Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: How will television's 'cultural elite' fare in the Clinton Date: Mon, 16 Nov 92 17:03:26 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \SS (WS) \HD How will television's 'cultural elite' fare in the Clinton era? \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES (AP) - Dan Quayle and Murphy Brown will stop making faces at each other come January when an administration more partial to the "cultural elite" takes over in Washington. While many in television said it is unlikely that viewers will see dramatic changes on the tube, some observers contend that liberals will push television into more daring and partisan territory. "Linda Bloodworth-Thomason - take the shackles off her. It will be full speed ahead with her man in the White House," said Betsy Frank, senior vice president for Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising in New York. Jack Thompson, a lawyer and anti-obscenity activist in Coral Gables, Fla., said Bill Clinton's presidency will send "a message, a wrong message, that it's no holds barred." Mrs. Bloodworth-Thomason said she plans to take on topical issues in her new CBS comedy, "Hearts Afire," set in Washington. But the Clinton confidante, known for spinning liberal riffs on "Designing Women," asks for credit for intellectual honesty. "I have always been a bit of a contrarian and want to examine closely whoever has the reins of power," she said. "I don't think the fact a friend of mine is president of the United States will alter my writing." Dick Wolf, executive producer of the NBC drama "Law and Order," agreed. "I think as soon as [comic impersonator] Dana Carvey figures out how to do Clinton, it will be business as usual," he said. CBS' "Murphy Brown," which took the brunt of Mr. Quayle's attacks on an industry he said undermines family values, already squeezed in a mild Clinton-era line: "Looks like Tipper and Hillary are ready for another pitcher of margaritas," bartender Phil joked in last week's episode. In September, Mr. Clinton told a star-studded fund-raiser in Los Angeles that he has always longed to be part of the "cultural elite" and called his audience "gifted, creative and caring Americans." However, he counseled Hollywood in a recent TV Guide interview to re-examine itself, calling mindless sex and violence in popular culture a "net negative for America." Mr. Thompson said Mr. Clinton lacks the moral stature to influence Hollywood. The president-elect also isn't beholden to those who "were holding George Bush's feet to the fire on these issues," he said. "I think the Clinton administration is going to make the pushing of limits more frequent and more bizarre, because there is no moral compass, at least in the White House," Mr. Thompson said. He predicted that the religious right will rely less on government "as a player in the cultural civil war" and more on boycotts and civil lawsuits. Mrs. Bloodworth-Thomason, for one, said she plans to turn up the sexual heat between the characters played by John Ritter and Markie Post on "Hearts Afire." Miss Frank said raciness is a television trend that held steady during the GOP years. The networks, after all, have to compete with less-regulated cable and videotapes. Television clearly has retreated on one issue, abortion, said Robert Singer, executive producer of the NBC drama "Reasonable Doubts." "That seems to be the last bugaboo," he said, the one that drives fearful advertisers away from shows. It is advertiser squeamishness, not White House sniping, that ultimately reins in television, Miss Frank said. "Our clients are concerned that any programming they're in doesn't alienate a significant number of potential customers," she said. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM