STORY:
Couch Potato Millennium TV Line-up

Ring in the New Year with a television remote in your hand

(Everything2000) Television traditionally has been the refuge of people whose soaring New Year's Eve plans never materialized. However, recent surveys show that this time around, more of us will be staying home than ever. Blame it on a combination of Y2K and related fears, price-gouging galas and rebellion against the high-pressure, party-hearty expectations of 1999.

For viewers who may not have had time to do the advance sorting, the Seattle Times did some sorting for you. Here's what they've highlighted:

Networks

ABC will go 24/7, with Peter Jennings hosting the entire non-stop undertaking from 5 a.m. PST Dec. 31 through 5 a.m. PST Jan. 1. "ABC 2000" aims for nothing less than to show us the New Year as it is celebrated at various points around the world, beginning in New Zealand and concluding in Western Samoa. Interspersed with the news will be acts that include Billy Joel, the Kirov Ballet, the Sydney Opera - and Mr. New Year's Eve himself, Dick Clark, who will narrate the Times Square ball drop.

CBS has its own star-studded night in store, getting under way at 7 p.m with "America's Millennium" from 7 to 10 p.m., a variety show hosted by Will Smith and featuring Trisha Yearwood, Celine Dion, Kenny Rogers and President and Mrs. Bill Cinton. AT 10 "Late Show with David Letterman" takes over (including a millennium edition of "Stupid Pet Tricks").

Fox will have a special one-hour show at 10 p.m. Brit Hume and Paula Zahn host "Fox 2000," a mix of news and whoopie from places like London, Moscow, Bethlehem - and most intriguingly, Roswell, N.M..

NBC begins it coverage at 5 a.m. PST Dec. 31. Though this sounds much like ABC's undertaking, it isn't - what NBC will do is cut into regular programming throughout the day with top-of-the-hour updates from correspondents worldwide. Highlights include a three-hour "Today" show from 7 to 10 a.m. and a 6 to 10 p.m. live special that includes New Year's news anchored by Katie Couric and Tom Brokaw, plus an abbreviated version of "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" from Times Square.

PBS steals a march on for-profit network television with 25 continuous hours of coverage from 1:40 a.m. PST Dec. 31 to 3:05 a.m. PST Jan. 1. Co-produced by WGBH-TV, the BBC and 58 host countries, this live undertaking will be hosted by Gwen Ifill, Will Durst, "Sesame Street's" Bob McGrath and Midge Woolsey. The entertainment is PBS-suitable: Kiri Te Kanawa, Enrique Iglesias, Ray Charles, the Gipsy Kings, a premiere of classical composer Tan Dun's new millennium symphony and, of course. . .Sting? Personally, we can't wait for the sun-welcoming ceremony in Macchu Pichu.

Cable

CNN: Take that, network TV! Starting at 5:30 a.m. PST on Dec. 31, CNN will present "Millennium 2000," a walloping 100 hours of continuous global news coverage that includes live reports from 60 correspondents, 50 specially-produced programs on issues facing the 21st century and features on examination of cultural phenomena that have shaped the past 1,000 years. This promises to be the most unsullied stream of straight reporting on what's happening elsewhere in the world from the channel that has the resources to do it until the wee hours of Jan. 4 - particularly if a millennium-sparked news story breaks.

Nickelodeon: Perfect for your little upstart, the children's channel presents what may be the most original programming of the cable bunch with "Nickellennium," a 24-hour visual time capsule airing the hopes, dreams and predictions of thousands of children from around the world. The special begins on the stroke of midnight New Year's Eve and will air in 122 countries. Check in and out during the day for what promises to be uplifting, hope-filled commentary from the inheritors of the future.

Independent Film Channel: Champaign and cheese puffs are fine and good, but to really make your artsy-fartsy party complete, tune into the "2000 Seen By. . . " marathon beginning at 8 p.m. The series serves up seven visions of the last days of 1999, all under 90 minutes long. These flicks originally rolled at the Grand Illusion, so you know they're tres fin de siecle.

History Channel: An all-day marathon begins at 4:30 a.m. with a chronological reprise of "The Century: America's Time." At 8 p.m., "New Year 2000: Centuries of Celebration" gives us Deepak Chopra, Dick Clark and fashionista Vivienne Tam among the experts weighing in on the cultural significance of the last day of the year. From 11 to midnight, the series "Lost and Found" examines the Times Square Ball and other symbolic New Year artifacts; at 12 a.m., it's time for a thousand-year look back with Harry Smith.

USA Network: The smackdown of the century awaits on USA Network with "WWF Eve of Destruction," featuring clips of the most memorable body slams and concussions of the century and pinned down by hosts Cold Stone Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind, The Undertaker and Vince McMahon. Prep yourself for that magic moment with the channel's nightlong marathon of Jean Claude Van Damme movies. Think with pride about telling your progeny what you were doing on this epic occasion.

Discovery: Some Y2K bugs can't be eradicated because they're alive, alive! Beginning at 7 p.m., the cable channel wiggles into the new era with ants, killer bees, bloodsucking parasites, and tarantulas. And what better show to ring in the New Year than "New Detectives: Case Studies in Forensic Science"? The buggy "Web of Clues" discusses how bugs found on corpses can help determine the time and cause of a human's death. Maybe they should call it "Y-Ew-K."

The Movie Channel: Paranoia got the better of you? Crank it up to a full-on freak out by watching The Movie Channel. As tensions heighten about society breaking down and crazed hoodlums running amok in the streets, the channel ushers in the millennium with a "Friday the 13th" movie marathon that begins at 6 p.m.. The last gasps of "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" ring in the New Year with a slash.

Encore: In the same vein, these guys hope you deaden that sense of impending doom by bombarding viewers with their "Disaster Y2K" marathon, beginning at 12:10 p.m. with "Airport 1975," and continuing on with "Airport '77" and "The Concorde - Airport '79." Cheer up, "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" is next, followed by "Earthquake" and "When Time Ran Out ..." after which the Earth will open up and swallow you whole.

The Learning Channel: Offering yet another option for people who believe we're all goners, TLC spends New Year's Eve contemplating the apocalypse with an "Armageddon" event beginning at 7 p.m. Nostradamus, the Bible, Native Americans and Jerry Falwell all offer visions of the world's end in "Prophecies: Countdown to the New Millennium." "Oracles and Revelations" airs at 11 p.m. "Prophecies and Predictions" airs at midnight. Then the aliens will scour the Earth.

TBS Superstation: Take it easy. Sheriff Andy and Barney Fife have things completely under control in Mayberry, at least today. From 6:15 a.m. to midnight, the Superstation will air back-to-back episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" to help you ring in the next 1,000 years with a grin. That's a whole lotta Opie, but gee whiz, you can handle it.

Cartoon Network: After spending two entire days with the Jetsons ("Stop this crazy thing!") from 10 a.m. Dec 30 to 12 a.m. Dec. 31, Cartoon gives us a midnight break with an hour-long "Dexter's Laboratory" special. In "Ego Trip," Dexter receives a message from the future that tells him he's going to save the world, and he decides to travel through time to see how he does it. Hmm, wonder if he gets over his fear of girl cooties and romances Judy Jetson along the way.

Source: Seattle Times

DATE: 12/30/99

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