“Hollywood on the Homefront”
by Ron Miller, San Jose Mercury News, July 26, 1991
LOS ANGELES – UNION Station, the last great railroad depot built in America, opened in 1939 with enormous fanfare and a parade that drew what was then the largest crowd of spectators in L.A. history.
Though it’s still a functioning depot, Union Station today is mostly a mecca for tourists who want to see its inlaid marble floors and 3,000-pound chandeliers – and, of course, Hollywood filmmakers who want to take us on a sentimental journey into America’s past.
Which is why I found myself there this week, trying to ignore the stares of bewildered railroad commuters as I was ushered into the ornate main concourse for a sit-down dinner circa 1945 (soup, salad, meat loaf, mashed potatoes and apple pie ala mode) with a hundred or so other TV editors.
It was ABC’s melodramatic way of reminding us it will be taking America back to 1945 each week in its new dramatic series, Homefront, the show that replaces thirtysomething starting Sept. 24. The producers of Homefront, along with the huge ensemble cast, joined us for the nostalgic chow-down.
Homefront actually opens at Union Station, which doubles for a make-believe railroad station in the anonymous Ohio city that’s the setting for this drama about the troubles of several families trying to reknit after the traumatic events of World War II.
“It was a milestone in our country in this century, after which things changed and began to be different,” said Bernard Lechowick, one of the three executive producers. “It was that change, the effect of the war on the people – what they did when they came back and started their lives – that interested us.”
They’re also using the characters to explore, with the benefit of nearly half a century of hindsight, the beginnings of several contemporary issues, including women’s rights, racial equality and the impact of large-scale foreign immigration.
For example, Robert Davis (Sterling Macer Jr.) is a black GI who applies for work at a factory that promises a job for every returning local serviceman. He’s angered to learn the white GI’s get jobs with a future, but he’s offered janitorial duty.
Another character, unmarried Linda Metcalf (Jessica Steen), has proved herself equal to any man in her factory job, but is asked to give it up to the first male war veteran who applies.
Still another, Gina Sloan (Giuliana Santini), is an Italian war bride whose presence infuriates her husband’s bigoted parents, Ruth (Mimi Kennedy) and Mike Sloan (Ken Jenkins). They can’t believe their son would marry “one of the enemy.” They even take steps to annul the marriage.
Yet another, Ginger Szabo (Tammy Lauren), is furious to discover her fiance, Charlie Hailey (Harry O’Reilly), also has brought home another woman – his ambitious new English wife, Caroline (Sammi Davis-Voss).
The early line on the show from critics is that it is one of the better efforts of the coming season. Still, there’s some skepticism about its appeal to the young viewers ABC hopes to attract. The network discovered, unhappily, that young viewers steered clear of its last big World War II saga, the miniseries War and Remembrance, so why expect them to get into a show about their grandparents’ era?
“If they’re not interested, they should be,” said David Jacobs, who produces the show with Lechowick and Lynn Marie Latham. “We have a great young cast telling terrific stories. We hope that’ll get them to watch.”
Jacobs, who created both Dallas and Knots Landing, two of the longest-running dramas in TV history, said Homefront won’t be a serial like either of those shows, but will extend some story lines in “arcs” over several episodes, the way Hill Street Blues used to do.
“Each show will stand on its own,” he added. “It has some serialized elements, but it’s definitely not a nighttime soap.”
Jacobs believes people get “reflective” as each century nears its end. He feels it’s a great time to explore the major social trends of the past 50 years in dramatic terms, trying to put things in perspective as we head for the 21st century.
“You’re gung ho to go into the new century,” he said, “but you also want to look back and make sure you haven’t left anything valuable behind.”
It seemed an especially fitting remark for a publicity event staged at historic Union Station. Nobody builds public structures like that anymore – lofty walnut ceilings with heavy beams, leather seats in the “streamline moderne” style, bronze-encased windows that actually open.
Now owned by Catellus Development Corp., the train station is being restored as part of a 52-acre site that will include hotels, restaurants and offices. Naturally, movie companies and TV networks always are welcome.
“There’s nothing like it and there hasn’t been anything like it in a long time,” said Jacobs.
But, of course, he was talking about his TV show, not the glorious historical location where it was being hyped.