Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2004 > August
August 2004
Notes from an empty nest
*NOTE TO READERS: I promised, when I began writing the daily TV blog, that I wasn’t going to write about my personal life. I didn’t want it to become a diary filled with embarrassing revelations.
But television isn’t on my mind right now, even though I’m preparing to hunker down for four days of watching the Republican Convention. I wrote this little essay about what IS on my mind, and I hope some of you will understand and appreciate the brief diversion …*
This is the time of year when the scent of freshly sharpened pencils usually wafts through our house.
Colored folders, stacks of notebook paper and a brand-new (but soon to be smelly) gym bag are scattered about — along with fresh hopes for a happy and brilliant school year.
But this back-to-school year is different. There’s no eau de pencil, no school supplies. Instead, there’s a big suitcase and boxes to be packed, a one-way airplane ticket has been bought.
My baby boy is flying off to college in Boston. He’ll be gone by Labor Day and won’t be home until Christmas.
I’ll visit him in October for Parents’ Weekend, but he’s opting to spend Thanksgiving with a cousin in New Hampshire rather than fight crowded airports for two days at home before final exams arrive in early December.
So this is an exciting but not totally happy time in our house.
It’s the end of an era. I won’t be there to welcome him home after the first day of classes. My husband and I will be cell-phone parents, straining to read vocal intonations from a thousand miles away.
For the first time, I won’t get to meet his teachers or his new friends. I won’t get to check on homework or beg for details about his social life. I won’t spend weekends driving around Texas searching for cross-country track meets in the middle of nowhere.
And for the first extended time in 18 years, I won’t be able to sneak into his room and watch him sleeping.
He’s on his own, and so am I. He’ll do fine, but will I? The proverbial empty nest is going to be painfully empty — except for the dog, who will mourn in loud, obnoxious, houndlike fashion.
My husband and I work, so we won’t be sitting around wondering what to do with ourselves. We’re planning to have a more active social life with our friends. We’ll be available, now that we won’t be waiting for a car to pull in the driveway at curfew. Or the phone to ring with a semi-plausible excuse.
Parenting is a series of goodbyes — from weaning to school to driver’s licenses to college. You hope some hellos will be sprinkled among the goodbyes, and you hope the boy who leaves will become the man he seemed destined to be. And you hope he deals with the separation better than we will.
We’ve done our best, we love him more than he’ll ever know. And we’re proud he’s starting a new life on his own.
But we’re struggling with this goodbye, and so are parents everywhere, quiver-chinned moms and dads packing suitcases and buying one-way tickets to far away places. My best friend Missy, who lives in Washington, D.C., went through this trauma two years ago, so I asked for advice. Her reply is worth repeating:
“It’s tough sledding for a while. You just tuck your kid up under a sweet spot in your heart and move along, bringing him out when he’s around and keeping him safe while he’s gone.”
Maybe if I sharpen a few pencils …
Permalink | | Categories: Random thoughts
Kilborn ends his run
Boy, Craig Kilborn didn’t waste any time packing his bags and hitting the road.
Tonight is Kilborn’s last as host of CBS’ “The Late Late Show.” Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn and Marlee Matlin will be among the guests to bid him adieu. Also expected to make brief appearances, perhaps not in person, are TV’s Batman, Adam West; Martin Mull; and Wayne Newton.
To tell you the truth, I’m not mourning this loss because I never thought the guy was amusing … or particularly imaginative. Frankly, I thought he was dull.
Kilborn announced his retirement earlier this month, and although the move was said to be a surprise to CBS execs, everyone involved insisted there was no bad blood.
Kilborn said he was just tired of the gig, which he took over from Tom Snyder in 1999, and ready to move on. CBS said there was no argument over money or length of contract.
But such a sudden departure is rare. CBS has no one to replace Kilborn, forcing the show into reruns at a time when most shows are gearing up for the new fall season. Guest hosts will be rotated in until a new host is hired.
One change in late-night television can set off a domino effect, as happened when Johnny Carson retired from NBC’s “Tonight Show.” David Letterman, then hosting NBC’s “Late Night,” assumed he was in line to replace Carson. When NBC tapped Jay Leno instead, Letterman jumped ship to CBS, and Conan O’Brien was hired by NBC for the late spot.
The late-night wars this time around might be just as explosive.
Now speculation is bubbling that CBS will go after O’Brien, dangling the real possibility that Letterman will step down from “The Late Show” before Leno retires from “Tonight” and that O’Brien would replace Letterman.
Free at last … for the time being!
I’ve enjoyed watching the Olympics, but like everything else I do, I overdid it. Every night from 7 until 11, I was glued to NBC. From swim-and-gym to track, I was there.
I watched sports I had absolutely no interest in, such as rowing and beach volleyball. It’s been embarrassing, because members of my family quite naturally assume I’ve developed an obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Like a Pavlovian dog, I pant into the den the minute I hear the Olympic theme. Bob Costas has been my constant companion for two weeks, and sometimes I even talk to him. It’s beyond sad.
Clearly, it’s time to close this chapter in my viewing life and move on. Sunday night’s Olympics finale will free me up for healthier, more diversified viewing.
Next week I have a date with the Republicans, but that won’t gobble up every hour of prime time. I’ll be able to check on Jane Pauley’s new daytime talker (weekdays at 4 p.m. on KXAN) and see what’s cooking on some of those riveting reality shows, like Fox’s “Trading Spouses.”
Come to think of it, maybe I was better off with Costas.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment
FX rescues ‘Rescue Me’
Denis Leary has accepted FX’s invitation to continue creating and starring in “Rescue Me”, the best new series of summer.
