Channel 9, Time Warner still have signals crossed

Time Warner Cable and the owner of KMBC, Channel 9, are still tussling over the continued carriage of Channel 9's signal on cable. The latest news is that Time Warner offered to extend the current deal, which expired nearly five months ago, until Nov. 1. The cable company is negotiating several such agreements around the country with KMBC's parent Hearst-Argyle Television. A spokesman for Time Warner Cable told an industry journal that the six-month hiatus was intended to let "coolheadedness" prevail. But Hearst-Argyle said no thanks, meaning the current deadline of May 1 still stands. A Hearst spokesman added that it was unfortunate Time Warner had chosen to publicize part of their ongoing talks. The sticking points remain the same: the price the cable company is willing to pay for Lifetime, a channel partly owned by Hearst; and Hearst's demand that Time Warner add the Lifetime Movie Network to its cable lineup. If the stalemate continues, however, don't assume Channel 9 will go off the air at midnight on Monday. This is a key ratings period, and during a similar impasse three months ago Hearst allowed Time Warner to keep Channel 9's signal on until February ratings "sweep" ended. Take me back Two players on the Kansas City film scene wrote the script for the NBC miniseries "The '70s," which begins Sunday. Mitch Brian, a screenwriter living in Fairway, and Kevin Willmott, film instructor at the University of Kansas, have collaborated on several scripts in recent years and have been called in by movie and TV studios to rewrite others. A teleplay they wrote earlier for NBC, on the life of J. Paul Getty, was never produced. They're hoping for better luck with a screenplay recently written for director Oliver Stone. "The '70s" begins 8 p.m. Sunday on Channel 41. (If you tune in and see a guy who looks sort of like the late singer/songwriter John Denver, you're watching the wrong '70s-based movie: That's "Take Me Home: The John Denver Story," airing at the same time on Channel 5.) In other news All 13 half-hour episodes of "Sunflower Journeys" are being shown this month on KTWU in Topeka during that station's on-air pledge drive. The programs run from 7 to 11 p.m. tonight and 3:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday. KTWU is carried on Johnson County cable systems. Public Radio International, the distributor of the nightly financial show "Marketplace," is suing the University of Southern California, saying PRI never gave the school permission to sell Marketplace Productions to Minnesota Public Radio earlier this month. PRI passes "Marketplace" to 294 stations nationally, including KCUR-FM (89.3), which airs it at 6:30 p.m. weeknights. PRI also distributes Minnesota Public Radio's biggest show, "A Prairie Home Companion." To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit www.tvbarn.com >>>

Remote patrol weekend

On Sunday's episode of "The X-Files" (8 p.m., Channel 4), series creator Chris Carter casts a funhouse mirror on the show's real-life backstories, including David Duchovny's rumored departure, by introducing a Hollywood filmmaker who comes to D.C. to research a movie based on the lives of Mulder and Scully. Don't miss the opening scene, which fast-forwards to the premiere of the film, with Tea Leoni (aka Mrs. David Duchovny) and Garry Shandling (!) as the leads. And that's just for starters as the episode also squeezes in references to dreckmaker Ed Wood, to losing faith in the 1960s, and to heretical scriptures so blasphemous that it drives good men to evil deeds. There are also choice lines like this one, from the blowhard director shadowing Mulder and Scully: "I like the way you guys work. No warrants, no permission, no research. You're like studio executives with guns." @ART CAPTION:Duchovny (left) and Shandling @ART:Photo >>>

Remote patrol

Got videotape? It's that time of the TV season: the year-ending May ratings "sweep," brimming with blockbusters, "special episodes" of your favorite shows and so many other goodies you'll exclaim, "why don't they put stuff like this on TV all the time?" And despite the coming of "Jesus" to CBS next month, be warned that sweeps are not for the meek or lowly. The networks have shelved series with unsteady ratings in favor of specials or reruns of more popular shows. Hence tonight ABC brings back its Thursday night edition of "20/20" (9, Channel 9), having pulled the plug on "Wonderland." NBC (Channel 41) has filled its 8:30 time slot - home to recent dud "Battery Park" - with a "Frasier" repeat. And in a sweeps-month tradition, Fox proudly presents two all-new hours of schlock, "Ghosts: The Best Evidence Caught on Tape" and "UFOs: Best Evidence Ever Caught on Tape," starting at 7 (Channel 4). >>>

