- News Archive April 1998 -
- News Archive April 1998 -
JUNGLE JIM - April 26
(By Keith Austin, Melbourne Sunday Age TV Guide)
(accompanied
by pic at right, with the caption: Sense of Duty. Burgi and co-stars)
"Even the all-seeing, all-hearing, all-smelling Sentinel hadn't sniffed out the internet website that features a drinking game based on the increasingly popular TV show.
The rules are simple: watch The Sentinel with your favourite tipple and follow these 54 scene guides. These include taking a gulp when any of the three main characters calls the bad guy "the bad guy", or sipping carefully when the Sentinel's sidekick Blair Sandburg pushes his hair behind his ears. On the phone from Canada, where he is filming the third series, Sentinel star Burgi guffawed: "That's great! That's funny!"
Burgi was picked for the lead role of sensory-enhanced cop Jim Ellison by the show's creator and producer Danny Bilson, after appearances as the recurring villain in another Bilson show, Viper. The Sentinel is a Six-Million-Dollar-Man for the 1990's: a black operations soldier who is stranded in the Peruvian jungle for 18 months and returns to so-called civilisation with hyperactive senses.
He enters the police force and meets anthropology student Sandburg (Garett Maggart), who explains that he is a Sentinel, a tribal watchman chosen because of a genetic advantage that heightens all five senses beyond those of normal humans. Sandburg then joins forces with Ellison and helps him control his new-found powers.
Burgi, 39, has had an almost cliched rise through the ranks of American television, moving to New York from Montclair New Jersey, and working, among other things, as a carpenter in Harlem to pay his way. The cliche started long before that though, because he comes from that most conventional of acting backgrounds, the performing family.
"Mom and Dad were involved in local theatre, and also in the local music scene, which basically had its epicentre at our house."
There have been suggestions that the third series will be the last, but Burgi is sanguine at the prospect: "It could fall by the wayside, but probably won't. I think we do a nice tightrope walk across the fantasy-reality line. We've got a regular Joe who's got heightened senses, but that doesn't make him a superman. It makes him the embodiment of everyone's potential."
On the internet, Bilson says he may introduce a female detective, probably Australian, to go nose-to-nose with Ellison and Sandburg.
Why Australian?
"Because they're... so... damn... sexy, " laughed Burgi."
(Thanks Kathy)
THE SENTINEL - THE EYE OF THE HUNTER - April 30
Taken from: German Science Fiction TV-Guide 98/99
Author: Torsten Dewi
Translation: Christina Porsch
Pro 7īs new action show nearly stalled because, after a very strong debut with high ratings, RTL put the German show Alarm fur Cobra 11 in the same timeslot and won the race. PRO 7 immediately moved the show to follow Alarm... A good idea, supported by the solid high ratings the show has enjoyed since then.
The Sentinel deals with police detective Jim Ellison who discovers his heightened senses after being stranded in the Peruvian rainforest. He is a kind of track hound and hunting hawk in one person. A young university professor recognizes his special abilities and stays at his side to help him with his cases.
With Richard Burgi in the lead role, The Sentinel has an actor, who really worked for his success in the States (and who seems to be a very nice person). He did lots of shows as a non regular and had some small roles till he won the lead in One West Waikiki. My opinion?? The guy is great and with his special nut-cracker chin he would be perfect in the role of a super hero.
It is amazing how professional an action show can be created today. The Sentinel contains scenes which are reminiscent of the Die Hard movies. And the writers aren't limited to normal police case material. Anything is possible from investigations in a monastery to an oil rig.
Not only the are special effects in the show excellent, the camera work is among the best. The Production company, Pet Fly, also shoots Viper in their Vancouver studios but I see a lot of quality differences between the two shows.
I can give you exclusive information right from the production company that the first episodes of the new (third) season will be very spectacular. They have given the team 10 days for shooting instead of six and needed nearly 1200 extras. Also Detective Ellison will get romantically involved with the new character of a police forensic officer.
It's a great show for those young people, who don't like shows like Hooker or Hawaii 5-0 because they aren't fast and modern enough for them.
(Thanks Christina)
"LOVE BOAT: THE NEXT WAVE" IS A RATINGS TSUNAMI FOR UPN, LEAVES ABC IN ITS WAKE - April 14
LOS ANGELES, April 14, 1998 . . . The premiere of Aaron Spelling's newest series, Love Boat: The Next Wave, was a ratings tsunami for UPN, setting sail last night with a strong 4.5 rating, 8 share in Homes, leaving ABC's Push (3.5/6) in its wake, according to national viewing statistics provided by Nielsen Media Research.
