Dial File: The odds even out for cable

Friday, Jan. 15, 1999 | 10:03 a.m.

Think of it as "2001: A Ratings Race Odyssey."

Instead of early man sending a bone sailing into the stratosphere to become a spaceship in the blink of an evolutionary eye, a squawking NBC peacock is flung skyward, transformed in the blink of a technological eye into a winged cable box.

Brushing aside the remnants of the decaying peacock's pale plumage and faded feathers, the Big Guy Himself -- or Big Gal Herself (just covering my bets) -- steps up to the cosmic microphone, clears the Almighty Throat and announces to the universe: "It's not TV -- it's HBO."

It's not Kubrick, but it's not far from the future as perceived by the kingpins of cable, who expect to dominate the broadcast networks by 2001.

It wouldn't surprise me. Year after year, when weighing my nightly viewing options on the scales of quality, the benefit of my doubt undoubtedly went to the networks. History and tradition demanded it.

Now? Let's just say that history, tradition and half a buck will get you a cup of decaf, black, no sugar.

That shift in expectations -- born of years of being unreasonably surprised by cable's increasing accomplishments and disappointed by mounting network letdowns (think of the last few seasons) -- crystalized for me last week with the debuts of two series: Cable's "The Sopranos" (on HBO) and broadcast TV's "The PJs" (on Fox).

The hyped-to-the-heavens "PJs," with Eddie Murphy voicing a black superintendent in the projects, premiered atop a mountain of media malarkey for 1) being at the crest of a new wave of prime-time animation (although "The PJs" is more "foamation," a la the California Raisins) washing over the networks; 2) its"daring" attempt to mine humor from poor black, urban characters, with touches of crime and drug abuse.

Bottom line: Lots of sound. Lots of fury. Little funny.

What good are controversial set-ups if the writing goes belly up? Although "The PJs" is only two shows old and deserves tinkering time, the initial efforts revealed by-the-numbers buffoonery -- which, ironically, could have been lifted from "Good Times," a live-action, ghetto-set sitcom of a couple of decades back -- dressed up with visual trickery. Not so DY-NO-MITE.

And this coming cartoon glut at the once-omnipotent networks reeks of gimmickry and desperation -- think of the Soviet Union just before its superpower status slipped away. (Pardon the grandiosity.)

By comparison, HBO's "The Sopranos" snuck onto our sets virtually unheralded, delivering everything "The PJs" advertised, then abandoned: wicked humor, telling human insights and a deliciously loopy attitude. It's the ongoing tale of a Jersey mob boss whose two fractious families -- one is related by blood, the other spills blood -- drive him to psychotherapy and Prozac. Hey, Even Mob Guys Get The Blues. There's something oddly endearing about a thick-necked thug who gets misty over his pet ducks. I'll simply say: Tune in and see if you don't agree (or don't want a pair of broken legs).

The cable/broadcast debate is too complex to be defined by a two-show comparison, but it helped me turn an important corner after years of mounting evidence.

Hey, cable guys: You've got the benefit of my doubt.