The lastest prime-time continuing drama, "Savannah," is a surprise for two reasons.
First - in an era when prime-time soaps have become campy and downright stupid - this new serial is sort of classy. In a trashy sort of way.And second, "Savannah" airs on network wannabe the WB - which has never had anything worth watching other than the cartoon "Pinky and the Brain."
"Savannah," which debuts with a two-hour movie on Sunday (6 p.m., WGN and 7 p.m., Ch. 30), is lush, lusty and lively. We're not talking brain food here, but it does look like rather tasty junk food.
Executive producer Aaron Spelling described the show as "a young `Dynasty' . . . with a little touch of `Gone With the Wind' if it were done in 1996." And that isn't too far off the mark.
The show centers on the three young female leads - perky Lane (Robyn Lively), rich and pampered Reese (Shannon Sturges) and bad girl Peyton (Jamie Luner). (We haven't heard soap-opera names like this since "Dynasty's" Krystal, Alexis and Fallon.)
The plot in the pilot revolves around the fabulous wedding of Reese to handsome young Travis (George Eads) - who turns out to be the nastiest guy this side of J.R. Ewing. That storyline twists and turns through marriage, betrayal, adultery, violence and possible murder - all in the first two hours!
But that's just part of the story. There's Reese's rich and powerful father, Edward (Ray Wise). There's upright cop Dean (David Gail), who's Lane's former flame. There's mysterious Tom (Paul Satterfield), who has some sort of plot going with Veronica (Beth Toussaint).
"Ray loves his daughter very, very much but has a secret. Paul falls in love with Reese very, very much but has a secret. David really loves Lane from point one, but he has two secrets. And George just happens to be the most multifaceted liar in the world, but he's nice."
Although, as always, Spelling seems compelled to try to grab all the credit for the shows his company produces, the real credit here goes to the husband-and-wife executive producer/writing team of Jim Stanley and Diane Messina Stanley. Their credits include "Knots Landing" and "Hotel Malibu" - which explains what why "Savannah" is a cut above Spelling's other prime-time soaps, "Melrose Place" and "Beverly Hills, 90210."
We're not talking reality programming or Hallmark Hall of Fame drama. But it is good soap opera.
The show is shot in Atlanta and Savannah itself and has a particularly lush feel to it - up to and including the musical score. It's a veneer of class on trash, of course. But it's well-done trash.
If you miss "Dallas" and "Dynasty," "Savannah" may just be the thing for you.
TRY WGN: At the risk of being rude and unkind, let me offer a word of advice to local cable subscribers who plan on watching "Savannah."
Watch it (or tape it) on WGN at 6 p.m.
The quality of KOOG's signal is so poor that it will wash away much of the visual beauty of the show. If you wait to watch it at 7 p.m. on Ch. 30, you'll definitely be missing something.
And, rude and unkind or not, if Ch. 30 wants to be taken seriously, it has to upgrade the terrible signal it puts out.
PLAYING THE BAD GUY: George Eads, who plays the quickly despicable Travis Peterson in "Savannah," is just happy to be there. This is his first big acting job. And he almost didn't get it.
He was working at a Hollywood athletic club - more or less as a bouncer of sorts - and he couldn't leave to go to the audition.
"So I asked my boss if I could go get a hamburger at the Burger King," Eads said. "Honestly, I went and drove right by Burger King and went to the audition.
"I had a short time, learned the lines on the fly, and went up and all of a sudden I was up in Aaron Spelling's office."
Obviously, the audition went well. But Eads is so new to the business that he didn't have an easy time snagging the part.
Spelling called Eads' agent and asked for some film of the young actor's work to be sent over.
"There was the longest dead silence on the telephone I've ever heard in my life," Spelling said with a laugh.
"But he has been amazing - a tough role to play, very little experience and he is not only one of the nicest guys in the world to work with, but I really think he kicks butt in this."
Eads admits he was a bit taken aback by his character's personality quirks.
"At first, I wasn't excited because I thought, gosh, this guy's a real jerk," he said. "Then I thought, well, it's about the work. This is what I do. Let's commit to it and make him jerk a la mode. Super jerk."
Actually, at the end of the "Savannah" pilot there's some question as to whether Travis is going to be back in future episodes. No one would say for sure, but Eads did show up to meet the press here earlier this week and did sit in a press conference with the other recurring characters.
"That's the great thing about serials - nothing is forever," Spelling said. "Do you remember some lady who blew up a building and then went to a psychiatrist for one week, and now is back on the show?"
Yes, but let's hope "Savannah" never gets to be as stupid as "Melrose Place" is.
IN THEORY: ABC is developing a one-hour drama titled "Relativity," which is about two families and their personal lives.
The show is beig produced by Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick - who were the men behind the late, lamented "thirty-some-thing."
And Chris Columbus, the director of such movies as "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Home Alone," is writing a two-hour pilot for a proposed one-hour drama series.