The Left Lane
Kikaida's return

KIKAIDA: 43 shows on Sunday evenings

"Diehard fans have been after us to bring the series back," said Joanne Ninomiya, KIKU-TV president. Ninomiya, who also is president of JN Productions, said a "Generation Kikaida-Hawai'i" DVD and a Kikaida retrospective show will arrive next spring — complete with merchandise (dolls, T-shirts, books, records) and actors Ban and Ikeda.

The dirt on lawn care is that for many home enthusiasts, it's better than sex.

That doesn't surprise Burton Jablin, president of Home & Garden Television, which has built a cable network reaching 73 million U.S. households based on such insight. In the network's annual Lifestyle Trends Report, home enthusiasts were asked by HGTV about what they do in their spare time "for fun and enjoyment." "This year, yet again, making love did not come in No. 1 among home enthusiasts," Jablin said. "Working in the yard actually beat having sex."

The stats: Forty-one percent gave a green thumbs up to mowing the lawn. Sex was second at 37 percent, followed by gardening at 34 percent and redecorating, 23 percent. The report was prepared by Yankelovich Partners Inc., a North Carolina-based marketing research firm. The company relied on a nationwide telephone survey of 1,414 adults, in-home interviews with 2,500 adults and U.S. Census data.

Portlock profiled

Speaking of Home & Garden Television, its "Dream Drives" show has discovered Honolulu.

The show that explores interesting neighborhoods that are defined by one street will feature Portlock Road this week. The show takes a drive through the upscale Portlock neighborhood, then drops in at four distinctive homes: a new contemporary Mediterranean style home; a 1941 kama'aina home with a stream, waterfall and lava rock walls; a contemporary concrete oceanfront sanctuary; and a one-acre garden with a five-sided gazebo. Set your VCR: The show airs at 1:30 a.m. tomorrow on Oceanic channel 38.

'America's Most Wanted' on the job

A special "America's Most Wanted" TV show that targeted terrorists, broadcast at the request of the White House and FBI, yielded hundreds more fugitive tips than usual. The Oct. 12 episode, "America's Most Wanted: Terrorists — A Special Edition" concentrated on a list of 22 "Most Wanted Terrorists" issued last week by President Bush. By Sunday the program's hotline (800-CRIME-TV) had received 1,300 tips, well more than the 200 to 500 calls it receives after a typical episode. While many tips are after the fact, they still help, says host John Walsh. "Investigators piece that together and it establishes a trail."