ABC Has a New ‘View’ in the Morning

Can Barbara Walters, ABC’s maven of the schmaltzy star interview, bring her prime-time cache to daytime? The network will find out beginning today with “The View,” billed as a “multi-generational” information program, which Walters is producing and will appear on twice weekly. The show features a team of women representing different ages, including “Turning Point” correspondent Meredith Vieira, legal analyst Star Jones, comedian Joy Behar (who’ll host when Walters doesn’t) and 22-year-old Debbie Matenopoulos, a former MTV production assistant. Walters will call in some star power to get the ball rolling, with Tom Selleck and Michael J. Fox lined up as guests today and Tuesday, respectively. Despite the popularity of its daytime soap operas, ABC has struggled in the morning since replacing the “Home” show in 1994 with “Mike & Maty,” followed by the now-defunct “Caryl & Marilyn: Real Friends.” The show will start off with strong national distribution, with ABC stations covering 93% of the country agreeing to carry it. “The View” airs locally at 10 a.m. on KABC-TV Channel 7.

Battling the August Syndrome

Studios have traditionally considered mid- to late August the dog days when it comes to putting out movies. Films opening during that stretch play mostly when there’s less available audience and chance of building momentum. Still, studios will release Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro in “Cop Land” (Friday), Demi Moore’s “G.I. Jane” (Aug. 22), “Leave It to Beaver” (Aug. 22), “Hoodlum” (Aug. 27), “Excess Baggage” (Aug. 29) and “Kull the Conqueror” (Aug. 29), hoping that they will score big with the public as “Mortal Kombat,” “Natural Born Killers” and “Nightmare on Elm Street” have in previous Augusts. “Box office success during this period is the exception rather than the rule,” says Paul Dergarabedian, executive vice president of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. “But the latter part of August doesn’t have to be Siberia. Smaller, niche films can be profitable--even if they don’t do big numbers. And for bigger films that don’t want to go head to head with blockbusters, it can be a safe haven.” One note of caution, however, the executive adds: “A picture has to open strong because there’s less chance of making money in the early fall weeks.”

A Hat Guy Who’s Just Lookin’ for a Hit

Record executives will be monitoring pop and country sales this week to learn just where Clint Black stands in the late-’90s hierarchy of male country stars. Black will be in Los Angeles this week to film a video for his upcoming single, “Something That We Do,” which he hopes will spark sales of his new album, “Nothin’ but the Taillights.” At the start of the decade, Black and Garth Brooks were seen as the two big contenders in country music, with Nashville executives just about equally divided on who would emerge as the dominant force. And Black, whose dark good looks gave him an extra selling point, started out impressively. His first two albums, “Killin’ Time” and “Put Yourself in My Shoes,” have sold a combined5 million copies, according to the Recording Industry Assn. of America. While subsequent albums have each been certified platinum, Black has not only fallen far behind Brooks’ pace but has also seen a new crop of male singers--including Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw and John Michael Montgomery--move past him. His new album debuted last week at No. 46 on the pop chart and No. 4 on the country chart, selling about 25,000 copies during its first week in stores. “Clint Black is still a very important artist for us and we play a lot of his music,” says John Sebastian, operations manager for L.A.’s leading country station, KZLA-FM (93.9). “But he wouldn’t rank in the top seven or eight artists we play.”

Once More, With Even More Feeling

“Promises, Promises,” the first production in the new Reprise! series of semi-staged musical revivals, was a sold-out hit in a one-week run at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse in May. So a reprise of the show is now slated to open Thursday, offering 14 performances through Aug. 24, again at the Freud. Jason Alexander will return along with the rest of the first cast except for Alan Rachins, who had a prior TV commitment. And there is a new face behind the scenes--Joan Stein, who operates the Canon Theatre, is executive-producing this round of “Promises,” while Marcia Seligson, producing artistic director for Reprise!, concentrates on the upcoming “Finian’s Rainbow.” Seligson said people who waited in line for “Promises” tickets in May got “seriously angry” when the supply ran out, and cast members including Alexander urged her to arrange another set of performances. Seligson hopes a second and longer set of sold-out shows might put the production in the black.