EDITORIAL ROUTING 3-29-94 To: ENTERTAINMENT Queen Annie Potts assumes the sitcom throne By Frank Lovece Dana Palladino (Annie Potts) is a world-class chef, a well- seasoned traveler, the daughter of a famous artist, and a willy New York bon vivant, Jack Stein (ay Thomas) is a ‘working-class columnist who hates to Teave his neighborhood — a beer 'n’ burger guy. So what could these two protagonists of “Love & War” (CBS, Mondays) possibly see in each other? Not a whole lot, actualy. As in the previous season, when Jack's amour was coolly cultured Wallis Porter (Susan Dey), it takes a leap of faith to imagine the smart, funny, hip and beautiful Dana falling for a schlub like Jack. ‘And all that being the ease, you couldn't imagine a better Dana than ‘Annie Potts. "The former co-star of “Designing Women" fireballed onto the scene this season as if she were “bran- dishing thunderbolt,” wrote one im pressed critic, "She walks on the set, land the place becomes electric.” Potts, for her part, says, “I look at it like this: Jay's idea of us — in real life, anyway — is, Ifyou were a guy, you'd be me, and if were a gal, Td be you. So I think that Diane (Eng- lish, creator of this series and “Murphy Brown”) sees the same thing. And I think that she intends to tap into the energy that pulls that wagon and to show that with char acters. More and more in life,” Potts reflects, “I'm finding that romantic matches are directly attributable to some sort of energy match. It isn’t feven so much about common back- ground, but how life is approached fand tackled and grasped.” Potts — a dark-haired, drawling pixie who's livened films from “Kin ‘af the Gypsies” (1978) to “Texasville” (1990) — speaks from experience She met her fourth and current hus- band, TV director James Hayman (Harts of the West") while she was star of a hit sitcom, and he was but the cinematographer on her movie, “Breaking the Rules” (1982) “Jason Bateman was on that film,” which was shot in 1990, “and we ail were rehearsing at his house one ‘weekend, and were talking, and he looked at me and said, ‘You and Jim Hayman.’ I said, ‘Excuse me? Who? What about him?” And he went, ‘You were meant for each other!” ‘She smiles, “I'm not making this up. I really didn’t have a clue who he was talking about, And then I kinda forgot about it. Later I met Jim and even thought, ‘Why does Jason think we're perfect for each other?” And then,” she Says simply, “it became clear why we wore.” She gives a little secret smile. ‘The good-looking, personable Hayman is, at the moment, out with their tod: I'm finding that romantic matches are directly attributable to some sort of energy match. It isn’t even so much about common background, but how life is approached and tackled and grasped. dler, also named James. (They also have a 13-year-old son, Clay Senechal, from Potts’ second marriage.) To play Dana on “Love & War,’ Potts — who was born in either 1949 or 1952 according to different refer- fence books — changed her hair color from Mary Jo Shively’s strawberry blond on “Designing Women” to Potts’ natural black. “Something needed to be done!” she declares. “There al- ready were two redheads on the show! ‘And really, [had to change myself. 'd bbeen in that 9:30 Monday slot for most of six years, so clearly I couldn't come marching through the door like I'd just left Atlanta,” the site of “Design ing Women. ‘That pitch-black hair comes, she says, from her father's black Irish/Seottish/French side of the family, Her mother's folks were Eng- lish, Potts, the youngest of three daughters, was born in Nashville, ‘Tenn, but raised in rural Franklin, Ky. Her entrepreneur father owned {0- ‘bacco and cattle farms, as well as a rock quarry, a motel and other con- Potts studied theater at the all ‘women Stephens College in Missouri Buta few weeks after graduation, she ‘and her first husband suffered a tragie ear accident involving a drunk driver. “We both broke our legs and very nearly lost our lives,” Potts re- calls, “We took a long time to repair ourselves from that. We ended up moving to California for graduate School because we weren't sure either of us was gonna be able to walk well enough to work.” Her ex-hus- band, named Steve, lost a leg in the accident, but against all odds, Potts ‘says happily, “within a year he was ‘back on stage in tights doing Shake- speare, and nobody knew." He re- ‘mains & theater producer director in his native Santa Fe, NM. Potts broke into TV in 1976, guest ing on NBC’s short-lived “Sirota’s Court.” She soon became queen of the unsold pilot, starring in, among other things, two attempts at siteom called “Hollywood High’ (977), playing a plucky student; “In Security” (1982), playing a depart- ment-store security chief, ulty" (1986); “Hearts of Steele and a TV-movie pilot unfortunately titled “Flatbed Annie & Sweetiepie: Lady Truckers” (1979; she was Flatbed Annie). Before “Designing Women," Potts had also starred in the World War IT homefront sitcom “Goodtime Girls” (1980). Now, as Dana, she's still a good time. And until Jack Stein becomes less of a whiny little boy, he won't de- serve her. Maybe, as with Rececea Howe on “Cheers,” they'l settle more naturally into friends. But Potts says no, “I think things are gonna perk right along, and go down to us having some sort of relationship.” ©, 10M NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN, ‘STAR VIEW FRANK 4 LOVECE ‘vs1.u prune ‘onmsceny eaten sedan fo weed goes pene und 0 eo enone 9187-12z (008) 99TOT AN ‘HIOK MON “eay Wied 002 NOLLVIOOSSV ASTUdUALNA WidVdSMIN