Networks Facing Up to Reality TV

TV or not TV. . . .

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE: Two new ABC projects indicate how the once-mighty networks are playing catch-up on ideas that have succeeded with their growing competition.

With PBS’ blockbuster documentary series “The Civil War” still fresh in mind, ABC has announced it is developing a two-part, four-hour documentary about Abraham Lincoln “during the Civil War period.”

Then there’s ABC’s new reality series about police, “American Detective,” a weekly hour that debuts May 2 and “focuses on the jobs, actions and private existences of the men and women who protect the public.”

Sound familiar? Try Fox Broadcasting’s “Cops.”

PBS’ “The Civil War,” which has turned into a cottage industry, is not going to be bettered--but if the Ken Burns opus encourages more works like ABC’s, who’s complaining? It sure beats another Danielle Steel miniseries.

“American Detective,” meanwhile, is the latest example of how the networks are flinging themselves into the reality field, testing the waters primarily because of the lower production costs of the programs.

One wonders: Has anybody at the networks thought of expanding news programming and presenting more real news shows? The last time we looked, they classified as reality programs. Or isn’t real reality real enough?

At any rate, “American Detective” certainly seems real enough in this added description by the network:

“Cameras move side by side with police department detectives as they search out, interrogate and arrest suspected criminals. There are no scripts, no re-creations; every moment is real.”

The show, which ABC is launching during the fiercely competitive May ratings sweeps, “is shot entirely in the cities and towns of America. . . . Also on display will be the personalities and private moments of the men and women behind the badge.”

Sound familiar? Try Fox Broadcasting’s “Cops.”

But is ABC on to something beyond the reality trend? Is “American Detective” astute counterprogramming to find out if this is the kind of show that can take the measure of TV’s top series, “Cheers,” against which it is scheduled?

If ABC breaks the back of “Cheers,” it will break the back of NBC.

WORDPLAY: Mariel Hemingway (“Personal Best,” “Manhattan”) will star in the Steven Bochco company’s upcoming drama series, “Civil Wars,” which has nothing to do with the War Between the States. It’s about a pair of divorce lawyers, played by Hemingway and Peter Onorati (“Cop Rock”), who operate a small Manhattan firm.

BULLETIN BOARD: Sharon Gless visits the outstanding NBC interview series “Later With Bob Costas” next Tuesday night. Costas then follows with a two-parter with Robert Duvall the nights of April 24 and 25. Let’s hope they talk about “The Great Santini” and “True Confessions,” the only film in which I’ve ever seen another actor blow away Robert De Niro.

MOONLIGHTING: So there’s Carroll O’Connor, singing “September in the Rain” with piano accompaniment in his Beverly Hills restaurant in a very classy, intimate TV commercial promoting the eatery. Surprising ad, surprisingly nice voice.

EYE-OPENER: KCBS Channel 2 is running a riveting investigative report on child sex exploitation all this week on its 5 p.m. news. The series, reported by Michael Singer and produced by Dan Leighton, depicts an underground in which adults who are sexually attracted to children trade, molest and photograph them for pornography. There’s a startling video sequence of a plot to kidnap a child.

BACK IN BUSINESS: NBC’s “Today” show, with new co-anchor Katie Couric, now has pulled within less than a rating point of ABC’s front-running “Good Morning America” for five consecutive weeks. In the latest count, for the week of April 1-7, “Today” was only 1% behind “Good Morning America” in the share of audience.

SAY WHAT?: Don’t believe that Lifetime channel promo that promises “new episodes” of “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.” They are reruns of the series that ended Saturday--terrific, but still reruns.

LAST CALL: OK, we’re getting to be a bore telling you how much we like ABC’s “Anything but Love.” I mean, it’s not “Gone With the Wind” or anything--but Wednesday’s show, in which Jamie Lee Curtis doesn’t think Richard Lewis is romantic enough, is the last scheduled episode this season, and it’s fun, and the tune-in might have an impact on whether the series is renewed.

TOTAL RECALL: We’ve told you about Egg magazine’s 100 favorite TV moments. Now, journalist Dan Jenkins has a few additions, among them: “Art Carney’s quick-witted ad-lib entrance through the window when the door to Jackie Gleason’s apartment wouldn’t open. . . . (Swimmer) Florence Chadwick’s chillingly dramatic Catalina channel attempt (in 1952), covered late at night by KTTV at a time when remotes were news in themselves.”

GOOD RIDDANCE: What can you say about a TV season in which the biggest new network hit was “America’s Funniest People”? The official ratings season, which ran from September until Sunday, was devastating evidence of why cable and VCR viewership has increased dramatically.

RETURN ENGAGEMENT: Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, whose interviews gave huge ratings boosts to “20/20” and David Frost, now turns up on the Arts & Entertainment cable channel. This time, he’s the subject of a one-hour profile by Britain’s Independent Television News organization, set for June 4 and titled “Schwarzkopf.”

SIGN OF THE TIMES: KNBC Channel 4 medical reporter Steve Gendel has moved over to the network’s new cable channel, CNBC, which is going heavy on talk and magazine programs.

BEING THERE: “High insurance rates are what really killed the dinosaurs.”--Announcer on “Late Night With David Letterman.”

Say good night, Gracie. . . .