‘AMERIKA’ WILL HAVE ‘FICTION’ NOTICES

ABC, which has been emphasizing for months that its controversial “Amerika” is only make-believe, said Tuesday that it will open each episode of the seven-part miniseries with a disclaimer noting that the show is fiction.

Its announcement came after a series of on and off talks between ABC and a lawyer for the United Nations. The U.N. has protested the program’s depiction of an oppressive, Soviet-controlled U.N. force occupying the United States 10 years after a bloodless takeover by the Soviet Union.

However, an ABC spokesman said the inclusion of the disclaimer on the program was not made in response to requests from the U.N. He said ABC decided “months ago” to include the announcements but delayed announcing it until now.

ABC makes no reference to the U.N. in its disclaimer, which the spokesman said would be shown but not spoken at the beginning of each “Amerika” episode. The program premieres Sunday night.

“This series is fiction,” ABC’s disclaimer will say. “The institutions and organizations depicted are not intended to bear any resemblance to today’s counterparts.”

In addition to its vague wording, the pre-show notice to viewers is far shorter than one originally sought by the United Nations--a 90- to 120-second announcement by a U.N. or United Nations Assn. spokesman.

That version would have emphasized that the U.N. forces depicted in ABC’s $35-million miniseries “bear no resemblance to the true U.N. peacekeeping forces” serving around the world today.

Broadcast of that message had been on a list of requests made of ABC in a Nov. 25 letter sent by Theodore Sorenson, a prominent attorney hired by the U.N. to press its case at the network.

In a telephone interview, Sorenson, a former special counsel to President John F. Kennedy, called the network’s disclaimer decision “a constructive move on ABC’s part.” It isn’t precisely what he had asked for, he conceded, “but I’m sure you know enough about negotiations to know that there’s a difference between what is sought and what is realistically achievable.

“I’m far from satisfied with the various steps ABC is taking, but I’m pleased that they at least have made some moves in the right direction.”

He said he is still pressing for the airing by ABC--at no cost to the United Nations--of “public-service announcements” designed to bolster public understanding of what the U.N. actually is and does.

He also has been seeking a special late-hour “Viewpoint” program on Feb. 23, a day after the end of “Amerika,” in which “Amerika” and the U.N. could be discussed by a panel including a U.N. spokesman.

Although reports quoting “a source close to the U.N.” say ABC News has agreed to air such a program, a spokeswoman for the network’s news division, Carol Olwert, said Tuesday that a final decision has not yet been made, and may not be made until the middle of next week.