Time Warner keeps the new channels coming
Like a shopper with a new gold card, Time Warner Cable just keeps loading up on new channels. (And who will be getting the bill?) Starting this Sunday, subscribers to Time Warner's basic cable service (channels 2-73) will get 10 new channels, including some previously offered only to customers with a digital box (channels 190 and up). Digital customers are getting five new channels as well. SoapNet, the all-soap-operas-all-the-time channel from Disney, signs on at Channel 65. (It's actually been there for a few weeks.) For those who can't live without their ABC soaps, SoapNet offers same-day repeats of "Port Charles" at 6:30 p.m., "All My Children" at 7, "One Life to Live" at 8 and "General Hospital" at 9. The four shows repeat again at 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. In between there are reruns of old daytime and nighttime soaps. On weekends, the strong-eyed can watch the entire week of their favorite soap as the episodes air back-to-back. Oxygen, or as we like to call it, "the O Channel" (for its best-known backer, Oprah Winfrey), arrives at Channel 73. Oxygen bills itself as "TV by and for women." In other words, it wants some of what Lifetime has: female viewers. Oxygen's schedule is a mix of old movies, "Xena: Warrior Princess" reruns and original shows. Its signature show is probably "Exhale," an easygoing interview program with Candice Bergen as host. Great American Country, a digital offering at Channel 237, will appeal to viewers who think Country Music Television doesn't play enough music videos. GAC even has a weekly countdown of viewers' favorite videos. Time Warner subscribers who didn't get American Movie Classics before now will, at Channel 72, while Turner Classic Movies will move off Time Warner's premium tier to Channel 71. Some channels are moving because Time Warner is phasing out the older set-top boxes that carried the AXS service. (If you're an ex-TCI customer in Johnson County, you weren't offered AXS.) Moving to basic from AXS, with new channel numbers in parentheses: ESPN Classic (35), Sci Fi (63), Golf Channel (66), Bravo (68), History Channel (69) and Disney Channel (70). No, you won't have to pay extra for the Disney Channel. Those of you who watch any of these channels on digital cable (for example, Bravo on Channel 237) should switch, too. Finally, four more Cinemax channels will be added on channels 328-331 for digital customers who subscribe to HBO's petite sister. Showtime has been criticized, perhaps unfairly, for not being HBO. Among the two pay-cable giants, HBO is known for sophisticated original dramas like "The Sopranos" and the more recent "Six Feet Under," while Showtime is still best known for its pornish "Red Shoe Diaries." Its originals, like "Rude Awakening" and "Beggars and Choosers," have been mediocre at best. That's starting to change. This week three well-received Showtime series return with new episodes. Most notable among them is "Resurrection Blvd.," Showtime's highly watchable drama about an ambitious Hispanic family, which returns for a second season at 9 p.m. Tuesday. The two others are "Soul Food" (9 p.m. Wednesdays), based on the movie of the same name, and sci-fi series "Stargate SG-1" (9 p.m. Fridays), starring Richard Dean Anderson, which began as a syndicated show before Showtime picked it up. In "Resurrection Blvd.," Tony Plana stars as Ricardo, the blunt-speaking patriarch of the Santiago clan, now widowed, who lives with his brother, sister-in-law and several children in their house in East L.A. Much of the action revolves around Tony's obsession with boxing; his own career fell short of glory, so he's gotten his three sons into the business and lives vicariously through them. But the women of the household also have dreams. Elizabeth Pena, who plays Tony's tough-talking sister-in-law Bibi, brings fresh energy to a role that could have slid into stereotype. Since Fox took over Pat Robertson's Family Channel three years ago, the network has tried gimmicks to bring in young viewers - everything from a "new" Captain Kangaroo to reruns of "Providence" - with little success. Now comes "State of Grace," a "dramedy" having its premiere at 8 tonight. "State of Grace" tells the story of two girls who become friends in a North Carolina town in the mid-1960s. Grace (played by Mae Whitman) is an outgoing Southern belle-to-be and a Catholic. Hannah (Alia Shawkat) is a recent transplant from Illinois, the shy and easily mortified daughter of a Jewish furniture maker. Like other coming-of-age shows, each episode is narrated by an adult looking back fondly on her childhood; here it's Hannah, as voiced by Frances McDormand. Jokes are scarce; there's not much "-medy" in this "dramedy." And there's far too much cigarette smoking on camera. Yes, I know people smoked back then. But Hollywood never replicates the past exactly - like most of us, it has a spotty memory. A show aimed at impressionable preteens should've forgotten tobacco even existed. You can reach Aaron Barnhart through the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com. @ART CAPTION:RuPaul (right) makes the first of a series of guest shots on "Port Charles" on July 4. He plays Madame Alicia; Lynn Herring plays Lucy Coe. SoapNet is one of the new channels on Time Warner Cable. @ART:Photo (color) @ART CREDIT:ABC >>>
