Noted Director Sidney Lument Returns To His Television Roots

Noted film and television director Sidney Lument has returned to television in a big way with 100 CENTRE STREET. The series airs on the "Arts and Entertainment" cable network. Lument, 75, cut his teeth directing such groundbreaking shows from the early days of television as PLAYHOUSE 90, KRAFT TELEVISION THEATRE and STUDIO ONE. Lument has also directed some of the best films in motion picture history including 12 ANGRY MEN, THE VERDICT and NETWORK.

Lument told Jim McConville of ELECTRONIC AGE magazine that A&E has given him virtually free reign and ordered 13 episodes of the gritty courtroom drama. Lument knows the series would have had trouble on broadcast television and told McConville, "It was not a language thing as much as a kind of maturity in the subject matter. And I dont mean sex by that, either. Its just got a certain gravitas to it that I think would have had a hard time on broadcast."

I watched the two-hour premiere last Monday and was quite impressed. Viewers should be forewarned, however. 100 CENTRE STREET has very mature storylines and uses very adult language. The series is not for children or those easily offended. I highly recommend it, however. For more information on the show check out http://www.aande.com/tv/shows/centrest/.

News and notes from the world of television:

Networks offer Presidential Inauguration coverage: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney will be sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States respectively on Saturday, January 20th. This historic event coincides with the 200th anniversary of President Thomas Jeffersons Inauguration. Jefferson, our third president, was the first one to be sworn in in Washington, D.C. Several networks will be offering extensive coverage including ABC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, NBC and PBS. If you want to watch the festivities as is without all the commentary and network anchor small talk, I strongly suggest tuning in to C-SPAN.

THE PRETENDER is real again: Thanks to TNT, fans of NBCs cancelled series THE PRETENDER can catch a new first-run television movie based on the series. The series, which debuted on NBC on September 19, 1996 and starred Michael T. Weiss and Andrea Parker. Weiss played Jarrod Russell, a former child genius and "pretender" who had the ability to become anybody in any profession that he wanted. Jarrod was held captive by the evil "Center" and, unbeknown to him, was used to plan many evil deeds for most of his life. In the pilot he escaped to learn more about his past. The Center, lead by Miss Parker, set out to recapture him.

The two-hour television film, starring most of the original cast, airs on TNT

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