'V' is for virtually ignored; Few Americans have bothered to learn how to use the child-protecting V-chip

Whatever happened to the V-chip? Ushered into the world in 1996 by an act of Congress, it was immediately hailed by a host of pro-family advocates and Vice President Al Gore. Behold, they said, a $3 gizmo that will let parents block any TV shows that exceed their personal thresholds for sex, violence and adult language. Set it once and walk away - the V-chip does the rest. Not everyone was overjoyed by this technical miracle mandated by Uncle Sam. Hollywood cried censorship, while the makers of TVs grumbled about having to install something that actually prevented people from watching TV. Now, four years later, it looks like the naysayers are having their way. Somehow, the V-chip has become the red-headed stepchild of the television business, ignored and overlooked despite being built into every new TV set sold in the U.S. Here's the latest sign of the V-chip's identity crisis: Nearly two out of five parents don't even know what it is. That's the finding of a study published earlier this month by the Menlo Park, Calif.-based Kaiser Family Foundation, a leading proponent of V-chip use. To counter that, the Odyssey Network (which is part-owned by Hallmark Entertainment), RCA and Circuit City stores announced a V-chip awareness campaign earlier this month. The companies will reissue 720,000 copies of a booklet, printed last year by the Kaiser Foundation and the Center for Media Education, telling parents about the device and how to use it. The booklets bear the image of Kermit the Frog, the campaign's "V-chip spokesfrog." Meanwhile, the government's "V-chip czar" - who wields only slightly more power than a "spokesfrog" - fired off a memo to the TV networks April 4, pleading with them to "recommit themselves to educating parents about the V-chip." That seems unlikely. Nothing would please the networks more than to see the demise of the V-chip. Having lost much of their audience to cable, the notion of losing millions more potential viewers to an electronic nanny would have their ad sales staffs reaching for the Maalox. One "bad" rating (an "adults only," for example) and a program could be instantly wiped off the TV screen in millions of homes. It's no surprise, then, to learn that in the first three months of 2000, the four networks aired announcements about the V-chip exactly 59 times, or roughly 90 seconds' worth per week, according to numbers released by the Federal Communications Commission. Of those 59 spots, CBS aired 54; NBC, ABC and Fox combined aired five. For those of you with new TV sets (and who weren't watching CBS), you'll find the V-chip controls through the same menu system you use to adjust the picture, captioning and other settings on your TV. Menus vary, but most refer to V-chip settings as "parental controls." I've used them, and they're a snap to set up. I've also hauled a TV out to speaking engagements and handed the remote to audience members. They've figured it out, too. But figuring out the V-chip and putting it to good use are two different things. The technology is useless without the "TV ratings" you see on-screen every 30 minutes or so. The rating is encoded into the TV signal, enabling the V-chip to check its own settings against the rating. For example, if the parent has set the threshold at "TV-PG," and a show comes in with a "TV-14" rating, it's blocked. Only someone who knows the password to the TV set can watch that show. There are also content-based ratings for sex (S), racy dialogue (D), violence (the "V" in V-chip) and so on. Broadcasters began voluntarily airing the ratings in 1997, though not without a fight. The cable industry, which is supported mainly by subscriber fees, has been more supportive of TV ratings and the V-chip. Currently, though, the ratings system is so glitch-riddled as to be almost unusable. Two studies in the last two years found that the vast majority of shows with sexual and violent content weren't being tagged as such. Even if ratings were more accurate, it's unclear parents would notice: Just 4 percent of those surveyed a year ago by the Kaiser Foundation knew that the "FV" rating stood for fantasy violence - the only rating for violent content approved for use in children's shows. Then there's the problem of cable companies that garble the ratings-encoded part of the signal. A college