Kay McFadden / Times staff columnist
Kay in L.A.: Hardy Northwesterners take 'Colonial' challenge

	JAMIE BLOOMQUIST Carolyn Heinz, of Gig Harbor, and husband Don participate in PBS' reality series, "Colonial House," where they and others struggle to survive in a 17th-century environment.
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HOLLYWOOD — For Don Heinz, reality TV began as an intellectual adventure and ended without underpants.

Maybe that's why the 63-year-old Gig Harbor resident described his stint on the upcoming PBS show "Colonial House" as having provided "a nice sense of freedom."

I met Heinz and wife Carolyn, 62, during PBS' weekend presentation. "Colonial House" is the latest in a string of programs that combine the physical privation and social engineering of "Survivor" with fierce historical re-enactment.

	Don Heinz

The results have proved popular. A previous installment, "Frontier House," became public television's most-watched miniseries of the last five years.

But "Colonial House," set at a foggy Maine location designed to resemble the 17th-century Massachusetts Bay Colony, went further back in time than any other series and constituted the most grueling challenge.

Unless, that is, you were Don and Carolyn Heinz.

Despite being the oldest participants, they turned out to complain the least about what it took to settle America circa 1628 — or just live in Maine without water, plumbing, electricity and certain foundation garments for five months in 2003.

"The physical challenge wasn't that hard," said Carolyn Heinz, a professor of anthropology. "My job as a woman was to live with two cast-iron pots and a fire. But really, it wasn't that different from the way half the world lives today."

The Heinzes illustrate why Northwesterners probably should audition for more "Survivor"-type shows. The blend of stripped-down living and gritty problem-solving clearly resonates with the regional soul.

Carolyn Heinz grew up in Puyallup and descends from pioneers who settled the area. Don Heinz is a professor of sociology and religion whose assigned role on the show was as the group's Anglican minister and educator.

But in the way of all reality series, tensions developed.

They had trouble getting less-energetic colonists to include education ("Harvard was about to be founded in eight years!" said Don Heinz). Modern life intruded when anti-religious participants clashed with those that wanted to stick to 17th-century reality.

And then? To learn more, we'll just have to wait until "Colonial House" debuts this May.

Coming up sooner, though, is another PBS series sure to be dear to the hearts of Puget Sound dwellers.

"Innovation" will try to do for technology what "Nova" has done for science. Beginning Feb. 10 on KCTS-TV the weekly series will examine the story of a new invention and its technical and social significance.

For example: Episode One examines the global race to build the world's tallest structure, taking us from Taipei to Shanghai to the proposed Freedom Tower in New York. Another episode looks at leading-edge R&D on replacement parts for the human body.

"Innovation" joins a growing roster of programs about technology and inventions on TV. In an interview, executive producer Beth Hoppe said she is striving for a grounded, rather than gee-whiz, approach.

"There was a sense during the boom period of excitement, combined with a lack of understanding about all these new technologies," said Hoppe. "I think Americans are ready for a realistic view."

Unusual for a PBS show, "Innovation" is aimed at viewers in their 20s and 30s.

And partly because Seattle contains the show's perfect target demographic, "Innovation" will have a booth open to the public at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference when it comes to the Convention Center on Feb. 13-16. (See the "Innovation" link on www.pbs.org after Feb. 1 for more info.)

Premium blah

It's become almost axiomatic that HBO and Showtime offer programming either better or more exciting than their dull network peers at NBC, CBS and the like.

But while that still may be true of individual programs such as "The Sopranos," there's growing evidence on HBO that "it's not TV" doesn't mean it's not mediocre.

Last year's two new series, "Carnivale" and "K Street," never got traction, even though "Carnivale" has been picked up for a second season. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is a critically praised show of enthusiastic subculture proportions — not a hit.

As for "Deadwood," the new period Western from "NYPD Blue" co-creator David Milch that HBO presented here last week, it looks like another tough sell.

"Deadwood" is set in the Dakota mining camp by that name where lawlessness and depravity prevailed in the wake of a gold rush. The year is 1876.

Starring Ian MacShane as a violent saloon and brothel owner, Timothy Oliphant as a former marshal and Keith Carradine as Wild Bill Hickok, the first few episodes seem to function as a brutal tutorial in just how nasty life really was back in the old West.

That's not to say the old mythology doesn't deserve drubbing, only that it's not clear what else "Deadwood" offers. The plot is fairly pedestrian and the characters rather uninteresting once you're past the shock of their behavior and language.

"Deadwood" debuts March 7, airing at 10 p.m. after "The Sopranos." This may constitute the most intense two-hour volley of expletives in TV history; full review to come.

As for devoted "Sopranos" followers, here are a few things learned from the press conference with James Gandolfini and creator David Chase.

Furio — gone. That Russian guy in the pine barrens — gone. Season Five — starts with the release of mobsters incarcerated during the 1980s RICO busts. Season Six — 10 episodes and that's it.

If HBO hasn't done as well with its last several series, at least the aspirations remain high. That's evident in the talent, the production quality and the big-picture concepts.

On the other hand, Showtime projects never look quite as good, aren't as well-written and increasingly are devoted to a narrow band of interests that don't try to make their meaning universal.

Nothing underscores this tilt so vividly as "The L Word," Showtime's new drama series that will be reviewed in this column Friday.

Essentially a female version of "Queer As Folk," Showtime's soap about gay men, "The L Word" is the kind of program that prompts charity rather than enthusiasm: great that lesbians got their show, but you're unlikely to stay riveted unless you're lesbian.

That needn't be the case.

BBC America's marvelous miniseries "Tipping the Velvet" last year demonstrated how a 19th-century love story between two women can resonate with a diverse audience. Showtime needs to think broader about its broads.

Kay McFadden:

kmcfadden@seattletimes.com

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