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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > February > 03
Friday, February 3, 2006
‘Blue Collar’ comic goes old-school with Leno
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta comic Ron White brought some of his funnier (and relatively clean) jokes to Jay Leno’s show Wednesday night to promote his new CD, “You Can’t Fix Stupid,” out Tuesday. With his signature cigar and scotch in hand, he cracked up fellow guest Snoop Dogg.
That cigar clearly broke California no-smoking laws, but Leno obliged with an ashtray. “We haven’t had to do this since George Gobel,” Leno joked, referencing the squat, mild-mannered late comic, a regular visitor to the Johnny Carson show many moons ago.
White told Snoop he had “a golf coach back in Atlanta who is 5-foot-6-inches and weighs 300 pounds, a white guy. When I told him you were going to be on the show, he said, ‘I’m a rapper.’ I stopped laughing about 30 minutes ago.”
The comic then handed a CD supposedly of his golf coach’s raps to Snoop.
White followed that with a lengthy, likely apocryphal story about his wife losing a dog and how resistant she was to getting another. But he took her to a breeder, where all the puppies were hopping up against the window saying “Pick me! Pick me!” A new black terrier puppy, White said, “healed her broken heart.”
Then her dad died. “So I get her in the car and we’re on our way to the old folks’ home and she’s saying, ‘I don’t want a new daddy.’ All the old people are hopping up against the window saying ‘Pick me! Pick me!’ She ordered a black one,” he cracked. “Keep it simple.”
White will also be joining buddies Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy on a new Sirius satellite radio channel devoted to all things “Blue Collar” starting in March.
Hargitay on maternity leave
“Gladiator” co-star Connie Nielsen will replace Mariska Hargitay for six episodes on NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU” while Hargitay goes on maternity leave.
The Dutch-born Nielsen will play a warrant detective who joins the unit while Hargitay’s character, Det. Olivia Benson, is off on a “specific assignment,” “Law & Order” honcho Dick Wolf told The New York Post.
Nielsen played Lucilla in the 2000 Russell Crowe movie “Gladiator.” Hargitay, who’s been on “SVU” since the show’s 1999 premiere, is expecting her first child this spring.
Big names on the Grammys
The Grammy Awards on CBS on Wednesday will feature performances by a list chock-full of legendary acts — and up-and-comer John Legend. Among the A-listers: Paul McCartney for the very first time, Bruce Springsteen, U2 (with Mary J. Blige) and Madonna (with the Gorillaz.)
The Gorillaz — a fictional, animated group conceived by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and “Tank Girl” cartoonist Jamie Hewlett — will appear in 3-D animated color during the performance via a technique that was unveiled at the MTV Europe Awards last year: Holograms of the “band members” were projected onto screens onstage during their performance of “Feel Good Inc,” according to mtv.com.
Among the fresher faces also performing: Coldplay, Faith Hill (with Keith Urban), Kelly Clarkson and Atlanta’s own Sugarland. Ciara, also from Atlanta, will take part in a Sly and the Family Stone salute.
Seacrest hoax
In the print edition of “Peach Buzz” Friday, we ran an item from the Philadelphia Daily News about “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest storming out of a New Jersey studio after a radio host repeatedly asked him whether he was gay. The writer and many listeners were fooled by what was a prank on the part of the Jersey Guys on New Jersey 101.5. It even landed on the front page of one of the local newspapers, The Trentonian. Seacrest spokeswoman Meredith O’Sullivan said he did not take part in any interview with the radio station. Here is the link to the correction on www.philly.com
Calling all thugs!
Buzz drove by the urban nightclub 708 off Third and Spring streets and noticed possibly tongue-in-cheek nightly promotions on its board. Every Tuesday, for instance, is “Welfare Nite,” while Friday is “Thugs Nite Out.” The owners couldn’t be reached for comment. The number on the side of the building advertising the club inexplicably bounced to a Midtown shop called Incredibly Edible Delites, which creates fruit baskets that look like flower arrangements.
Random bits
A&E’s “Flight 93,” a fictional take on the fateful 9/11 crash, was the network’s highest-rated show in its 22-year history, pulling in 5.9 million viewers Monday….Il Divo, the Simon Cowell-concocted, Oprah Winfrey-endorsed classical crossover quartet, put an end to a battle between Jamie Foxx and Mary J. Blige, debuting at No. 1, with “Ancora” selling about 156,000 copies, according to SoundScan.
Celebrity birthdays
“Rat Pack” comedian Joey Bishop is 88. Actress Morgan Fairchild is 56. Actor Nathan Lane is 50. Actor Thomas Calabro (“Melrose Place”) is 47. Actress Maura Tierney (“ER”) is 41.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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