The cable network has ordered 13 additional episodes, which is good news. The bad news? We probably won’t see them until the middle of 2005. Such is the excruciating and inexplicable delay in some of the better cable dramas.
By the time “Rescue Me” returns, will we even remember this fine series? Will we remember that Leary’s character talks to his dead cousin, who was killed in the terrorist attacks of 9-11? Will we remember that his personal life is in shambles even as he soldiers on, fighting fires and internal demons?
We’ll probably remember a recent and surprisingly graphic sex scene that was extreme even by cable standards, but will we remember the emotionally probing scenes as well?
“The Sopranos” is famous for production lag-time. Months turn into years as we wait for new seasons to begin — and new seasons often consist of only a dozen episodes instead of the traditional 22. In fact, the next time we’ll see Tony Soprano in non-rerun status will be 2006.
Too bad. It doesn’t have to be this way. “Nip/Tuck” manages to keep seasons rolling without those annoying delays, and so do “The Shield” and “Monk.”
“Rescue Me” debuted in June and airs Wednesday nights at 9. By basic cable standards, it’s a mega-hit, averaging 2 million viewers for each first-run episode. That’s better than any other new cable show this summer, including all the super-hyped reality stuff.
The Bush campaign has ticked off the U.S. Olympic Committee with an ad showing swimmers from Iraq and Afghanistan that states, “This Olympics, there will be two more free nations, and two fewer terrorist regimes.”
The USOC has asked President Bush’s folks to pull the ad, which we Texans will never see anyway because we’re not residents of one of those politically coveted “swing” states. Several upset Iraqi athletes have complained about the president using them as political pawns.
The USOC, along with the International Olympic Committee, has the authority to regulate the use of anything involving the Olympics. The USOC has exclusive rights to the five-ring symbol and the word “Olympics.” A 1999 act of Congress also states that the Olympics is “nonpolitical and may not promote the candidacy of an individual seeking public office.”
In the overall scheme of campaign nastiness, this tempest seems pretty lame … but then I’m not an Iraqi soccer player.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment
KEYE defends Flores firing, viewers respond
Sports anchor Robert Flores, fired last week by KEYE for uttering an expletive on a taped segment that was never meant to air, is getting a lot of support from the public.
And perhaps as a result, KEYE’s management, which had declined to comment for our article in Tuesday’s newspaper, has decided to share some thoughts.
Michael Reed, on the job as general manager for only three days when the incident occurred, wants people to know he feels bad for Flores but he believes the firing was justified.
“I really do feel for Robert,” Reed said today. “It’s a tough situation for him to be in, but our company has a zero-tolerance policy on this. If you do slip up and say something, you should make sure it doesn’t go on the air. That’s where Robert’s accountability comes into play. He should have made sure that tape went no further.”
The tape was made Monday night for Tuesday’s early morning news. When Flores muttered the f-word after a loud noise in the studio, he assumed the subsequent re-take was taped over the flub. Instead, it somehow survived and wound up days later, on the air on KEYE’s Thursday morning news.
Reed says the tape operator was fired and the technical director resigned. He declined to identify those former employees. He says the “bad take” wound up on the air “through a series of mishaps.” The decision to fire Flores, Reed says, was “corporate-wide.” KEYE is owned by CBS, which is owned by Viacom Inc.
Until the article in the American-Statesman was published Tuesday and several radio programs began discussing Flores’ firing, Reed says KEYE received little response to the situation. He says they’ve still received only a few calls and e-mails.
But people are certainly calling and e-mailing the American-Statesman. Among the responses:
“This is a young man who made a silly mistake. I do not like this particular word, but have we not all cursed or used foul language at some stage in our life that we have regretted?”
“I am not sure I have heard of a more ridiculous circumstance for a firing. They should fire the person in charge of editing the tape. These type of incidents make blooper reels in prime time, and everyone laughs about them.”
“Isn’t that the very same word recently employed by Vice President Dick Cheney in the United States Senate against Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont?!? He didn’t get fired as a result, and he expressed no remorse whatsoever.”
“KEYE-TV’s decision to fire Robert Flores for the reason given is ludicrous. . . . Robert has done his work and is a victim of corporate decision-makers who not only do not know what they are doing, but are afraid of making the right decisions. He has been a victim of someone else’s mistake, and he has been punished unfairly.”
“Did he make a mistake in choosing the word he used when startled? Yes. I think a bigger mistake was made in production by airing an out-take that had no other value than to ruin his reputation. An even bigger mistake was made by management in firing Robert.”
Permalink | | Categories: Local news
Kerry heading to ‘The Daily Show’
I’m a huge fan of Jon Stewart and “The Daily Show.” I think he’s smart, witty and thought-provoking in a highly amusing way.
But I confess I’m perplexed that the show is commonly perceived as a serious news program. And not just by viewers.
Tonight at 10, for example, Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry heads for “The Daily Show” for his first national TV interview since the Swift Boaters for Truth began attacking his Vietnam service.
Presumably Kerry doesn’t think the ruckus over Vietnam is funny, so presumably he chose to chat with Stewart for some other reason. Maybe he wanted to be on “The Daily Show” to help lighten up his ponderous image.
“The Daily Show” started out as a satirical program, in the vein of the Weekend Updates on “Saturday Night Live.” But somewhere along the way, it became a news source for millions, especially the 18- to 34-year-old crowd. And political candidates take it very seriously.
All of the original 10 Democratic presidential contenders made appearances. Sen. John Edwards even announced his candidacy in an interview with Stewart, prompting the host to gently remind Edwards: “This is a fake news show . . . You know you’ll probably need to do this for real somewhere else.”
