit to the Royal Canadian Mint, where recently mined gold is boiled, zapped and flattened until it is 99.99 percent pure and ready for coining. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TVBarn Web site at www.tvbarn.com @ART CAPTION:Russell @ART:Photo

Remote patrol

If you're one of those who turned off "ER" a couple of seasons back, tonight's repeat from last fall is worth a look: It's the start of a multi-episode arc in which Alan Alda plays a hotshot doctor brought over from another hospital in town. The other medics are put off by his breezy manner; what they'll soon realize is that the swagger is a bit of a front. The old pro is losing not only his touch but also his battle with a degenerative disease. Rebecca DeMornay also guest-stars. Speaking of high-quality repeats, the hilarious two-part "Friends" from London that wrapped up the 1997-98 season airs at 10:30 p.m. today and Friday on Channel 4. @ART CAPTION:Alda @ART:Photo (color)

KMBC programs to continue on cable

More than 300,000 cable television subscribers came within a few hours Wednesday of having to resort to rabbit ears to watch Kansas City's top-rated station. Time Warner Cable was ready to pull the plug on KMBC-TV, Channel 9, after an impasse in talks with the station's owner. Just hours before the midnight deadline, the two sides agreed to extend their existing deal until Feb. 15. But both sides say they are far from resolving their conflict. Under federal law, each of the country's 1,700-plus TV stations has a choice in dealing with the cable operators in its area. A station can demand that its signal be carried on cable systems. Or the station can ask for payment from the cable company for the privilege of carrying its signal. The latter route was taken by KMBC's owner, Hearst-Argyle Television, the nation's ninth-largest owner of TV stations. According to industry sources, New York-based Hearst-Argyle has begun to insert tough new language involving cable networks owned by its parent company, Hearst Corp. Hearst owns 50 percent of Lifetime, which is the source of the KMBC dispute. A spokesman at Time Warner Cable's headquarters in Connecticut said Wednesday that Hearst-Argyle was trying to double the price Time Warner pays for Lifetime. Time Warner balked at the increase, which could result in higher cable bills. Time Warner's deal to carry KMBC expired Dec. 31, but Hearst-Argyle had granted the cable company an extension through Wednesday night. But an accord remained elusive. Then at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Time Warner accepted Time Warner's offer of a four-week truce. - To reach Aaron Barnhart, call (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com

KMBC programs to continue on cable

More than 300,000 cable television subscribers came within a few hours Wednesday night of having to resort to rabbit ears to watch Kansas City's top-rated station. Time Warner Cable was ready to pull the plug on KMBC-TV, Channel 9, after an impasse in talks over the station's agreement with the cable company. Just hours before the midnight deadline, the two sides agreed to extend their existing deal until Feb. 15. But both sides say they are far from resolving the conflict. Under federal law, each of the country's 1,700-plus TV stations has a choice in dealing with the cable operators in its area. A station can demand that its signal be carried on cable systems. Or the station can ask for payment from the cable company for the privilege of carrying its signal. That's known as "retransmission consent," and it was the route taken by KMBC's owner, Hearst-Argyle Television, the nation's ninth-largest owner of TV stations. According to industry sources, New York-based Hearst-Argyle has begun to insert tough new language involving cable networks owned by its parent company, Hearst Corp. Hearst owns 20 percent of ESPN, 37.5 percent of A&E - and 50 percent of Lifetime, which is the source of the KMBC dispute. A spokesman at Time Warner Cable's headquarters in Connecticut said Wednesday that Hearst-Argyle was trying to double the price Time Warner pays for Lifetime. Cable operators pay a fee for nearly every cable channel they carry. They are loath to accept large fee increases, which lead to higher cable bills for their subscribers. Time Warner's deal to carry KMBC expired Dec. 31, but Hearst-Argyle had granted the cable company an extension through Wednesday night. With less than eight hours until the extension expired, Time Warner Cable's local vice president of public affairs, Carol Rothwell, began faxing a memo to elected officials in the cities served by the company. The memo said Hearst-Argyle had "denied Time Warner Cable permission to continue carrying its signal after midnight tonight." But about that same time, top executives at Hearst-Argyle were faxing their counterparts at Time Warner, offering a four-week truce and allowing the Kansas City system to continue carrying KMBC. Time Warner accepted the offer about 5 p.m. Time Warner Cable serves the two Kansas Citys, most of Johnson County, Liberty and other communities in the area.

