Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends,americast.usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Tue, Oct 27 1992 Date: Tue, 27 Oct 92 04:59:45 EST Message-ID: 10-27 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update Oct. 27, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network STORES GEAR UP FOR HALLOWEEN: Costume shops and discount stores are banking on the popularity of "Honeymoon in Vegas" and "Batman Returns" this Halloween. Elvis, Batman, Catwoman and the Penguin are the prize disguises for this year's trick-or-treaters - big and small. Trolls also are a big hit with kids. K mart is betting this will be a banner year for costuming goblins, because Halloween falls on a Saturday. VAMPIRES TRACKED: Researchers who track so-called vampires report that the beings relish Halloween. "They love it," says Stephen Kaplan, the director of the Vampire Research Center. Kaplan, a "vampirologist," keeps tabs on the USA's 600 bloodsuckers. He and his staff find one in 200 people who report themselves meet the requirement: An urge to drink blood during a full moon. MORAL VALUES CREEP INTO SHOWS: Network executives are meeting with a human-values group to discuss how to incorporate moral values into shows. These are some of the subtle and not-so-subtle changes taking place in Hollywood as executives struggle to come to terms with the politically hot debate over "family values." (For more, see special TV package below.) MORE BUYING MODULAR HOMES: Owning a home has become a tall order, with the median U.S. house price hovering well above $100,000 in the first half of this year. That's why sales of modular homes are up. Industry experts say prices that are 10% to 40% less than those of conventional houses are the lure. Modular houses are also more durable than in years gone by because of new technology. CYRUS, BOLTON GET TV SPECIALS: More singers are getting their own TV specials. Country music sensation Billy Ray Cyrus has signed with ABC to do two prime-time specials and a TV movie. ABC hopes the concerts will air sometime in 1992. And Michael Bolton headlines his first television special Wednesday night. "This is Michael Bolton" airs on NBC at 10 p.m. ET:PT. GHOSTLY CELEBRATIONS VANISH: Witches, ghosts and black cats are fading in many public schools. Some parents complain they're symbols of Satanism. Halloween itself is banned in some schools. The National School Boards Association hasn't issued a mandate on Halloween activities saying it's "strictly a local call." MORE MEN CARING FOR CHILDREN: Plenty of bathroom language will be flying around in the Pennsylvania Senate next month. An amendment by Rep. Ruth Rudy draws a new bottom line: All new and renovated men's and women's restrooms must be equipped with diaper-changing areas. Rudy says, "More men are taking care of small children, and they used these facilities." BUSES HAVE VIBRATING SEATS: Word from the Aashto International Transportation Observer is manufacturers in China have begun fitting some buses, trucks and cars with vibrating seats modeled on ancient acupuncture principles. Tests show the seats could reduce accidents as much as 10%, saving the world's most populous nation $25 million a year in road crash losses. NEW WAY TO SUPPRESS SMOKING: If you've tried acupuncture, willpower, herbs, patches, prayer and gum to quit smoking, get ready for another trend: Nasal spray. The appeal: Nicotine by nose offers the second fastest absorption after inhalation, according to Drug Topics magazine. Results of a study by a Swedish pharmaceutical company show 26% percent of people inhaling nicotine completely avoided cigarettes. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON TV: EXECS STICK WITH MORAL SHOWS: Changes in programming and story lines this season indicate Hollywood may be giving more air time to "traditional" values. " `I'll Fly Away,' `Brooklyn Bridge,' `The Wonder Years' or `Life Goes On' would have been canceled years ago, because they don't get very high ratings," says Barnet Kellman, who works on NBC's "Mad About You." "But the networks are sticking with them now." EXECS LOOK FOR NEW APPROACH: Over the summer, executives from the three major TV networks attended workshops with the Humanitas Committee, a group that pushes for human values in movies and on TV. The first-of-a-kind seminars "evolved out a growing concern at the networks about this issue," says the Rev. Ellwood Kieser, a Roman Catholic priest who heads the committee. CREATORS USE EXPERIENCES: Many in Hollywood rely on experience in presenting values. Producer-director Kellman says the goal of "Mad About You" is to depict "a solid marriage in a positive light." Co-star Paul Reiser "is newly married. I'm married. Other people who work on the show are married. We cuss from our experience." (End of package.) Trends & Marketing Editor: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM