Documentary filmmaker Bud Greenspan has returned to the Winter Olympics. Sidelined in 1992 by French politics, Greenspan is in Norway to write and direct the official film, “Lillehammer ’94: 16 Days of Glory,” which will appear on the Disney Channel later this year.
“Every time I finish a film, I wonder what more can we do,” says Greenspan. But “suddenly you get that Olympic feeling and it develops. Each generation has its own great stories. If you look long enough, you find them.”
And finding those offbeat stories that are Greenspan’s trademarks is easier at the Winter Games, he says. “It’s not the typical bill of fare-baseball, basketball and tennis. It’s almost a culture situation that favorably lends itself to us, because when we come out with our show, most of the American audiences say, `Gee, I didn’t know that.’ “
Greenspan also benefits when the American networks like CBS concentrate on American athletes or controversies like the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding affair. “We don’t do the obvious stories,” he says. “By the time our film comes out, (Kerrigan-Harding will) be a dead issue. And I don’t like spending my time on the negative aspects of our business.”
Greenspan, strictly a film guy, doesn’t like what MTV has spawned, either. “We’re fortunate in that we have a history of success. If we told the networks we wanted to tell 12-minute stories, they’d say they couldn’t give us more than 2 1/2 minutes.”
Taking a shot: NBC, not to be left at the start house during the Games, hired Chicago-based Intersport Television to put together a one-hour special on the figure-skating controversy, “Shattered Glory: The Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan Story,” to air at 6 p.m. Sunday on WMAQ-Ch. 5. Intersport’s camera crew, on hand to film a syndicated Dorothy Hamill special, was the only one at Detroit’s Cobo Arena when Kerrigan was attacked.
NBC approached Intersport “because we had the vantage point of six months of preparation (for the Hamill special) and a background in figure skating,” said executive producer Cynthia Patrasso, a 20-year television veteran. “No one has covered this from beginning to end except us. We were the only production crew (in Detroit) that became part of the story.”
NBC’s Leeza Gibbons hosts the program, while former WMAQ-Ch. 5 investigative reporter Peter Karl contributes a report on the money trail. “Most people are grabbing the sensational part, while no one has taken a comprehensive look at the story,” said Patrasso. “We’re going to take people on the same ride we were on.”
Olympic notes: Wednesday night’s CBS prime-time telecast averaged a 22.8 national Nielsen rating with a 34 share, up 37 percent for the same night in 1992 (16.7/26), and giving the network a 24.4/37 average for the first five nights. “Not only are the ratings reaching historic highs,” said CBS ratings guru David Poltrack, “but these ratings are uniformly strong throughout the nation, unlike previous Winter Olympics.” . . . CBS Sports executive producer Rick Gentile knew his network had a good thing on its hands from the first night. While Sunday night’s record audience of 82 million was nice, “the opening ceremonies was a bigger shock to me,” said Gentile. “Sunday night’s number was a little overwhelming, but getting the kind we did for Saturday (a 20.8 rating with 34 share, up 43 percent from ’92) was incredible.” . . . CBS’ coverage has been surprisingly inconsistent considering the network just had a rehearsal two years ago. There’s just too much air time to fill with too few real events. The features-especially Bill Geist’s-are charming, but too numerous. The morning show-although aired when actual competition is taking place-has been a waste. And some of the analysts like Tracy (“They skated their hearts out”) Wilson and Christin (“She’s skiing out of her mind”) Cooper have been insipid. Dick Button is missed. . . . The crew from the syndicated “Inside Edition”-having paid a reported $500,000 or so-dominated Tonya Harding’s time on her flight to Norway (except for a few moments with CBS’ Connie Chung, of “Dan and Connie” really-lame-promo fame), capturing such Tonya gems as “I really believe I’ll be ready” and “It’s not just a competition between (Kerrigan) and I.”
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