TV critics, apparently determined to embarrass themselves, even awarded “The Daily Show” its Best News Show award last month. To his credit, Stewart chastised the group when he accepted.
It’s not Stewart’s fault that viewers and newsmakers have begun taking him seriously. Are we sick of serious news programs? Or weary of serious politicians who make news? It’s hard to tell, but this trend of getting news from political-minded comedians is just a little bit creepy.
Yes, we’re watching!
Midway through the Olympics last weekend, NBC posted an average of 26.2 million viewers. That’s up 14 percent from the network’s coverage of the 2000 Summer Games from Sydney.
Especially strong numbers for gymnastics and swimming undoubtedly helped the overall average the first week. Track and field events may level off the ratings a bit this week, leading up to the closing ceremony on Sunday.
But considering early speculation by some that 1,210 hours of coverage on six cable channels besides the broadcast network might be a disaster, NBC is happy as a peacock. The 24-hour cable coverage clearly hasn’t pulled viewers away from NBC’s prime-time, which is good news for the network’s advertisers.
Permalink | | Categories: News coverage
Jane, we hardly knew ye …
Television is such an intimate medium … beams right into our living rooms and bedrooms, cozies right up to us like a member of the family.
So, we think we know the people in the box we see every day. We assume David Letterman is a wiseguy and Katie Couric is sweet as cotton candy. Martin Sheen is presidential, and Dennis Franz is a temper tantrum waiting to happen.
Once in a while our assumptions blow up, and we realize that folks on TV are not really our close friends. We don’t know them the way we think we do.
Last week’s revelations by former “Today” and “Dateline” anchor Jane Pauley caught us by surprise. This scrubbed and wholesome woman with the perfect career, perfect husband (“Doonesbury” cartoonist Garry Trudeau) and perfect children had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2001.
How could someone so healthy-looking actually be sick?
Right before our eyes, she was battling manic depression, and we didn’t even suspect. Always calm and cool on the air, she fought her demons secretly, even after being hospitalized in the spring of 2001.
“My tides were fluctuating — back and forth — sometimes so fast they seemed to be spinning,” Pauley reveals in her new memoir, “Skywriting: A Life out of the Blue,” which hits bookstores Tuesday.
In excerpts published in People magazine, Pauley says her disorder was triggered by a rare reaction to drugs she was taking for hives. The drugs also caused her to gain weight, which viewers probably did notice as she began to expand on “Dateline.”
I noticed but assumed the 53-year-old Pauley was having that mid-life bloat that a lot of women in their 50s have. It just made her more the Everywoman we’ve always assumed her to be.
Actually, the revelation of bipolar disorder does make her more like us. She’s not perfect; she’s a real person. Television is her job. We’re not her friends. Would any of us announce our personal or health problems at our workplace, except maybe to close friends? Of course not.
After treatment, including taking lithium, Pauley says she’s gotten her condition under control. She’s making publicity rounds this week, promoting not only her book but her new daytime talk show, which debuts Aug. 30.
I hope Pauley revealed her condition because she wanted to, not because she felt she owed viewers this inside information. She doesn’t owe us anything. Like everybody else on TV, she has a right to a private life.
If Couric is crabby in real life, we shouldn’t care. If Letterman is really a sweetheart of a guy at home, we shouldn’t be surprised.
Permalink | | Categories: News coverage
‘Nip/Tuck’ to nip Rivers
Somehow, we knew this would happen. And now we can’t wait to see it.
Joan Rivers, stand-up comic and comedic fashionista, has signed on to play herself in the ultimate guest shot on “Nip/Tuck.”
The FX drama, of course, is about a couple of very busy but personally challenged plastic surgeons in Miami. Rivers, of course, has had so much plastic surgery she can barely blink. She admits to it, she makes fun of it, and, well, she’s proud of it.
The episode will air on the eagerly anticipated “Nip/Tuck” season finale Oct. 5. Mark your calendars, because this one should be a doozy.
“This is like John Gotti being on ‘The Sopranos,’ ” creator-executive producer Ryan Murphy told the Philadelphia Inquirer this week. “It’s the ultimate typecasting.”
Rivers is 71 years old with a face and neck as smooth as a baby’s bottom. If we didn’t know she started out on “The Ed Sullivan Show” more than 40 years ago (looking older then than she does now), we’d never guess her senior citizen status.
The “Nip/Tuck” finale will feature Rivers sneaking away from New York and hordes of media to undergo more nipping and tucking from Drs. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Christian Troy (Julian McMahon). She proposes “the mother of all plastic-surgery operations,” and we can only guess what that might be.
Must-See TV: Olympics
If you’re not watching NBC’s marathon Olympics coverage — 70 hours a day on seven channels — you’re probably not watching much television these days.
Besides reruns, the competing broadcast networks have little to offer. A newsmagazine here, a “Big Brother” episode there. It’s pitiful.
Tonight non-Olympics fans can catch a thrilling pre-season NFL game on Fox between the New York Giants and the Carolina Panthers. On ABC there’s the brilliant (not) big-screen comedy “Road Trip” with goofy Tom Green.
If you’re not watching the Olympics, you’re missing some fabulous drama. This week has featured “swim ‘n’ gym,” the two most popular sports at the Summer Games. Swimming has been spectacular, and not just because the Americans are kicking Speedo.
And then there’s Paul Hamm, the muscular red-head who flew off the vault in a bid for the men’s all-around gymnastics title last night. Although no American man has ever won the gold in this event, Hamm went into Wednesday night’s round with a better-than-average shot.
But after crashing into the judges’ table off the vault, Hamm looked like a goner. Commentator Tim Daggett pronounced him dead and buried. “He’ll be lucky to get a bronze,” Daggett mused as Hamm dragged himself to the sidelines.
