Commentary : There’ll Always Be TV That’s Easy on the Mind

Even before Bill Clinton won the presidency, pundits had forecast a cultural revolution sure to swirl in on the coattails of the victorious Bubba Ticket.

“We are on the brink of a renaissance of spirit,” trumpeted one gleeful writer, “that will make the ‘60s look like a dress rehearsal.”

If you believe that, at least regarding network TV, your love beads may be cutting off the oxygen to your brain.

Even in the 1990s world of cutting-edge video, you just can’t dismiss the dull blade of good, old-fashioned TV-TV.

That’s “TV-TV,” folks. As in “movie-movie,” a term for the sort of film that critics don’t take seriously and that you can go get popcorn in the middle of without missing a beat. “Rocky III,” for instance, is an ideal movie-movie.

Similarly, TV-TV is what you turn to on the homefront when nothing else will do--or, even if it would do, you’re too tired to do it.

Shows like “In the Heat of the Night,” “Perry Mason” and “Matlock” are excellent TV-TV. And they are an ongoing triumph for Fred Silverman, the man who produces them.

On “In the Heat of the Night,” which recently joined CBS’ Wednesday lineup, a white police chief and his black chief of detectives solve crimes in a small Southern town. Although the Georgia locations are visually distinctive and, led by series star Carroll O’Connor, the actors full of gusto, this attempt at Dixie noir is pretty dim.

Never mind. “Heat” placed a heartwarming 29th place in a recent ratings report. This was bitter tidings, by the way, for NBC, which canceled the series last season after four years. See, it just didn’t draw enough 18- to-49-year-olds to suit the NBC suits.

Recently third-place NBC canceled a trio of its new Friday series. “Final Appeal,” “What Happened?” and particularly “The Round Table” were custom-made to lure much-longed-for younger viewers. But not too many viewers of any age tuned in.

Who you gonna call if you’re NBC? Silverman to the rescue with a stopgap supply of weekly “Perry Mason” reruns.

Aired occasionally since 1985, this latter-day “Perry” has far less edge and even less color than the black-and-white series that a much younger, slimmer Raymond Burr starred in a generation ago.

But as the judge might say, objection overruled. “Perry” redux most recently scored an honorable 46th place.

Currently Silverman’s most impressive TV-TV performer is another NBC castoff, “Matlock,” which ABC brought back as a special two weeks ago in a two-hour form. Andy Griffith as the wily, down-home Atlanta lawyer easily won his case with viewers on Thursday night. The show was tied for 11th place for the week.

These are Silverman’s active series, but he might also be saluted for past TV-TV efforts such as “Jake and the Fatman” and “Father Dowling Mysteries,” as well as occasional specials with Dick Van Dyke as a crime-fighting physician.

It may well be that some people want to fill the world with silly love songs. Silverman, who in the past directed programming at each of the Big Three networks, however, goes for silly melodramas.

He knows TV-TV isn’t old or young. It’s simply comfortable. Inoffensive. Slick. Sort of dumb. A mental sitz bath, soothing the inflamed sensibilities of modern life.

It’s TV you can watch with your back turned.