Videotape now or weep after sweeps
Wednesday, April 22, 1998 BY JOHN KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
We're down to the Final Four.
Down to the final four Seinfelds, and the final four weeks of good stuff during sweeps (Thursday-May 20), before four dreadful months of reruns and canceled shows.
Down to the final four new episodes this season for ER, Ally McBeal, The X-Files, Drew Carey, King of the Hill, Mad About You and most of your favorites.
Down to the final Murphy Browns, which wraps up 10 years on May 18. And down to the final new episodes for many other series (Ellen? Millennium? Alright Already?) that will be canceled next month, as networks announce their fall schedules before Memorial Day. You may be down to your final videotape. So stock up, because it could be a long, dry summer again.
Among the shows not to miss:
Seinfeld: The first of the final four Seinfelds airs Thursday (9 p.m., Channels 5, 22). Much ado about a show about nothing ends May 14 with a highlights special (8 p.m.), the one-hour finale (9 p.m.) and Jerry Seinfeld on The Tonight Show (11:35 p.m.).
Murphy Brown: Not to be overlooked during the big Sein-off is Candice Bergen's finale. Helping the F.Y.I. gang say farewell are Frances Bergen (her mom), George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Bette Midler, Alan King, Mike Wallace, Robert Pastorelli as Eldin the house painter and Pat Corley as Phil the bartender.
Painted Lady: Helen Mirren, the Emmy-winning Prime Suspect star, creates another unforgettable new character in Painted Lady, for Mobil Masterpiece Theatre (9 p.m. Sunday and May 3, Channel 48). She stars as Maggie Sheridan, a burned-out blues singer presumed dead by her fans until a man is murdered in her home.
Merlin: A miniseries worth the hype. NBC's Merlin (Sunday-Monday, 9-11 p.m., Channels 5, 22) is the best broadcast miniseries of the season, an inventive telling of the King Arthur legends through the eyes of a sexy sorcerer (Sam Neill). The 450 special effects make true TV magic, though Merlin may be too violent for young viewers. Here's a tip: If you tape the four-hour miniseries, it runs only three hours when you fast-forward through commercials -- shorter than Titanic! Consider taping Merlin and watching CBS' Nicholas' Gift (9 p.m. Sunday, Channels 12, 7) or Painted Lady.
Other May miniseries: Mario Puzo's The Last Don II (9 p.m. May 3 and 5, Channels 12, 7); Erich Segal's Only Love (9 p.m. May 10-11, Channels 12, 7); and Peter Benchley's Creature (9 p.m. May 17-18, Channels 9, 2).
CBS: The First 50 Years: The two-hour special May 20 (9-11 p.m. p.m., Channel 12, 7) may be anti-climactic after old TV stars -- many of them deceased -- appear on new CBS shows May 13-20.
Using the same computer technique that lets Fred Astaire dance with a Dirt Devil, CBS will have Jack Benny visit Cosby, Chad Everett on Chicago Hope, Lucille Ball on The Nanny, Edward R. Murrow on Murphy Brown, Rod Serling on Early Edition, James Arness on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and Rob Petrie from The Dick Van Dyke Show on Mr. Van Dyke's Diagnosis Murder.
Don Hewitt: PBS' American Masters profiles 60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt May 13 (9 p.m., Channel 48), four days before CBS replays 30 years of the top-rated show, 60 Minutes at 30 (7 p.m. May 17, Channels 12, 7).
HBO Comedy Hour: Jeff Foxworthy: Now everyone (with HBO) can see the hilarious Jeff Foxworthy concert a lucky few thousand witnessed Feb. 21 at the Taft Theatre. It premieres 9:30 p.m. May 16.
Wizard of Oz: Set the VCR for CBS' final broadcast of The Wizard of Oz (8:30 p.m. May 8, CBS), before it goes somewhere over the rainbow to cable TV land.
John Kiesewetter is Enquirer TV/radio critic. Write him at 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, 45202.
