TV REVIEWS : ‘Frontline’ on Transition

The transition of presidential power is, as Bill Clinton’s communications director George Stephanopoulos terms it, “an awkward phase”--awkward for the Clinton group, awkward for the Bush group still in the White House, and awkward for the producers of “Frontline,” whose report, “Clinton Takes Over” (at 9 tonight on KCET-TV Channel 28 and KPBS-TV Channel 15; 8:30 p.m. on KVCR-TV Channel 24) means to take us behind the scenes during this uncomfortable, in-between time.

Apparently allowed deep access to the inner circles of power, producer Michael Kirk and reporters Hodding Carter and Curtis Wilkie instead seem to circle around each other, fellow members of the press (a favorite is the New York Times’ Thomas L. Friedman) and Clinton press aide Dee Dee Myers. The report may have intended to show how an executive branch comes into being, but instead proves how high the largely leak-free wall separating the press from the Clinton transition team has actually been.

The one key Clinton man “Frontline” cameras cover closely is Robert Reich, who was in charge of building the economic team before his appointment as labor secretary. That may be because Reich himself is attuned to the TV medium, and feels comfortable talking to the camera about Clinton’s long-term infrastructure investment plans.

Because the report covers transition events up to Sunday’s inaugural kick-off, the tape available for review did not include material from January--a very rocky period for Clinton in which campaign promises ranging from Haitian refugees to the deficit had to be dropped and appointees such as commerce secretary-designate Ronald Brown and attorney general-designate Zoe Baird raised ethical controversies.

The crises reveal the man, but there’s little available time in the hour slot for the January problems. Rarely does the “Frontline” crew actually sit in on a meeting--one run by Stephanopoulos is concerned with the lack of female appointments--and instead must resort to nuggets of wisdom from observers. Friedman’s remark that Clinton’s style balances the populist with the power elites is typical: What at first seems insightful is actually a hum-drum comment that may apply to most Presidents. Throughout “Clinton Takes Over,” we are being kept from something, but we can never be sure what it really is.