Feting ‘Felicity’

As a guy who did his thesis on TV sitcoms, the idea of a retrospective such as the Museum of Television & Radio’s annual William S. Paley Television Festival, which was “established to celebrate the excellence and diversity of American television,” makes perfect sense to me. For the last 16 years, the festival has brought together actors and creators from the greatest shows in television history. The roster for this year was no exception, with kudos earlier this month going to “The Twilight Zone,” “thirtysomething,” “The Jeffersons” and another landmark classic from the pantheon of small-screen greatness, “Felicity.”

Yes, the critically hyped WB paean to “the terrifying, thrilling rites of passage from adolescence to adulthood,” to quote the museum’s program, gets feted midway through its first season. Although it does feature the exploits of a plucky single woman striking out on her own in the big city, it ain’t “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Mary had Lou Grant and Rhoda and Ted Baxter and Chuckles the Clown and Sue Ann “Happy Homemaker” Nivens. And, oh yes, Mary ran seven seasons, 168 episodes and won like half a gazillion Emmys before receiving its museum tribute.

With a mere 15-episode order (all of which hadn’t even aired yet), the “Felicity” lovefest kicked off with a wide-screen airing of the pilot episode. Given the paucity of available source material, the museum could hardly compile anything resembling a highlights reel, since, well . . . Afterward, the show’s panel (wunderkind creators, wunderkind writers, wunderkind actors) invariably described the fairy tale version of how it came to be--from concept to pilot to WB’s “embracing” of the show, blah, blah, blah. The result is actors speaking without scripts, which is always a risky venture. To wit: “I think there’s a lot of reality in the way the writers write our roles,” said Amy Jo Johnson, who plays Julie. Paging Bartlett’s!

This was followed by the ever popular Q and A/confessional session with the fervid and sold-out audience. From the heartsick Gen-X dude: “Did Felicity really lose her virginity last night?” From gushing-yet-strident mothers and their magenta-haired girls: “My daughter and I watch your show together and we just love it! LOVE IT!” From overly informed coeds: “I’m a sophomore in college, so I’m in your exact viewer demographic target: women aged 18 to 24.”

When asked how he felt about his freshman series being feted with Emmy-winning stalwarts, “Felicity” co-creator and executive producer J.J. Abrams (who, despite having written “Armageddon,” is a witty fellow) admitted: “It’s almost an embarrassing honor. It’s so unbelievable. The one real advantage for me is that now I can ask for tickets to ‘The Twilight Zone’ event and get in.”

“Felicity”

* 1/2 season, 13 episodes.

* 1 Golden Globe.

* Felicity’s underlying romantic

tension with Ben drives the show.

*

“The Mary Tyler Moore Show”

* 7 seasons, 168 episodes.

* 29 Emmys.

* Mary’s underlying romantic tension

with Lou drives the newsroom.

hmm. just what does it take for a tv show to be honored by the museum of television & radio?