Remote patrol

You won't find a more unlikely looking bunch of highly paid competitors than the finalists in the "World Series of Poker," featured in a Discovery channel special at 7 and 10 tonight. The four-day marathon, which whittles a roomful of competitors (each having paid a $10,000 entry fee) down to a single table, takes place at the Horseshoe Casino, a decidedly down-home leftover from the Las Vegas of old. (The $1 million prize is still paid in cash and is carried out to the winner in a cardboard box.) The program doesn't do a great job of explaining the blow-by-blow of crucial games but is worth a look just for the parade of players: old and young, amateur and pro, freaks and geeks and even 12 women (who, it must be said, have to play next to some real chauvinists). @ART CAPTION:World Series of Poker champ Scotty Nguyen @ART:Photo (color)

KSHB to offer free broadcast time for candidates

E.W. Scripps Co., which owns KSHB, Channel 41, and eight other TV stations, will offer five minutes of free air time per night to political candidates on its local newscasts during the primary and election seasons. Under the initiative, announced Thursday, candidates for national, state and select local offices will be able to present their messages to the public in an unmediated - though not necessarily unedited - forum. The segments will air during Channel 41's early-evening newscasts for at least 30 total days throughout the primaries and for the 30 days leading up to the general election Nov. 7. Scripps is believed to be the first major station group to offer free air time to political candidates. The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Bill Kennard, has been telling broadcasters to do so. He even hinted at new rules that would require free air time - until certain incumbents in the U.S. Senate threatened to dismantle the FCC. "This commitment represents our core belief that the Scripps stations must, and will, provide leadership in their communities during important elections," said Jim Hart, Scripps senior vice president. KSHB news director Laura Clark said Scripps had left the details up to each station. Although Channel 41 had not fully worked out its plan, Clark said the segments would be taped and produced by her staff, not by the campaigns. Every measure would be taken, however, to present the candidates' messages as completely as possible. "There isn't going be a lot of bells and whistles and charts and graphs," said Clark. "The goal of this is getting the candidate eye to eye with the viewer." For instance, two candidates for the same office could be asked a question, or series of questions, and their responses would air together. To preserve the effect of the candidates' talking directly to voters, KSHB staff would not be seen or heard during the segments. "It's going to feel more like a message vs. a story," said Clark. The Scripps group, rather than individual stations, will approach the major presidential candidates. Ideally the candidates would consent to interviews with each of the nine Scripps stations, but if that is impractical, the stations will air the same interview. Marc Farinella, campaign manager for Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, said Friday that the governor would take advantage of KSHB's offer. "It's probably not so important for candidates toward the top of the ticket, who would tend to have enough resources to communicate with voters," said Farinella. "It's probably more important to candidates further down the ticket." Channel 41, however, hasn't decided how far down the ticket it is willing to go in extending free air time. KSHB general manager Jim Swinehart said that local races probably would be included "if we feel they're important enough to merit covering them." Hearst-Argyle Television, which owns KMBC, Channel 9, announced earlier this month that it would expand its political coverage in 2000 with two regular features: "Issue Check," with stories that focus on issues rather than the daily horse race; and "Ad Watch/Web Watch," which will monitor the accuracy of candidates' messages. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com

Remote patrol

Of all the troubled young teen-agers who went to their schools and opened fire on their classmates, none was more troubling than Kip Kinkel. With two loving parents who expressed their concern for him right up to their final moments, Kinkel's hardly seemed to be that of the bad seed planted in fertile ground. But "Frontline" (9 p.m., Channel 19) does a remarkably incisive job taking key episodes in Kinkel's life and piecing them into a coherent narrative. Watching it, we see Kinkel and his parents descending into a pit of mutual despair from which they tried desperately to escape, with counseling and Prozac and father-son bonding and birthday gifts like a 336 Marlin rifle. @ART CAPTION:Kinkel @ART:Photo (color)

