If Ellen DeGeneres’ coming out of the closet or Tori Spelling’s losing her virginity doesn’t strike you as an event you want the wee ones to witness during prime time, don’t worry. At least for a week, thanks to cable broadcasters, parents will have an array of family-friendly programs to choose from during the early evening hours.
As part of Tune In to Kids and Family Week, more than 75 cable networks will feature family and children’s programming from 7 to 8 p.m. on one or more nights from Monday to April 13. Shows will include existing programs in special time slots, new series and original specials. Many cable broadcasters will run family fare throughout the evenings during the event.
Josh Sapan, president and chief executive officer of Rainbow Programming Holdings Inc., which owns such cable networks as AMC and Bravo, developed the concept of a family viewing showcase along with Nickelodeon president Herb Scannell. Sapan says the initiative has several goals, such as “getting parents and people watching television to be more active, conscious, responsible and discriminating” in their viewing choices and “making people more aware of the available programs on cable television.”
Family-oriented shows will appear in such expected places as the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and the Family Channel. But programs also will air on some unexpected networks. Adult-oriented Showtime, for example, unveils a new children’s series, “My Life as a Dog” (7 p.m. Sunday), and will present episodes of the drama during the week at 6:30 p.m. And HBO — which often presents such family-unfriendly fare as Sylvester Stallone’s “Assassins” and other R-rated films in its 7 p.m. slot — is scheduled to show a kiddie flick, “Free Willy 2” at 7 p.m. Monday.
But wouldn’t it be nice if parents could come to expect the unexpected by finding a slew of family-type programming at 7 p.m. the remaining 51 weeks of the year? Sapan says he wants Tune In to Kids and Family to have an impact beyond its weeklong stint, encouraging cable broadcasters to offer more family programming in the future.
“We don’t think it should be an event that ends,” Sapan says.
Still, with the ongoing explosion in cable networks, Sapan says viewers shouldn’t expect to find a cable industrywide “family hour” anytime soon.
“I don’t know if it’s manageable or sensible to orchestrate 400 choices in one (part of the day),” he says.
To kick off the initiative, at least 21 diverse cable channels — from Animal Planet to TV Food Network — simultaneously will air “The American Family and Television: A National Town Hall Meeting” at 6:30 p.m. Monday.
The half-hour special, moderated and produced by award-winning journalist Linda Ellerbee (“Nick News”), features a panel representing the television industry, government and advertising. Panelists include cable mogul Ted Turner, Federal Communications Commission chairman Reed Hundt and producer Marcy Carsey (“The Cosby Show,” “Roseanne”).
The show was taped before a live audience of parents, kids, educators, children’s and community advocates and television executives at a recent cable industry meeting in New Orleans. The program addresses issues relating to families and television, from TV violence to the new television ratings system, with audience members presenting questions to the panel.
“We should be having this national debate,” said Ellerbee in a recent phone interview. “If we don’t have this national debate, these decisions will be made by the select few — whether it’s business or government.”
Several factors have made the family and television a timely topic, Ellerbee says. These include the proliferation of television channels, “different parental setups” in American homes, the graphic depiction of violence on television, the threat of government censorship and an explosion in technology.
Because the issue is of “front-burner” caliber, it seems unfortunate that the program only runs a half-hour. The show features a wide range of intelligent questions and pointed comments from the audience. But the panelists’ responses seem so edited down, presumably because of time constraints, that they come across like a collection of tidy sound bites rather than satisfying answers. To overcome this problem, perhaps a longer and more comprehensive alternative version should have been created and offered to interested cable networks.
Still, the special offers some good moments. Look for the cop who talks about the difference between television and real violence, and don’t miss Turner’s mini-sermon on America’s “morbid fascination” with violence.
– Here’s a small sampling of the new and existing family-friendly programming that is scheduled to air during cable’s Tune In to Kids and Family Week.
AMC presents an original special, “The Royale,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday. This post-World War II story focuses on a 10-year-old boy who works on weekends in a movie house, and the life lessons he learns from his friends at the theater.
TV Guide recently named “The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo” one of the best programs for the 6- to 12-year-old bunch. The Nickelodeon show, which features a young Asian-American sleuth, airs on both a special night (7:30 p.m. Tuesday) and in its regular time slot (8 p.m. Saturday).
SportsChannel Chicago premieres “SchoolYard Jam” at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. Segments include a visit with former Chicago Bear Walter Payton and his son, Jarrett, and a feature on high school athletes who are both siblings and teammates.