professor in Wisconsin recently found her V-chip wasn't blocking "South Park," the potty-mouthed cartoon on Comedy Central, because somewhere in the transmission the show's "TV-MA" (adults only) rating had been lost. Parents also may be surprised to learn that newscasts are exempt from ratings. You can solve that problem by programming your set to simply block all unrated shows - but that will knock out sporting events, too. Perhaps the V-chip's biggest drawback is that it is hard-wired into TV sets and thus into history. Other parental controls, such as those offered by cable companies and satellite-dish systems, are software-driven, which means a future software designer could improve them, then download the new program to subscribers. For instance, HBO and Showtime, in addition to the standard TV ratings, have extra codes that distinguish between mild and graphic violence. The V-chip doesn't recognize them and never will. And because the V-chip is a single standard imposed across all TV models, it breaks a cardinal rule of retail sales: Always have a feature the other guy doesn't - or, if you've both got the feature, make yours better. In my visits to showrooms, I've found that salespeople can go on all day about the virtues of various TV models. But few of them know much about "parental controls" and none of them ever brings it up. In its current design, the V-chip seems unpromotable. That's not stopping Gloria Tristiani, the aforementioned "V-chip czar" and FCC commissioner. When I spoke with her last year, she pointed to surveys showing that three-quarters of parents would use the TV controls if they were offered. "But I can't expect people are going to buy a set because there's a V-chip," Tristiani said. "We need time to gauge what the acceptance level is, and by time I mean years." Years? That sounds like a timetable devised by enemies of the V-chip, not its chief proponent. At that rate, it may not be long before "parental controls" joins brightness and contrast as yet another ubiquitous, little-used and mostly forgotten setting on the TV set. (The booklet "A Parent's Guide to the TV Ratings and V-Chip" is free by calling (800) 656-4533.) To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com THE RATINGS Children's shows only: TV-Y: Appropriate for all children. Themes and elements designed for viewers ages 2-6. TV-Y7: Program aimed at children 7 and older. May include mild fantasy violence (FV) or may frighten children younger than 7. General audiences: TV-G: Suitable for all ages. Little or no violence, no strong language and little or no sexual dialogue. TV-PG: Parents may want to watch this show with their younger children. May contain moderate violence (V), sexual situations (S), infrequent coarse language (L) or suggestive dialogue (D). TV-14: Many parents would find show unsuitable for children younger than 14. May include intense violence (V), intense sexual situations (S), strong coarse language (L) or intensely suggestive dialogue (D). TV-MA: This program is specifically designed to be viewed by adults. May be unsuitable for children younger than 17. Family pics You don't need a V-chip in your house to select high-quality TV shows the whole family can watch. In the April 15 issue of TV Guide, the editors picked their top 10 family shows currently airing on broadcast and cable: 1. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (airs often on Nick) 2. "Kids Say the Darndest Things" (7 p.m. Fridays, CBS, Channel 5) 3. "Wishbone" (3:30 p.m. weekdays, PBS, Channel 19) 4. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (airs often on ABC, Channel 9) 5. "Kenan & Kel" (4:30 p.m. weekdays, Nick) 6. "Disney's Hercules" (syndicated; not airing in KC) 7. "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" (8 p.m. Fridays, ABC, Channel 9) 8. "Zoboomafoo" (10 a.m. weekdays, PBS, Channel 19) 9. "7th Heaven" (7 p.m. Mondays, WB, Channel 62) 10. "So Weird" (Disney Channel; not currently airing) And while they were at it, the editors chose 10 top classic videos for kids: 1. "Alice in Wonderland" 2. "Babe" 3. "E.T." 4. "The Fox and the Hound" 5. "Mary Poppins" 6. "The Muppet Movie" 7. "101 Dalmatians" 8. "The Parent Trap" 9. "Time Bandits" 10. "Toy Story" @ART CAPTION:THE RATINGS @ART:Graphic @ART CREDIT:Source: TV Parental Guidelines (www.tvguidelines.org) @ART:Graphic (color illustration) @ART CREDIT:BRIAN A. GRIFFIN/Knight Ridder Tribune >>>

