Turner: From Belittlement to TV Honor

TV or not TV. . . .

ABOUT TIME: What poetic justice that Ted Turner is getting the prestigious Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

For years, the mainstream networks tried hard to belittle the renegade visionary as he went about building CNN and other cable channels, becoming the world’s most significant TV figure in the 1980s.

CBS threw up its hands in horror when the irreverent, irrepressible Turner tried to buy the network--the best thing that could have happened to it. When the dust settled, CBS had collapsed into a corporate coma from which it only recently recovered, while Turner just kept soaring upward.

One of the funniest and best impromptu speakers anywhere, Turner will be honored by the TV academy on Fox’s Emmy Awards show Aug. 30. And wouldn’t it be nice if he had about 10 minutes to ramble with his killer speechifying about the state of TV? Ah, well, we can dream.

It’s only appropriate that Turner will finally be honored with the award whose previous recipients include such other landmark TV executives as CBS’ William Paley, ABC’s Leonard Goldenson and NBC’s Sylvester (Pat) Weaver and Grant Tinker.

BALLOT BOX: As the TV academy winds up its voting this week on who should be nominated for the Emmy Awards, let’s hope that some of the last year’s most deserving candidates make the final cut.

It’s about time Roseanne Arnold finally got a nomination for “Roseanne.” And certainly Regina Taylor of “I’ll Fly Away” should get one.

We won’t do a laundry list, but others who deserve nominations include Janine Turner of “Northern Exposure,” Dana Delany of “China Beach,” Marlee Matlin of “Reasonable Doubts” and Charles Dutton of “Roc.” And we hope that such unique series as “Brooklyn Bridge” and “Seinfeld” aren’t overlooked.

Among the specials, there are such worthy entries as Kevin Spacey for “Darrow,” Anne Bancroft in “Mrs. Cage,” Patty Duke and Maureen Stapleton in “Last Wish” and the uplifting and triumphant “Victory & Valor: The Special Olympics.”

The nominations will be announced July 16.

A DELICATE MATTER: An intriguing controversy has emerged over the powerful HBO abortion drama “A Private Matter,” which premiered Saturday and will be repeated tonight, Thursday and Sunday.

In the drama, which stars Sissy Spacek, a woman decides on abortion after learning that tranquilizers she took contained thalidomide, which could result in a disabled baby.

Criticizing the film is the California Abortion Rights Action League (CARAL), which also characterizes itself as comprising “pro-choice disability rights activists.”

Says CARAL, a Santa Monica-based group: “While the filmmakers intended to make a pro-choice film, this story and the drama are very problematic because the essential message is that abortion must be legal so that society can rid itself of fetuses which have disabilities.”

Adds the activist group: “We believe that abortion should always be safe, legal and funded--but not as a eugenic device to rid society of some of its ‘defective’ members. . . . The story perpetuates prejudice against people with disabilities.”

Responds Robert Cooper, the senior vice president of HBO Pictures:

“ ‘A Private Matter’ is provocative and accurate. It is the story of one woman’s personal decision when faced with a difficult choice. It is about the agony of Sherri Chessen’s choice and her personal belief that the decision was hers to make, not one to be decided by her husband, her doctor, the courts, her neighbors or pressure groups.

“The film captures a time and place and through its dialogue reveals the biases and prejudices of the 1960s. The questions raised in this film, as in real life, have no easy answers. The film tries to bring some glimmer of the truth of her experience to the audience.”

ON THE ROPES: Ed Bradley’s prison interview with Mike Tyson gave CBS’ “Street Stories” its highest rating ever last week as 21% of the nation’s TV viewers tuned in.

YOUNG AT HEART: “Swans Crossing,” a new, syndicated soap opera aimed at the teen-age and preteen market and premiering on KCAL-TV Channel 9 on Monday, is about a bunch of rich brats.

IN THE WINGS: Why do we get the feeling that Tom Arnold’s mid-season sitcom “The Jackie Thomas Show,” in which he plays an egomaniacal TV star, is going to be a big hit? And only partly because it will follow his wife’s series, “Roseanne.”

THE CANDIDATE: MTV had said that last week’s final rerun of its 90-minute interview with Bill Clinton would air on Saturday. Instead, it aired on Sunday. Swell. Just ask a few people who set their VCRs.

STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS: “Watergate: The Secret Story,” last week’s CBS special marking the 20th anniversary of the break-in that brought down the Nixon Administration, showed that folks are still interested: 21% of the viewing audience watched the two-hour broadcast anchored by Mike Wallace.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Bryant Gumbel, Katie Couric and the “Today” show hie themselves off to Africa for a Nov. 13-20 visit right after election day here, which might be a swell time to be out of the country.

IN THE GROOVE: Jay Leno’s Friday routine on Father’s Day gifts was terrific--perhaps an indicator of the way he should go in sketch-type material.

STEADY WORK: Mary Hart wasn’t the first woman host of “Entertainment Tonight”--Marjorie Wallace was. But Hart soon won the job, and this summer marks her 10th anniversary with “E.T.”

TITLE MATCH: In case you didn’t notice, TBS’ double feature Saturday night was “The Birds” and “The Bees.” Everybody knows Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”--but “The Bees”? Well, our “Video Movie Guide” lists it under “horror/suspense” and sums it up as follows: “Despite all temptation to label this a honey of a picture, it’s a drone that will probably give viewers the hives.”

SLOW DANCE: Do you think maybe ABC has a sleeper in “Jack’s Place,” the new series with Hal Linden as the owner of a neighborhood cabaret? It keeps holding up well in the ratings.

BEING THERE: “A lie takes an awful lot of words, the truth takes very few.”--Character in “The Big Valley.”

Say good night, Gracie. . . .