RICK DU BROW; NETWORKS FAN SWEEPS WITH EXITS, EVENTS; TELEVISION:
'CHEERS' AND A SLEW OF VENERABLE SERIES DEPART NEXT MONTH AMID A BARRAGE OF DRAMAS BASED ON RECENT TRAGEDIES.;
By RICK DU BROW
The May ratings sweeps that begin next week seem like an omen of TV's future--with some of prime time's best-crafted shows bidding farewell while ripped-from-the-headlines dramas get extraordinary treatment.
Viewers will get a picture of the changing, and not too promising, scene during the Nielsen sweeps, which begin Thursday and end May 26. And no night will signify the loss of grand entertainment more than May 20, when "Cheers," one of the most beloved series in television history, bows out on NBC.
Network series come and go, but the trend toward cheaper reality shows and the unending chain of fact-based films speak to the new network priorities. You may or may not be a fan of serials, but "Knots Landing," which departs from CBS May 13, was perhaps the best-written of the nighttime soapers, once helping dominate TV with "Dallas," "Falcon Crest" and "Dynasty."
Yet another winner, the wise, witty and poignant ABC comedy "The Wonder Years," ends its run May 12. It is no surprise that ABC Entertainment President Ted Harbert says it was "a signature show" for the network. And this week, the list of network departures lengthened with the announced May farewells of CBS' "Designing Women" and NBC's "Quantum Leap."
Consider, on the other hand, NBC's massive effort to call attention to itself with its unprecedented reality package that might be called Four Days in May. During those four days, from May 23-26, NBC will end the sweeps with three TV movies dramatizing startling recent tragedies--the Waco cult showdown, Hurricane Andrew and the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City.
The quality of the individual shows remains to be seen, but the hurry-up effort to sell them as an entertainment package--exploiting tragedy for ratings--is so transparent, particularly in light of the horrible end in Waco just days ago, that many viewers are bound to be repelled by the marketing concept.
NBC, of course, is counting on the fascination of other viewers about the tragedies and the hope that the network can fool skeptics by delivering acceptable two-hour dramas.
But the underlying message is seemingly that third- place NBC, desperately trying to reverse a ratings plunge, has opted to go heavy on event-style programming--and is also trying to score points with its member stations, whose prices for commercials depend partly on the outcome of sweeps months.
Thus, on May 23, NBC will present "In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco," ending not with the recent, final carnage but with the killing of four federal law enforcement agents two months ago. On May 24 comes "Hurricane Andrew." And on May 26, the final night of the sweeps, the network will offer "Terror in the Towers," about the World Trade Center bombing that took place only last February.
Just emerging from its recent "Dateline NBC" scandal, in which the show rigged the crash of a General Motors truck, NBC is putting itself on the line again with its dramatized package of recent tragedies.
The ratings may well be there, and perhaps there will be some creative surprises. But serious missteps--added to the criticism already leveled--could bring the network the kind of negative image that followed its broadcast of Geraldo Rivera's 1988 satanism special.
NBC's "Cheers" send-off, meanwhile, seems smartly planned. There'll be a buildup to the finale over several episodes. On May 6, for instance, the series has an expanded, one-hour episode. On May 13, Sam (Ted Danson) "seeks professional help for his addiction to sex."
As for farewell night, May 20, it's shaping up as a 3-hour blast. It starts at 9 p.m. with a half-hour retrospective and backstage look at the series, "Last Call: A 'Cheers' Celebration." Then comes the 90-minute final episode, with former star Shelley Long returning. And after the
local news, Jay Leno and "The Tonight Show" will originate from the Bull & Finch Pub in Boston that inspired the "Cheers" setting, with most of the cast on hand.
The "Knots Landing" May 13 finale may not have the same sense of magic because the show's popularity has slipped. But CBS is giving it a three-hour send-off nonetheless. It starts at 8 p.m. with an hour retrospective, "Knots Landing Block Party," which is immediately followed by the two-hour finale.
As for "The Wonder Years," it, too, will expand--from 30 minutes to an hour--for its May 12 windup. The show, which stars Fred Savage, has focused on a boy growing up from 1968-73 in a typical suburban home. And while everyone knows that "Cheers" has cleaned up Emmy Awards left and right, some viewers may have forgotten that "The Wonder Years" was named the best comedy series in 1988.
"Designing Women," which departs in a one-hour episode May 24, has been a remarkable survivor on a network that often didn't seem to appreciate its wide appeal and once even tried to cancel it, which brought howls from viewers. The series, which debuted in 1986, has been moved around eight or nine times. And yet it was only after it was paired with "Murphy Brown" that CBS finally found a combination that led to the building of its power base on Monday nights.
Yet again, however, "Designing Women" was shifted this season--to Fridays--and, predictably, slipped.
NBC's "Quantum Leap," which delivered social messages as its hero (Scott Bakula) traveled through time and assumed other people's identities, simply ran out of steam in the ratings, ranking 82nd out of 113 series this season after a lively four-year run that ends May 5.
Aside from the farewells and torrent of fact-based movies, other specials will surface in May. Oliver Stone has an ABC miniseries, "Wild Palms," which arrives May 16 and stars James Belushi as a TV executive in the year 2007 who is "seduced by the awesome possibilities of a stunning new technology"; the network is promoting the show as a "mind-bending" experience of "horrifying drama, deadpan realism and hallucinatory soap opera."
ABC has the new American Television Awards on May 24 and the Daytime Emmy Awards--in prime time again--on May 26. Elizabeth Taylor is saluted by the American Film Institute on ABC May 6, and Bob Hope gets a three-hour 90th birthday salute on NBC May 14. (Actually, his birthday isn't until May 29.) On the other end of the age spectrum, those hard-body specimens on Fox's "Beverly Hills, 90210" prepare to graduate from high school in a two-hour season finale May 19.
For couch potatoes, a couple of popular old TV series are remembered in "The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies" on CBS May 24 and "The Return of Ironside" on NBC May 4.
Old TV series never die; they just say goodby and pop up again.
PHOTO: COLOR, "Cheers"--The current cast of NBC's popular comedy, which will depart with a nightlong finale on May 20.
PHOTOGRAPHER: NBC
PHOTO: COLOR, "Quantum Leap"--Scott Bakula portrayed Lee Harvey Oswald earlier this season. Show ends May 5.
PHOTOGRAPHER: PETER IOVINO
PHOTO: COLOR, "Designing Women"--The hardy series, which debuted in 1986, ends May 24 with a one-hour finale.
PHOTOGRAPHER: GERALDINE OVERTON
PHOTO: COLOR, "Wonder Years"--Danica McKellar and Fred Savage in ABC's "signature show." Last episode airs May 12.
PHOTOGRAPHER: SHARON M. BEARD