Lea Thompson, "Caroline in the City," 1995

By DONALD PORTER
Standard-Examiner


PASADENA, Calif. -- Lea Thompson is not a professional cartoonist, but she plays one on TV.

In "Caroline in the City" (Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. on KSL Channel 5), as a matter of fact, the NBC sitcom about a successful cartoonist who can't seem to find any matching prosperity in the romance department.

"I do like to draw, yeah," Thompson said at the Summer Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. "I do cat cartoons. I always did, since I was a little girl." But, she explained, her cat doodles will never be available for public scrutiny.

Thompson, best known as a movie actress from films like "Back to the Future" and "Howard the Duck," is but one of a few female film stars who has taken TV work over the past year; the others include Cybill Shepherd ("Cybill"), Nancy Travis ("Almost Perfect") and Elizabeth McGovern ("If Not for You," rest in peace). Thompson attracted the attention of NBC programming chief Warren Littlefield after appearing in "The Substitute Wife," a made-for-TV movie co-starring Farrah Fawcett. After toying with several ideas, Thompson and Littlefield settled on "Caroline in the City." Thompson said her reasons for migrating to the small screen are many.

William Devane, "The Monroes," 1995

William Devane

By DONALD PORTER
Standard-Examiner staff

The Monroe family of Maryland in ABC's "The Monroes," one of three new dramas the network is throwing against NBC's mega-successful Thursday night lineup, sure seems like it's been patterned after the Kennedy clan of Massachusetts. (The show previews tonight at 8 on KTVX Channel 4, then moves to its regular 8 p.m. time slot on Thursday.)

Like the real-life Kennedys, the fictional Monroe family is overflowing with politicians and power brokers. But don't point that out to William Devane. The actor and nominal star of "The Monroes" played John F. Kennedy 21 years ago in "The Missiles of October." And still, two decades later, the role remains closely linked to the former "Knots Landing" actor. So much so that when someone mentions that he's played a Kennedy, his mood seems to darken.

"I'm not the politician in this one," a cranky Devane told assembled TV critics at the Summer Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. "I'm the gangster, you know. So I would think he's more like Joe Kennedy, you know, than John Kennedy or anyone like that."