Thursday, March 30, 2000

'Wonderland' injects mental ward drama in 'ER' style

The new drama "Wonderland" (9 p.m. today, ABC) invites viewers to go where the rabbit hole leads, into a noisy psychiatric wing of Manhattan's Rivervue Hospital. What lies within the Bellevue-like facility is no whimsical Mad Hatter's tea party, however. Many of the patients, and perhaps a few of the doctors, are indeed quite mad.
   "Wonderland" wants to do for psychiatric medicine what "ER" has done for the emergency ward, building a watchable, well-written drama around the interaction of patients and doctors, shot pseudo-documentary style.
   Like "ER" (airing opposite on NBC, darn those ABC programmers), "Wonderland" is grim, violent, edgy and all those other adjectives TV producers use to describe what's sometimes downright depressing. "Wonderland" does deliver its share of downer moments. Early episodes have a pregnant doctor getting stabbed in the belly by a psycho, a son biting off (and swallowing) his mother's finger, and a divorced man attempting suicide.
   The feel-good show of the year it's not.
   But there's something wonderful about "Wonderland," a show that combines the medical maelstrom of a public hospital as in "St. Elsewhere" with the dark humor and colorful characters of "M*A*S*H" and even "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
   Created by Peter Berg, an actor-writer-director whose resume includes "The Last Seduction" (as an actor) and "Very Bad Things" (as writer-director), "Wonderland" has roots in the 1967 Frederick Wiseman documentary "Titicut Follies," which went inside a Boston psychiatric hospital. Berg says that film gave him the idea of making a realistic-looking medical series. He spent more than six months last year observing patients and doctors at Bellevue. Some of the show's storylines come right from the Bellevue case files. The show is shot on location in New York City, some scenes in a special set on the grounds of the Creedmore mental hospital.
   The excellent cast includes Ted Levine as the chief of forensic psychiatry, Martin Donovan and Michelle Forbes as married doctors in the ward, Michael Jai White as a doctor who's also a single father and Joelle Carter as a young intern. Guest actors in the premiere include Jay O. Sanders and Patricia Clarkson.
   "Wonderland" isn't easy to watch. Plots aren't neatly resolved in each hour. The disturbed patients don't suddenly regain their sanity and live happily ever after. But the stories are compelling, the performances absolutely first-rate. This show takes the medical drama format and pushes it slightly ahead of gun-and-knife-club action on "ER."
   Prognosis: Good.
   Radio waves
   Spanish-language station KUNO-AM/1400 celebrates its golden anniversary this weekend. The station began broadcasting in April 1950, the second 24-hour Spanish radio station in the United States. To thank listeners of all ages for 50 years of tuning in, KUNO will present a free concert Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Selena Bayfront Exhibit Hall. Scheduled to perform are Tigrillos, Priscilla y Sus Balas de Plata, Caballo Dorado, Los Tam y Tex, Yahari, Grupo Atrapado and several others.
   And what is KUNO planning for its future?
   "This century will be very important in the Latino community and for Spanish radio," said Victor Lara Ortegon, host of KUNO's "Commentarios" program (12:45 p.m. weekdays) for 42 years. "KUNO is where Latinos in Corpus Christi learn about politics, education and the welfare of the community."
   KUNO is owned by AMFM, Inc., which also has K-99, C101, Radio Disney's KRYS-AM/1360, KMXR-FM/93.9 and KSAB-FM/99.9.
   Pacific Broadcasting has shuffled some formats and frequencies on its stations. KCCG-FM/107.3 has changed from oldies to "Groovin' Oldies." KTKY-FM/106.1 takes over the oldies format and stops simulcasting KKPN-FM/104.5 (The Planet).
   Chuey D. is the new afternoon guy on KBTE-FM/102.3 (The Beat), replacing Oscar Rene, who recently left for a new job at KUUU-FM in Salt Lake City. Chuey comes here from KYLD-FM in Albuquerque.
   The new "Berney Seal Show" is scheduled to premiere at 7 a.m. Monday on KCCT-AM/1150.
  
  

 
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