LATE SHOW NEWS #233 January 26, 1999 by Aaron Barnhart To join or leave the LATE-SHOW-NEWS mailing list, see instructions at end of message. Remember "The Man Show"? LATE SHOW NEWS told you all about it last spring (LSN #195). A wild hour reality-comedy show hosted by cable personalities Jimmy Kimmel ("Win Ben Stein's Money") and Adam Carolla ("Loveline"), "The Man Show" was the brainchild of Kimmel, Corolla and former Letterman producer Daniel Kellison. Thanks to writing assists from the likes of "Daily Show" co-creator Lizz Winstead and former Letterman head writers Steve O'Donnell and Donick Cary, not to mention direction from the legendary Hal Gurnee, "The Man Show" shot a memorable pilot last spring, which ABC mulled over as a possible summer replacement series. ABC bit on some other unusual shows ("Maximum Bob," "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"), but passed on "The Man Show," which by comparison made those other shows seem tame and safe. Well, great news. Now yours truly isn't going to be the only person in town who's seen it. Comedy Central announced Friday it will be picking up 22 episodes of "The Man Show" and putting them on the air in June. As part of its first round of programming moves since losing its fearless leader, Doug Herzog, to the Fox network, Comedy Central has decided it wants you to see girls in bikinis jumping on trampolines, in-depth looks at farting, male scratching, strip joints and pointless gizmos. The succinct way to describe "The Man Show" has been "unapologetic," and that's what you're going to get. The show will air in the coveted post-"South Park" timeslot on Wednesdays. It will be shortened to half an hour because, as Kellison told LATE SHOW NEWS on Monday, "Better to leave them wanting more than leave them wanting less." Kellison also said that Gurnee will likely come out to L.A. to help shoot the remote segments, a specialty of his. And he's hoping to lure back his fellow Letterman alumni to help write again. Best of all, however, the show will have a wide-open cable-TV feel to it, which helps address the two oddities I noticed in the ABC pilot. Each episode will be shot live-to-tape, which is to say scenes won't be re-shot extensively, so a 30-minute ep will indeed take about half an hour of the studio audience's time. (The pilot had several prominent tape edits in it, a sure sign of too much re-shooting.) And the show will be a lot less scripted. Kellison said that every word, every last ad-lib on the pilot had been committed to paper first -- at the insistence of ABC executives. Kind of hard to believe this is the network that green-lighted a prime-time improv show, isn't it? *** A pile-on of letters followed crack last issue about Teri Garr doing a TV spot in Kansas City for a lite-rock station she's probably never heard. Turns out our favorite ex-Letterman babe is touting less talk and more shlock in fine radio markets everywhere. So far the count includes Chicago -- where Alex Gordon says she can be seen plugging WLIT, "the favorite station of dentist offices from Aurora to Zion" -- as well as Toronto, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Denver and Baltimore. Sean "That guy who was on Space Ghost" Medlock adds, "She's also the voice of the mom on the new 'Batman Beyond' cartoon show. Also, American Movie Classics has been showing 'Pajama Party,' in which Garr can be seen dancing in a yellow nightie next to Annette Funicello." And our pal GrapeApe writes, "Although Garr is of course 'not dead yet,' she has been sadly spotted in an infomercial for Connie Selleca's Skin Cream. I still think she's aged well. She still easily tops the list of 'Celebrities I Would Have Happily Married and Grown Old With.'" *** Activist viewer Kim Langille writes, "I just wanted to let your Canadian readers know what needs to be done if we are ever going to see Jon Stewart on the Comedy Channel. I spoke with a representative of the channel this week to ask if they were going to be picking up 'The Daily Show.' A decision has not been made, they like the show, but they need feedback from viewers. If you want to see Jon Stewart on Canadian TV, the Comedy Channel is your best chance!! Call 1-800-866-9222 to register your vote!!" ... Lucky Canadians: Comedy Channel will also begin airing 185 "SCTV" repeats starting March 15 ... The industry fax TV Business Confidential reported Monday that at the Fox network affiliates meeting, held over the weekend in New Orleans, "discussion was presented and consideration made to replacing 'MAD TV' on Saturday nights with professional wrestling." The newsletter cautioned that the discussion "may have been a trial balloon" ... During the ABC affiliates meeting, also held this weekend, it was announced that "Good Morning America Sunday," the show where many "World News Now" grads have toiled, would be going away Feb. 28. Tom Heald says he has a pretty good idea what ABC will put on in its place: "TheStreet.Com," a TV show based on analyst James Cramer's financial-news service by the same name. ABC pre-empted "GMA Sunday" to air a pilot of "TheStreet.Com" last summer ... Tom Roche writes, "On last Wednesday's 'Late Late Show,' Grace Slick was explaining to Tom Snyder how she did not invest wisely early in her rock career. 