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lUl Hi?f ff *?J'f '"'"*i*'il:News at 111And a TV movie soon to follow.Such is the typical course of sensa-tionalistic news, with stopovers at tab-loid-TV shows and maybe a side-trip to"Nightline" along the way.The Communist Party may agree torelinquish political control in the SovietUnion, but forget about seeing that withBarry Bostwick or Daniel J. Travanti.Yet let some lurid crime or a nationaltragedy occur, and you can automatical-ly expect a "fact-based" TV movie suchas this week's "Challenger" (tonight at9 on ABC) or the recent "Blind Faith,""Family of Spies" and "The PreppieMurder."Fifteen of the first 36 TV movies of1990 were such docudramas - includ-ing seven of the eight in the first half ofthis February ratinp sweeps period.More prevalent than ever, this newwave of fictionalized non-fiction gives usinstant history the way a noodle mixand hot water give us instant soup.Like that soup, docudramas are lessmeaty than they are convenient. Mostviewers, sad to say, are too tired / lazyby the evening to engage themselves inreal documentaries, such as the excel-lent "Frontline" series.Though the urge to learn about topicsthat interest us is strong, the urge to sitback and be entertained is often stron-ger - making the idea of being enter-tained while we learn seem so . . . effi-cient, somehow."That's part of the eflect of movies-made-for-television," concedes GeorgeEnglund, Sr., executive producer of"Challenger." "They make you thinkyou're learning something when you're

not."Whatever the reason we watch, andwhatever we call them - fact-baseddramas, docudramas, historical dramas- this particular TV-movie form seemsmore popular than ever. They in no wayare crowding out fiction to the point ofexclusion; while this February is docu-drama-heavy', fact-based TV movies arestill in the minority each year. As fortheir popularity, that's a different story.While oniy three docudramas areamong the 10 highest-rated TV movies,the situation changes when you look atthe 10 top films since October l-984.That's when the fact-based drama "TheBurning Bed," starring Farrah Fawcett,became one of the biggest TV movie hitsever. Docudramas suddenly came invogue, and they account for fully half

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Even beyond such empirical data ishe simple gut feeling among networknd cable-service programers that docu-ramas are in."From my own experience," saysnglund, "it's much harder now to sellfictional story or a good play than astory from the headlines. Like every-hing else, the market dictates, and peo-le are always curious about the back-story of what they read," he notes, usingscreenwriting term for past eventseading up to a movie's present action.Fact-based dramas are nothing new;erodotus, the Greek historian knowns the Father of History wrote his nar-ative of the Persian Wars in an anec-otal, personal style. Shakespeare wroteo fewer than 10 historical plays. Theorm is well-established in literature,nd went from there into movies andive "Golden Age" TV dramas.The first modern TV-movie docudra-a was "Brian's Song" (ABC, 197D,story of the friendship betweenhicago Bears football players Gale Say-(Billy Dee Williams) and Brian Pic-(James Caan), who was dying of(An earlier "Dragnet" TV moviebased on real police cases, but with-a fictionalized framework.)The docudrama's arrival had takeneven years since the introduction of the

odern TV movie, and it was anotherbefore ABC aired "The Longestight," a fact-based drama about aealthy college student who was kid-aped and hidden in a coflin with aimited life-support system. Then littlelittle - and no doubt spurred by thesuccess of the 1977 mini-eries "Roots" the fact-based TVovie took hold.From a marketing standpoint, youonder why it took so long. "The truestory often helps make our job easier,"notes Allen Sabinson, ABC's vice presi-ent in charge of TV movies and mini-series. "The public knows about themgoing in. Oft,en they strike chords ofconcern, of wanting to know more aboutthem and trying to understand whatthey were about."There's no question I like true sto-ries, but I don't want to do them exclu-sively. Hopefully, they're part of a bal-anced presentation of twenty-plusmovies and four-plus mini-series in agiven year."A different kind of balance is alwaysin question, of course * that betweenfactual accuracy and the demands ofdrama. Often in TV movies - as in the-atrical features - many real-life peopleare compressed into one composite char-

acte4 events are telesccped in time, dia-logue is made up, or a fictitious charac-ter will be created to articulate somepoint of view, like the bureaucrat repre-senting the voice of conscience in lastyear's Oliver North docudrama.Englund takes a lofty position on this,noting that "History itself is a process ofselection. You constantly have to ask,'How well has the selection been done?''How well are the facts represented?' "But that misses the point of intent:Historical accounts intend to state factsand put them in perspective for the sakeof knowledge; docudramas intend pri-marily to entertain. While conscientiousproducers such as Englund insist on vo-Iuminous research and the same kind ofinterviewing and fact-gathering as jow-nalists, there's no question that when achoice has to be made between strict ac-curacy and dramatic license, dramawins.Sometimes, too, there may simply belittle factual material to be found on asubject. Tracy Pollan, in researchingher role as KatNeen Kennedy for "TheKennedys of Massachusetts," uncoveredloads of written history but virtually novisuals on which to build her character'swalk and movements. "At the KennedyMuseum in Boston," she says, "theyhave home movies, but without sound,and she was only in one or two of themanyway, and very briefly - by the poolor at the races." And when historical flrc-tion delves deeper into the past, as inthe mini-series "Gmrge Washington,"certain events and circumstances can'teven be agreed upon by historians.Still, television often does a better jobof accuracy than feature films, judgingfrom the reaction to TV's movie aboutthe development of the atomic bomb,"Day One," and its theatrical counter-part, "Fat Man and Little Boy." TV's"Murder in Mssissippi," about the kill-ing of three civil rights workers, alsowas hailed as more realistic than themovie "Mississippi Burning." That maybe part of the reason for docucramas'perpetual appeal. And even if particularfacts may be fudged, there is still * asShakespeare's mimimal stage directionsfor his battle scenes in "Heru1r V" exem-plify - the spirit of the thing to capture.Of course, there's a wide chasm be-tween the Battle.of Agincourt and Bos-ton's recent lurid Charles Stuart mur-der case, just as there is between "TheMacNell / Lehrer NewsHour" and "ACurrent Affair." But as long as there's abed that burns or a family that spies,there'll be viewers to rubberneck - e4that is, watch and learn. o

Docu.Fulures?emo to the networks: Somebodyget cracking on these!

. 'Deolft Flighft lhe tourncy ofAvicncc 52': Add a few sub-plotsabout cocaine smuggling, heroic volun-teers and tensions in the control tower.Then watch the ratings soar.o'lhe lllghf fte Woll FCI Dorvrt':

Somewhere in Berlin, some family musthave been separated into East and Westfactions. Sigrr them up! Get their sto-riesl Show them swept along in the tideof humanity until the family is reuni-fied. Personal drama and global politics!o'Lcner3 The Foll ol the Queent:New York glamour, behind-the-scenesintrigue and a classic fall-from-gracetheme. The "little people" will love it!- Lwece

NEWSDAY 21 FEB.z'-MARCH3,r99o