EchoStar to pick up local network affiliates

The country's No. 2 satellite service is ready to offer local network affiliates to its subscribers in Kansas City. EchoStar, which operates the Dish Network, confirmed that it will begin offering the four major network affiliates: WDAF (Channel 4), KCTV (Channel 5), KMBC (Channel 9) and KSHB (Channel 41). An EchoStar spokesman would not confirm the date when the stations will be made available, but two local retailers of Dish Network equipment said last week that they had been told the launch is set for this Friday. A Web site that tracks communications satellites (www.lyngsat.com) also reported that Kansas City and two other markets had been added to the EchoStar 5 satellite. Not all Dish Network receivers can pull in signals from EchoStar 5, which is used primarily to beam international channels and local TV signals. However, the spokesman said the company's new DISH 500 system will receive the local stations. Many EchoStar dealers are offering that system free, including installation, to customers who agree to one year of service at $40 a month. The offer expires March 31. A spokesman for the nation's leading satellite service, DirecTV, said the company has no plans to carry Kansas City stations. The two companies, which control the small-dish satellite market in the United States, were allowed to begin carrying local TV signals under a new law that Congress enacted last year. Executives for two of the four Kansas City stations said they had not negotiated an agreement with EchoStar to carry their stations' signals. However, they have until this spring to do so, and the sources added that DirecTV and EchoStar have signed numerous deals to carry stations in larger markets. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com

Remote patrol

Srebrenica. By now it ought to be a byword for unconscionable horror. Yet how much do we know of the mostly Muslim Bosnian village that was the scene of the worst European massacre since World War II? If anything can sear the name of Srebrenica into our consciences, it is "Srebrenica: A Cry From the Grave" (9 tonight, Channel 19), a gut-wrenching documentary that relives that terrible week in 1995 when the United Nations' first "safe area" was overrun by Serb troops. More than 7,000 men and boys were marched out of the area, never to be seen again. Bill Moyers narrates this film, which chronicles the siege and fall of Srebrenica and asks how it happened. Viewers will see a steady stream of chilling images: the leader of the UN forces in 1993 assuring Muslim refugees that they were now safe, to loud cheers; commander Ratko Mladic telling Serbian TV that "the time has come to take revenge on the Muslims"; the tedious work of identifying victims buried in mass graves; Bosnian Serbs whooping it up after the slaughter. @ART CAPTION:Bosnian Serb General Mladic took control of Srebrenica on July 12, 1995. Within a few days his troops massacred more than 7,000 Muslim men. @ART:Photo

Two broadcasters with WDAF ties pass on

Two well-known alumni of WDAF, Channel 4 - including the man credited by his peers with making it a powerhouse - have passed away in recent days. Dick Peabody, an actor and announcer best known for his role as Littlejohn on the war drama "Combat," which aired on ABC from 1962 to 1967, died Dec. 27 in El Camino, Calif., of prostate cancer. He was 74. Peabody graduated from Westport High School in 1943 and, on his return from a four-year stint in the Navy, held down several jobs in Kansas City. One was at the educational and industrial film giant Calvin Company at its Troost Avenue facility, where he was hired by Robert Altman. In the 1960s, when Peabody arrived at Altman's doorstep in Hollywood seeking a movie role, the director hired him again. Peabody had studied to become an engineer but gave it up because, as he later told The Star, "I couldn't find anyone who could name a famous electrical engineer." In 1951 Peabody joined WDAF as a director and announcer. His on-air name was Dick Gillham, a famous name in his family (Gillham Road is named for his grandfather). He was remembered as having a good voice, but at 6-feet-6 he may have been too outsized for early local television. Peabody left Channel 4 the next year. He married Kansas City's first "weather girl," Essie Campbell, in 1955 and wound up in Denver producing radio commercials. In 1962 Peabody rolled the dice and moved to L.A., and got a one-episode deal on "Combat" in 1963. But the big actor proved popular as Littlejohn and he stayed on through the end of the series. Peabody eventually appeared in more than 120 TV shows and six feature films, including "Support Your Local Sheriff." In the 1970s he had a radio interview show in Los Angeles and later wrote a column for the Placerville (Calif.) Mountain Democrat, near his home in El Camino. Bill Bates, 86, who passed away Jan. 6 in Prairie Village, was Channel 4's first program director and its second general manager from 1949 to 1964. At the time of the station's sign-on, Bates faced the unenviable task of filling a four-hour schedule without the aid of a television network or a film library, and with the notoriously shallow pockets of The Star, which owned WDAF until 1958. Bates wheeled and dealed with film wholesalers - the big Hollywood studios would not negotiate with TV stations, so traveling salesmen offered him everything from Army training films to Western matinees - and he never stopped needling his bosses at The Star for more money. His efforts paid off, and WDAF became immensely profitable. A subsequent owner, Taft Broadcasting, promoted him to an executive position in 1964. "I've not known anyone in the broadcast industry I've admired as much as Bill," said Murray Nolte, who was hired by Bates in 1952 and worked at WDAF until 1970. "He looked out for everyone." Familiar face at 4 You may recognize the newest addition to Channel 4's lineup of news anchors: Tom Lawrence, the former 6 and 10 p.m. co-anchor at KSHB, Channel 41, appears on WDAF's weekend newscasts beginning this weekend. Lawrence, who is working free-lance, also will do some reporting. Moving off weekends is Toby Cook, who started this week as Brad Harvey's replacement on the WDAF early morning news. The Independence, Kan., native joined Channel 4 in 1998 as a reporter. Harvey is now at WEWS-TV in Cleveland. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com