Love Boat: The Next Wave scored UPN's highest Household rating (4.5/8) in the time period in nearly two years, since May 20, 1996 (4.5/8).
Additionally, Love Boat earned the highest Adults 18-49 rating (2.6/8) in the time period since August 26, 1996 and the highest Adults 25-54 rating (2.9/8) since May 20, 1996.
Love Boat: The Next Wave's 4.5/8 in Homes is the highest rated series premiere on UPN since the premiere of Nowhere Man on August 28, 1995, and the third strongest UPN premiere ever.
Love Boat: The Next Wave 8 share in Homes, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 tops every WB series premiere ever.
Compared to UPN's season average in the time period, Love Boat: The Next Wave grew 61% in Homes (4.5/8 vs. 2.8/4), 11% in Adults 18-34 (2.1/7 vs. 1.9/5), 63% in Adults 18-49 (2.6/8 vs. 1.6/4) and 93% in Adults 25-54 (2.9/8 vs. 1.5/4).
Love Boat: The Next Wave ranked as the Number Four network program from 8:00-9:00 p.m. in Homes and the key Adults demos, leaving ABC's "Push" in its wake: Homes (4.5/8 vs. 3.5/6), Adults 18-34 (2.1/7 vs. 1.2/4), Adults 18-49 (2.6/8 vs. 1.6/5) and Adults 25-54 (2.9/8 vs. 1.7/5).
Love Boat ranked Number Three in the time period among Men 18-34 and Teens. With Men 18-34, Love Boat: The Next Wave topped ABC's Push and CBS' Cosby/Everybody Loves Raymond (2.1/7 vs. 0.8/3 and 2.0/7). With Teens, Love Boat topped CBS' Cosby/Everybody Loves Raymond and NBC's Suddenly Susan/House Rules (2.0/7 vs. 1.6/6 and 1.9/7).
(Source: NTI (preliminary), 4/13/98 or as dated.)
(From Ultimate TV)
UPN TO GO TO FIVE NIGHTS OF PROGRAMMING - April 13
UPN Announces It Will Expand to Five Primetime Nights During 1998-99 Season
LOS ANGELES--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--April 13, 1998--UPN will expand its primetime programming to five consecutive nights, Monday through Friday, during the Fall 1998-99 season, it was announced Monday by the network's President and CEO, Dean Valentine.
UPN will launch its Thursday programming on Oct. 8 and its Friday programming on Oct. 9 (8-10 p.m., ET/PT, both nights). Programming under consideration for those nights are comedy and drama series and a two-hour movie franchise.
In making the announcement, Valentine said, "I am encouraged by the enthusiastic support from our affiliates, the advertising and creative communities and am delighted that our development season has reaped the unique, broadly appealing programming to justify expanding to five primetime nights."
He added, "Our goal is to continue to expand into a full-fledged broadcast network and to reach the vast, frequently unserved American audience who want good, entertaining television."
UPN will unveil its 1998-99 primetime schedule on May 21 in New York City.
UPN launched in January 1995 with two primetime nights, Monday and Tuesday (8-10 p.m., ET/PT), and added a third night, Wednesday (8-10 p.m., ET/PT), in March 1996.
UPN's coverage represents, on average, 83% of the country (Source: NTI).
UPN To Add Thursday, Friday To Schedule
By Jenny Hontz
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - UPN is getting a giant face-lift in October, when it will expand from three to five consecutive nights of network programming -- Monday through Friday.
Two new nights of programming, Thursday and Friday, will be added Oct. 8 and 9, the network will announce Monday, the day that it debuts The Love Boat: The Next Wave.
On one of the two nights, UPN is expected to launch series programming, and on the other, a movie franchise. If The Love Boat works, it may move from Mondays to anchor either Thursday or Friday night, UPN CEO Dean Valentine told Daily Variety.
UPN is choosing Friday because the playing field appears to be wide open, given ABC's eroding TGIF lineup and CBS' failed attempt to launch its own TGIF version. NBC and Fox face their own Friday woes.
Thursday nights are tougher due to NBC's strength, but Valentine thinks Seinfeld's departure leaves an opening. "Everybody has ceded the field to NBC," he said. "NBC is of course still dominant, but they're not going to be as dominant. It's a wonderful night to plant the flag."
The WB is also considering Thursday and Friday nights for its expansion to a fifth night in January. UPN picked October for the launch dates to avoid the September rush, but to remain within the premiere window, "when the audience's mind-set is on receive," Valentine said.
