Big blue garble
So this is how Earth Day 2000 ends: not with a bang but a whimper. In the 48 metered market overnights, the controversial ABC News special "Planet Earth 2000," featuring an oh-so-brief exchange between President Clinton and special correspondent Leonardo DiCaprio, came in dead last, rating just a 3.5 with a 7 share in its first half hour, falling off to a 3.0 and 6 share in the second and getting soundly beaten by two episodes of "Cops" on Fox and "Early Edition" on CBS. (The "fast" national ratings, which offer some insight into the night's appeal among key viewing groups like adults ages 18-49, will be available Monday.)
Was anybody really surprised by this? ABC hasn't had a hit on Saturday nights since "The Commish" went off the air. Occasionally the network sends programs there to die ("Nothing Sacred," "Cupid," etc.). Nor was it terribly shocking that of three special programs related to the 30th anniversary of Earth Day — the other two were last week's edition of "Frontline" and Sunday's edition of "Earth Matters" on CNN — ABC's was by far the least informative as well as the most superficial and visually tricked-up. (My "Frontline" review appeared April 18.)
Perhaps ABC sought the interview with the president because it knew that the demands of commercial television would undermine any attempts by Elizabeth Vargas and Chris Cuomo to explain anything to viewers. (DiCaprio's contribution was minimal at best, supplying openings for a couple of segments reported by the real news people.) Even the greenhouse effect, a topic that ought to be easy enough to grasp, was bungled by "Planet Earth 2000," with way too many rapid-fire visuals making it impossible to follow the reporter's voice over, while a shockingly poor-quality animated graphic added nothing.
Perhaps to salve its conscience, ABC dropped in a few feel-good tips for how we can make the Earth a cleaner, greener place to live. Wouldn't it be great if we all car-pooled more?
There's no doubt which network (ABC, CNN or PBS) expended the most resources gathering its special: ABC sent crews to New Mexico, Alaska, Key Largo and Atlanta -- not to mention the White House and DiCaprio's favorite boyhood frog pond, where the hunky actor sat on a rock and spoke his lines to the camera. Yet it was CNN's program that had the most worldlywise feel. "Earth Matters" used existing footage to cobble together the stories of the six winners (from as many continents) of this year's Goldman Prize for environmental activism. CNN arguably took the most controversial stance by singling out Coca-Cola, a company in its own backyard, for failing to use recycled material in its single-serv 20-ounce bottles. And its analysis of the boom in casino barges along Mississippi's fragile Gulf Coast intelligently sifted through the complicated interactions between government, the state's Native American population and its non-native population.
No such luck from ABC, which bumbled its way through a similar segment featuring the Inuit people who live near the Arctic Circle. Short on facts but high on local opinion, this segment showed Cuomo being whisked around the frozen tundra, stopping every now and then to grab pearls of wisdom from Inuit chosen at random. One wizened old fella tells Cuomo, "Even if you try to predict the weather tomorrow, it doesn't happen." It's the end times, I tell ya!
Not that the scientists collared by ABC sounded any smarter. One pointy-head shared with us this powerful insight: "In some cases, the environment does you in." No kidding. I suppose next you're going to say smoking and bad diet — in some cases — will do you in.
As for Leo and Bill's exchange, it was chopped down to under three minutes and felt like it. The constraints may not have been to make the program's running time so much as to limit the network's p.r. exposure. I noticed, however, that ABC was careful to include the part where DiCaprio tells Clinton, "As you know, I'm neither an politician nor a journalist ..."
ELLEN GRAY: Celeb journalism nothing new
Elian live
by Harrison Wyman
The Elian Gonzalez story is a classic study of things turned upside-down. Members of Miami's Cuban-American community, one of the most patriotic and law-abiding of America's immigrant groups, were willing to defy the United States government in the streets of Miami. Pro-family social conservatives supported not returning a child to his father in the belief that resisting a Communist dictator was more important than basic parental rights. Liberal politicians — regularly labeled indifferent if not hostile to "traditional family values" — were the most solid supporters of returning a child to his father and homeland, regardless of the danger of the child being used as a political pawn by Fidel Castro.
And, in the ultimate reversal of live TV's dominant role in bringing unfolding events into millions of homes, it was stop-action, still photography that defined the climax of this emotional, complex and confusing story.
What the Hock ordered
He's folksy, he's friendly and is happy to chat up anybody on health matters. All of which may make Dr. Leonard Hock, a Kansas City physician, TV's next healthcare-news celebrity. Fox's Health Network just picked up a new 30-minute show hosted by Hock, and he's already informing viewers in 22 markets with his 90-second vignettes. Read my story in Monday's Kansas City Star
Pick To Click: Home of Ka-Ching for Two Centuries (And Counting)
For those of you who watched the recent historical epic about New York City on PBS, there may not be much to learn from "The Great Game: The Story of Wall Street," a workmanlike documentary about the crucible of modern capitalism ai ring at 8 p.m. on CNBC. Otherwise, it's an interesting two-hour tour, led once again by historian John Steele Gordon, author of a new history of the city's financial district. Gordon also was the chief talking head in the part devoted to Wall Street "New York: A Documentary Film" on PBS.
The daily digest ... for April 22, 2000: Tom Snyder wants to come back to television with a weekly talk show on Sunday nights on HBO — preferably with "The Sopranos" as his lead-in. Snyder revealed on his colortini.com site that he'd pitched the show to HBO exex two months ago. Quoth T.S., "So far there has been no response — but we'll see what happens" ... Speaking of Leo, J. Angelo writes, "Last night's 'Sex and The City' replaced a mention of John Kennedy Jr. with 'Leonardo Dicaprio.' When Samantha is given a hand by a dark figure whose identity is obscured by the bright sun, it was JFK Jr. He didn't actually guest on the show, so only the audio was changed after the fact. A silly change, since 'New York' and 'socialite' were part of the story — and that has little to do with Leonardo." So far, that "Seinfeld" episode with the JFK Jr. mention remains intact.
Coming up next ... subject to last-minute changes:
Tuesday: The V-chip (I)
Previously on TV Barn:
21 April: Sinclair shakeup in KC
20 April: Reader mail
19 April: More on "Survivor"
18 April: Second thoughts on Zehme, Takei
17 April: Sitcoms bomb
14 April: Ellen's new show
13 April: Reader mail
12 April: "Freaks and Geeks"
11 April: "Star Trek" protests
10 April: Zehme on Letterman
On this date... in 1989, Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me? B-R-I-T-N-E-Y 'N-S-Y-N-C? The Disney Channel unleashes a third generation of "The Mickey Mouse Club" upon the world, though it's now only "MMC." The show doesn't turn into a star-maker until its fourth season with the additions of future "Felicity" actress Keri Russell and 'NSYNC-er JC Chasez. Season 6 brings Ryan Gosling ("Young Hercules"), fellow 'NSYNC cohort Justin Timberlake, and future implant recipients Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears. -- Tom Heald
Copyright © 1999-2001 Aaron Barnhart | Back to TV Barn home