Remote patrol

Having had nearly two years to prove it is something more than the foam at the end of the WB network's teen-age soap-opera wave, the ineptly self-conscious "Felicity" (8 tonight, Channel 62) may be nearing the end of the line. Keri Russell has lately earned her biggest raves from hair consultants, not TV critics. And for a series that takes place in the Big Apple, how is it that the world of "Felicity" seems narrower and more white-bread than that of its new Wednesday night lead-in, "Dawson's Creek"? Series creator J.J. Abrams has tried such gimmicks this season as the I'm-making-a-documentary episode, with shaky camcorder shots a-plenty, and the tribute-to-my-favorite-show episode, modeled on "The Twilight Zone" but missing that one crucial Serlingesque element: the heroine's untimely demise. Fortunately, that task may soon be accomplished by Nielsen; ratings haven't improved for "Felicity" since its re-shift to Wednesdays. @ART CAPTION:Russell @ART:Photo (color) >>>

Pet company wants comedy writer to change his sock

Pets.com is accustomed to breaking new ground. It was the first Internet pet-supply company to raise venture capital and the first to buy commercial time during the Super Bowl. Now it's first to sue a TV comedy writer for making fun of its "spokespuppet." In a complaint filed April 12 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the e-tailer is charging Robert Smigel, the former head writer on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," with defamation and trade libel for disparaging the sock puppet that is the center of the company's $20 million marketing campaign. Smigel is the author and voice of a foul-mouthed rubber hand puppet named Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog. Triumph is a favorite of "Late Night" viewers and appears regularly on the program. In effect, Pets.com is charging Smigel with using his sock puppet to defame its sock puppet. "In an attempt to harm the Sock Puppet's audience appeal and market share, and to increase Triumph's popularity through a public 'controversy' or 'scandal,' Defendant (Smigel) has claimed on national television, the Internet and in print media that Pets.com stole the idea and creation for its Sock Puppet from Defendant and that the Pets.com Sock Puppet is a 'rip-off' of Triumph," the suit alleges. Pets.com also believes that Triumph's attacks on its mascot created "an undesirable, unwholesome and unsavory mental association" with its Sock Puppet in the minds of consumers. Smigel - through his friend Jeff Ross, the executive producer of "Late Night" - declined comment. But Ross said, "You want my first comment? I think it's hysterical." The 15-page complaint asks for unspecified damages and legal costs from Smigel. Pets.com bases much of its case on appearances made last month by Smigel and current "Late Night" head writer Jonathan Groff on "The Daily Show," "Inside Edition" and the New York Daily News Web site. In each appearance, the writers (and Triumph) claim the Sock Puppet is a pale copy of Triumph. The Sock Puppet has already been a source of controversy. Last month The New York Times reported that shortly after the Walt Disney Co. bought a 5 percent stake in Pets.com, the Sock Puppet started making "guest" appearances on several Disney-owned media outlets, including three affiliated with ABC's news division: "Good Morning America" (where he sang to co-host Diane Sawyer), "Nightline" and the Mr. Showbiz Web site, which doubles as the entertainment page of ABCNews.com. Viewers were never told that Disney had a financial stake in Pets.com. Nor, apparently, was the media: A March 20 press release promoting the Sock Puppet's appearance on Mr. Showbiz makes no mention of Disney's investment. Wouldn't the Pets.com lawsuit be a juicy target for Groff and his writing team at "Late Night"? Of course, said Ross - but he'd have to consult NBC's legal eagles first. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com @ART CAPTION:The Pets.com sock puppet is at the center of a lawsuit between the company and a former writer for "Late Night With Conan O'Brien." @ART:Photo @ART CREDIT:File photo >>>

Remote patrol

Angola Prison, the Louisiana facility so notoriously aligned with violence and corruption that the federal government took it over for a time in the 1970s, casts its mark indelibly on residents and guests alike. Even those souls lucky enough to be discharged will say, years later, that they still dream about Angola as if they had never left. The prison also has been fertile ground for filmmaker Jonathan Stack, whose film about Angola life, "The Farm," won two Emmys and was nominated for an Oscar in 1999. Stack returned to make "The Wildest Show in the South: Angola Prison Rodeo," which airs in expanded form at 7 tonight on Discovery. The Angola Prison Rodeo, open to the public, is pretty much as advertised. Prisoners, many of them with little ranching or riding experience, volunteer to ride a bull or play rodeo cowboy, risking life and limb for a $60 top prize. They're also competing for something even more valuable: a rare dose of public approval. The rodeo is one of those events that needs little embellishment or packaging: Just turn on your camera and let people talk. You probably haven't seen an event called "Guts and Glory" at any other rodeo. That's because it's a competition only rank amateurs with nothing to lose would be crazy enough to enter. >>>