But then came the parallel bars and then the high bar. Hamm was spectacular, and even though he kept shaking his head and saying, “No, no, no. It can’t be,” he won the gold. It was great TV, great drama, a truly magnificent moment — much better than “Big Brother” or a “CSI” rerun.
Breathe Easy . . .
You can stop worrying now. Paris Hilton’s haute couture Chihuahua has been found. The hotel heiress’s pooch Tinkerbell went missing last week, Paris posted a $5,000 reward and now, miraculously, Miss Tink is back in her Hollywood Hills home.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment
Tinkerbell is missing, Paris needs help
Pity poor Tinkerbell. Not the lovely sprite of Neverland but the pooch perpetually clutched by Paris Hilton.
The sad, sad news broke yesterday that Paris’ beloved high-fashion Chihuahua disappeared last Wednesday from her luxurious Hollywood Hills home and hasn’t been seen since.
Paris is offering a $5,000 reward — a pittance considering the hotel heiress is worth about a billion bucks. Heck, the pooch’s Louis Vuitton carrying case is worth more than that. So are her pink Chanel coats, sweaters and matching suede sneakers.
And we won’t even speculate about the value of the diamond collar.
Tinkerbell, of course, rose to fame (she already had a fortune) in her mistress’s evenly tanned and toned arms on “The Simple Life.” Despite her pampered existence, the pooch apparently suffered from stress and was seeing a doggie shrink in Beverly Hills. I’m not making this up. Check out a recent riveting expose of Tink.
Los Angeles police are investigating, as you might imagine. Given Tinkerbell’s super-rich status, we, along with L.A.’s finest, suspect this might not be a simple case of doggie-runaway. This could be kidnapping or, heaven forbid, murder-robbery.
To make matters worse, Tinkerbell is unlikely to have natural survival skills. After all, she’s spent her entire life in Paris’s arms. It’s hard to imagine her performing a Lassie-like escape to journey home.
Paris, 23, has not had a happy month. Her home was burglarized and jewelry stolen; she appeared in tabloids with bruises on her arms and lips; she broke up with her boyfriend; and she lost sister Nicky as a roommate when Nicky tied the knot in Las Vegas.
Without Tinkerbell to comfort her, what’s the poor heiress to do? We send our sympathies and hope Tinkerbell is returned to the lap of luxury ASAP.
What we’re missing . . .
I vaguely recall being sick of all the political ads on TV during the spring primaries. But now that we’re in the thick of a very important presidential campaign, I feel abandoned.
I’m trying not to take it personally. It’s a geographical problem. The Republicans figure President Bush has this state sewed up, so they’re not wasting valuable ad dollars here. And the Democrats agree. If John Kerry’s chances in Texas are seriously slim, why spend ad money here?
So we can only read about the barrage of commercials from both camps and occasionally see snippets on the news.
But in battleground states, such as Florida (where I recently visited and became a surprise hurricane correspondent), Bush and Kerry are all over television. They are lovingly filmed in heavenly light with inspiring words and music surrounding them. They look and sound so fabulous that Floridians will want to vote for both of them.
It would be an important public service if someone (hello, PBS?) would produce a special with all the commercials from each presidential candidate and run them in states like ours that have been politically deprived. We do need to see them, if only for amusement.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment
Good times in Olympics prime time
NBC is offering a gazillion hours of Olympics coverage on seven channels, but most of us are getting the Athens Games from NBC in prime time.
I work in a newsroom, so I already know the outcome of these tape-delayed competitions. But I’m watching anyway, because knowing the results and seeing them are two entirely different things. Plus, I’m a fiend for the Olympics.
So far, swimming and gymnastics have been the best to watch. NBC promised to cut back on the jingoism, and they’ve kept that promise. We’ve actually seen wee features on Australian swimmers and Japanese and Romanian gymnasts. It’s a relief to see coverage that reflects the worldwide nature of the games, and not just the Americans.
It’s also nice to see competitors who are happy to be there and thrilled to win whatever they win. Despite NBC’s constant shrieking about swimmer Michael Phelps’ challenge to Mark Spitz’s seven golds, Phelps has refused to feel like a failure because he’s won medals of a different color.
“I just wanted to win one gold medal, and I’ve done that,” a grinning Phelps told a despondent reporter after one non-gold race. “I’m just here to do well and have fun.”
And the U.S. men’s gymnastics team was positively giddy about winning a silver medal last night, even though NBC had a running wake for the death of the gold.
Bob Costas is satin-smooth as host, and most of the analysts are doing a good job, too. Swimming commentator Rowdy Gaines and gymnastics commentator Tim Daggett need to calm down, though, or they’re going to hyperventilate on the air.
What’s going on after prime?
Geez, I was out of town for four days, and late-night television underwent a major earthquake.
In case you haven’t heard (maybe you decided to welcome Hurricane Charley, too), Craig Kilborn up and quit. Out of the blue he marched into his CBS boss’s office and announced the end of his 5-year reign as host of “The Late Late Show.”
Kilborn’s program is regularly beaten in the ratings by NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” but CBS apparently was not unhappy with Kilborn. In fact, he was expected to renew his contract, which expires later this year. Even more surprising, Kilborn was not asking for a monumental pay raise.
“The Late Late Show” is produced by David Letterman’s production company, and Letterman will be intimately involved in hiring Kilborn’s replacement.
Speculation is rampant that Letterman and CBS will make a serious run at NBC’s O’Brien, offering him tons of money. And possibly guaranteeing him Letterman’s job when he steps down.
