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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > September > 11
Monday, September 11, 2006
A boxing Bulldog on ‘Survivor’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CBS’ flagging “Survivor” series is attempting to inject some new life into the show by dividing its 20 contestants by race. Atlanta has one representative: 23-year-old Parvati Shallow (yes, that’s her real name ).
A boxer and waitress, the gorgeous Shallow graduated from Sprayberry High School and UGA before moving to Los Angeles.
Friends and family describe her as competitive and fiercely independent, yet perpetually chipper.
“She’s always smiling,” said Patti Ann Harootian, a friend who has boxed with Shallow. “I’ve never seen her in a bad mood. She can lose a boxing match and still smile.”
Kelly Basinger, an Atlanta real estate developer and former boyfriend, said Shallow has a knack for talking her way into anything, be it a concert or a nightclub. She even persuaded him to go sky diving.
“Her personality sparks people’s attention,” Basinger told Buzz. He doesn’t think she’ll have an issue with the racial divide: “She’s got a lot of diverse friends.”
Physically, she’ll hold up just fine, predicted her father, Michael Shallow. Her family grew up doing a lot of camping, and before she left for the show earlier this year, she spent a week in Atlanta with him doing wilderness prep work.
“Survivor” PR wouldn’t give Buzz access to Shallow, but she did talk to Entertainment Weekly. There, she noted that she’s ready to hit where it hurts. “Once it gets like, nitty-gritty, I’m gonna play a little dirty,” she said. “It’s human nature. I’m not going to make everyone in America like me. I wanna win, and I have all the mad skills that it takes.”
Get reacquainted with Deborah Norville
Deborah Norville is touting the arrival of “Inside Edition” on WGCL-TV tonight at 7:30 as a “launch in a new city.” But the syndicated magazine news show has been on in Atlanta for years.
The problem: It’s aired overnights on WSB-TV. “Unless you have a Tivo or a sleeping disorder, you probably haven’t seen the show lately,” Norville told Buzz last week.
Norville, a Dalton native and University of Georgia grad who started her broadcast career at WAGA-TV from 1978 to 1982, may still be remembered for her brief, tumultuous foray as co-host of “The Today Show” in the early 1990s. But she has settled comfortably into the role of “Inside Edition” host for nearly 12 years.
The show isn’t nearly as “tabloid” as it was when Bill O’Reilly hosted and doesn’t “fawn” over celebrities, said Norville, who will host the show from Atlanta this Thursday.
“Inside Edition, she notes, gets little notice — much less respect — despite a solid 4 million-plus viewers a night, which is more than “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” or the CBS “Early Show.”
Her take on the media coverage of Katie Couric’s arrival at CBS News: “It’s somewhat jawdropping. Yet it’s an easy layup for the media to cover. And CBS has cleverly taken advantage of that.”
On whether Rosie O’Donnell will last on “The View”: “The show is designed to be a community of equals. Rosie is a very strong personality. I’m not sure, based on the historical makeup of the show, if this will be a success.”
And any advice for Meredith Vieira, taking over for Couric on “Today”?
Norville laughs. “I’m not sure she’d want advice from Deborah Norville! Seriously, she’ll be herself and be fine.”
Stoli finds a home
Steve Barnes, the Dave FM morning show co-host who recently sued his former colleagues at 99X for copyright infringement and defamation, has put his dog Stoli up for adoption, causing a stir among animal rights activists.
Barnes, in an e-mail, said that since he and his wife have had two children, Stoli has “not adapted well and has caused over $10,000 in damage to the house. Experts suggested that she would be better off living with more dogs. We are in no place to add dogs, so we made a family decision to find her a new home. It was a hard decision but had to be made as we could not correct the destructive problems.”
Some critics on the AJC Radio Talk blog blasted him for giving up on Stoli, who is 9 1/2 years old, but others defended his actions.
Atlantan Karen Brinker fostered Stoli as part of a foster dog rescue group called Aiding and A-Petting for two weeks. Brinker, who has two dogs, five cats and no children, said Barnes’ dog was an angel in her home.
She said that at first, she wasn’t getting any responses, because of Stoli’s age and all the talk of her destructiveness. But there’s a happy ending: Shannon Williamson, a former traffic manager at Z93 (the previous name for Dave FM), saw the Radio Talk blog about Stoli and agreed to adopt her. On Sunday, Brinker’s friend Philip Grossman flew Stoli up to Memphis, where Williamson lives. Williamson said her 14-year-old dog recently died and her current 8-year-old dog Iko needed the company. Brinker said she got so attached to Stoli that she cried as Stoli flew off.
Celebrity birthdays
Movie director Brian De Palma is 66. Guitarist Tommy Shaw of Styx is 53. Actress Kristy McNichol is 44. Actress Virginia Madsen (“Sideways”) is 43. Musician Moby is 41. Singer Harry Connick Jr. is 39. Atlanta rapper Ludacris is 29.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, 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.