Health Network prescribes to Hock show

Leonard Hock, the folksy M.D. who appears five times a week on WDAF, Channel 4, likes to say he's "not a professional media person." But you wouldn't know it from his video resume. Hock, whose on-air trademark is a stethoscope draped over his right shoulder, has been doing his health tips on Channel 4 - at 7 a.m. Monday through Thursday and at noon Tuesday - since volunteering for the task in 1995. A year and a half ago Hock was approached by the giant hospital chain Health Midwest, which was looking to get into the TV business through its for-profit arm Medi-Scope. With family physician Hock as host, MediScope produced a series of 90-second health segments, which it has sold to 22 stations around the country for use in their newscasts. Now the Health Network, a 24-hour cable channel owned by Fox, has picked up a 30-minute program featuring Hock and produced by MediScope. The show, which will begin airing later this year, profiles the men and women behind some of the 20th century's biggest medical breakthroughs. (Time Warner Cable carries the Health Network on its digital tier; Comcast offers a rival channel, Discovery Health.) With his walrusy silver mustache and high-pitched voice, Hock has a disarming presence on TV. If this were a one-hour drama, he'd play the barber, not the doctor. But these qualities lend authenticity to his "House Call" segments on WDAF. In fact, Hock says viewers don't hesitate to come up to him at the grocery store and tell him their health problems. "Research shows that people feel individually impacted more by the health segment of the news than the reports of world news or the local crime or the auto accidents," says Hock, who may not be a professional media person but sounds like he talks to them. "People tell me, 'You helped me ask questions of my doctor.' " Soon the whole world may be coming to him for advice. Did somebody say www.drhock.com? @ART CAPTION:Leonard Hock @ART:Photo (color) >>> CORRECTION: Leonard Hock was incorrectly identified in an April 24 FYI story. He is a D.O., or doctor of osteopathic medicine.

Remote patrol

For those of you who watched the recent historical epic about New York City on PBS, there may not be much to learn from "The Great Game: The Story of Wall Street," a workmanlike documentary about the crucible of modern capitalism airing at 7 tonight on CNBC. Otherwise, it's an interesting two-hour tour, led once again by historian John Steele Gordon, author of a new history of the city's financial district. Gordon also was the chief talking head in the part devoted to Wall Street in PBS' "New York: A Documentary Film." >>>

Sinclair gives another local executive the quick heave-ho

Two years ago the managers of KSMO, Channel 62, begged Gloria Rudd, the station's widely respected local sales manager and a longtime employee, to come back from personal leave. They even offered her the job of general sales manager - the top sales position at the station. On Wednesday a new set of managers told Rudd she was through and then - as one friend of Rudd's later put it - "she was unceremoniously ushered out the door like toxic waste." Such a graceless exit used to be unheard of in a TV market known for its clubbiness and cordiality. But Sinclair Broadcast Group, the Baltimore company that owns WB affiliate KSMO, is not known for its attention to local mores. On the same day that Rudd (the mother of actor Paul Rudd) was being ousted, the station's general manager Missy Gaines was announcing her departure after little more than a year. Supposedly that was for personal reasons, but sources familiar with Channel 62's situation speculate that Gaines jumped before she could be pushed as Rudd was. Mike Granados, the regional manager overseeing several stations for Sinclair including KSMO, did not return telephone calls for comment. (Granados replaced former Channel 41 executive Stu Powell, who also was recently bounced by Sinclair.) Since buying Channel 62 four years ago, Sinclair has churned through three general managers. Rich Deutsch, now at KMBZ-AM (980), was fired in early 1999; he replaced Jim MacDonald (see related item below). Sinclair currently owns or operates 61 TV stations in 40 markets. Its four Kansas City radio stations will be sold to Entercom once Entercom unloads three stations to bring its holdings under the federal limit. NBC on PAX Sometime in the coming weeks, you may channel surf past the PAX affiliate KPXE, Channel 50, and swear you just saw Tom Brokaw. You won't be the only one: The station better known for "Supermarket Sweep" and reruns of "Diagnosis Murder" will air the "NBC Nightly News" each weeknight at 6:30 p.m., one hour after it first airs on NBC affiliate KSHB, Channel 41, starting May 1. It's a one-month test, but both networks say it will likely will be permanent. There's more. On June 3 PAX stations will begin expanded coverage of the U.S. Olympic team trials that also are being carried by NBC. Channel 50 will air the highlights at 8 p.m. Saturdays through the summer. The moves follow NBC's experiment of rebroadcasting its game show "Twenty One" on PAX. The network bought a 32 percent stake last year in PAX, which is owned by Home Shopping Network founder Lowell Paxson, and NBC has the option of buying the whole enchilada in two years. PAX owns most of its affiliates, including Channel 50, and controls all programming from its West Palm Beach, Fla., facility. The deal has NBC affiliates around the country cursing bitterly, while industry analysts are chattering about the "new business model." Viewers may soon be saying, "Didn't I just watch this an hour ago?" But Mark St. Clair, Channel 50's general manager, called the NBC deal exciting and said, "It's a way for people who would like to watch 'NBC Nightly News' but can't get home until 6:30." MacDonald aligns with 41 Almost from the moment he got out of the television business, Jim MacDonald wanted back in. This week the former general manager of KSMO, Channel 62, did just that. MacDonald struck a deal with KSHB to take over sponsorship of his 3-year-old sports monthly newspaper. Ending a two-year affiliation with radio station KMBZ-AM (980), MacDonald will rename his publication KSHB NBC 41's Kansas City Sports and Fitness beginning with the May issue. As he sees it, the deal is a win-win: The monthly will get "dozens and dozens" of on-air mentions every month on 41. And new KSHB sports director Todd Romero, who arrived from Denver in February, will write for the paper, giving him access to local fans who don't know him from Adam (or worse, still think Paul Rudy is Channel 41's sports anchor). For MacDonald, the deal signals a bright future for his sports monthly, which has been through numerous name changes and burned up all of his original seed money. The tabloid-size paper finally started turning a profit last year, and with the KSHB tie-in, advertisers and readers should grow. "This newspaper, without question, is the hardest thing I've ever done," MacDonald said. "They say if you can make it to year three, you're golden. We've made it to year four." In other news KCPT, Channel 19, interrupts this program and that program and many other programs as it launches its 28th annual spring on-air auction at 7 p.m. Friday. The bidding will start at 6 p.m. weekdays, 3 p.m. weekends, and will run until midnight through May 6. "Charlie Rose" will air at midnight, but other regularly scheduled shows will be aired at later dates. Congratulations to Kansas City's two cable operators for picking up Beacon Awards at the Cable TV Public Affairs Association meeting earlier this month. Time Warner Cable's local Road Runner marketing campaign was honored, as was Comcast's new newsletter for employees at its Independence office. Minnesota Public Radio, best known as the broadcast home of "A Prairie Home Companion," announced this week it is acquiring "Marketplace," the nightly business show based at the University of Southern California. The program, which airs at 6:30 weeknights on KCUR-FM (89.3), reaches 2.5 million listeners a week. The new owner won out over several other bidders and has no plans to change the show other than to make some much-needed capital improvements. Irony of ironies, public radio's capitalist tool was short on cash. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com >>>

