Art's TV News

The latest from the world of TV

David Westin has taken over as President of ABC News, a position that has been held for many years by television legend Roone Arledge, who, after sharing power with Westin over the past few months, has decided to retire. Arledge first came into prominence as President of ABC Sports. During his tenure, "Wide World of Sports" was introduced, and ABC virtually became "The Olympics Network." Arledge's greatest achievement in sports television, however, was his introduction of "Monday Night Football," complete with slow motion replays and multiple camera angles. After receiving the promotion to head the news division, many seasoned news veterans were tremendously skeptical about Arledge's ability. Under his leadership, however, superstar journalists such as David Brinkley and Diane Sawyer were added to the network, and various newsmagazines, as well as Peter Jennings' "World News Tonight," flourished. Arledge will be remembered as a vital innovator, with accomplishments that Westin will most likely never eclipse.

Phil Hartman, the comedian with countless talents, whose impressions of celebrities on "Saturday Night Live," and deadpan portrayal of eccentric radio personality Bill McNeal on "NewsRadio" entertained millions of fans, died on May 28. He was 49. Hartman, as I'm sure most of you know, was the victim of an apparent murder-suicide, carried out by his wife, Brynn. It is not this website's place to speculate on what caused this tragedy. All we can be sure of is that Hartman's natural ability to induce laughter will be sorely missed. As a footnote, Hartman's show, "NewsRadio," was renewed by NBC shortly before his death, and will, by all indications, continue on without one of its brightest stars.

Besides the renewal of "NewsRadio," another pleasant surprise on the NBC fall schedule is the transplant of "Frasier" into the Thursday, 9PM slot left vacant by "Seinfeld." Most industry experts were predicting that "Friends" or "Just Shoot Me" would win the time slot, but some last minute campaigning by Kelsey Grammer apparently won the brass ring for his show. "Just Shoot Me" will anchor the Tuesday night schedule in the old "Frasier" slot, while "Friends" stays put at 8PM on Thursday. "Veronica's Closet" also stays in its 9:30 slot, between "Frasier" and "ER." Gee, couldn't NBC have tried - oh, I don't know - a funnier show in that time period?!?


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