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Wednesday, August 11, 2004
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.
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