Matt Buckler: Repaved 'Highway to Heaven' to reopen

Jun. 18—There was no violence on the "Highway to Heaven."

During an era (1984-89) where prime-time TV was a bloodbath with series such as Miami Vice" and "Crime Story," "Highway to Heaven" took the high road. It was perfect family viewing.

Perhaps that's why Lifetime has decided to bring the show back as a series of movies.

Most reboots make drastic changes from the original, and the new "Highway to Heaven" is no exception.

Jill Scott takes over the role made famous by Michael Landon. She plays Angela, a junior high school counselor working with the principal who knows that Angela is an angel sent to help people.

Even with a female lead, the series will be specializing in stories of love, kindness, and hope.

The new version should do what the original did — give viewers a sanctuary from all the violence.

'Moodys' misfires

One would think that a show that has Denis Leary and Elizabeth Perkins in the cast would have a successful run.

Despite the star power, "The Moodys" never seemed to catch on in either of its two seasons,

The show averaged only 2 million viewers in its first season. The numbers were so bad in the second season that Fox demoted it to Sunday nights, where it only averaged 500,000 viewers per outing.

It wasn't a surprise that "The Moodys" was canceled by Fox Thursday.

It proves that no matter how many big names you have in your cast, a sitcom has to have some laughs. "The Moodys" just wasn't funny enough.

Shattuck facts

Tom Shattuck, who debuts Monday as talk show host from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on WTIC-AM1080, has had experience in two forms of the media — print and broadcasting.

According to a press release issued by Audacy, the owners of WTIC, Shattuck comes to the station after serving as editorial page editor of the Lowell Sun. Prior to that job, he was editorial page editor of the Boston Herald and executive producer of Boston Herald Radio, an online station.

He also worked as WTKK in Boston as executive producer of the station's afternoon drive show.

So not only does Shattuck have the experience as a talk-show host, he also has the experience to write some compelling blogs.

'Cincinnati' star dies

The CBS sitcom, "WKRP in Cincinnati," only lasted for four seasons (1978-1982) before getting canceled.

The show is fondly remembered by its fans, however, with repeats more popular in syndication than the original shows were on CBS.

The reason the fans bought into the show was because of the talented ensemble cast — Howard Hesseman as Dr. Johnny Fever, Tim Reid as Venus Flytrap, Loni Anderson as Jennifer Marlowe, Jan Smithers as Bailey Quarters, Richard Sanders as Les Nessman, Gary Sandy as Andy Travis, Gordon Jump as Arthur Carlson — and there was Frank Bonner as salesman Herb Tarlek, the king of the plaid sports coat. Each of the characters shared the funny lines — it was the perfect example of an ensemble comedy.

That's why fans of the show were saddened by the news that Bonner died this week at the age of 79. Herb Tarlek turned out to be his signature role. Without him the show wouldn't have been as funny — or popular.

"WKRP" was a group effort. — Bonner was a key part of that group. And so were his plaid sportcoats.

SRX analysis

Some may be disappointed with the total audience of the first SRX race that was held Saturday at Stafford Motor Speedway — 1.3 million viewers.

When you compare it to other racing activity over the weekend, that number doesn't look so awful.

Sunday's Indy Car Detroit Grand Prix on NBC drew 1.38 million viewers, the largest crowd for an Indy race this year that isn't named the Indy 500.

The Xfinity Series on FS1 brought in 957,000 viewers and the Truck series brought in 625,000 viewers.

The weekend winner was the NASCAR race from Texas which brought in 2.9 million viewers on FS1.

After only one race, the SRX already is making changes, cutting the race distance from 100 to 50 laps and the heat races from from 15 to 12 minutes.

There was an obvious explanation — the CBS telecast ran long by 20 minutes, moving back the scheduled starting time for "48 Hours." That overrun probably didn't sit well with CBS affiliates so a change had to be made. And it didn't take long for the SFX officials to make it.

One of the selling points of the new series is that it fits nicely into a two-hour window, Last week, however, that window was broken.

Follow Matt Buckler for more television, radio, and sports coverage on the JI's Twitter @journalinquirer, and see his articles on the Journal Inquirer Facebook page.