Remote patrol weekend

About 10 years ago, Joseph Epstein wrote an essay complaining that nobody ever smoked in the movies anymore (to say nothing of movie theaters). Since then, of course, Hollywood has begun lighting up again, so we shouldn't be too surprised at the arrival of "The Last Cigarette," a habit-forming comic documentary from director Kevin Rafferty ("Atomic Cafe") at 8 tonight on TLC. "The Last Cigarette" is basically a clip reel of dozens and dozens of nicotine scenes from old films. Rafferty then works the montage around a notorious tableau: the 1994 congressional hearing in which executives of all the top cigarette makers testified under oath that smoking was neither addictive nor all that bad for you. The result is a deliciously savage attack on tobacco toleration. At one point Rafferty changes course slightly, flipping between old educational movies on the dangers of smoking and the more glamorous depictions of Hollywood. But through clever editing, it's the instructional films and their clunky messages that wind up looking sophisticated. A neat trick. @ART CAPTION:A pregnant woman smoking is one of the images used in "the Last Cigarette." @ART:Photo >>>

Remote patrol

Lifetime is honoring Passover by saluting former Israeli premier Golda Meir with a new "Intimate Portrait" (6 tonight). The Russian emigre and onetime Milwaukee schoolteacher is described here as "restless," "rebellious," "in your face" and - at the same time - "terrified of the normal fate of Jewish girls growing up in America." These qualities would ultimately push her out of the United States, out of her first marriage and into Zionist politics. Meir raised $50 million for Israel's war chest on the eve of its independence in 1948. Later, she became mayor of Tel Aviv, Israel's foreign minister and finally, at age 70, prime minister. Also tonight, Hetty Wainthropp (Patricia Routledge) continues her third cycle of whodunits on "Mystery!" (8, Channel 19). If it's like most of the previous Wainthropp mysteries, Hetty will be thrown into a creepy case of small-town shenanigans, only to be pulled out of it rather implausibly in the final three minutes. This is one of those rare series that combines great theme music, memorable characters and an abysmal payoff. (see the synopsis below) @ART CAPTION:Meir @ART:Photo >>>

