Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, September 22, 1997, BACK TO THE BOOKS SPECIAL EDITION, Page 23D, Image 93

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    MTV enters the world of sitcoms with ‘Austin Stories’
The station looks to turn
the typical sticom
formula on its head
with this new show
By Juan B. Elizondo Jr.
The Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas — Picture
Texas.
Now plant some trees. Imagine
some hills. Paint a skyline. And
get rid of the cowboy hats and
boots.
Now you’re in Austin, the set
and home of “Austin Stories,”
which is MTV’s latest swipe at
the pillars of television networks.
“Stories,” which premieres
Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. EDT,
gives to the 30-minute sitcom the
same jab “Remote Control” gave
to game shows, the attitude that
“Grind” showed ‘American
Bandstand,” and the life that
“Week in Rock” breathed into
news shows.
This ain’t the same old
“Friends,” and MTV’s proud of
it.
“That’s the point: How can
you take an old format and spin
er V.
co
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Recommended for mature audiences
it on its head?” says George Ver
schoor, co-executive producer,
and director of “Stories.”
“The networks are so trapped
in their formula that they think
they have. They ... don’t know
how to break out of it. That’s
what we have done.”
Verschoor, who directed the
first four seasons of “The Real
World,” is helping to lead MTV
into its first foray into fully
scripted, 30-minute situation
comedies.
The channel isn’t following TV
tradition.
Out are the studio audiences,
set-ups and punch lines, the
laugh track and the studio back
lots.
In are on-location shooting,
lesser-known comics turned ac
tor-writers and a sitcom shot on
film, a truly different look for
television. It combines the rough
edges of old home movies with
the professionalism of indepen
dent films.
Out also are the backdrops of
New York, Los Angeles and
Chicago. MTV actually wanders
around Austin to shoot “Austin
((‘There’s a feel to this
show that we have all
been there before. The
charm in these guys is
that it has this classic
sense of all the people we
know. We all have gone
through this. >>
George Verschoor
Director
Stories.”
Along with the rest of the Lone
Star State, Austin in recent years
has drawn much attention from
major moviemakers and big
screen stars. The city offers a
downtown skyline, state capitol,
classic courthouse, major univer
sity and nightlife to back up near
ly any production.
The city’s Sixth Street, along
which countless bars and night
clubs are squeezed, is well
known across the region, and in
the self-proclaimed live music
capital of the world, local and na
tionally known bands can be
heard on any given night.
The young, hip and eclectic
side of the state’s capital shines
behind the three main characters
of “Stories.”
“Austin is like the unique feel
ing,” says Brad “Chip” Pope,
who plays Chip, a job-juggler
searching for direction. “It has all
the assets of a bigger town but
then it also has a small-town
feel.”
Laura House plays Laura, a re
porter for the Austin Weekly, a
play on the city’s real-life, alter
native Austin Chronicle. She’s a
career-oriented character, a trib
ute of sorts to Austin’s yuppie
fied north side, dominated by the
computer industry.
Howard, played by Howard
Kremer, is a playboy with a prob
lem with authority. He may be
seen as the embodiment of
Austin’s overall good-hearted,
free-living, slacker style.
Like Austin itself, everyone
and everything on “Stories” isn’t
television-beautiful. There are
rough edges and a laissez-faire at
titude contrasted against the
state’s seat of government.
The show also isn’t a series of
set-ups and punchlines. There
are few traditional “jokes,” a fact
that pleases Pope.
“I think television is designed
for people to come home and un
wind in front of,” he says. “I
don't think that people necessari
ly have to have like gigantic bel
ly laughs when they come home.
I think that the stories will work
and the characters will work.”
The attraction will come, Ver
schoor says, because the charac
ters of “Stories” will be well
known to the audience.
“There’s a feel to this show
that we have all been there be
fore,” says Verschoor. “The
charm in these guys is that it has
this classic sense of all the people
we know. We all have gone
through this.”
“This is a domestic comedy
and where it is taking place is
very different than any place in
the U.S.”
Ms. House adds, “I hope peo
ple will like all the differences
and enjoy them.”
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