|
|
It's oldies but goodies time on TV this fall
Kansas City Star - September 20, 1999
By SUSAN KING - The Los Angeles Times
HOLLYWOOD -- "I think certainly there is a prevailing attitude in a lot of television that if you are over 24, your face shouldn't be on the airwaves," confesses Chris Thompson,
creator and executive producer of two new comedies: CBS' "Ladies Man" and Fox's "Action."
But Thompson is refusing to listen to the "prevailing" attitude. "I've got the two oldest stars in Hollywood," he says, referring to the fact he cast veteran sitcom star Betty
White in "Ladies Man" and the legendary comic Buddy Hackett in "Action."
"Both Betty and Buddy are in their 70s, but they are as sharp and quick (as ever)," Thompson says. "The timing is dead on there. They can no longer give the greatest pratfall in the
world, but that's not what you are looking for."
In fact, Thompson says, he loves going to a run-through of "Ladies Man," in which White plays the caustic mother of series star Alfred Molina. "She's a laugh magnet," he says.
"She knows everything. It is actually sort of intimidating working with Betty. You know if that line doesn't work, it is your fault."
White and Hackett, who plays the uncle of a high-powered Hollywood producer in "Action," aren't the only familiar series faces popping up on TV this fall. In his first series gig since
"M*A*S*H" went off the airwaves 16 years ago,. Alan Alda is returning to doctors' scrubs as an attending physician on a five-part stint on "ER."
Dixie Carter, who played Julia Sugarbaker on "Designing Women," is a regular on CBS' new legal drama "Family Law" and a recurring character on "Ladies Man."
Multi-Emmy winner Tyne Daly plays Amy Brenneman's mother on the new CBS drama "Judging Amy." Rue McClanahan, who was the sex-obsessed divorcee on "The Golden Girls," is playing
the mother of widower Gregory Harrison in WB's new family drama "Safe Harbor." And Swoosie Kurtz ("Sisters") and David Ogden Stiers ("M*A*S*H") play a snobby rich
couple on the new CBS comedy "Love & Money."
Considering the new season boasts one too many new youth series, it's a breath of fresh air to see these pros given the opportunity to strut their stuff.
And the producers are thrilled to be able to give these actors a chance to shine.
"I am having the time of my life with a cast of veterans," Thompson says. "People who are so knowledgeable about their craft. It is such a joy to go through a run-through and see
people who are not fumbling or searching for the line. Directing this is the easiest job in Hollywood."
"I haven't worked with a lot of young actors, but there is nothing to replace not just the stage and screen experience, but the life experience, these people can bring to a part," says
Barbara Hall ("I'll Fly Away"), an executive producer of "Judging Amy."
Hall hadn't previously worked with Daly, who won Emmys for "Cagney & Lacey" and "Christy."
But when the actress read the part of Brenneman's mother, Hall says, she completely embodied the role.
"I suddenly even got a better sense of who this person is," she says. "She is an incredible actress, but she also has this energy and spirit. Tyne can bring wisdom to the part you
can't get anywhere else."
Copyright © 1999 The Kansas City Star . All rights reserved.
|
