Show Several NBC shows given a green light of Motion Picture and Television Producer which is bargaining with the striking scriptwriters on residual payments for reruns and creative By MARK DAWIDZIAK Kmght-Ridde- Newspapers Because most TV series are produced by major studios still at odds with the striking Writers Guild of America the vast majority of next season’s primetime schedule remains in jeopardy But when 77 smaller producers signed the guild's “model” contract it gave the green light to “The Cosby Show” “A Different World” “ALF” “Amen” “Highway to Heaven” and Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” Notice something about that list? Each is televised by NBC which has finished first in the ratings for three consecutive seasons pared with what CBS and ABC gained however that's a bonanza CBS Photo Keanu Reeves (right) portrays a young man anxious for the approval of his fa- - ther played by Andy Griffith in ‘Under the Influence’ on CBS Friday Movie Bork bill sounds so silly Legislation would outlaw releasing video records By BILL COSFORD ' Knight Rtdder Newspapers I happen to be one of those people who think it’s pretty wonderful that the US Senate will soon take up something called the “Bob Bork Bill" on a number of counts First it is the kind of legislation that whatever its merits sounds ridiculous It is legislation for which the popular title is composed of two first names and a nonsense word that sounds like a b schoolyard insult (“Hey you bork!”) Second it is legislation that would make it unlawful for video-tap- e stores to make public their computerized records of patrons’ rentals thus adlawyer-clieding to the familiar doctor-patieand the relationships decidedly concept of Bill-Bo- nt priest-confess- 20th-centu- nt or clerk-perve- rt ry ty Third in addressing the whole issue of computerized rental records of video tapes the Bob Bork Bill acknowledges the reality of the late '80s in fashion Like Jay near-delirio- us Leno before me I recently went through the experience of getting Mom and Dad a VCR for Christmas and then went through the far less joyous experience of supervising their tutorial in VCR operating skills They learned — and it isn't easy being retired and discovering one morning that you need three just to watch the news Not long after came the dreaded call “Well son we rented our first tape! And we just love it!” Being a good and respectful son or failing that being merely hopeful you’re thinking they brought home “Rashomon” or “Wild Strawberries” or at the very least “Citizen Kane" and it turns out to be “'Crocodile' Dundee” The point is some things you'd rather not know remote-contro- 20 TV Preview ls Standard-Examine- r Finally the Bob Bork Bill is pretty wonderful because if you’re at all like me you pretty well know that if Robert “Bob” Bork had indeed become a justice of the US Supreme Court to which he was nominated he would more than likely have wanted to make it perfectly legal for your taste in video tapes to be made available to police agencies not to mention friends neighbors and your Mom and Dad Judge Bork was on record as holding the belief that the Constitution confers no right of individual privacy So when a Washington magazine obtained and printed the list of the 146 videos the Borks had rented over an period even as we civil libertarians were getting the heebie-jeebiyou had to figure Judge Bob was chillin’ English common law may hold that a man’s home is his castle (or it may not) but once you put the money down for “Stewardess School” and “Faces of Death” on the home-vi- d double feature you’re in the public domain Even before this latest development NBC knew it could coast through September and October with the Summer Olympics in South Korea and baseball's World Series Things just keep going right for the Peacock NBC can send seven series back into production They include three of its top-1finishers: No “Cosby” No 2 “Different World” and No 10 “ALF” 0 1 Granted it represents a slight fraction of the Peacock Network’s entire schedule Com- ‘Under the Influence’ control By sheer luck the network in the best shape gained the most when the 77 independent producers settled with the writers NBC could have eight if “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd” ranked fourth among 21 short-flig(six episodes or fewer) series gets renewed after its current run ht The good news was practically all for NBC which already could go ahead with production of “Unsolved Mysteries” a new fall series covered by a different union and not affected by the strike CBS which finished last for the first time came up with nothing No 2 ABC can proceed with production of “Roseanne” a new situation comedy starring stand-u- p comedian Roseanne Barr The major suppliers of programming — studios such as Universal Warner Bros Columbia Lorimar and Paramount — are sticking with the Alliance six-we- ek CBS can get moving on only its three newsmagazines (“60 Minutes” “48 Hours” and “West 57th”) which are unaffected by the strike because those writers belong to a different union that settled its conIn tracts addition to “Roseanne” ABC can proceed with “Incredible Sunday” the “That’s Incredible!” revival and “2020” Showtime’s cable comedy “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” also can start making new episodes File all this under the rich get richer TV PRIME-TIM- E Top Ten Programs th May es 23-2919- 88 etwork Cheers (R) 2 A Different World (R) 1 3 The Cosby Show (R) 4 Night Court (R) Much was made of the disappointing but by no 5 Baby M Part Two means surprising fact that the Borks’ rental pattern 6 LA Law (R) films and very few rated R revealed no is a distinction latter 7 St Elsewhere considering (the meaningless that the most popular category is R) 8 Golden Girls (R) There are those among us present company very 9 Miss Universe Pageant much included who have far more to fear than 10 Who’s The Boss? Special Bork that our taste in vids will be box-offi- made public For instance I will tell you now what is stacked up by my VCR: “Manhunter” a Michael Mann film I shrunk from on initial release as exalting violence through high style “Near Dark” a mean little vampire movie “Hellraiser” a bloodbath and “The Bedroom Window" a fairly standard mistaken-identitthriller All but the latter are home for repeat viewings y Ratings points are the percent of 886 million TV households shares are the percent of households with sets on (R) rerun OVERALL RATING CBS ABC NBC 128 98 109 Source: AC Nielsen Co APAJtandard-Examine- r Week of June graphic 5-- 1 1 |