Networks try to punch up midseason with six new shows

Midseason has arrived on the TV calendar, and surprise surprise, all those relationship dramas with teens and 20-somethings that were the rage last fall now are as extinct as post-Clearasil pimples. But then again, is anything setting a fire under audiences this season? Sitcoms? Newsmagazines? "Freaks and Geeks"? Game shows? No, not even game shows. By the time you read this, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" will have defended its crown six nights in a row in the Nielsens. But so far none of the "Millionaire" wannabes has been able to duplicate its ratings magic. So it's not surprising that the networks have begun to tinker with the old designs. This midseason brings a couple of off-kilter comedies, a hospital drama with a nearly all-black cast and a tongue-in-cheek thriller. Here are the six midseason shows debuting in January and early February: DON'T MISS "Malcolm in the Middle" - This sitcom about a tightly knit and tightly wound family made its debut last Sunday to impressive ratings. Even though I wasn't as bowled over as some critics, I had to concede after previewing the next two episodes that "Malcolm," like its brainy lead character, is more than occasionally brilliant. Imagine "Home Alone" if the rest of the family didn't leave town and you're pretty close to the sensibility of "Malcolm," the story about a 13-year-old who's a whiz at math (a common thread with "Brutally Normal"), his three mostly normal brothers and his somewhat zoned-out parents. Frankie Muniz, who plays Malcolm, is likable, and he's good at addressing the camera (a gimmick we're seeing more of these days on TV). Muniz also has mastered the facial cringe that is his standard response when he's feeling embarrassed or humiliated which, given his age and nerdy disposition, is all the time. But the show is really carried by Jane Kaczmarek's daffy performance as the mom and the Phil Hartmanesque dad played by Bryan Cranston. Give the writers a lot of credit, too, for all the slapstick, sight gags and expertly chosen lines thrown into each episode. (7:30 p.m. Sundays, Channel 4) HAS POTENTIAL "Brutally Normal" - This half-hour comedy (which debuts with an hourlong episode) is even less conventional than "Malcolm in the Middle." Like "Malcolm," it has no laugh track, but "Brutally Normal" feels more like a teen drama, which figures since it's airing on the WB network. It also owes a lot to the success of another WB show, "Dawson's Creek," which is also about the sexual and artistic explorations of four high school students. (Indeed, one of the story lines of the first episode, in which a high school student seduces his teacher - albeit not literally - comes straight out of "Creek.") There are fantasy scenes throughout "Brutally Normal," though I was struck by how much effort went into them for so little payoff. When Pooh (Mike Damus) smooth-talks an older woman at an art gallery, he has a vision and we cut to a 5-second re-creation of the famous shot of Mrs. Robinson's bared foot in "The Graduate." It's a spot-on copy, except that (a) Mrs. Robinson seduced Benjamin Braddock, not the other way around, and (b) these aren't the promiscuous, carefree '60s. (The show itself acknowledges this when it brings up the topic of HIV.) The four leads are all winners. They make "Brutally Normal" more than tolerable, although you get the feeling Damus was chosen mainly for his resemblance to "Friends" star David Schwimmer. (8 p.m. Mondays starting Jan. 24, Channel 62) "City of Angels" - Steven Bochco, the producer behind such hits as "NYPD Blue" and "Hill Street Blues," is backing this drama about a chronically understaffed and underfinanced hospital in urban Los Angeles. I was looking forward to this series, which stars Blair Underwood (veteran of two previous Bochco dramas, "L.A. Law" and "High Incident") and Vivica A. Fox as two of the hospital's dedicated professionals. But the opening scenes of "City of Angels" are so poorly written and in such stunningly poor taste that I was tempted to declare this one D.O.A. after just 10 minutes. And I'm afraid many viewers will do the same, which is unfortunate for "City of Angels" because eventually the show does find its way. (I was especially taken aback by a scene in the morgue that involves a doctor played by Garrett Morris, a dead woman lying under a sheet and a Polaroid. CBS can expect some phone calls on this; the pilot is airing in a time slot when "Touched by an Angel" is usually seen.) A running story line features Turner (Underwood) and two residents assigned to him - one white, one black - each of whom accuses him of favoring the other on account of his race. Fox is very good playing the ambitious administrator, Michael Warren is suitably snaky as the hospital's CEO, and Robert Morse, who plays the chairman of the board (and Warren's political boss), is as pure a Machiavellian as American TV will allow. (7 p.m. Sunday (premiere); 7 p.m. Wednesdays beginning Jan. 19, Channel 5) "The Others" - Freshman year at college is a time when kids learn a lot about life, and Marian (Julianne Nicholson) is learning that she is a magnet for dead people's spirits. She just moved into a dorm room where the previous occupant had died of a drug overdose. Now the former occupant is coming to her in apparitions. If this sounds like a handful of other paranormal thrillers in recent years - including "Profiler" - you're right. But "The Others" doesn't take itself so seriously, and it favors the happy ending, which makes it a great match with "The Pretender," NBC's other "Thrillogy" entry on Saturday nights. Marian is tracked down at the library by a professor who thinks she might be interested in joining some other mystics for tea. This motley crew calls itself "the Others." This bunch of screwballs and misfits, ages 18 to 82, has obviously been assembled for the purposes of dramatic tension. One day the gang is summoned by a widow who's had nothing but trouble since putting her house up for sale. A flower vase bursts into flame when they're there. One of the group says, "I'm getting a tremendous wave of anger, frustration and pain." "That would be me," responds a voice - and we see it's the real estate agent with a prospective couple in tow. Among the producers of "The Others" are Glen Morgan and James Wong, who are known for writing some of the funnier episodes of "The X-Files" and "Millennium." (I use the word "funnier" loosely.) (9 p.m. Saturdays, beginning Feb. 5, Channel 41) D.O.A. On the heels of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" come these two entries that prove two things: (1) Hosting a game show isn't as easy as Regis Philbin makes it look; (2) A lousy idea remains lousy no matter how much money you throw at it. "Twenty One" - Why NBC chose to revive "Twenty One" - the best-known of the rigged game shows of the '50s and the basis of Robert Redford's 1994 film "Quiz Show" - is anyone's guess. Perhaps the network thought that changing a few rules and speeding up the tempo would improve "21." (The most famous "21" contestant of old, Charles Van Doren, stayed on the show for weeks, something that would be near impossible here.) But the salvage project is undermined by Maury Povich's graceless performance as host. Somebody thought it would be exciting to have him hand the departing contestants their winnings in cash, like Ben Stein does on his game show. But Povich does it with all the cheesy elan of a daytime talk show host (which he is) introducing a makeover. (7 p.m. Sundays, Channel 41) "Winning Lines" - As for "Winning Lines," a hopelessly convoluted game show with host Dick Clark, know this: The first two episodes took more than eight hours to tape, proof that even the producers had trouble figuring out how you play the darned thing. (7 p.m. Saturdays, Channel 5) To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com @ART CAPTION:Frankie Muniz stars in "Malcolm in the Middle." @ART CREDIT:FOX @ART CAPTION:T.E. Russell (left), Blair Underwood and Hill Harper in Steven Bochco's "City of Angels," a new urban medical drama series that examines the professional lives of those who pass through the doors of Angels of Mercy, a struggling Los Angeles County inner-city hospital. @ART CREDIT:CBS @ART:Photos (2, color and b/w) >>> CORRECTION: In some editions, a story in today's FYI section about new television shows lists an incorrect airtime for "Malcolm in the Middle" Sunday; it will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on Channel 4. Also, "The Others" will not pre-empt "Profiler," as is reported in the story. The FYI section is printed in advance.

