There are some things about which a roomful of Baby-Boomer television writers find it difficult to maintain objectivity, and the Disney Channel hit on one of them during the recent press tour.
You knew Disney`s latest ”Mickey Mouse Club” was in for rough sledding even before the show`s 2 new hosts and 3 of its 12 members entered the Registry Hotel Ballroom for a ”hey-there, hi-there, ho-there” news conference.
The telltale sign was the audible gasp that arose at the conclusion of a preview reel when the mournful, closing refrain of ”The Mickey Mouse Club Song”-”M-I-C, See you real soon, K-E-Y, Why? Because we like you . . .”-was immediately followed by-no kidding-a rap version of the same.
The rap song, however, was only the most symbolic manifestation of an updating process that obviously seeks to bring ”The Mickey Mouse Club” into sync with the MTV sensibilities of its target 8- to 12-year-old audience.
The show retains a few elements of its ancestor, which when it came on the air in 1955 ”was an extraordinary phenomenon” that ”in some ways helped define what the preteen culture was,” said Disney Channel Vice President Patrick Davidson.
Set to run from 4:30 to 5 p.m. weekdays beginning April 24, ”The Mickey Mouse Club” will be divided into four segments: the opening, a theme segment, Mickey Mouse Club movies and the closing number.
Most of the show will be shot before a live studio audience at the new Disney-MGM studio in Orlando, Fla.
The preview reel, consisting of clips from a pilot, included a couple of disco-y production numbers, an interview with ”Nightmare on Elm Street”
creator Wes Craven, a juggling lesson from one of the Mouseketeers and a visit to a ”Top Gun”-like installation at Pensacola, Fla.-the latter in response, according to host Fred Newman`s introductory bit, to a letter from a viewer in Kingston, R.I.
That odd statement prompted the opening of hostilities at a question-and- answer session so confrontational that Newman at one point asked rhetorically, ”Is this the Morton Downey Jr. show?”
Since the show won`t be starting until April, one writer queried, how could Newman or anyone else have received mail from a viewer?
”In the pilot, we had to make some things happen. . . . That won`t be on the air,” Newman said. ”They did call kids to poll them and ask them questions we were researching for the show,” added co-host Mowava Pryor.
Some questioners wanted to know why Craven-whose R-rated movies are ostensibly off-limits to children under 17 unless accompanied by a parent-was invited on the show.
” `Nightmare on Elm Street` is not only a movie, it`s also a television series,” Davidson said.
The general attitude of the reporters seemed to be that Disney had no business tampering with a cherished memory.
