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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > September > 04
Monday, September 4, 2006
A different perspective on ‘Diff’rent Strokes’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The infamous “child star” curse often goes back to the trio of cute kids on the 1980s sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes.”
After the show ended, Dana Plato, Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges all suffered problems ranging from drugs and alcohol to violence to medical maladies. Plato died in 1999 of a drug overdose.
Though the media and a past TV movie has already mined this material, Coleman and Bridges provide their take on their lives via a film NBC is airing tonight, “The Unauthorized Story of Diff’rent Strokes.”
“It’s about time to hear the story through our eyes and not through ‘E! True Hollywood Story,’ ” Bridges told Buzz.
Bridges and Coleman were script consultants and appear in interviews peppered through the film. (Two actors played Bridges, and three handled Coleman.)
Bridges, victim of an abusive, alcoholic dad, later battled the law and cocaine. Coleman, whose parents overworked him, has been on kidney dialysis for years. Plato ended up holding up a video store and performing in soft-core porn before her sad death.
“It wasn’t show business that drove us crazy; we had crazy lives at home,” said Bridges, now married with two kids and a steady flow of modest acting gigs. Today, “It’s not a big deal to me anymore. It was a phase I went through, and it helped me grow to where I am today.”
Sci-fi redefined
DragonCon has been known for years as a sci-fi/fantasy/horror gathering. But the organizers have tried to broaden those horizons. In the media room, a sign calls the downtown fest a “multi-genre pop culture convention and trade show.”
This vaguer description allowed them to invite the likes of Mickey Rooney, who was the grand marshal of the Saturday morning parade, and several members of the cast of “Happy Days.” The ’70s sitcom was listed under the category of “American Sci-Fi/Fantasy Classics.” (If that qualifies, why not the cast members of “Charlie’s Angels” next year?)
The parade featured the usual array of goblins, ghouls and “Star Wars” storm troopers, along with two impeccable imitators of Capt. Jack Sparrow. But the scariest participant? A man dressed as Mr. Six, the old dude from the Six Flags commercials.
Later, Buzz peeked inside the session with actress Traci Lords, another stretch in the sci-fi category. For many men, the former porn star fits the “fantasy” category fine, and she does have a horror flick set for release later this year called “Crazy Eights.”
Lords gabbed about her writing, acting and singing. She has long buried her porn past and gone mainstream.
In fact, the interviewer, Brad Linaweaver, treated her as if he were face to face with Nicole Kidman. “One of the best autobiographies I’ve ever read!” he burbled at one point. “It’s overwhelming, everything you’re doing!”
Lords said conventioneers tend to be very respectful of her. “The geekier, the nerdier the convention, the safer you are,” Linaweaver told her.
“It’s band camp!” Lords cracked.
Legal eagle
Atlanta pugilist Evander Holyfield is a model citizen, too. Just three days after knocking out Jeremy Bates in the second round of his comeback bid in Dallas, he arrived at the Fulton County courthouse for jury duty Aug. 28. He even made the jury. In the one-day DUI case, the jury unanimously deemed the defendant “not guilty.” Our Buzz eyewitness, who was on the jury with him, said Holyfield was low-key and politely signed autographs after the case was over.
Random bits
Brooke Shields told Jay Leno that Tom Cruise apologized last week for publicly criticizing her use of antidepressants after the birth of her first daughter. The two had a public beef last year after Cruise said in an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show that depression can be treated with exercise and vitamins rather than drugs. Cruise’s spokesman confirmed the news …
The new My Atlanta network, formerly the WB in Atlanta, is launching a 10 p.m. news program Tuesday that may look familiar. WXIA-TV anchors Brenda Wood and Ted Hall will host the one-hour news program before doing their regular 11 p.m. gig on WXIA. (Both stations are owned by the same company.) This will be the second effort in two years to make a dent on the popular WAGA-TV Fox 10 p.m. news telecast.
UPN (now the CW) tried a similar show with WXIA personnel in 2004-05, but it failed to deliver viewers.
Celebrity birthdays
Actress Mitzi Gaynor is 75. Actor-comedian Damon Wayans is 46. Singer Richard Wingo of Jagged Edge is 31. Singer/actress Beyoncé Knowles is 25.
Contributing: News services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail: rho@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Indigo Girls help pal get closer to fine
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Note to self: If ever in trouble, call the Indigo Girls.
Thursday night, a sold-out crowd packed the listening room at Eddie’s Attic to see Amy Ray and Emily Saliers and the show they’d organized to help pay the medical expenses of a friend, Janet McLaughlin.