Remote patrol

What sets Errol Morris' new series for Bravo, "First Person" (9:30 tonight), apart from his feature films is that his subjects are not discovered by Morris so much as interpreted by him. Case in point: tonight's profile of Gary Greenberg, a psychologist who got some national press last year when he corresponded with Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber), then wrote about it for a small magazine called McSweeney's. This half-hour is not much more than a dialogue between Greenberg and Morris, who as usual is not seen but heard calling out his questions loudly and shrilly, as though he knew nothing about good audio technique. Morris uses various visual tricks, like cutting to black or moving the camera a few degrees. But he didn't need to resort to gimmicks with Greenberg, who is a compelling character and sufficiently detached from his pursuit of Kaczynski to retell his tale with humor and perspective. From the start Greenberg is disarming, as when he admits that his original motive in contacting the Unabomber was to get himself published. This, he quickly adds, wasn't much different from Kaczynski's motive in mailing out bombs. >>>

Remote patrol

This year, following the campaign season's hottest issue may involve watching the Weather Channel instead of CNN. "Frontline" (8 tonight, Channel 19) explains why with a timely program on global warming - and before you respond with "hoo boy," it's more interesting than you might think. The program opens with a key disclaimer: Scientists who think the Earth is heating up have only 100 years of climate data to lean on, which is like the blink of an eye given our planet's history. But obviously more humans are roaming the planet than ever. They're sucking precious carbon dioxide out of plants like never before and fueling the greenhouse effect. Want to see an extreme case of greenhouse? "Frontline" says turn your telescope to Mars. Yet despite wide consensus on this point, Vice President Gore couldn't get Congress to pass a treaty committing the U.S. to cut greenhouse emissions. "Frontline" chronicles that bizarre political defeat and considers what Gore will do about it - if anything - if he's elected environmentalist-in-chief. @ART CAPTION:Gore @ART:Photo >>>

REMOTE PATROL

It's nice to see basketball legend Bill Russell back on television again, doing that commercial for a financial advisory firm. Did you notice, though, that Russell never looks us in the eye in those ads, but is always pointed off-camera? It's a telling detail when you think about Russell's perception by today's sports media, where Michael Jordan's status as the greatest player ever is rarely disputed. Could it be that Jordan gets points for being accessible and quotable and for always talking to the camera like an old friend? In this way, "Bill Russell: My Life, My Way," the latest stellar sports documentary from HBO, makes a compelling case that Russell's career eclipsed all others in nearly every respect - except when it came to respect. The program, airing at 9 tonight on HBO, shows how dramatically Russell altered the way basketball was played, at the college and pro levels. But his intimidating style of play unsettled spectators as well as opponents. His racial pride flared up whenever he perceived he was being slighted (oftentimes rightly so). Most of all, Russell's refusal to play along with the sports media - and a jealous guarding of his personal life - meant turning his back on the very accolades to which he also felt entitled. @ART CAPTION:Russell @ART:Photo (color) >>>

Remote patrol weekend

The best TV in America this weekend may well be British - and no, we're not talking about that "Millionaire" import. "Masterpiece Theatre" unveils a new adaptation of the Dickens classic "Great Expectations." Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith and Ian McKellen are just some of the talent stocking this two-night presentation, which begins at 9 p.m. Sunday and concludes at 8 p.m. Monday on Channel 19. Like PBS, the Discovery channel often co-produces its shows with public-TV networks in other countries. The latest collaboration is "Walking with Dinosaurs," a you-are-there re-creation of the reign of Earth's most towering creatures. The 3-hour special, co-produced with the BBC, airs at 6 p.m. Sunday (and repeats at 9 p.m.) on Discovery. Computer animation and contemporary wildlife footage were painstakingly fused to make "Walking With Dinosaurs"; you can see how they did it in a one-hour behind-the-scenes special 8 p.m. Monday on Discovery. @ART CAPTION:Take to the air and ground with the Discovery Channel's "Walking with Dinosaurs." @ART:Photo @ART CREDIT:Discovery >>>