Letterman has not indicated that retirement is near, but most people believe he’ll leave late-night long before workaholic Jay Leno does. And O’Brien has made no secret of his desire to shift to a time period when more than a handful of groggy viewers can find him.
The trickle-down effect in late-night talk shows is legendary. Letterman, who hosted NBC’s late-late program for years, wanted Johnny Carson’s job. But when he was passed over in favor of Leno, Letterman jumped from NBC to CBS.
Kilborn will depart as soon as a replacement is found. No word on what he plans to do, but his resume includes a stint on ESPN and Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”
Permalink | | Categories: Sports on TV
Charley in person, not on TV
Funny thing about working for a newspaper … No matter what your job title is, you’re always a reporter on call.
Which is why my quickie Florida vacation last week turned into a date with Hurricane Charley.
I flew to Sarasota last Thursday for the tail-end of a weeklong 50th birthday celebration with my friend Anne Rodgers, a former American-Statesman editor and current features editor at the Palm Beach Post.
Both papers are owned by Cox, so technically we’re on the same payroll. We’ve pretty much always been on the same wave-length.
The beach house Anne had rented for a gaggle of her gal pals had to be abandoned three days early because Anna Maria Island, where it was perched overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, had to be evacuated.
That was a tad disappointing, but we figured we still had a few days of friendship time together. We decided to drive across state to Palm Beach and have some fun at her house. Over dinner in Sarasota, we talked about what we would do on the Atlantic side of Florida instead of the Gulf.
As we merrily sipped our drinks, her cell phone rang. The editor of the Palm Beach Post wanted to know where we were and what we were doing, because Charley was heading toward Sarasota. And, of course, there we were.
Next thing we knew we were trolling Wal-Mart for rain slickers and notebooks. Then we were searching for a room for the night. That turned out to be the toughest challenge of the entire adventure.
Beach-front communities and the barrier islands had evacuated, and rooms were scarce as a dry seagull. Anne and I momentarily considered camping in the one hotel we were fairly certain did have a room — the Ritz Carlton — but then we thought how that would look on an expense account and drove on.
So we wound up squeezed into a tiny room at the Days Inn — along with about 75 workers for Florida Power and Light who were prepared to wipe up the mess after Charley departed.
Friday morning, after a fitful night in a cramped motel full of anxious, evacuated home-owners, we hit the Red Cross shelters to interview the huddled masses. Be glad we live in Austin, where hurricanes aren’t a major threat. These poor evacuees were sad and terrified, with no idea what if anything they would go home to in Charley’s wake.
Neither Anne nor I had a computer, so we scratched out our vignettes longhand and dictated them over the phone. We reported for the Palm Beach Post’s online editions, contributed to Saturday’s main stories in the paper and even managed to get a story of our own with a joint byline. If that doesn’t seal a friendship between two reporters in a hurricane, nothing will.
The whole adventure was oddly exhilarating. Not exactly a relaxing vacation, but a fine addition to my résumé and a blood-pumping adventure. TV critics don’t often cover major weather disasters — and certainly not for a paper a thousand miles from home.
Now I’m looking foward to calmly watching the Olympics for a couple of weeks. No matter how many gold medals Michael Phelps win, it won’t be as thrilling as getting up-close-and-personal with mighty Charley.
Permalink | | Categories: News coverage
Look out! Wallace is coming!
How many 86-year-old men could be threatening enough in a parking dispute to warrant handcuffs?
Credit for this feat goes to “60 Minutes” star Mike Wallace. Last night, the octogenarian was cuffed and taken to police headquarters after a dispute outside Luke’s, an Upper East Side restaurant.
WCBS-TV and The Associated Press reported that city parking inspectors were grilling Wallace’s limo driver about being double-parked in front of the restaurant.
Wallace joined the fray and, according to the inspectors, became “overly assertive and disrespectful.” The restaurant owner told WCBS that the inspectors “manhandled” Wallace, but the inspectors said they “feared for their safety.”
Isn’t being assertive, disrespectful and even a little intimidating how Wallace has earned a living for more than 60 years, firing questions at corrupt government and corporate executives?
The inspectors didn’t take kindly to Wallace’s intervention and hauled him to the nearest police precinct. He was cited for disorderly conduct and released. He has an October court date to settle the matter.
Wonder if Andy Rooney will make fun of Wallace and his rumble with the law …
Two-by-Two This Fall
I’m putting together our fall TV preview, and I’m beginning to think of Noah’s ark. Shows are coming in twos. Twins are everywhere on the prime-time schedule.
There are two boxing reality shows — Fox’s “The Next Great Champ” and NBC’s “The Contender.” And there are two mommy-trading shows — Fox’s “Trading Spouses” and ABC’s “Wife Swap.”
But wait! There’s more.
Two crime spinoffs: NBC’s “Law & Order: Trial by Jury” and “CSI: New York.”
Two really bad sketch comedies: the WB’s “Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show” and “Blue Collar TV.”
Two big-money giveaways: ABC’s “The Benefactor,” with Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban tossing cash, and “The Billionaire,” with British rich man Richard Branson doing the same.
I have no idea why this strikes me as interesting, but it does. Shows marching along in pairs just seems so incredibly ridiculous.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment
Who will take the fall on ‘CSI: Miami’?
Maybe “CSI: Miami” is jealous of all the attention “CSI” has gotten this summer. Never mind that the attention hasn’t exactly been positive. Any press is good press, as the saying goes.
The Miami offshoot has let it slip that it will kill off a cast member in the season opener on Sept. 20.
You’ll recall that last month George Eads and Jorja Fox boycotted the “CSI” back-to-work day in an ill-fated salary dispute. They were summarily fired and then, after eating a hefty portion of crow, returned to their supporting roles. At the same salary.
