Banner Graphic, Volume 21, Number 275, Greencastle, Putnam County, 26 July 1991 — Page 15

Fabares finds acting niche in ‘Coach’

LOS ANGELES (AP) One reason Shelley Fabares likes appearing in ABC’s “Coach” is that every character is clearly defined. That, she says, is unusual on television. “From the pilot script on you knew who everybody on ‘Coach’ was,’’ says Fabares, a veteran of seven earlier series and numerous other roles since her first movie at the age of five. “Every character was distinct. “I think that’s why actors love to play villains. When a character has an edge, you understand that person right away. You may not like the character. I’ve done so many characters in shows where you knew nothing about them except their name.” IN THE HIT COMEDY scries, Fabares plays Christine Armstrong, a local television anchorwoman who’s also the girlfriend of Craig T. Nelson’s Coach Hayden Fox. She’s bright, beautiful, strong and quite capable of handling Fox, a man whose ideas of courtship would embarrass a Neanderthal. Fox is a successful college football coach. His assistant is Luther Van Dam, played by Jerry Van Dyke, who is so afraid of failure he never starts anything. Fabares says Christine is quite capable of standing up to Fox. “She’s a nice woman, but she’s not a pushover. She’s going through what a lot of women experience in their 30s and 40s. She’s trying to find a balance between her professional life and her personal life. “SHE’S TRYING TO WORK out a balance between a demanding job and this demanding, infuriating, fascinating man. He’s a very intense man, but he can’t talk about his feelings. She’s a woman who absolutely demands that he express his feelings. That’s one reason the romance is so rocky.” Fabares also played a strong woman in “One Day at a Time,” which she joined for its last three seasons. “I was Francine, a rather villainous character,” she says. “She was wonderful. She saw the world onlj through her eyes and it never occurred to her that hei people didn’t. When Valerie Bertinelli got married or the show, Francine gets to the church late. Her heels

Channel Guide

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go clickety-clack down the aisle and when people turn to look at her, she says, ‘No, don’t get up.’ I think those were the only lines I had in the show, but it’s one of my favorite episodes.” FABARES WAS A TOTALLY evil woman in “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” and its extension, “Forever Fem wood.” Oddly enough, her career stalled in the late 1960 s because she was typecast as “sweet and innocent” She had starred in three movies with Elvis Presley, then was out of work for a long time. She made the transition into being an adult actress with a major role in the landmark television movie “Brian’s Song.” Fabares started acting as a child, following her famous aunt, Nanette Fabray, into show business. Miss Fabray plays her mother on “Coach.” They previously worked together in “One Day at a Time.” “My aunt was a big Broadway star when I was bom,” she says. “There wasn’t any TV at the time. Our family was accustomed to acting because of Aunt Nanette. My sister, Smokey, and I started modeling in mother-daughter fashion shows.” WHEN SHE WAS NINE, Frank Sinatra sang to her in a TV special, and she later appeared with Sinatra, Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint in a TV version of “Our Town.” She co-starred with Rock Hudson in “Never Say Goodbye.” In 1958 she played the teen-age daughter in “The Donna Reed Show,” her first series. Her other series were “The Little People,” “The Practice,” “Mary Hartman, Mary 'Hartman,” “Forever Femwood,” “Highcliffe Manor” and “One Day at a Time.” Fabares is married to actor Mike Farrell, who is best known for his role as BJ. Hunnicut on “M-A-S-H.” They first met in 1970 when she had a guest star role in Farrell’s series “The Interns.” But they didn’t marry until 1984, after both were divorced. “One of our dreams,” she says, “is to move to the Pacific Northwest or Vermont. Mike would open a health food store and I’d have a book store next door.”

ABC wins weekly Nielsens with big boost from ‘2O/20’

By DEBORAH HASTINGS AP Television Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) A repeat of CBS’ venerable news hour “60 Minutes” was the No. 1 show on television, ABC’s “20-20” placed second, and in the No. 3 slot was a rerun of NBC’s favorite barroom comedy “Cheers.” ABC won the latest ratings race, ending CBS’ four-week winning streak with a boost from the weekly news magazine “20-20.” ABC finished first with an 8.9 average rating, followed by NBC with 8.8, according to ratings released by the A.C. Nielsen Co. CBS, after finishing or tying for first the four previous weeks, placed third with an 8.6 average rating. EACH RATING point represents 931,000 homes. A repeat of NBC’s docudrama “A Cry for Help: The Tracey Thurman Story,” which portrayed the real-life trauma of a Connecticut woman left paralyzed by her abusive husband, ranked fourth. NBC’s reality-based series

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MIKE FARRELL, SHELLEY FABARES

Real-life husband and wife

“Unsolved Mysteries” was fifth. CBS’ first airing of Stephen King’s “Golden Years” miniseries tied for sixth place with a rerun of ABC’s “Roseanne.” CBS’ “Designing Women” was eighth, followed by NBC’s “Empty Nest.” ABC’s “Family Matters,” was No. 10. THE PREMIERE of ABC’s comedy “Hi Honey, I’m Home” (which also plays on cable’s Nick at Nite channel) ranked 13th. In the network news wars, ABC continued its winning streak, this time with a 9 rating. NBC was second with 7.5, CBS was third with 7.4. Nielsens 1. (2) “60 Minutes," CBS, 13.5, 12.6 million homes. 2. (32) "20-20,” ABC, 13.4, 12.5 million. 3. (1) “Cheers,” NBC, 12.9, 12.0 million. 4. (32) “A Cry For Help: Tracy Thurman Story” “NBC Monday Night Movie,” 12.6,11.7 million. 5. (11) “Unsolved Mysteries,” NBC, 12.5, 11.6 million. 6. (44) “Stephen King’s Golden Years” “CBS Tuesday Movie.”-'

12.2,11.4 million. 6. (4) “Roseanne,” ABC, 12.2, 11.4 million. 8. (7) “Designing Women,” CBS, 12.0,11.2 million. 9. (10) “Empty Nest,” NBC, 11.6, 10.8 million. 10. (15) "Family Matters,” ABC, 11.5,10.7 million. 11. (39) “Columbo: Murder Could Be Hazardous to Your Health” "ABC Sunday Movie,” 11.4, 10.6 million. 11. (17) “Full House,” ABC, 11.4, 10.6 million. 13. (54) “Hi Honey, I’m Home,” ABC, 11.3, 10.5 million. 14. (19) “In the Heat of the Night,” NBC, 11.2,10.4 million. 15. (13) “America’s Funniest People,” ABC, 11.1,10.3 million. 16. (9) “America’s Funniest Home Videos "ABC, 11.0,10.2mi11i0n. 17. (6) "Murphy Brown,” CBS, 10.9, 10.1 million. 17. (45) “Wings,” NBC, 10.9, 10.1 million. 19. (8) “The Cosby Show," NBC, 10.8, 10.0 million. 19. (15) "Coach,” ABC, 10.8, 10.0 million. 19. (69) “Primetime Live,” ABC, 10.8,10.0 million. 19. (28) “Rescue: 911," CBS, 10.8, 10.0 million. 23. (11) "Golden Girls,” NBC, 10.7. 23. (36) “Perfect Strangers,” ABC, 10.7. 25. (5) "A Different World,” NBC, ia.6. - ’ - . , ■

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