Remote patrol

What will PBS do for its next act? That's a question a lot of us in the TV world ask. The public-TV network now has several prime-time series still running in their second and even third decades, and its latest show for kids, "Between the Lions," is closely patterned on its oldest, "Sesame Street." Anybody who says PBS is liberal hasn't studied its conservative program strategy very much. But now, a great new idea has come along: "Right Here, Right Now," documentaries shot by non-filmmakers using camcorders. Oh sure, MTV and other networks have occasionally pressed a camera into the hands of amateurs. But PBS' are longform specials, with one subject each week for the next four weeks, not to mention unconventional storylines and revelations you may find unsettling. "Right Here, Right Now" has its premiere at midnight tonight (Channel 19) with the story of Jeanne, a young woman who documents the ways in which the world fails to come to grips with the fact she is deaf. The scenes range from the silly - a receptionist who hears Jeanne's lispy speech and asks, "Are you from France?" - to the heart-rending. Empowered by the camera, Jeanne heads off to confront her mother, who has never bothered to learn sign language, even though her daughter has been deaf since infancy. "I just didn't have another minute to do anything more," says the mother. Jeanne's ready with the comeback: "Mom - how long have you been retired? Six years?" The next three weeks feature Yolanda, a teen-age mom; Jack, a Chinese-American resisting his parents' pleas to become a doctor; and Jonelle, who is desperate to overcome a debilitating stutter. >>>

Remote patrol

Several years ago ABC news reporter Jay Schadler began hitchhiking across America and asking his rides to tell him their stories. Aided by a tiny camera that mounted on the windshield - and by countless people willing to bare their souls to such questions as "Do you have any regrets in life?" - Schadler's reports became a "20/20" highlight. Now they are a series on Bravo. Schadler spent two years creating "TaleLights," an all-new compilation of reports from the road airing at 9 p.m. Wednesdays on Bravo, just before Errol Morris' intriguing "First Person." Over the years dozens of local TV reporters across the country have tried to imitate Schadler's thumb-and-chat (including one memorably bad effort from KMBC). But Schadler is the gold standard. He instinctively knows when to assent to his rides' opinions or challenge them. Tonight a trucker tries to show him the way of salvation with the reassuring words, "If you go to hell, it's not my fault," while another ride stuns Schadler by averring that the Bible forbids interracial marriage. I asked Schadler in 1996 what kind of people pick him up. "People who have hitchhiked themselves," he said. "People who realize that they're not in control of life; life is more in control of them. They're never people in BMWs. When I see a pickup truck or old-model American car, my heart races. My odds are going up, I know it." @ART CAPTION:Schadler doing some site-specific hitchin' @ART:Photo (color) >>>

Remote patrol

"Talk to Me" is supposedly the wacky on-air and off-air story about a New York morning-radio personality played by Kyra Sedgwick. So it's probably not a good sign that the radio scenes are the weak links in this new ABC sitcom, which will have its debut at 8:30 tonight on Channel 9. (For those of you expecting to see "Sports Night" in that time period, the show is off the schedule, probably for good.) These days a half-hour comedy has only about 19 minutes to get in and get out. Judging by the first two episodes it appears much of that time will be spent "on the air," as Sedgwick does her radio shtick with a roomful of sidekicks. But the banter has a controlled, scripted feel to it; it doesn't help that the show's first celebrity guest is Gene Simmons, a rock star who probably hasn't improvised a thing in 20 years. As often happens in the sitcom biz, the brightest talent on "Talk to Me" turns out to be the second banana: Sedgwick's sister, played by Nicole Sullivan, the versatile comic best known as a member of the "MAD TV" troupe on Fox. @ART CAPTION:Sedgwick @ART:Photo (color) >>>

Remote patrol

Economic uncertainty. Technological change. Guns and seemingly random acts of violence. Though they are all grist for today's news mill, these were all present in Depression-era America, too. We're reminded of that in a chilling new documentary on the Black Legion, a violent fascist group that thrived in the Midwest in the 1930s. "Terror in the Heartland," airing at 7 tonight on the History Channel, looks at the extremist group that was formed in Ohio by ex-Southerners who thought the Klan was getting soft. Targeting Jews, Catholics, recent immigrants, union activists and of course African-Americans, the Black Legion's ranks swelled to the tens of thousands. Its members were behind countless unsolved murders and assaults, and the group's secrecy allowed police chiefs and mayors to join. This program puts the Black Legion into the larger context of pro-fascist activity in prewar America. There's video here of an American Nazi rally held in Madison Square Garden - in 1939. >>>