Potpourri of TV topics

As the fall TV season continues to unwind, here is a quartet of topics on everything from Wednesday night to Sunday morning:

1. When Catholics recently protested the opening of "Corpus Christi," a new play in New York City that has a gay main character who resembles Jesus, they were criticized for being anti-art, censoring morons and close-minded cave-dwellers.

When the protesters, outraged at rumors that Jesus would be presented as an active homosexual, asked to see the script so they could confirm the rumors, their request was denied, and the play went on as scheduled.

How come Black Americans didn't merit the same labels and treatment for protesting "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer," a new sitcom on UPN?

Many Blacks found the main character, a servant in Abraham Lincoln's White House, offensive and the plots repulsive. They took to the streets to protest, demanded a meeting with the producer and network, and succeeded in getting the pilot episode delayed. No one suggested they were not within their rights to complain.

Can anyone say "double standard"?

2. "Maggie Winters," the new CBS comedy on Wednesdays, doesn't have much to recommend it. Faith Ford plays a freshly divorced woman who returns to her hometown and moves back into her mother's house while she tries to sort out her options.

Mom is, like many parents on TV these days, a dimwit who can't hear a simple declarative sentence without misconstruing its meaning. Thus, when Maggie says she has to move forward or die, like a shark, Mom starts babbling about fish.

Although she is 15 years removed from high school, Maggie continues to dwell in that time zone, reminiscing with high school pals about who went how far with what boy in which car. The level of immaturity demonstrated by most of the characters could be matched only at a daycare reunion -- when the alumni turn five.

3. Speaking of immaturity, I left the TV on after "Maggie Winters" for "To Have & To Hold," another Wednesday newcomer, and had to put up with a whole hour of immaturity.

This Boston-based show centers on a liberal public defender who marries a conservative cop from a large Irish family. Of course, that means the stereotype closet has to be emptied. All Irish people on TV drink too much, constantly threaten to punch one another, make the Sign of the Cross for no reason and have mothers with brogues, as if this were 1898 instead of 1998.

As for immaturity, the main female character, supposedly a top lawyer, weeps over a childhood frisbee and cross-examines her fiancee with winks and smirks during a trial scene that had about as much realism as a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

4. Parents of little ones who are starting to wonder what the Mass is all about and why they go to church every weekend can find some help in answering their questions via "Sunday Morning." This new 20-minute video explains through drawings and songs why Sundays are important to Catholics.

The tape links weekly Mass to the Creation, Noah's Ark and Christ's resurrection, and connects worship to parish unity and serving others. It keys on phrases in the Mass -- "Alleluia" and "Amen," for example -- that kids might remember and easily participate in. The video also comes with a study guide to help parents or religious educators get the most out of it.

To get a copy, call Videos With Values, 1-800-233-4629. It costs $19.99.

(10-22-98)
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