Networks try to punch up midseason with six new shows

Midseason has arrived on the TV calendar, and surprise surprise, all those relationship dramas with teens and 20-somethings that were the rage last fall now are as extinct as post-Clearasil pimples. But then again, is anything setting a fire under audiences this season? Sitcoms? Newsmagazines? "Freaks and Geeks"? Game shows? No, not even game shows. By the time you read this, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" will have defended its crown six nights in a row in the Nielsens. But so far none of the "Millionaire" wannabes has been able to duplicate its ratings magic. So it's not surprising that the networks have begun to tinker with the old designs. This midseason brings a couple of off-kilter comedies, a hospital drama with a nearly all-black cast and a tongue-in-cheek thriller. Here are the six midseason shows debuting in January and early February: DON'T MISS "Malcolm in the Middle" - This sitcom about a tightly knit and tightly wound family made its debut last Sunday to impressive ratings. Even though I wasn't as bowled over as some critics, I had to concede after previewing the next two episodes that "Malcolm," like its brainy lead character, is more than occasionally brilliant. Imagine "Home Alone" if the rest of the family didn't leave town and you're pretty close to the sensibility of "Malcolm," the story about a 13-year-old who's a whiz at math (a common thread with "Brutally Normal"), his three mostly normal brothers and his somewhat zoned-out parents. Frankie Muniz, who plays Malcolm, is likable, and he's good at addressing the camera (a gimmick we're seeing more of these days on TV). Muniz also has mastered the facial cringe that is his standard response when he's feeling embarrassed or humiliated which, given his age and nerdy disposition, is all the time. But the show is really carried by Jane Kaczmarek's daffy performance as the mom and the Phil Hartmanesque dad played by Bryan Cranston. Give the writers a lot of credit, too, for all the slapstick, sight gags and expertly chosen lines thrown into each episode. (7:30 p.m. Sundays, Channel 4) HAS POTENTIAL "Brutally Normal" - This half-hour comedy (which debuts with an hourlong episode) is even less conventional than "Malcolm in the Middle." Like "Malcolm," it has no laugh track, but "Brutally Normal" feels more like a teen drama, which figures since it's airing on the WB network. It also owes a lot to the success of another WB show, "Dawson's Creek," which is also about the sexual and artistic explorations of four high school students. (Indeed, one of the story lines of the first episode, in which a high school student seduces his teacher - albeit not literally - comes straight out of "Creek.") There are fantasy scenes throughout "Brutally Normal," though I was struck by how much effort went into them for so little payoff. When Pooh (Mike Damus) smooth-talks an older woman at an art gallery, he has a vision and we cut to a 5-second re-creation of the famous shot of Mrs. Robinson's bared foot in "The Graduate." It's a spot-on copy, except that (a) Mrs. Robinson seduced Benjamin Braddock, not the other way around, and (b) these aren't the promiscuous, carefree '60s. (The show itself acknowledges this when it brings up the topic of HIV.) The four leads are all winners. They make "Brutally Normal" more than tolerable, although you get the feeling Damus was chosen mainly for his resemblance to "Friends" star David Schwimmer. (8 p.m. Mondays starting Jan. 24, Channel 62) "City of Angels" - Steven Bochco, the producer behind such hits as "NYPD Blue" and "Hill Street Blues," is backing this drama about a chronically understaffed and underfinanced hospital in urban Los Angeles. I was looking forward to this series, which stars Blair Underwood (veteran of two previous Bochco dramas, "L.A. Law" and "High Incident") and Vivica A. Fox as two of the hospital's dedicated professionals. But the opening scenes of "City of Angels" are so poorly written and in such stunningly poor taste that I was tempted to declare this one D.O.A. after just 10 minutes. And I'm afraid many viewers will do the same, which is unfortunate for "City of Angels" because eventually the show does find its way. (I was especially taken aback by a scene in the morgue that involves a doctor played by Garrett