SAUNDERS: Dissing anchors part of plot

Published August 4, 2007 at midnight

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HOLLYWOOD - Kelsey Grammer, displaying his familiar sardonic Frasier persona, was talking about his new character, an egocentric Pittsburgh TV anchor.

"I like to think that, based on my knowledge of most television newscasting, this character has nothing to do with news anyway. So I'm very happy to be just another performer pretending to be a performer."

Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond), who will portray Grammer's co-anchor, admits she likes to check out the hairdos and overall look of women anchors.

"You got local New York anchors - the gals who really could use a little wax on the brow," Heaton says. "Then you get all the way to the West Coast. Some of them look like hookers."

Ouch.

If the scripts reflect those views, Back to You, a new fall Fox series carrying a "can't miss" tag, could provide a scorching look at local TV.That could happen; co-creator Steve Levitan (Frasier, Wings, Just Shoot Me!) has a view of local TV news based on being in the industry for several years and staying in contact with many in the business.

"I think part of our comedic style will be based on the accurate way TV news is often done, on camera and behind the scenes," Levitan recently told members of the Television Critics Association.

"What's so funny to me about local news is that there's this great narcissism pretending to be altruism. It's a big, wonderful place for a larger-than-life character to be a big fish in a small pond."

There's one character, though, that Levitan says Grammer's won't resemble: Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

"We're not going for ridiculous scenarios. You're not going to see a constant barrage of things screwing up on the air. A lot of the plot will show what happens behind the scenes."

The back story: Chuck Darling, Grammer's character, was a popular Pittsburgh anchorman in the '90s. Just as his career was moving on the national track, an embarrassing on-air tirade ended up on the Internet. So Darling is back working again with former partner Kelly Carr (Heaton), as the two try to reclaim that elusive quality all local news teams need: on-air chemistry.

Plots will deal with how Chuck, a self-centered womanizer, treats Carr on-air. His dismissive attitude is abetted by a sportscaster played by Fred Willard, a comedy cult favorite from Fernwood 2night and films like Best in Show.

Jumping into the conversation, Willard says: "My character likes the fact there's a female co-anchor on the show. But he considers Kelly sort of a novelty, like when Bill Veeck sent a midget up to bat for the St. Louis Browns."

Heaton believes that women in TV news are held to a standard that men are not.

"We see that with Katie Couric and everything she's gone through trying to anchor the news. It's how people look at women and how women look, all that kind of stuff.

"There's just this sort of boys network that sort of runs everything and provides kind of a grudging acceptance of women because you have to have diversity - or whatever," Heaton says.

"I think that battle is part of my character on the series. She has to compete in a man's world, maintain femininity but still be intelligent and sexy."

Levitan and co-producer Christopher Lloyd, another producer alum from Frasier, wrote the original script with Grammer in mind.

Three networks bid on Back to You, scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesdays this fall, with Fox eventually getting the property.

Grammer and Heaton, both Emmy winners, voiced similar reasons for getting involved in another TV comedy.

"I'm really thrilled to be back doing something I'm good at," Grammer says. "I took this part not because he's a news anchor, but because he was a guy who was living through something that would take him through a different place."

Grammer dismisses the idea that Chuck Darling is simply Frasier Crane on camera.

"Frasier was trying to be a psychiatrist who happened to be on the air. Although Frasier was equally self-possessed as this new guy, Frasier was trying to do the world some good.

"This fellow is trying to do himself some good. And what makes him funny is that he finds comfort in the arrogance of his own ego."

Heaton also returned to a weekly series because of the interesting character. "I always ask the question: 'Do I see five or seven years' worth of stories here?' "

Heaton recalls shooting a pivotal scene at the end of the pilot.

"I went into that mode when half your brain is doing the acting and the other half is watching you do it and thinking about it. That latter half was going, 'Oh God, I can't wait to see this.' "

Proper Grammer

Kelsey Grammer has a new sitcom, but can anyone forget his most famous character? A look at Dr. Frasier Crane, who appeared in more than 450 episodes during a 20-year stretch:

• Cheers (1984-1993): The actor created and refined the role of psychiatrist Frasier Crane during 201 episodes of the long-running sitcom.

• Frasier (1993-2004): The character lived on in Seattle after the end of Cheers, appearing in another 263 episodes as a radio host.

Dusty Saunders writes periodically about broadcasting. Contact him at tvtime@comcast.net.

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