The Aaron Spelling soap-opera machine is getting into high gear once again.
The man behind "Beverly Hills, 90210," "Melrose Place," "Dynasty" and "The Colbys" is cranking out a couple more of those prime-time serials - and neither one of them is going to air on Fox.First up is "Savannah," which will air on network wannabe the WB (Ch. 30 locally) beginning Sunday, Jan. 21. This new series is "set against the steamy backdrop of Southern passion, romance, wealth and power" as it "chronicles the lives and loves of three contemporary Southern belles divided by their bloodlines."
(Networks - even pseudo-networks - actually talk about their shows like this.)
Nothing on "Savannah" has been screened yet, but there may actually be some hope here for fans of prime-time soaps. Yes, this show will be executive produced by Spelling and his partner, E. Duke Vincent, who are known for the rather campy, ridiculous soaps like "Dynasty" and "Melrose Place."
But the other two executive producers are Jim Stanley and Dianne Messina Stanley, whose credits include superior serials like "Knots Landing" and "Hotel Malibu."
"Savannah" debuts with a two-hour pilot on Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. before moving to its regular 8 p.m. time the following Sunday.
The other new Spelling soap, "Malibu Shores," sounds more like a "90210" clone. (Although, if you're going to rip somebody off, it's probably best if you steal from yourself.)
Again, nothing has been screened for critics (the show hasn't even gone into production yet), but it's difficult to imagine a more pompous introduction than the one NBC is providing for "Malibu Shores" - saying it's in the tradition of "West Side Story" and "Romeo and Juliet."
Yeah, right.
The show will follow "the story of two rival high schools with students from opposite sides of the track - the elite community of Malibu and the working-class San Fernando Valley - dealing with one another and with contemporary social issues that cross class distinctions."
Oddly enough, the two central characters in the drama - rich Malibu girl Chloe and poor Valley boy Zack - are played by Keri Russell and Tony Lucca, who are both cast members of "The Mickey Mouse Club" on the Disney Channel.
(Isn't that delicious?)
Other cast members include Michelle Phillips as Chloe's mother and 17-year-old Randy Spelling - Aaron's little boy - as a Valley boy named Flipper.
(Please feel free to make up your own jokes here.)
NBC (seen on Ch. 5 locally) has ordered eight hours of "Shores" - a two-hour pilot and six one-hour episodes - as a midseason replacement show. No word yet on when it might make it on the air.
SCHEDULE SHUFFLING: If any of you care - and, judging by the ratings, most of you don't - the WB is making some changes to its Sunday-night schedule.
A couple of really awful shows - "Cleghorne!" and "First Time Out!" - are getting the ax. No loss on either count.
As of Sunday, Jan. 7, "Simon" moves to 6:30 p.m. and "Kirk" moves to 7:30 p.m. Neither show is any great shakes, but they've both been given full-season pickups.
KATHIE LEE IN PRIME TIME: If you're a fan of Kathie Lee Gifford's, you'll undoubtedly enjoy her "Home for Christmas" special tonight on CBS (8 p.m., Ch. 2).
On the other hand, if you find her in the least annoying you may well gag during the hour.
"Home for Christmas" is mainly musical. And the music is very good.
In addition to Kathie Lee's vocal talents, she's joined by Aaron Neville, Kathy Mattea and Andy Williams in a mixture of solos, duets and trios.
Where the hour runs into trouble is when Kathie Lee out-Kathie Lees herself. The premise has Kathie and Frank inviting the various guest stars to join them at their home in Vail, Colo.
And much of that premise is hokey beyond belief.
There's Kathie and Frank hugging and cooing. And those unbelievably cute kids, Cody and Cassidy, mugging for the camera.
(Is Kathie Lee exploiting her children? That's for you to decide.)
It really gets gloppy and gooey when tears well in Kathie Lee's eyes because Frank has to go off and broadcast a football game on Christmas night. Of course, this special was shot several weeks ago, and Frank won't be gone until next week.
There's a lot to like here musically.
But there's also a lot of what makes Kathie Lee Gifford among the most loved - and hated women - on television.
CHANGING CHANNELS: Big news from the corporate world of cable - Geraldine Laybourne, who built Nickelodeon into the most-watched channel in cable, has been named president of Disney/ABC Cable Networks.
Once Disney's acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC is complete, she'll be in charge of the Disney Channel, ABC's 37.5 percent interest in A&E and the History Channel, its 50 percent interest in Lifetime, and the new 24-hour news channel ABC recently announced.
(ABC's sports networks, ESPN and ESPN2, will continue to report directly to ABC president Robert Iger.)
HYPERBOLE: Noticed KSTU-Ch. 13's Steve Oldfield called "Nixon" "the best movie of the year" on Monday night.
Which means that I've now lost track of how many films Oldfield has dubbed "best movie of the year" in the last couple of months.