Morris, a dead woman lying under a sheet and a Polaroid. CBS can expect some phone calls on this; the pilot is airing in a time slot when "Touched by an Angel" is usually seen.) A running story line features Turner (Underwood) and two residents assigned to him - one white, one black - each of whom accuses him of favoring the other on account of his race. Fox is very good playing the ambitious administrator, Michael Warren is suitably snaky as the hospital's CEO, and Robert Morse, who plays the chairman of the board (and Warren's political boss), is as pure a Machiavellian as American TV will allow. (7 p.m. Sunday (premiere); 7 p.m. Wednesdays beginning Jan. 19, Channel 5) "The Others" - Freshman year at college is a time when kids learn a lot about life, and Marian (Julianne Nicholson) is learning that she is a magnet for dead people's spirits. She just moved into a dorm room where the previous occupant had died of a drug overdose. Now the former occupant is coming to her in apparitions. If this sounds like a handful of other paranormal thrillers in recent years - including "Profiler" - you're right. But "The Others" doesn't take itself so seriously, and it favors the happy ending, which makes it a great match with "The Pretender," NBC's other "Thrillogy" entry on Saturday nights. Marian is tracked down at the library by a professor who thinks she might be interested in joining some other mystics for tea. This motley crew calls itself "the Others." This bunch of screwballs and misfits, ages 18 to 82, has obviously been assembled for the purposes of dramatic tension. One day the gang is summoned by a widow who's had nothing but trouble since putting her house up for sale. A flower vase bursts into flame when they're there. One of the group says, "I'm getting a tremendous wave of anger, frustration and pain." "That would be me," responds a voice - and we see it's the real estate agent with a prospective couple in tow. Among the producers of "The Others" are Glen Morgan and James Wong, who are known for writing some of the funnier episodes of "The X-Files" and "Millennium." (I use the word "funnier" loosely.) (9 p.m. Saturdays, beginning Feb. 5, Channel 41) D.O.A. On the heels of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" come these two entries that prove two things: (1) Hosting a game show isn't as easy as Regis Philbin makes it look; (2) A lousy idea remains lousy no matter how much money you throw at it. "Twenty One" - Why NBC chose to revive "Twenty One" - the best-known of the rigged game shows of the '50s and the basis of Robert Redford's 1994 film "Quiz Show" - is anyone's guess. Perhaps the network thought that changing a few rules and speeding up the tempo would improve "21." (The most famous "21" contestant of old, Charles Van Doren, stayed on the show for weeks, something that would be near impossible here.) But the salvage project is undermined by Maury Povich's graceless performance as host. Somebody thought it would be exciting to have him hand the departing contestants their winnings in cash, like Ben Stein does on his game show. But Povich does it with all the cheesy elan of a daytime talk show host (which he is) introducing a makeover. (7 p.m. Sundays, Channel 41) "Winning Lines" - As for "Winning Lines," a hopelessly convoluted game show with host Dick Clark, know this: The first two episodes took more than eight hours to tape, proof that even the producers had trouble figuring out how you play the darned thing. (7 p.m. Saturdays, Channel 5) To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com @ART CAPTION:Frankie Muniz stars in "Malcolm in the Middle." @ART CREDIT:FOX @ART CAPTION:T.E. Russell (left), Blair Underwood and Hill Harper in Steven Bochco's "City of Angels," a new urban medical drama series that examines the professional lives of those who pass through the doors of Angels of Mercy, a struggling Los Angeles County inner-city hospital. @ART CREDIT:CBS @ART:Photos (2, color and b/w) >>> CORRECTION-DATE: 01 15, 2000 CORRECTION: New shows In some editions, a story in today's FYI section about new television shows lists an incorrect airtime for "Malcolm in the Middle" Sunday; it will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on Channel 4. Also, "The Others" will not pre-empt "Profiler," as is reported in the story. The FYI section is printed in advance.

Town hall tackles evolving issue

Tonight, on a special one-hour edition of "Kansas City Week in Review" (7:30, Channel 19), KCPT's Nick Haines will preside over a "town hall meeting" on evolution vs. creation. With luck, it will amount to something more than a pie fight. "This was one of the major issues in 1999," Haines said. "And this year we have Kansas Board of Education races going on. Certainly evolution will be back in the public mind." Haines also feels that television hasn't fully told the story of the Kansas evolution battle to its viewers. "We understood the frustration many social conservatives had about the way they were belittled in the national press," Haines said. "We really feel there hasn't been adequate airing of this issue. We wanted to give a time for the community to get together to talk about this." About 20 people will be in attendance at the meeting, which is being taped this morning at the Channel 19 studios. Haines said that about half of the participants will represent the "intelligent design" group that proved so influential in the Kansas board's decision. Intelligent design, which says evidence exists to suggest that the universe was designed by someone, is a relatively new wrinkle in creationist thought. Its advocate is a Berkeley law professor named Phillip Johnson, whose books include Darwin on Trial and An Easy-to-Understand Guide for Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds. Local radio personality and filmmaker Jack Cashill read Darwin on Trial a few years ago and it changed his life. Cashill was so persuaded by Johnson - and appalled by the portrayal of the Kansas creationists in the media - that he made a documentary showcasing Johnson and his intelligent-design theories. The 52-minute video, "The Triumph of Design," is just out. Cashill is unhappy because Channel 19 won't show it. (Haines said that he will air "liberal excerpts" from the video during tonight's telecast.) KCPT has put Cashill's work on the air before and even sold it on the home-video market. Why not this time? "We felt it was a heavy-handed approach," said Haines. "The feeling was that if the complaint was raised that how the media covered the Kansas board decision was biased, then this program did the exact same thing on the opposite scale." Indeed, no Darwinists were interviewed for "The Triumph of Design." Their views are instead summarized by Johnson and narrator Woody Cozad (from a script by Cashill). As one of Johnson's critics once observed, "Letting a creationist define evolution is rather like letting a communist define capitalism." You would never know from "The Triumph of Design" that not every creationist accepts intelligent design, just as many evolutionists don't buy into the atheistic teachings of Richard Hawkins, who is the chief whipping boy in this video. Beyond that, "The Triumph of Design" does Johnson a disservice by just letting him talk and talk and talk, while we look at gorgeous nature video that Cashill has collected from around the world. I don't doubt that these wondrous animals are part of God's creation, but I found myself asking, "What does this have to do with intelligent design?" Cashill has shown in previous films (such as "The Royal Years" and the video shown at the Steamboat Arabia museum) that he knows how to match a spoken word to a compelling and illustrative visual. But in his eagerness to get Johnson's theories before the public, he neglects the basic documentary task here. The film also gets nastier as it goes along, calling evolution "politically correct junk science," "groupthink" and "weary 19th-century materialism." Its defenders are characterized as the "desperate" acolytes of a "minor 20th-century religious sect." To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TVBarn Web site at www.tvbarn.com >>> CORRECTION: The name of author Richard Dawkins was misspelled in the Jan. 14 Remote Patrol Weekend column in the FYI section.

