COVER STORY : AT THE CENTER OF THE DOLE FIRESTORM

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) got plenty of attention when he scolded Hollywood about sex and violence in movies, TV and pop music. But, as The Times reports today (see Page A1), Dole’s comments aren’t changing the face of show business. Yet. The creative and business powerbrokers will tell you they’ve always been thoughful about what they produce. Here, then, are some snapshots of life on the front lines:

DARREN STAR

TV producer

“I’m writing for my generation,” says 33-year-old Darren Star, creator of Fox TV’s “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Melrose Place.”

Both shows have taken heat for their sexy content, and Fox has been criticized for airing them at

8 p.m., an hour once reserved for family viewing.

“ ‘All in the Family’ was on at 8 o’clock,” counters Star, pointing out that the landmark comedy was also frank about adult matters.

“Melrose Place” and “90210” are, he says, “written from a perspective of a different generation that’s been writing for TV. The people who were wondering, ‘Who’s going to watch it?’ were not in touch with the [young] viewers that TV now is aggressively pursuing.”

Star, whose new series, “Central Park West,” premieres this fall on CBS, says “I’m kind of frustrated that our shows are not targeted by Bob Dole. If we’re not vilified, I feel I’m not doing something right.

“The whole industry is audience-responsive. And to me, it would be a real violation of free expression to not have that opportunity to respond. I guess I don’t understand how somebody can set themselves up as some kind of arbiter of what is proper and allowable.”

Television, he says, does not “take the lead in what’s happening; it’s alwaysbehind movies. I find it disingenuous to blame TV for creating problems when it’s reflecting what’s already there in society. People in their 20s who watch these shows feel it reflects their lives in a way they haven’t seen before.”

As for criticism that there are not enough family-oriented shows, he says:

“I think ‘90210’ is family-oriented. It’s that the definition of families has changed. It doesn’t have to be ‘Father Knows Best.’ ”