‘Jones’ Seeks ‘Adventurous Audience’

TV or not TV. . . .

ROUND TWO: Back for its second season, ABC’s “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” is still determined to go its own, individual way.

Richly appointed and one of the few stylish-looking series on TV, the one-hour drama returns Monday with its coming-of-age stories of the young man first introduced to audiences as a movie super-hero.

When filmmaker George Lucas, executive producer of the series, launched the series last season, he made clear that ABC was wrongly touting it as a slam-bang, heavy-action replica of the motion picture character.

He was right. And some viewers might have felt misled by ABC. At any rate, “We still managed to get reasonably good ratings,” says Lucas.

“I think they (ABC) are still selling the action-adventure part of it more than anything else,” adds Lucas. Part of that, he says, may be because “Indiana Jones” is being paired by ABC with “Monday Night Football” and its heavily male audience.

Nonetheless, the canvas will continue to be international as Lucas’ production offers a mix of American and foreign talents in depicting how young Indy grows up through adventures that sometimes involve famous historical figures.

With the international market hungry for good TV drama, this could be a long-term financial asset. Lucas says the show already has been shown in Italy, “and did extremely well there,” and has been sold elsewhere in Europe and in Japan.

As for selling American viewers on the series, Lucas says he’s looking for “an adventurous audience” that will tune in “to the unexpected each week. It’s a very good show, just very different” with its mix of mystery, drama, music and comedy.

“It’s a big fabric,” he adds. “There was an original 17 hours (ordered by ABC). They showed the movie-of-the-week and five episodes. That left 10 for the fall. It gave ABC a chance to test the water.

“They’ve ordered another 15, and we hope to get picked up. We operate differently. We have a big lead time and just keep going unless ABC says they don’t want any more.”

One problem, Lucas concedes, is that “we’re in a tough time slot.” Because of the pairing with “Monday Night Football,” the series is seen before the game in the East but after the contest here in the West.

In addition, says Lucas, scheduling of the show by stations is erratic at times because of the flexible, football-night time slot: “Stations can put us on whenever they want. Some put us on Sunday night, some Saturday night, some even on Saturday afternoon. It’s grim. It’s whether the audience can find us. We have a tough row to hoe here.”

Clearly, it’s a situation that calls for an Indiana Jones.

MUTUAL ADMIRATION: Amid all the talk of whether David Letterman will leave NBC,”Nightline” host Ted Koppel dropped in for a visit with the comedian last week and, as they joked around, suggested: “Please, come over to ABC any time your contract runs out.”

A moment before, Letterman told Koppel: “I’m serious when I say this: I think you’re one of the heroes of television.”

As for ABC’s reported plans to follow “Nightline” with a combination talk and home-shopping show, Koppel cracked: “It’s got to be a ruse. They’re just saving the time for you.”

On Monday, meanwhile, another competing network, CBS, offers some praise of the Letterman show on the new John Ritter-Markie Post situation comedy, “Hearts Afire.”

You might say Letterman is in a good bargaining position.

GOOD TIMES: TNT cable pulls out Mickey Rooney’s boyhood films as Andy Hardy next Monday through Friday in a salute to the actor’s 72nd birthday.

THE BARD: The long-disputed question of who wrote Shakespeare’s works--Willie or someone else--is the subject of a unique, live, three-hour interactive video conference to be seen at colleges around the nation Thursday, with William F. Buckley Jr. as moderator.

Emanating from Stamford, Conn., the event will be sponsored locally by the Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable, which is taking part at Pasadena City College. If you’re interested in attending--it’s from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.--call the Roundtable at (310) 828-1728 to find out if there’s still space. There’s no admission charge.

BULLETIN BOARD: The new, daily “Rush Limbaugh” series, airing on KCOP Channel 13 at 3:30 p.m. and 1 a.m., is being carried here on a one-day delay basis.

SAY WHAT?: With George Bush and Bill Clinton both invoking the memory of Harry Truman, a reporter on the “CBS Evening News” had the audacity to refer to the late, great leader as “a half-forgotten President from a half-forgotten time.”

Half-forgotten leader? Half-forgotten time? For whom? Those with TV attention spans?

Oh, brother.

THE NATURAL: Caught John Wayne in “Fort Apache” on TNT, and I still don’t think anyone, before or since, has filled a screen the way he did.

COMER: That funny kid from “Family Matters,” Jaleel White, was on an Arsenio Hall rerun Saturday, and if he really focuses, he could be a major player in this town--and not just as an actor. Lots of smarts.

CASTING: So who’s going to replace Alistair Cooke when he retires as host of “Masterpiece Theatre” this year? How about Dudley Moore? Angela Lansbury? Walter Cronkite? Tracey Ullman?

Just asking.

NIGHTWATCH: Is “Studs” changing its image? Is it really trying to be less salacious? Well, we skimmed five current outings that use the clever gimmick of how the show might have been done in the 1940s, ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. No--it was no less raunchy, but it did provide a good showcase for host Mark DeCarlo, who caught the sense of the past with some real wit and humor.

HOMEWARD BOUND: Somehow, Larry King has taken all the myths and cliches about Brooklyn and made them seem real in a nostalgic, endearing new book about his roots. It’s called “When You’re From Brooklyn, Everything Else Is Tokyo”--and, hey, it’s better than the Ross Perot interview.

LOOSE LIPS: Can it really be true that Bill Clinton likes “American Gladiators”? That’s enough to swing the election in my circle.

BEING THERE: “The subject: fear. The cure: a little more faith.”--Rod Serling in “The Twilight Zone.”

Say good night, Gracie. . . .