THIS IS THE SUBURB... HOME OF 'HIGH INCIDENT'\In a departure from inner-city setting, DreamWorks brings police\drama for the '90s to the San Fernando Valley.

Byline: Jenifer Hanrahan Daily News Staff Writer

Forget the urban grit of most cop shows. Finally, somebody appreciates the San Fernando Valley's uniquely suburban charm.

DreamWorks SKG's newest series, "High Incident" starring David Keith ("An Officer and a Gentleman") in an hourlong TV drama about cops on patrol, is being filmed in and around Chatsworth.

"The Valley is a great cross-section of suburbia," Keith said. "It's where everything is supposed to be hunky-dory, but just lift up the bark, and watch the bugs run."

Ralph Winter, producer of the show that premieres at 9 p.m. Monday on KABC (Channel 7), called the Valley a "generic suburb" that is perfect to double for the fictitious suburban town of El Camino, Calif., where eight officers will face everything from traffic accidents to murder.

Homeowners on Wilbur Avenue and Prairie Street in Northridge recently had to share their intersection with some 180 actors and crew members shooting an auto crash scene.

In midafternoon, a film crew started setting up props, including temporary street lamps and a traffic signal. ("We finally have street lights," one onlooker remarked.)

By nightfall, fire engines, ambulances, a catering truck, the actors' trailers and a dozen trucks hauling equipment lined Wilbur, which was shut down from Nordoff to Plummer streets. About 100 neighbors watched. Some brought folding chairs and blankets.

In the intersection, a pickup truck lay on its side. Two officers, played by Catherine Kellner and Julio Oscar Mechoso, try to save a father and son who are pinned in their vehicle, which has been crushed by a telephone pole. Live electrical wires dangle dangerously close to gasoline.

"This is so exciting," said Susan DeRacedo, who received $150 for letting the extras hang out in her back yard.

Filming was expected to continue until sun-up, but neighbors didn't seem to mind the transformation of their neighborhood from sleepy to star-studded. Steven Spielberg, one of the show's creators, even signed autographs.

Carl and Annie Lynch want to see their house on television.

"We're not inconvenienced by it," Annie Lynch said.

The couple's 12-year-old daughter, Vanessa, had two friends sleep over - they planned to stay up all night to watch the action.

"It's usually very, very boring. Nothing really goes on," Vanessa said.

This perception of the 'burbs doesn't escape producers. They promise the show will be more than shootouts and car chases; officers will deal with the everyday side of police work - from domestic disputes to traffic stops - subjects that are more often the grist of so-called "reality-based" police shows than the dramas.

"It's like 'Cops' with a budget and a plot," Keith said.

On Thursday, the parking lot of Food for Less grocery in Canaga Park was the setting for a scene in which police arrested a mother for hitting her child.

"The customers loved it," said store director Larry Bodell.

Later that day, the crew moved to a 7-Eleven in the same strip mall for a scene in which police counsel a woman who they suspect is suffering spousal abuse but refuses to press charges.

"I think they chose us because it was clean," said a clerk, who asked not to be named. "That's what they kept saying, that it was the cleanest store they had seen."

The clerk said she was happy the scene was a "friendly little talk" rather than the shootings and robberies most often depicted in convenience stores. "We didn't want any drug dealing or violence in the store," she said.

The kitchen of the Woodland Hills Holiday Inn also became the set for a scene in which police are called to break up a food fight started by an angr'y chef and a waitress.

"We're a small place, so I was kind of surprised they wanted to film in there," said Dwight McCoy, the hotel's guest service manager. "It was really interesting. They were screaming in other languages. We really enjoyed watching it."

So how does "High Incident" plan to get noticed with all those other police shows, including "NYPD Blue," "Law & Order," "New York Undercover" and "Homicide: Life on the Streets," vying for viewers?

For one thing, "High Incident" is the only one based in a suburb, producers said. Also, the makers of "High Incident" will mimic the "reality-based" shows by using camera work that follows the officers from their cars as they come upon the scene.

For example, top-rated " 'NYPD Blue' is a detective show that deals with urban crime and its aftermath," said co-executive producer Charles Haid. "We deal with suburban crime as it occurs."

And "High Incident" will steer clear of foul language and bare bottoms that have caused controversy over "NYPD Blue," Haid said. But, the show will weave the professional and personal lives of the officers into story lines.

Executive producer and series co-creator Dave Alan Johnson said the idea for the show came from Spielberg. A suburban cop show "hadn't been done," Johnson said. "All the cop shows have been inner-city shows, and most people live in suburbia."

Haid, who played Andy Renko in the television series "Hill Street Blues," said Spielberg was the one who invited him to participate. "When the pre-eminent filmmaker of our time calls and asks you to produce a series, you say, 'Why sure,' " said Haid, who has directed episodes of "NYPD Blue" and "ER."

Keith plays the gruff, thrice divorced Sgt. Jim Marsh  in "High Incident," his first television series. He said he signed on to the project for the chance to work for DreamWorks, the studio started in October 1994 by the partnership of Spielberg, former Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg and record m'ogul David Geffen.

"They really trust our instincts and let the actors develop the character," Keith said. "Most of the time a director's ... ego is so fragile, it's like, 'No, we can't do that.' "

The show follows eight main characters who are paired up in patrol cars, meaning no one is in every scene. So, Keith only has to be on location three days a week, a less grueling schedule than in many television series.

"I always thought doing an hour television drama would be like being stuck in a bad movie for the rest of your life," Keith said. "Because this is an ensemble piece, it doesn't drain you and make you have no life.

"Instead, I've found it's like being in a good movie, except they don't waste time fooling around with shots. As soon as they get it and it's good, they move on."

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Photo (1--Cover--Color) 'High Incident' star Catherine Kellner jumps out of a special filming squad car during rehearsal for a shot. (2) "The Valley is a great cross-section of suburbia. It's where everything is supposed to be hunky-dory, but just lift up the bark, and watch the bugs run," says "High Incident" star David Keith, standing. (3) LAPD officer and "High Incident" technical adviser Gene Peterson, second from left, confers with actress Catherine Kellner and camera operator Joe Thibo, right. (4) A quiet Chatsworth neighborhood suddenly has a significant police presence, made up of "High Incident" cast members. (5) Members of a film crew set up a scene at Prairie Street and Wilbur Avenue in Northridge. (6) "This is so exciting," said Northridge resident Susan DeRacedo, who received $150 for letting "High Incident" extras hang out in her back yard. Tom Mendoza/Daily News