UPN won't decide until May what programs go where, but the animated comedy Dilbert (which may not be ready until January) will be a key series.
UPN launched in January 1995 with Monday and Tuesday nights, and added Wednesday in March 1996. With the two new nights, UPN will boast 10 hours of primetime programming. It is close to completing a deal with Disney's Buena Vista TV for a weekday and Sunday kids block.
Reuters/Variety
UPN Adds 2 Nights of Prime-Time TV
Copyright - The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - The mini-network UPN will add two nights of prime-time programming in the fall, putting it on the air from Monday through Friday.
The network currently operates on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
UPN will broadcast from 8 to 10 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays starting Oct. 8 and 9, network President and CEO Dean Valentine said on Monday.
Valentine wouldn't say what programs will air, but one of the nights may be turned over to a two-hour movie.
UPN started broadcasting on Mondays and Tuesdays in 1995, adding the third night a year later. It has fallen behind the WB to become the sixth-place network in the ratings for most of this television season.
UPN, which is premiering a retooled version of The Love Boat this month, is positioning itself as a network that appeals to blue collar viewers.
"Our goal is to continue to expand into a full-fledged broadcast network and to reach the vast, frequently unserved American audience who want good, entertaining television," Valentine said.
AP-NY-04-13-98 1246EDT
(Thanks Barbara)
NEW GARETT MAGGART INTERVIEW IN AUSTRALIAN TV WEEK - April 7
BANKS, BURGI AND BLAIR
They sound like a firm of accountants, but for The Sentinel's lead actors, work is no desk job......
The Sentinel, Thursdays, 10.30pm, Seven/Prime (Vic only)
When Garett Maggart won the role of Blair Sandburg in the explosive action series The Sentinel, he headed straight for the local bookstore. When you're playing an anthropology student specialising in pre-civilised cultures, every bit of advice helps.
"Sometimes fans think I'm this brainy guy, and them I let them down!" the 28-year-old says. "When I first got the part, I bought a bunch of anthropological books, but I couldn't really find an anthropology A to Z. All the stuff was very specific."
In The Sentinel, Blair's mission is to protect his thesis subject, Det. Jim Ellison (Richard Burgi), a cop who uses his gift of amazing sensory awareness to hunt criminals.
"Blair's great" Garett says. "He's inquisitive and sort of nosy, but in a good way. He's not the strongest guy, and he's no action hero, but he's not going to run away from anyone either."
Garett says the show's appeal lies in the chemistry generated between Richard, himself and Bruce (as police captain Simon Banks). "We come from different worlds, but show that different people can get along", Garett says, stressing that his feisty on-screen relationship with Richard mellows considerably off the set.
"Richard and I fuelled the antagonism between the two characters from the start. But off screen we get along brilliantly." Landing The Sentinel was a big break for Garett. "At first it was difficult and really odd." he says. "I had never been in an action show before. Being required to react to an explosion that wasn't there was kind of weird. But after a while, I just remembered what it was like when I was a kid, playing army or whatever!"
The Sentinel's stars work long hours and take 10 days to complete just one episode, filming in Vancouver, Canada. The most tedious part, Garett says, is hanging around the studio.
"Everything seems to come to a grinding halt when you get in there. We're at episode 54 now, and we've shot just about every angle on the set," he says. "But when you get outside, it's so beautiful in Vancouver and much more exciting."
(Thanks Kathy Maxwell)
UPN FLOATS IDEA OF BROADER APPEAL - April 7
Jefferson Graham, USA Today
Can a new version of The Love Boat keep UPN afloat? In a season when the network's ratings are off 9% UPN is looking to the revival of that fluffy 70/80s icon as the first step towards its broader based programming.
The rival WB network's ratings are up 19% for the season. WB which once owned the bottom on TVs Nielsen ratings has beaten UPN 16 weeks in a row. UPN's top rated show, Star Trek:Voyager clocked in at number 100. With loses of $175 million last year for owners Paramount and Chris-Craft Television many privately question how long UPN can allow the bleeding to continue.
"We are in the process of making a course correction toward a broader audience group," says UPN Chief Dean Valentine.
"The (full) effects of it won't be seen for the next seven to eighteen months because it takes time to make programming, get it on the air and see if it works," Valentine says.
UPN's offerings have been a mix of science fiction and action shows and sitcoms aimed at black viewers. Since Valentine arrived, he has been saying he wants UPN to appeal to more of middle America.
Valentine defends Love Boat as "broad programming that's not targetted to any one demographic group". He points to UPN's upcoming Dilbert, an animated sitcom based on the comic strip about office politics, as a show that looks ahead. "It's emblematic of our new direction."
