It used to be that TV stars became movie stars — the list of TV alumni includes Tom Hanks, Clint Eastwood, Meg Ryan, Denzel Washington, Ashley Judd, Bruce Willis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jim Carrey, just to name a few.
But this fall, a number of movie stars are seeking to become TV stars — a list that includes Bette Midler, Geena Davis, Gabriel Byrne and Charlie Sheen. Even high-profile director/producer James Cameron is working in TV. And not all of them are turning to the tube because they have to.
Of course, television does become an alternative to ex-movie stars whose big-screen careers aren't exactly thriving. New "Spin City" star Sheen readily admits that TV wasn't a choice he made.
"It's more what's choosing me," he said. "There hasn't been a lot of heat in the feature department with the studios or whatever."
And Midler admitted part of her decision to go into television stemmed from the fact that the kinds of roles she would like to play in movies aren't there for a woman in her 50s.
"I cannot say that I wasn't affected by the fact that most of the girls — women — that I came up with don't really have the kind of jobs that they once had," she said, not disputing the fact that her film career hasn't been going great guns.
"I have to be brutally frank, and I'm sure that everyone's going to say it anyway — 'Well, it was time for her to move to the small screen because she couldn't get those jobs,' " Midler said. "If you say that, that's fine with me. I really don't care."
Not that everyone is quite as frank. Davis, whose movie career has been reduced to playing the mom in "Stuart Little," insisted she didn't have to work in television just to work.
"I certainly have never been a snob about mediums. But it wasn't a conscious plan to pursue television at this moment," she said. "It purely was this material. I saw this pilot and fell in love with the writing."
The writing
Actors often say that one of the reasons they choose to do television is that they're not getting great — even good — movie scripts.
"It's about writing," said Oliver Platt, who's starring in "Deadline" on NBC. "The kind of conundrum of features is, the ones you make your living on that you're supposed to be all excited to be in, very often the material is really poor."
"There are wonderful writers working for television," said Byrne, who's headlining the sitcom "Madigan Men" on ABC. "Superb writers. And it seems to me that the complexity of issues that are dealt with in television are far more interesting than the formulas that movies allow."
And it's not just the actors who are saying that; writers with major film credits are also singing the praises of working in television.
"As a storyteller, I don't really draw the distinction between the big screen and the so-called little screen, other than the fact that there are just some things we can't do," said James Cameron, best known for movies ranging from "The Terminator" to "Titanic," and the creator/executive producer of the series "Dark Angel" on Fox. "We can't blow up half the city. We can't do 300 special-effects shots in an episode. So, in a way, that can be very freeing because you set that whole part of yourself aside as an artist and say, 'OK, fine . . . I'm not going to be that effects gearhead. I'm going to just be the writer.' "
"I think the best writing anywhere is on television," said Paul Attanasio, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of movies like "Quiz Show" and "Donnie Brasco," who was also the creator of "Homicide: Life on the Street" and is the creator/writer/executive producer of the new "Gideon's Crossing" on ABC. "And I think if you look at what Aaron (Sorkin)'s been able to do with 'West Wing' or what David Milch does with 'NYPD Blue' or what they're able to do in the great half-hour comedies, the writing is really at a much higher level and much more expert than you find in movies anymore."
The lifestyleOne of the advantages of working in television is that it offers actors a more stable lifestyle than working in movies. Instead of traveling to far-flung locations for months at a time, they can live at home and — particularly when they're starring in a half-hour sitcom — work something that approaches normal hours.
"I was tempted because I . . . really wanted to stay home with my family while my daughter was in high school," said Midler, who's got her own sitcom on CBS this season.
"I want to spend more time with my children," Byrne agreed. "I want to stay in one place for longer than three months. . . . Basically, I made the decision because time is precious."
Even in hourlong dramas, which tend to have much longer work schedules, it's still an advantage over films.
"I have three small kids and a wife who I like a lot," said Platt. "I've long secretly coveted great jobs on network television. You turn on a good TV show and you see this great writing and these great actors and you think, 'Wow! They're sleeping in their own beds.' . . . If your lifestyle is a combination of the work you do and the quality of your life — how much you see your wife and kids — to me it's absolutely a no-brainer."
The paceTelevision works a lot faster than movies — an episode of a TV show is produced in 5-8 days, as opposed to months for a feature film.
"There's an old saying among us film actors. It's 'The acting is free. You pay us to wait,' " said Platt. "And, listen, there's a lot of waiting. . . . The irony of an action movie is that to create suspense and motion, you need more camera set-ups. And every time you're moving the camera, it's in your trailer for an hour or more."
Davis said TV "is a completely different kind of format. . . . It all feels sort of on the fly and fast and spontaneous, and it's a lot of fun."
It's not just how long it takes to shoot a TV episode, it's the (generally) much shorter development time.
"Having produced four or five movies, it takes two years to set up a movie," Byrne said. "I love the idea of getting an idea on Monday and having five great writers work on it and have it be out on Friday in front of a live audience."
Cameron said that TV production "really reminds me of my roots as a guerilla filmmaker — starting out with Roger Corman, doing films in 20 days or 21 days."
The pace of TV development is also an incentive for film director Barry Sonnenfeld, who has tried TV before (with the "Fantasy Island" revival and "Maximum Bob"), and who will try it again with a live-action version of "The Tick" for Fox at mid-season.
"From the time you go in, pitch the idea, have a network say yes or no, get the money, get a script written, and you direct it, it's three months, as opposed to, in the case of 'Men in Black' or 'Wild, Wild West,' several years," he said.
And the combination of factors can be irresistible.
"I had such a great time on this pilot," Midler said, "that it made everything else that I had done previously — (the) sturm und drang, the angst of pulling these movies out of your kishkas. I mean, the development for 15 years, and then you have to wait for the 25-year-old (studio executive) to give you the green light. I mean, forget it. Life is too short.
"When they learn to make movies, I'll be back."
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com