`Lori Fuks' Is Standout On Cable-Access Screen

------------------------------- Television review "The Lori Fuks Show" airs at 9 p.m. Saturday on TCI Channel 29. -------------------------------

There's no dearth of public access cable programming in Seattle. By glancing at the vast menu of programming on TCI's Channel 29, you can see that our freedom-of-speech laws are hard at work.

Virtually every half-hour slot in the channel's 8-a.m.-to-2-a.m. daily on-air time is filled. Show subjects are all over the map. A white-supremacist program could be followed by a black power half-hour. An amateur evangelist might be a lead-in for the channel's now-legendary pagan goddess, Kring.

While these would-be TV stars appear weekly, none use their time nearly as effectively as the Mary Tyler Moore of Seattle's cable access, Lori Fuks (rhymes with "juke"). After just one episode of "The Lori Fuks Show" aired last spring, Fuks and her producer, Doug Callari, set a new standard for cable-access TV production. Saturday they'll present the second wacky installment in what they hope will become a locally produced series on a major network affiliate.

In this episode, Fuks returns as the host of a television news magazine innocuously titled "North By Pacific Northwest." Also returning are her smarmy co-host, Jack Kelly (John Beisner), and Seattle's "Oh my gosh, my golly" mayor, Roman Nice (Sean O'Leary).

As Fuks covers a current version of Seattle's World Fair and Century of Progress Expo, she notices three futuristic men suddenly beamed into the middle of the fair. Oddly enough, they resemble cast members from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," both in looks and comportment, and the cornball Trekker jokes are poured on thick.

This is not the stuff side-splitting hilarity is made of; nonetheless, it's a great time. As the crew of the Exitprise (har har) attempts to protect Fuks from an evil scientist's foul schemes to wreck the future, Fuks and her cast get in a few pokes at Seattle's leftover "futuristic" trappings from the fair.

Fuks and Callari's formula isn't magical. They simply utilized the filming and editing equipment to the fullest of their abilities, came up with a humorous script, found some decent actors and composed a catchy theme song. That's far more than most of their cable-access contemporaries have done.

It's a fantastic effort on a shoestring budget: Callari estimates the production cost somewhere around $1,200. He's hoping the next episode will be even better, but if there is a next episode, it won't be on cable access. Depending on the response they get from Saturday's airing, Callari plans to appeal to local network affiliates to turn "The Lori Fuks Show" into a legitimate locally produced sitcom. Even if they don't get their wish, they've got to be proud they've produced something that stands our from the public-access crowd. Let's hope "The Lori Fuks Show" is gonna make it after all.