Cbs Will Use Screen Play In Hoops Coverage

It’s a fine madness.

The hoopla begins today as the 64-team NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Championship tips off with regional play in four cities.

CBS begins its biggest two days of sports coverage of the year at 9 a.m. today with five hours of play-by-play action. Then it’s another five hours of prime-time running and gunning beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Besides a supply of snacks and beverages - and an understanding spouse in some divided households - there’s only one thing more you need to fully enjoy the coverage: a large-screen TV set, or at least a good-sized one.

CBS covers so much tournament action that in critical moments it often shows two games at once. Utilizing what’s known as a “squeeze,” one game can be viewed in the upper left-hand corner of the screen as the primary game rolls on. Scores from other games may be flipping by at the bottom of the screen.

This technical wizardry keeps you in the know, but if you’re watching on a small set, it can make you buggy over the course of 10 hours.

Highlights

“Before They Were Stars,” ABC at 8:30: Get a look at a young Dana Carvey (This couldn’t be a way of promoting Carvey’s new ABC series, could it?), as well as Jason Alexander, Lily Tomlin and Emma Thompson in the early days of their careers.

“The Single Guy,” NBC at 8:30: Jonathan (Jonathan Silverman) resumes his romance with the Village Voice critic (Jensen Daggett) who panned his book. Daggett will appear in four subsequent episodes as the producers allow Jonathan to go steady for the first time.

“Straight Talk” (1992), ABC at 9: James Woods and Dolly Parton are quite an unlikely pair, but that’s exactly what makes this romantic comedy work. Parton plays an Arkansas dance instructor who moves to Chicago where, in a case of mistaken identity, she becomes a radio shrink. Her down-home advice is an instant hit. A reporter (Woods) attempts to expose her true identity but falls in love in the process.