Town hall tackles evolving issue

Tonight, on a special one-hour edition of "Kansas City Week in Review" (7:30, Channel 19), KCPT's Nick Haines will preside over a "town hall meeting" on evolution vs. creation. With luck, it will amount to something more than a pie fight. "This was one of the major issues in 1999," Haines said. "And this year we have Kansas Board of Education races going on. Certainly evolution will be back in the public mind." Haines also feels that television hasn't fully told the story of the Kansas evolution battle to its viewers. "We understood the frustration many social conservatives had about the way they were belittled in the national press," Haines said. "We really feel there hasn't been adequate airing of this issue. We wanted to give a time for the community to get together to talk about this." About 20 people will be in attendance at the meeting, which is being taped this morning at the Channel 19 studios. Haines said that about half of the participants will represent the "intelligent design" group that proved so influential in the Kansas board's decision. Intelligent design, which says evidence exists to suggest that the universe was designed by someone, is a relatively new wrinkle in creationist thought. Its advocate is a Berkeley law professor named Phillip Johnson, whose books include Darwin on Trial and An Easy-to-Understand Guide for Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds. Local radio personality and filmmaker Jack Cashill read Darwin on Trial a few years ago and it changed his life. Cashill was so persuaded by Johnson - and appalled by the portrayal of the Kansas creationists in the media - that he made a documentary showcasing Johnson and his intelligent-design theories. The 52-minute video, "The Triumph of Design," is just out. Cashill is unhappy because Channel 19 won't show it. (Haines said that he will air "liberal excerpts" from the video during tonight's telecast.) KCPT has put Cashill's work on the air before and even sold it on the home-video market. Why not this time? "We felt it was a heavy-handed approach," said Haines. "The feeling was that if the complaint was raised that how the media covered the Kansas board decision was biased, then this program did the exact same thing on the opposite scale." Indeed, no Darwinists were interviewed for "The Triumph of Design." Their views are instead summarized by Johnson and narrator Woody Cozad (from a script by Cashill). As one of Johnson's critics once observed, "Letting a creationist define evolution is rather like letting a communist define capitalism." You would never know from "The Triumph of Design" that not every creationist accepts intelligent design, just as many evolutionists don't buy into the atheistic teachings of Richard Hawkins, who is the chief whipping boy in this video. Beyond that, "The Triumph of Design" does Johnson a disservice by just letting him talk and talk and talk, while we look at gorgeous nature video that Cashill has collected from around the world. I don't doubt that these wondrous animals are part of God's creation, but I found myself asking, "What does this have to do with intelligent design?" Cashill has shown in previous films (such as "The Royal Years" and the video shown at the Steamboat Arabia museum) that he knows how to match a spoken word to a compelling and illustrative visual. But in his eagerness to get Johnson's theories before the public, he neglects the basic documentary task here. The film also gets nastier as it goes along, calling evolution "politically correct junk science," "groupthink" and "weary 19th-century materialism." Its defenders are characterized as the "desperate" acolytes of a "minor 20th-century religious sect." To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TVBarn Web site at www.tvbarn.com