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Show TV Page 10 - THE HERALD, Provo. Utah. Monday, December 15. 1986 NBC schedules Yuppie - We have NEW YORK (AP) daytime soaps and nighttime soaps and satire soaps. "A Year in the Life" could be described as the first Yuppie soap. The potential fall '87 series is being introduced by way of the miniseries format, in three installments beginning Monday on NBC. (It will be on KUTV, channel 2, at 8 p.m. each night.) "A Year in the Life" follows from one Christmas to the next the Gardners of suburban Seattle, an overprivileged, Madison-Avenu- e version of the Average Amer ican Family, a sort of airbrushed tt r iamuy portrait. The series NBC with families," soap' Monday NBC Vice President Warren Littlefield said was developed by in a news conference, referring to the network's strong family sitcom programming, such as "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties." "Our other successful adult en- intelligent and sophisticated, if not original, writing. What it lacks is the natural drama of a hospital or cop show, relying instead on the appeal of the characters, the way "Family." the ABC series of the late semble series, such as 'Hill Street' and 'St. Elsewhere,' have all come from terrific writing and unique characterizations, and those are what we think are key to success," he said. Joshua Brand and John Falscy, creators of "St. Elsewhere." Like that series, '"A Year in the Life" is blessed by award-winnin- g 1970s, did. "We've had a lot of success at "A Year in the Life" offers a virtual film festival of borrowed cinematic bits as well as plenty xYear in the Life' may be the carrot that will entice Kiley into a series LOS ANGELES (AP) - Rich- ard Kiley, sounding like an old soldier marveling at coming through a fierce battle without a scratch, recalls the times he's dodged offers to do a television series. "I've never done a series, but I've had some offered me that vent on to become successful." he says. "I've never wanted to do a series. I ve done a lot of guest shots and seen the quality ot the lifestyle it necessitates because of the long hours." But Kiley concedes that this time he may be tempted. The bait is the NBC miniseries "A Year in the Life." The series, which looks at the lives and relationships of a middle-clas- s suburban family from one Christmas to the next, will be telecast in three equal chapters on Monday. Tuesday and Wednessix-ho- day. "A Year in the miniseries. but it's - Life'- is a also what's known as meaning it if it gets Brand and a backdoor pilot.'' could become a series good ratings. Joshua John Falsey, who created "St. Elsewhere." are the creators and executive producers. "I have mixed feelings about that because I live in the East and have no desire to transplant my life here." Kiley says. "But this piece of material is of such a nature that if I did go with a series this would be it. It has a large and interesting group of people so the pressure would not revolve around one person exclusively. I play the father and he's the thread of the story. The idea is to explore human relationships on a level that is fresh." Kiley stars as Joe Gardner, who runs a small plastics business. Eva Marie Saint plays his wife. Ruth, who is killed in an automobile accident during the r first segment. "It's interesting what they're trying to do." Kiley says. "They have taken a year, which in nature encompasses death and rejuvenation, and have applied it to. the family. The family is fully operative, then Ruth dies. The two-hou- oldest daughter's marriage breaks up. There is the birth of a child. 1 like the shape of it." Kiley. who's been talking in his motor home dressing room, is called back to thestage at Universal Studios. Director Thomas Carter is working on a scene with Kiley and Diana Muldaur, who plays Alice, a woman Joe becomes interested in after the death of his wife. Ki ley's right leg is propped up and Muldaur wraps his injured knee. Then they kiss. He explains later: "Joe has gotten into bicycle riding to keep himself fit and to unscramble his brains after Ruth's death. On a bicycle ride he encounters a woman, whom he mistakes for a man at first, and they have a race. They develop a friendship which blossoms into romance. The injury comes when a dog dashes into his path and he takes a spill off his bicycle." Kiley took a bicycle spill for real during location filming in Seattle. He was on a bike attached to the back of a camera truck when he fell off and was dragged a few feet. "I broke a rib," he says. "It took a while to heal, but I knew I was okay when I let out a sneeze the other day and didn't immediately scream in pain." The script also called for him to ride Eva Marie Saint around on the handlebars, in the manner of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' during the song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head." "That was the first scene we did after the accident." he savs. "I was a little shaky about it.'" Kiley. who lives northwest of New York City, has six children and 11 grandchildren. "That's a large fund to draw on for Joe Gardner's background." he says. of images seemingly derived who works out of attorney from popular television commercials. When the Gardners play football in the backyard, you expect them to pause and admire the shiny, new American car parked in the driveway. When a son pulls up in front of his girlfriend's upscale, suburban house in a luxury sedan, the camera might as well cut to a shot of her expensive cologne. When Dad completes the big bicycle race, he should call everybody over for a batch of premium brew. There's music from "The Big Chill," a graduation party straight out of "The Graduate," Yuppie angst from "St. Elmo's Fire" and imaginings of glory from "The Natural" and "Breaking Away." There are even tributes to music videos. The music is good. It includes Steve Winwood, Robert Palmer and Bob Seger, among others. In keeping with the slickness, most of the cast members look like they were just sent over by a modeling agency, though their performances are first rate. Richard Kiley plays Joe. the patriarch of the clan. Eva Marie Saint plays his wife, but only in the first episode. Morgan Stevens, looking like a young Robert Redford, is eldest ll son Jack, a who returns after two years of bumming around Mexico to borrow some money, but ends up working for his father. A high school baseball star, he still dreams of making it in the big leagues. Daughter Lindley (Jayne Atkinson) works for her father in his plastics plant. She is expecting her first baby. Her husband. Jim. played by Adam Arkin, is an their suburban house. He wants Lindley to convert to Judaism. Daughter Anne (Wendy Phillips) still listens to the Grateful Dead, though she has two teenage children from a previous marriage. Her son (Trey Ames) wears an earring, his mother's. big, two-stor-y Anne is worried that second husband Glenn, played by Phillips' husband, Scott Paulin, is dallying with the architect of their new house. Anne becomes pregnant, but Glenn doesn't want her to have the child. real-lif-e Sam (David Oliver), the youngest, is a straight arrow business major. He plans to marry his college sweetheart (Jennifer Cooke), the only girl he's ever "been with." until he becomes saobsessed with an lesgirl (Sarah Jessica Parker) on a shopping trip to Bon Marche. "This is not a soap opera," Littlefield insists. "We're not We're doing doing melodrama. honest characters, and we're doing what I think are very rentable characters that the audience, as I said, will be attached that's to. 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