“CSI: Miami” executive producer Ann Donahue was coy with the Hollywood trade papers about the pending departure, saying only that one of the regulars will “die in the line of duty.”
It won’t be scene-chewing David Caruso, whose Horatio Caine is the show’s unabashed hero. (Actually, his sunglasses get more screen time, but that’s quibbling.) Besides, Caruso has already experienced the embarrassment of ditching a popular series (“NYPD Blue”).
Nor is it likely to be Sofia Milos, whose character, Detective Yelina Salas, has become increasingly prominent and could become a romantic entanglement for Horatio. Never mind that she’s his brother’s widow.
That leaves just about everybody else as likely victims. Emily Procter, who plays Calleigh Duquesne, has left a hit show before — “The West Wing” — but probably won’t leave “Miami,” where she’s had more of a starring role.
So, by process of elimination, the speculation falls on Rory Cochrane (investigator Tim Speedle) and Adam Rodriguez (investigator Eric Delko). Since a Miami-based show with only one Latino character (Yelina) would be a no-no, my money is on Cochrane to take the fall.
Here she comes again …
Shannen Doherty has more lives than a cat.
The former malcontent on “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Charmed” will join the cast of Fox’s summer-to-fall sudser “North Shore” as a really bad girl.
She’ll play the illegitimate daughter of hotel big-wig Walter Booth (Christopher McDonald) and the new sister of Nicole (Brooke Burns).
Doherty’s bad-girl image in Hollywood precedes her, which may be why the producers are referring to her role as “a multiepisode story arc” rather than a regular gig. Known for partying in her spare time and being difficult on the set, she could be something of a risk.
But Fox is hoping the accompanying publicity will give “North Shore” the boost it needs. (In season-to-date rankings, it’s 170th out of 200-plus series.) The network must be optimistic about its future, though, because another dozen episodes have been ordered.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment
August football? Yuck.
Feh! Football in August!
I’m well aware that this is Texas, and Texans love their football, but I just can’t get in the mood for pigskin when it’s 90-plus degrees. At night.
Tonight at 7, ABC has its annual Preseason Hall of Fame Game, which really is just a chance to give the “Monday Night Football” guys a chance to practice. The Denver Broncos play the Washington Redskins. So on top of being too hot— and too early — for a football game, the teams aren’t exactly the hot ones to watch.
Football is a fall sport and should be played when leaves fall and temperatures dip beneath body temperature. It should be played when sweaters, not tank tops, are worn outside and when the swimming pool doesn’t feel like bath water.
The seasonal calendar has been out of whack for years, and somebody should lead the charge to fix it. Maybe TV and the NFL should step up to the task. Maybe if football didn’t start during summer heat waves, other fall things wouldn’t start in summer either.
Like school. OK, I’m beginning to sound like Andy Rooney, but I’m on a roll, and my eyebrows really aren’t as bushy as his.
Anyway, school should start after Labor Day and end after Memorial Day. Back-to-school clothes should be long pants and long sleeves, and sweat should have dried up long ago.
And the fall TV season should start in a big burst the week of the Emmy Awards, not dribble out in July and August. This year, that would be Sept. 19. Let the networks pursue their year-round seasons — with summer series that end after Labor Day — but keep fall premieres intact.
Fall isn’t supposed to be an extension of summer. It’s unnatural. I say we start correcting the problem by taking football off TV in August.
Just a thought …
The Shame!!
My DVD player recently died. It swallowed up one of my fall previews and refused to spit it out. The gulped object was NBC’s pilot for “Joey.” Wonder if that’s a sign …
Anyway, the DVD player is dead, so when my husband and I decided to rent a movie last weekend, we had to wander through the pitiful and mostly empty aisles of tapes. I have strong anecdotal evidence now that VCRs are on the road to extinction.
All the shiny new movies are out on DVD; the also-rans and ancient flicks are on tape. Standing in the check-out line with a tape is like wandering into an electronics store and asking for a Hi-Fi. Sad, sad, sad.
Permalink | | Categories: Sports on TV
‘Gotti’ is A&E’s highest-rated show ever
How sad is this? A&E, the cable network once synonymous with excellence, hit an all-time ratings high Monday with the debut of “Growing Up Gotti,” a domestic reality show starring the daughter of the late mob kingpin John Gotti.
Television is a ratings game, we know that. And there’s nothing wrong with balance. A lineup that’s all ballet, classical music and British theater would get boring after a while. And a lineup that’s all cheesy reality would be, well, worse than boring.
So in theory there’s nothing wrong with having blond-maned, Botox-infused Victoria Gatti shouting at her loutish teenage sons on A&E. But in reality (pardon the pun), it’s tragic that this is the most-watched series in the network’s 20-year history, drawing 3.2 million viewers.
It was also the top-rated series Monday night on basic cable.
“All of us at A&E are thrilled by the premiere ratings,” Abbe Raven, A&E’s executive vice-president and general manager, crowed in a press release. “Victoria and her sons proved to be compelling real-life characters that make for great television. We are delighted that our quality real-life series strategy has paid off.”
In case you missed it, “Growing Up Gotti” lurks inside Victoria’s enormous (and enormously tacky) Long Island mansion. A&E describes her as “a multidimensional working mom.” Sons Frank, Carmine, and John are called “the Hottie Gottis.” You get the picture.
A&E still has the loftier fare, including the riveting “MI-5,” about a British counter-terrorism unit operating in a new age of international espionage, and “The Last King,” a miniseries about the turbulent life of King Charles II.
But the push for bigger ratings has driven A&E to more mainstream programming. “Biography,” the long-running profile series, has become the network’s staple. And true-crime series such as “American Justice” and “Cold Case Files” have brought in a new batch of viewers.
