Network of the Killer Bs

It was a momentous day at the headquarters of the USA Network. One of the cable channel’s “World Premiere Movies” had been reviewed in that morning’s New York Times. That, in itself, was a first. Furthermore, it was a good review. That left the troops downright depressed.

“First, when I opened the paper, I thought, ‘Oh God, please don’t review it,’ ” says Dave Kenin, USA’s executive vice president of programming. “And then when it was positive! When reviewers hate our pictures--which is most of the time--that’s great for us. But good reviews and good ratings don’t usually walk hand in hand.”

Welcome to the in-your-face network. USA, which recently observed its 12th birthday, has its own philosophy and its own agenda, and it works. The network lives simply to give a good time. It counterprograms--or “counterpunches,” as founder and chief executive officer Kay Koplovitz calls it--with a vengeance. It has something for the kiddies, the jocks, the single yuppie who wants to snuggle up with a carton of Haagen-Dazs.

And it has those movies. The ultimate in high-low concept, they come right out of the world of Robert Altman’s film “The Player”: “ ‘Working Girl’ meets ‘Sybil’ ” could sum up “Body Language,” for example, a July movie that teamed Heather Locklear and Linda Purl in a story that USA described as “a businesswoman hires a secretary whose jealousy builds until she experiences a psychotic break and usurps her boss’s identity.”

“Generally, there is nothing redeeming about our movies except the pleasure of being told a good story,” Kenin says. “We look mostly for suspense dramas that are pure entertainment. Most focus on intense close-ups of people in crisis.”

In an earlier era, they would have been called B-movies: the quickie films churned out to fill double bills. “The Lookalike” starred Melissa Gilbert as a woman haunted by the recurring presence of her dead daughter. “Murder by Night” featured Robert Urich as an amnesia victim who is the police department’s only witness to a murder. “Nightmare on the 13th Floor” offered Louise Fletcher and James Brolin as members of a satanic cult. Then there were “Curiosity Kills,” “Murderous Vision,” “Snow Kill,” “Fatal Exposure,” “Dangerous Pursuit,” “Dead Reckoning” and “Hitler’s Daughter.”

Is the pattern becoming clear? USA movies, which premiere on Wednesday nights at a rate of about two a month, usually feature TV names in the cast, provide lots of action and not much script, and receive the kind of reviews that would send most of us packing (“stupefying walk-through of a telepic” and “a monument to video schlock” are but a few excerpts from recent reviews).

As Kenin explains, he knows his audience and what it has come to expect from USA movies, which the network has been producing since 1989. “They’ve already voted a million times,” he says, referring to the movies’ average rating of 3.8 to 5, which, in cable numbers, is big time. Clearly, the basic-cable network has amassed a loyal following among the 63% of U.S. households that receive it.

Angie Dickinson, who has starred in two USA movies, says she recently took a cruise and was frankly stunned and relieved to see the response she received: “I thought I’d have to explain that it wasn’t the newspaper (USA Today),” she says, laughing, “but these folks said, ‘Oh, I watch USA all the time.’ And there were 1,200 of them!”

With HBO, Showtime, TNT and Lifetime also producing their own original movies, USA realizes the advantage of sticking to some kind of identity, even if that means distinguishing yourself by being undistinguished.

“I think they’ve positioned themselves very cleverly,” notes Entertainment Weekly TV critic Ken Tucker. “They don’t have the budgets (average $2.5 million) to do the classy stuff, so they’ve taken the low road.” Tucker does review most USA movies, though without much relish or optimism: “I can’t afford to be a snob about it, because you never know when they’ll be OK.”

Although USA movies tend to feature stars of the fading--or at least stalling--variety, the network has been able to nab some stellar names occasionally. Even those who had some skepticism of their own.

Such was the case with Martin Landau, who, fresh from two Oscar nominations, received the script for “Legacy of Lies” (that’s the one that garnered the good review in The New York Times in April). Television was OK, he thought, but the USA Network?

“I knew most of the stuff I’d seen on the channel I’d never be interested in,” Landau explains. “But I must say I was surprised by how intelligent the script was and how well it moved.”