Playing a big part in the ratings reversal is a major affiliate switch of five big city tv stations from UPN to WB. But in Richmond, VA where WUPV went from WB to UPN last summer ratings went up.
Dave Hanna at WUPV considers it a "vote of confidence" from the UPN owners that the network will expand from three nights a week to five in September, when UPN will be "relaunched" with a new look. Look for one new night of series and one night of sci-fi movies.
Valentine says the program line-up could include as little as 20% of the current fare, or as much as 100%, depending on how the UPN pilots come out when the new schedule is set in May. So far, UPN has renewed just Moesha and Malcolm and Eddie. Valentine says Star Trek: Voyager also will return. He says he gave the two sitcoms early renewal to send a signal to the production community that he isn't turning his back on sitcoms with mostly black casts.
"We want to grow," Valentine says, "But we don't want to abandon those viewers."
VANCOUVER HOSTS FIRST SENTINEL CONVENTION - April 5
The world's first Sentinel convention was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada over the weekend of April 3-5. Hundreds of fans from all over the world gathered at Vancouver's Renaissance Hotel, which features in many episodes of the show, most recently the episode Love Kills.
The show's creators Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo joined series stars Richard Burgi, Garett Maggart, Bruce A Young and new regular cast member Anna Galvin on stage to answer questions, share anecdotes, sign autographs and raise over $23,000 for Ronald McDonald House.
Pet Fly Productions also treated fans to the show's blooper reel, stunt and special effects displays, behind the scenes glimpses and panel discussions with other cast members and technical and creative staff.
Further reports and convention photos can be found at the following sites:
Convention logo designed by Bill Furlong and Bob Bottieri
KANSAS CITY SWAP OF UPN AND WB IS 'A-OK' - April 4
Aaron Barnhard, Kansas City Star
So far the swap of WB and UPN network affiliations between KSMO, Channel 62, and KCWB, Channel 29, appears to be a win-win.
Both stations recorded gains in viewership on the first three nights of the realignment, which went into effect March 30. Channel 62 made especially dramatic strides with its new block of WB shows - although it usually didn't match the ratings for the same shows when 29 aired them the previous week.
Since giving the UPN network the boot Jan. 16, Channel 62 has been limping along with warmed-over movies. So KSMO general manager Rich Deutsch naturally was elated to see his audience double in size from Monday, March 23 - when 62 showed Harlem Nights - to last Monday, when the WB kicked off with two hours of 7th Heaven.
"We're feeling great," Deutsch said. "The numbers look great and they're only going to get stronger as we get into new episodes."
Over at 29, the sting of losing WB programming was more than assuaged by UPN ratings that compared to and in some cases exceeded the station's WB numbers the week before. "We're delighted in the favorable numbers we've gotten," said Channel 29 general manager Paul Dinovitz. "We've gotten a number of favorable calls about the UPN product being back in the market, and obviously about Star Trek."
A two-hour Star Trek: Voyager on Wednesday pulled in a 5 percent "share" of the homes watching TV, about what Channel 29 averaged one week earlier with four WB sitcoms. Yet three of those same four sitcoms dropped noticeably in the ratings after moving to 62, suggesting either that viewers had trouble finding the shows or just didn't care.
Even more surprising was the falloff for WB's highly touted Dawson's Creek, which lost more than a third of its viewers in moving to 62. Both weeks' shows were repeats. With the May Nielsen ratings sweep less than three weeks away, 62 is launching a massive promotional campaign on radio and billboards to raise awareness of its acquisition of WB. Meanwhile, plans for more Star Trek: Voyager marathons were scrapped after Channel 29 determined it had aired nearly all the nonrepeated episodes from the two-month UPN blackout.
(Thanks Carole)
Q & A ON GARETT AND FIONA - April 2
Pic
(right): Fiona Apple
Cynthia reported: this was in my TV Week that comes with my local paper. The TV Q and A in it is taken from sources all over the US, so I don't know where the original post showed up.
Q: "I just found out that Garett Maggart of UPN's The Sentinel and singer Fiona Apple are brother and sister. Are there any other talented siblings from father Brandon Maggart and spouses?"--CCJ, Philadelphia
A: "Singer/songwriter Fiona and older sister Amber are the daughters of actor Brandon Maggart (Brothers) and former singer/dancer Diane McAfee. The couple split up when Fiona was 4.
Maggart had four children from his first marriage, including the also musically inclined Garett, who plays guitar, drums, and is seen as Blair Sandburg on The Sentinel."
(Thanks Cynthia)