Last season A&E added “Airline,” a reality show that chronicles travelers interacting with Southwest Airline’s ever-cheery personnel, and “Family Plots,” a reality show about a family that owns and operates a mortuary.
A&E proudly points out that it has the most prime-time Emmy nominations (24) of any basic cable network this year. Congratulations. But hey, A&E, try not to turn into a combination of E! and Fox, OK?
And speaking of ratings …
CNN’s coverage of the Democratic National Convention last Thursday night drew 2.8 million households, beating Fox News like a drum.
But before CNN begins bragging about trouncing the No. 1 rated cable news network, let’s think about why this happened.
Recent surveys by several media organizations have found that cable news networks tend to be politically divided: Fox’s audience overwhelmingly describes itself as conservative, while CNN’s audience describes itself as moderate to liberal.
Given that information, it stands to reason that Fox’s audience wouldn’t have much interest in the Democratic convention anyway.
So it’s not that CNN drew viewers away from Fox but that Fox viewers simply weren’t watching when John Kerry accepted the nomination.
Permalink | | Categories: Reality TV
Yikes! There’s a ‘Man in the Mirror’!
Is there anything we don’t already know — or suspect— about Michael Jackson?
Precious little, although some of us may still wonder how the heck Jackson transformed himself from a wildly talented black man into a creepy white man on trial for child molestation.
The answer would require deep psychoanalysis, but pure conjecture isn’t even addressed in VH1’s sleazy bio-pic “Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story” (Friday at 8 p.m.).
Instead, the film starring Flex Alexander (UPN’s “One on One”) simply splashes all the bizarre behavior with which we’re already familiar across the screen. The end result is a freak show that doesn’t even hint at the talent that Jackson has squandered.
Of course there’s a legal reason why we don’t hear any of Jackson’s songs. The singer did not cooperate (gee, wonder why?) with the production, and thus declined to allow his music to be used.
The actor portraying Jackson mimics his high-pitched, breathy speaking voice and shows off his dancing skills. But beneath heavy (and, frankly, quite terrifying) white makeup, he looks more like a stop-action cartoon than a human being.
The litany of Jackson’s tragic and allegedly sordid life seep out: abuse from his father, a childhood further ruined by constant touring, an obsession with plastic surgery, dangling his blond tow-headed baby out of a hotel window and romping with unrelated young boys at his fantastic Neverland Ranch.
Cheesy production values, on top of cheesy subject matter, make “Man in the Mirror” one of the most skin-crawlingly awful flicks to come along in years.
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Here’s a convoluted concept for a reality show: contestants are asked to write a script for a new sitcom and present it to the viewing public.
“Situation: Comedy” is the show, and it comes from “Will & Grace” star Sean Hayes. It’ll air sometime next season — if the response warrants.
Sounds like a gimmicky way to solve the comedy-is-dead situation to me. Instead of hiring professional writers, the reality show’s producers will try to cull ratings from the creative process and come out with an actual show, too.
It’s “American Idol” for writers, which is a weird idea by itself.
The process, which will stretch into a 10-week run on Bravo, begins with script submission. Judges will winnow the field to the five best, and the writers will head for Hollywood to meet with industry honchos.
After more rounds of judging and pitching, the two best scripts will be transformed into 15-minute presentations to air on Bravo. Viewers will observe rewrites, casting, rehearsals and tapings. And then they’ll vote between the Final Two.
The winner gets $25,000 and a deal with one of Hollywood’s best agency’s, Creative Artists.
Interested? “Situation: Comedy” wannabes can submit scripts on Bravo’s contestant Web site.
If you win, be sure to let your friendly TV blogger know.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment
Polygamy, stunt movie and swimsuit TV
Leave it to HBO — “It’s not TV … It’s HBO” — to come up with a drama series about a guy with three spousal units.
Yep, “Big Love,” which will premiere sometime next year, is a series about a polygamist. Wonder why they didn’t call it “My Three Wives”?
Although it may sound slightly ridiculous, the series has an impressive pedigree.
Created by Will Scheffer (“In the Gloaming”) and Mark Olsen, it stars Bill Paxton as the Utah man with a busy domestic life. Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin have signed on to play his devoted wives.
Supporting players include Bruce Dern, Harry Dean Stanton and Grace Zabriskie.
Oh, and Tom Hanks is billed as a co-executive producer, which probably means he used his name and influence to get the project off the ground.
Wonder if the series will even get on the air in Utah, which outlawed polygamy years ago and isn’t thrilled when the topic pops up and garners bad publicity.
Q: When is a movie not a movie?
A: When it’s the prize in a reality show contest.
Tonight’s “Bet Your Life” on NBC (at 7 p.m., if you’re desperate enough to watch), features “Next Action Star” winners Corinne van Ryck de Groot and Sean Carrigan. They get to deal with flaming cars, helicopters, gunfire, falling from tall things and big explosions.
At first I thought this must be a Groucho Marx bio-pic. But unfortunately, it’s not “You Bet Your Life.”
Billy Zane, a real actor apparently low on mortgage money, plays a sadistic villain named Joseph.
The story is a loose adaptation of Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game.” Loosely based because it’s only loosely a movie.
Fenneman, lower the duck.
Smile, you’re on S.I.’s cover and TV!
Last year Sports Illustrated hyped its always-popular swimsuit issue by holding a nationwide competition for the bod to grace the cover.
This year the magazine has struck a deal with NBC to turn the search into a reality show, “Sport Illustrated’s Fresh Faces Competition.” The six-episode series will debut in early 2005 and end with the release of the Feb. 15 S.I. swimsuit edition.