Still a bit hesitant, he looked into who would be directing and who else would be cast. Eli Wallach and Michael Ontkean had been approached and, Landau says, “We all said, ‘I will if you will.’ ”

Other actors respond to USA offers because the network casts creatively, allowing them to break out of the molds in which they’ve been stuck.

Kevin Dobson says he rarely gets to do action-adventure material, which is why he liked the script of July’s “Dirty Work.” “It was an opportunity for me to really blow it out,” says the “Knots Landing” star.

Dobson had no preconceived notions about USA: “I only knew their reputation as being aggressive and on the move and doing a lot of projects. As soon as I read the first eight pages, I said, ‘Let’s go.’ ”

Ray Sharkey was seen in May in “Chrome Soldiers,” about a group of Vietnam veterans who get together 20 years postwar to deal with current drug problems. “More than anything with these movies, it depends on who directs them,” he says. “In this case it was Thomas Wright, who was right on the money and very specific. So, hey, I got to ride my motorcycle around Oregon, tear apart the scenery with Gary Busey and Yaphet Kotto and play a good guy for once.”

Many are willing to overlook the lack of quality to get the work or exposure. When Angie Dickinson received the script for April’s “Treacherous Crossings,” for example, she recognized immediately that there probably wasn’t an Emmy in her near future.

“I knew it wasn’t ‘Macbeth,’ ” she says. “Yet it held my interest--even after my character had been knocked off.” She also knew that Lindsay Wagner was signed to star, which assured big numbers. (And they delivered, with more than a 5 rating.)

USA is sure of who and what it is, and ever watchful of the bottom line. Most of its movies are produced by USA divisions of Paramount and Universal (co-owners of USA); others are co-produced with film companies or are bought (already completed) from independent filmmakers for a flat fee.

Clearly, USA is becoming a player: “It is really rejuvenating independent production,” says Tom Berry, president of Allegro Films, a Canadian company that produced “Psychic” for the network in May. “Working with them is nice because, unlike HBO, TNT or a regular network, you are not so tightly controlled by the parent organizations.”

Wright, who has been directing TV and features for 15 years and directed “Chrome Soldiers” on a $3-million budget, agrees. “For me, USA has always been great to work for. They call me in, they give me the script, we discuss it, and then they say goodby. There’s no interference whatsoever.”

Therein also may lie the reason for the predominant mediocrity. “In one sense, it’s great you get all that artistic freedom,” says actor Sharkey. “But if you need someone to represent you when you think you need more time or money or something, there’s no one from the company there like there is on other films.”

While it is allowed a bit more sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll than the three big networks, USA is still somewhat restricted because it is dependent on commercials. Its carefully cultivated relationship with the advertising community is rock solid.

“It is definitely seen as a very healthy network,” says Bob Silberberg, executive vice president for the Backer Spielvogel Bates agency. “Our clients consider USA a great secondary buy since it looks more like a network in the classical sense and it programs very specifically to different audiences at different times of the day.”

As Silberberg points out, USA is about much more than its movies, featuring original series such as “Counterstrike,” “Swamp Thing” and “The Hitchhiker,” as well as a co-production with CBS, “Silk Stalkings.” Twice a day children can hop aboard the extremely popular “Cartoon Express.” And there are exclusive reruns of popular series such as “Murder, She Wrote” and “MacGyver.” Reruns of “Quantum Leap” begin in the fall.

Finally, there is a sizable amount of sports programming (early rounds of U.S. Open tennis, World Football League games, professional wrestling, etc.), which is actually how the network began. It was formerly called the Madison Square Garden Network and ran only sports.

But the channel’s most distinguishing characteristic is the continuous stream of B-movies that critics loathe but viewers seem to lap up. Need they worry that too much class is on the horizon? There was that review in The New York Times, after all.

“I’ve seen a change in just the three I’ve done for them,” says director Wright. “The first one took place in these blizzards where everyone was getting killed. The second one took place in the woods where everyone was getting killed. My last one hardly had anyone getting killed.”

“Let’s say we’re trying to push our boundaries a bit,” says USA’s Kenin, “but I promise you won’t be seeing art films, and we’re not going to win any awards. At least I hope not.”