TV: Mid-season arrivals include some things new, some things old
( Gannett News Service ) MIKE HUGHES; 12-26-1997
You could call it evolution or body mechanics or whatever.
The idea is basic: People keep getting bigger, faster, stronger, maybe better.
``All you have to do is look at the Olympics,'' says Debra Messing, who stars in ``Prey,'' premiering at 8 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 15) on ABC.
Every four years, we find the records tumbling. This is, we assume, a good thing.
But imagine that things were one-sided. Imagine that hidden among us is a strain of nastier (and more-evolved) humans.
As Messing puts it: ``What if there were a lot of Jeffrey Dahmers and Son-of-Sams out there?''
That's the notion behind ``Prey,'' which is part of the sudden deluge of mid-season shows.
Producer Charlie Craig insists there was one thing that drew him to the idea: ``It's the fact that it really could happen.''
Well ... he didn't say probably. Still, there are just enough scientific words to make it seem almost sort of possible.
In the background of ``Prey'' are two fantasy traditions:
-- The new batch. ``I'm a big `X-Files' fan,'' Messing grants. Craig can top that; he used to be an ``X-Files'' producer.
-- The old classics. There's something eternal, Craig says, about the notion that the enemy might be hidden among us.
``That goes back to the sense of `Invasion of the Body Snatchers,' '' he says. ``It's the idea that my best friend could be one of them.' '
Mention ``Body Snatchers'' -- the 1956 classic or the '78 remake - - and many film buffs get giddy.
``We shot one scene in the `Body Snatchers' cave ...,'' Craig says. ``It's a cave in Branson Canyon, roughly behind the Hollywood sign.' '
Such settings are important for ``Prey.'' It might look a little like ``X-Files,'' but it's being filmed in Los Angeles, not in Canada.
There's also a twist on the Scully-and-Mulder chemistry:
-- Yes, the woman is brainy (in this case, a bio-anthropologist) and beautiful; that's standard these days.
-- This time, however, the guy is one of the new breed. He's slowly sharing some scary secrets about his people.
``In a sense, it is a beauty-and-the-beast relationship ...,'' Craig says. ``He's the guy who rides in from the wrong side of the track.' '
The original pilot film starred Sherilyn Fenn (``Twin Peaks'') and Adam Storke. ABC decided to start over; it kept Storke, but hired a new producer (Craig) and star.
So Messing -- fresh from the ``Ned and Stacey'' comedy -- got the script.
``I was desperate to get back to New York and do a play,'' she says. ``I thought, `No, I don't want to be tempted by TV.'''
Then temptation struck. Soon, Messing was transforming into a brainy scientist.
``Obviously, I don't have a degree in bioanthropology,'' she says. ``I have a degree in acting.''
So the rest is make-believe -- sometimes 16 hours a day. ``Deborah is someone who will work and work and work, to make sure she gets it right,'' Craig says.
For ABC, ``Prey'' is part of an important mid-season shuffle:
-- The new Monday lineup, now that there's no football, began last week (Jan. 5). That has the revamped ``America's Funniest Home Videos' ' at 8 p.m., ``20-20'' at 9 and the superb ``The Practice'' courtroom drama at 10.
-- The Thursday lineup starts now (Jan. 15). There's ``Prey'' at 8 p.m., followed by movies at 9.
-- That moves the old Thursday shows to Saturday, starting this week (Jan. 17). It has ``Nothing Sacred'' at 8 p.m., ``Cracker'' at 9 and a new news show at 10.
Other networks are also shuffling quickly.
Fox has revamped its Thursdays. A so-so comedy, ``Ask Harriet,'' is at 8:30 (beginning Jan. 8), with ``New York Undercover'' back in its old 9 p.m. spot. Damon Wayans' new comedy, ``Damon,'' is waiting for a better spot.
Then there's WB, starting its changes on Jan. 20.
Tuesdays will have two stylish teen hours -- ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ' and the new ``Dawson's Creek.'' On Mondays, WB gives the old ``Buffy' ' slot to a slick-and-empty caper show called ``Three.''
CBS is scattering its new shows. There's a strong comedy (``Style and Substance'') at 9:30 p.m. Mondays, a revival (``Kids Say the Darnedest Things'') on Fridays and a western (``The Magnificent Seven'') at 8 p.m. Saturdays; more shows are on the way.
Only first-place NBC has been slow to budge. The others are on the prey, hoping to evolve a new strain of series.
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Mike Hughes covers television for the Lansing (Mich.) State Journal and Gannett News Service.
Photo: GPN6 available Dec. 23
Copyright 1997, Gannett News Service, a division of Gannett Co., Inc.
MIKE HUGHES, TV: Mid-season arrivals include some things new, some things old. , Gannett News Service, 12-26-1997, pp ARC.