In casting calls across this great land of ours, magazine editors will be looking for a “combination of beauty, athleticism and personality.” In other words, matchstick models need not apply.
After the two finalists are photographed in teeny-weeny bikinis at exotic locales, viewers will get to vote for the winner.
Besides the honor of appearing on the S.I. cover, the winner will receive a $1 million modeling contract.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment
Gotti goes to reality TV
When the reality craze began heating up with dating, survival and makeover show a few years ago, a couple of us in the newsroom decided to come up with funny parodies.
Bad idea. The problem we faced then — and certainly now — is that it’s impossible to exaggerate reality shows. We’ve got people trading spouses and hiring plastic surgeons to make them look like their favorite celebrities.
Now we’ve got cameras trained on a mafia diva, a filthy-rich version of Roseanne Barr’s domestic goddess.
“Growing Up Gotti” takes us inside the sprawling Long Island mansion of Victoria Gotti, daughter of John Gotti. Remember him? The “Dapper Don,” who died in prison two years ago, was the fabled (and wildly popular) boss of the Gambino crime family.
Victoria, who has platinum blond hair that cascades past her rear end and wears what appears to be sausage casing, has cashed in on her mob connections for years. She has a newspaper gossip column and has published three novels. Two more books are on the way.
Her new TV show, which airs Mondays at 8:30 p.m. on A&E and arrived last night, is a less humorous version of “The Sopranos.” And a meaner version of “The Osbournes.” At least on the rock star’s reality show and the HBO drama, the family seemed to love each other.
The Gottis mostly yell, hit and hurl insults at each other. Still sporting a grape-sized diamond from ex-hubby Carmine Agnello (serving time for racketeering and tax evasion), Victoria would have us believe she’s just a stressed-out, hard-working single mom.
Her teenage sons Carmine, Frank and John sulk when they aren’t fighting with each other or shouting at their mom. On Mother’s Day they have breakfast catered (what sweet and thoughtful lads!), but then lunge into a fistfight.
I have to admit I got a chuckle out of the mansion, which is grand on the outside (except for the mud and sewage-infested pool) and terrifically tacky on the inside. A large framed portrait of the Dapper Don graces a table. There’s lots of marble and leopard-skin.
Victoria likes to crack wise about her mob connections, but some of the lines are uncomfortably not funny. After a miserable blind date, she tells the limo driver she’ll pay him $1,000 to “take him to a ditch and roll him in.”
Considering that the Gambino family has been responsible for dozens of real-life deaths, it’s hard to laugh at that.
Calls and e-mails …
Columnists love hearing from readers. It’s the only way we know people are actually paying attention to our work.
But some folks seem to think I’ve got way more power than I do. I’ve had readers scold me for canceling a show and yell at me for putting something truly awful on the air. A recent caller wondered why I got rid of “Frasier.” Hell-ooo!
If I had such power, we’d be spared stuff like “Growing Up Gotti.” Dozens of people were confused when I wrote about the British spy dramas on BBC America. If you have to ask what digital cable is, you don’t have it and you can’t see those shows.
One man recently called wanting me to tell him what day, time and channel all his favorite shows are on. He doesn’t read the American-Statesman’s TV listings or any other listings for that matter. Nor does he use his on-screen guide. Apparently he just picks up the phone and asks. Odd way to tune in.
Despite a few crackpots and cranks, I love getting calls, letters and e-mails, so keep ‘em coming. And thanks for reading.
Permalink | | Categories: Reality TV
Cartman is coming! Cartman is coming!
If “Sex and the City” can move from HBO to basic cable’s TBS without losing its punch (or Samantha’s raucous sex life), why can’t “South Park” be edited for syndication?
It can and will. “South Park” will enter the syndication market in the fall of 2005. The potty-mouth boys from Colorado will be seen on broadcast stations in more than 85 percent of the country, according to industry trade papers.
No word yet on whether an Austin station has bought the reruns.
Of course there is a difference between basic cable and broadcast restrictions. The theory is broadcast channels are free and therefore shouldn’t inflict foul language, nudity and excessive violence on the airwaves.
Cable has restrictions, but they are considerably looser. The language, nudity and sex on “Nip/Tuck” would never play on broadcast TV; nor would the violence on “The Shield.”
With the possible exception of some serious scatological content (including Mr. Hanky) on “South Park,” the transition to over-the-air TV may not be that difficult. After all, foul language, especially from Cartman, is bleeped on the show routinely — it’s become part of the cartoon’s conceit.
Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker brought their round, cut-out kids to Comedy Central in August 1997. The duo has never been happy with the bleepin’ censorship on their show, but they’ve taken it (and the millions the show has earned them) in stride. Another bleep or two for syndication won’t hurt.
Elvis is back!
Former President Bill Clinton took a break from his book promotion tour to stir up passion and nostalgia at last week’s Democratic National Convention. Looking newly slender and energized, he was a huge hit in Boston.
Now he’s headed for “The Late Show With David Letterman” Tuesday night. Both Bill and Hillary routinely take comic abuse from Letterman, but that hasn’t kept them away. Apparently all the jokes about his sex life and her chilliness aren’t taken seriously by the former first couple.
The former prez last appeared with Letterman in 2002, on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The stint tomorrow night won’t be as serious, so maybe he’ll arrive with shades and saxophone, as he did in ‘92 for “Arsenio Hall.”
Not to be outdone by CBS’s Clinton coup, NBC dribbled out news today that Clinton has been offered a “Saturday Night Live” hosting gig during the new season.
Quoting anonymous sources, TV Guide Online says Clinton can pick his date, any date, but must make a decision by the end of the week. Al Gore did it; why not Clinton?
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment
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