The roster was winning: Matthew Kahler, with his James Taylor-esque folksy crooning; Sandra McCracken, a petite blond Nashville resident with a big, whiskey-raspy voice; and the funkalicious groove of Trina Meade and Tomi Martin from Atlanta’s Three5Human.
McLaughlin, a Nashville singer-songwriter who suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage in December, also performed for the first time since her illness.
The Indigo Girls’ performance of favorites like “Galileo,” “Closer to Fine” and “Ghost” turned into a giant singalong, and “Kid Fears” featured Meade blowing the roof off Michael Stipe’s part.
The night also was a homecoming of sorts.
Eddie Owen first booked the Decatur natives more than 20 years ago at Trackside Tavern. He sold Eddie’s Attic in 2002 but returned as director of
operations just over a year ago.
“There wouldn’t be an Eddie’s Attic without Emily Saliers and Amy Ray,” said Owen, who spent the night wandering through the crowd with a giant grin on his face, occasionally popping onstage to sing harmonies.
And Martin seconded that notion.
“They’re the representatives of what Atlanta is really about — people like Amy and Emily. Now if they’d only let them write the Atlanta song …”
Dallas Austin, you listening?
CNN anchor laughs it off
CNN anchor Kyra Phillips, whose ladies room chatter found its way onto her newscast, bounced back two days later with a “Top 10 List” of excuses on the “Late Show with David Letterman.”
The mishap had happened Tuesday when Phillips, still wearing her wireless microphone, visited the loo while CNN aired President Bush’s speech from New Orleans. For a minute or so her voice commingled with his, as she was heard telling an unidentified woman how great her husband is, then mentioned that her sister-in-law is “a control freak.” Only then was she alerted that her mike was live.
Top Ten Kyra Phillips Excuses Presented by CNN Anchor Kyra Phillips:
10. “Still haven’t mastered complicated on/off switch.”
9. “Larry King told me he does this all the time.”
8. “How was I supposed to know we had a reporter embedded in the bathroom?”
7. “I honestly never knew this sort of thing was frowned upon.”
6. “Couldn’t resist chance to win $10,000 on ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos.’ “
5. “I was set up by those [expletive] at Fox News.”
4. “Oh, like you’ve never gone to the bathroom and had it broadcast on national television!”
3. “I just wanted that hunky Lou Dobbs to notice me.”
2. “OK, so I was drunk and couldn’t think straight.”
1. “You have to admit; it made the speech a lot more interesting.”
Sick bay update
Jessica Simpson limped her way through an appearance Friday on “Today.” It was the first time the singer has performed since injuring a vocal cord a week ago, but she only made it through one song before her voice cracked.
Simpson croaked her way through “I Belong to Me,” but when it came time to hit a high note on “With You,” her voice cracked. She paused for a moment and said, “All right, I tried that one,” before finishing the tune. “That had to be the most nerve-racking thing you’ve ever done in your life,” said “Today” co-host Matt Lauer.
The 26-year-old singer tried to soothe her voice with a concoction that Lauer described as “gnarly looking.” Simpson said her vocal coach had made the “nasty” mixture. “I busted a blood vessel in my vocal cord,” she told Lauer. “Next time I sing, I’ll be singin’ my booty off.”
Simpson, who has a new album, “A Public Affair,” canceled a planned appearance on CBS’ “Late Show With David Letterman” earlier this week. She appeared on MTV’s Video Music Awards on Thursday night, presumably to make nominee and ex-hubby Nick Lachey uncomfortable, but did not sing.
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Jazz pianist Horace Silver is 78. Sportscaster Terry Bradshaw is 58. Actor Mark Harmon is 55. Drummer Jerry Augustyniak of 10,000 Maniacs is 48. Country drummer Paul Deakin of the Mavericks is 47. Actor Keanu Reeves is 42. Actress Salma Hayek is 40. Actress Cynthia Watros (“Lost”) is 38. Singer K-Ci of K-Ci and JoJo is 37. Bassist Sam Rivers of Limp Bizkit is 29.
Sunday: Actress/game show panelist Kitty Carlisle Hart is 96. “Beetle Bailey” creator Mort Walker is 83. Country singer Hank Thompson is 81. Actress Anne Jackson is 80. Singer-guitarist Al Jardine of the Beach Boys is 64. Guitarist Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols is 51. Actor Charlie Sheen is 41.
Contributing: Lizzie Breyer and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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