European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 06, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse To briefs is television really ready for color Deborah Hastings associated press writer in a world of mostly White shows mostly White producers and mostly White advertisers in Liv ing color promises to stick out like a Raisin in a bowl of Rice because almost the entire cast is Black partly. Mostly it s because of the show s Black humor. Consider the sketches on this Black version of saturday night live which debuted last month and landed in the Bottom of the ratings on Fox. There s the Homeboy shopping network in which two Black men unload a sem truck full of very hot items including a satellite dish with Nasa emblazoned on its face. Not Only do you get All the stations out there promises one of the Jive talking hosts you can talk directly to the sandwiched Between the skits a la saturday night live Are fake commercials. Calvin Klein s obsession becomes oppression for Black men if Only he was t so a Takeoff on the United negro College fund s motto admonishes Young Blacks to keep your butt in wait a minute. Is it of to laugh at this stuff does t it perpetuate Black stereotypes in t it exploitative of get Over it says Keenen Ivory Wayans the 31-year-old executive producer writer cast Mem Ber of in living color. Black people Aren t supposed to be funny Woody Allen s jewish and he makes fun of jews says Wayans. No one s Ever accused him of being anti semitic " Keenen Ivory Wayans right and his brother Damon of in living stuttering protest responding to complaints from the National stuttering project has agreed to trim where possible Kevin Kline s mockery of Michael Palin s stuttering in the movie a fish called Wanda. Abc has purchased the 1988 film for which Kline won a Best supporting actor Academy award for broadcast at a later Date. Associated press heavy duty if it s curtains for lbs Vietnam series tour of duty it sure goes out with a bang. After three seasons of being matched against the Cosby show Roseanne the wonder years the Golden girls and empty nest the wartime drama hit pay dirt with a Fine two hour bid for renewal late last month that makes its move from the Battlefield to the Home front. It could evolve into a whole new series drawing on both born on the fourth of july and de spite the huge differences in the conflicts the Post world War ii film the Best years of our lives. Meanwhile the news is not Good from entertainment. The self styled network of the nineties is pulling China Beach from the sched ule again and when and where Dana Delany & co. Will return nobody knows. From wire reports what they re really watching newcomers like s America s funniest Home videos Drew Many viewers but Overall network prime time ratings this season were the lowest in history network analysts said tuesday. Although won its its fifth consecutive sea son with a 14.6 average that was the lowest in its history and represented a 9 percent drop from the previous season. From wire reports maybe nothing network researchers Are worried and puzzled Over a significant drop in the Nielsen ratings Dur ing the past three months. The drop in houses using television has been As much As 15 percent in some areas since Jan uary. It affects All of to including Cable and the networks and All Day parts including Day time and prime time. The discrepancy shows up in the National people meter tally each week which turns out to be consistently lower than the ratings provided by Nielsen s regular meters in the top markets. Nielsen has about 4,000 people meters operating nationwide. John Carmody the Washington Post and Here s Why watching television takes less concentration than eating and leaves Many viewers feeling worse than before they sat in front of the set according to a 13-year study. The study found the longer a person watched the set the More drowsy bored sadder lonelier and hostile the viewer would become said psychologists from Rutgers University in new Jersey and the University of Chicago. The study comes hard on the heels of a report from the american Academy of paediatrics that children who watch a great Deal More television than their Peers Are Likely to be violent and fat. Associated press of o Nielsen to he following were the top 10 ranking television shows in afr Rica in the fourth week of april As compiled by the . Nielsen co the seas Ormo Datt ranking is Fri parentheses or an a for first time show Inland the final figure is the rating which notes the percentage of tie nation s 92,1 million Homes where people watched the show. 1 America s funniest Home videos 4 20,3. 2 cheers 3 . 212 rating. 3 a different world 4 19.5. 4 Caroline lbs sunday movie x cbsj9a 5 the Cosby show 2 n6c, 6 Roseanne 1 abc418.4 6 60 minutes tie 7j ass 8 fall from Grace sunday movie x j 7 m. 8 wings tie 10 no cd 7.6. 10 unsolved mysteries 13 n8c, 17,5, a these Are the 10 least watched shows fhe ones at the Bottom of the Nielsen ratings. 82 in living color 121 Fox 5.7. 83 Booker 127 Fox 13, 83 magical world of Disney tie 100 5,3. 85 Sunset beat 122 5.1 .86 227, 60 n8c, 4.6. 87 outsiders 125 Fox 4a 88 21 jump Street 123 Fox 4,4. 89 Alf 45 3,9. 90 alien nation 125 Fox 91 Tracey woman now l2$ fqx3.5. What they re watching Page 4 to plus sunday May 6,1990
