Speaker Brown Debuts as Political Talk Show Moderator : Media: Assembly leader gets a 13-week trial run to test TV waters as the host of a Sacramento morning program. His first production features a lively debate on the ‘three strikes’ issue.

For 30 years, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown has wowed his fellow lawmakers with his glib tongue.

Now, the flamboyant San Francisco Democrat is testing whether his political charisma translates into successful television, and in doing so he is colliding head-on into stars of TV’s morning galaxy such as Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford, Vicki Lawrence and Sesame Street’s Big Bird.

Brown’s niche: playing the role of populist talk show host fighting “for the little guy.”

At 9 a.m. Monday, the “Willie Brown” show began a 13-week trial run on KCRA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Sacramento. The taped debut of the five-day-a-week program featured a fast-paced debate on the “three strikes and you’re out” anti-crime initiative, which Brown opposes.

“Get ready to be enlightened, provoked and moved into action,” Brown told viewers. And for the most part, the veteran politician kept the proceedings lively, egging on the participants to mix it up, though at times the show bogged down on the relative merits of competing anti-crime proposals.

The 59-year-old Speaker, who is a half-owner of the show, hopes to share in long-range profits if the 30-minute program takes off and goes into syndication.

The Willie Brown show was the idea of station owner Jon Kelly, who late last year approached the Speaker about making the leap into TV. Brown is not a stranger to the entertainment field, owning an Oakland radio station, having a bit part in the motion picture “The Godfather, Part III” and hobnobbing with Hollywood film personalities.

Brown, who represents an overwhelmingly Democratic district and does not have to worry about reelection, took up the challenge. He agreed to host a daily public affairs show such as the “McLaughlin Group” but “not quite as dry,” according to Val Nicholas, the show’s creative consultant. Half a dozen shows were taped in advance of Monday’s debut, one of which was pre-screened two weeks ago for reporters.

Nicholas helped devise a format in which Brown sits at a long table flanked by several guests, usually on opposing sides of an issue. Brown serves as a moderator. At times, he is animated and asks questions. The next moment, he can be serious and somber. He tries to withhold his own opinion until the program’s “last word” section.

Halfway through the show, Brown pops up from his seat and stands next to a TV monitor, as a citizen questions the guests. To make Brown feel at home, KCRA had a replica of an Assembly chamber desk put on the set as a prop for him to lean against. Some future shows may air live, according to a Brown spokeswoman.

Before the program hit the airwaves, Brown told a reporter, “There’s not much that intimidates me but I’m really nervous.” Two weeks ago, the station showed the press a program on political corruption and Brown appeared rattled and breathless. He umpired a debate between Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, and Donald Heller, a lawyer who represented a top Capitol lobbyist convicted of political corruption.

But on Monday’s offering, the Speaker was much more relaxed and in command. Brown’s guests included Marc Klaas, whose 12-year-old daughter Polly’s kidnaping and murder fueled the “three strikes” debate; Mike Reynolds, who championed the anti-crime initiative, and Margaret Pena of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Pena said her group opposes the death penalty, even for Richard Allen Davis, who was arrested for Polly Klaas’ murder. That prompted Marc Klaas to grimace and assail the ACLU for dragging out death penalty appeals.

At one point, Brown acted as if he was a noncombatant in the Capitol’s political struggles. The Speaker criticized the “three strikes” initiative, saying it should not be on the ballot “because it was written by politicians for political purposes.” While he voted against a bill similar to the initiative, politician Brown favored several alternative “three strikes” proposals.

Even before the first show aired, Brown’s potential as a host was hailed by Van Gordon Sauter, Fox TV executive and husband of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Brown.

“Willie has an energy level and directness that makes him a very engaging television talent,” said Sauter, who viewed an early pilot of the show.

“He comes up out of the screen and whether one relishes him or finds him abominable, he nonetheless commands your attention and that is the first step to success in the business. He also has about him a certain mischievousness that leads you to believe that something is going to happen.”

Other shows that Brown has taped include segments with former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, Sacramento County Sheriff Glenn Craig on kids and guns, and former Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Alan Nelson on immigration issues. Brown hopes to woo Gov. Pete Wilson to his set a few blocks from the Capitol.

If successful, the show could pave the way for a new career for the veteran legislator and lawyer, who is barred by term limits from seeking reelection in 1996 to the Assembly.

Meanwhile, even if the program fails with the public, broadcaster Brown is making his presence known in the Capitol. As the Assembly adjourned Monday, presiding officer Jack O’Connell (D-Carpinteria) cracked that the chamber would reconvene Thursday, “right after the Speaker’s TV show.”