'So, no, I didn't make a shitload of money,' said Grace, with CBS smoothly censoring 'of money' after leaving 'shitload' in" ... In its increasing desperation to thrust its brand name into the national discourse -- or maybe just to get our minds off impeachment -- TV Guide has compiled what it claims are the "50 Funniest TV Moments of All Time" in this week's issue. Unfortunately, its credibility is suspect from the get-go: not one Letterman clip in the top 20 ... From the TV-imitates-life department, Sean Jordan reports in Zentertainment that former "Roseanne" star Sara Gilbert will play a writer at a late-night TV show in "The Next Big Thing," a sitcom pilot being developed for possible placement on the fall sked at CBS ... In other "MAD TV" news, the gang at WB pouter "Felicity" are borrowing a page from "The View." They've invited cast members onto the set to perform a sequel of their satire, "Intensity" ... This seems as good a time as any to inform you that Adam Sandler has just signed a deal with Columbia Pictures to do an animated musical comedy ... Jay Leno apologized, both on the phone and on the air, to Kathie Lee Gifford after learning that the following joke was upsetting to Miz Gif: "The most popular baby names last year: Michael and Caitlin. The least popular baby names: Hitler and Kathie Lee" ... Variety reports that Minnie Driver and David Duchovny will soon be cast in the MGM romantic comedy "Return to Me," directed by none other than the formerly MIA Bonnie Hunt, from a script Hunt co-wrote ... And Paul Shaffer just became a papa to his second child, 8 pound, 8 ounce William Wood Lee Shaffer. *** Reader mail: I got a stack of letters this week, all of them superb, reacting to my review of "The Tom Green Show" (LSN #232). Kevin Hannett writes, "As an Ottawa native, I've been putting up with Tom Green for years. He had a show on the local community televison channel for a few years that became a bit of a cult hit. Then he had a pilot for CBC that bombed. Then he moved to The Comedy Network. I heard an interview with him last week, and he said the MTV show is basically segments from the earlier shows (the petting zoo in his parents house is from the local show, and yes, that was his real father) with some new intros to Americanize the show a bit. Ottawans have been mixed about Tom. Some think he's pretty funny (especially high school kids) and lots think he's an annoying twerp. I have seen him filming on the streets of Ottawa a few times and he invariably goes for the easy laugh. He'll seek out anyone foreign looking so he can make fun of them, things like that. I never acquired a taste for Tom, but I do admire his tenacity. He's been doing the same show for years and just keeps expanding his audience." David Migicovsky writes, "It seems like MTV is not planning on running the segments for which he's famous, which have included vomiting, dead animals and the eating of excrement. That definitely is his real dad -- and his real grandmother licking a vibrator. It is rather interesting that in a country where Howard Stern is deemed too tasteless to air, Green's show has been rather non-controversial and the press has been surprisingly favourable. Segments are taped in places all over North America, actually. It's getting harder for him to fool people in Ottawa." Jamie Locus writes, "I don't know if you get to see 'Open Mike' on a regular basis, but I recall one appearance Tom Green made on the good ole Mike Bullard show. Tom comes out with a suitcase and Mike has no idea what's going on. Tom opens the case and dumps out a garbage bag. He then proceeds to dump the bag on Mike's desk, and the contents turn out to be a rotting raccoon carcass. Mike throws to commercial. Apparently that was the first time the programme had to stop tape, because Mike was heaving in the back alley. So when we return from commercial, Tom's segment is understandably cut short. This made the papers." (By the way, if you'd like to enjoy that particular segment yourself, then point your Web browser here: http://207.236.110.69/realvideo/openmike1198.zip James Thorburn writes, "Unlike Howard Stern, Green is not proceeding forward on the basis of a canny analysis of cultural trends or anything; he's just an idiot. That is to say, he's not commenting on societal malaise -- he *is* societal malaise. But hey, he works cheap and the kids love him." David Roberts is even more blunt: "He's too stupid to realize that his assaulting-innocent- bystanders schtick only makes himself look stupid, petty, condescending and cowardly. If he took on important people, knocked some self- righteous types down a few pegs, that would be interesting. I wouldn't be surprised if some thoughtless journalist called him 'Canada's Michael Moore, but without the political element.' But he's really just Canada's biggest asshole." On another topic, Harrison Wyman writes, "I'm not a programmer but I play one at home, so here goes. When Tom Snyder leaves the air in March, why doesn't NBC show some of the best Bob Costas 'Later' shows? A show that offers adult conversation would be good counter-programming against a comedy-converted 'Late, Late Show' on CBS. Granted, the bulk of the interviews were done in the early/mid 90's, but Costas could do an intro updating some of the content. Paul McCartney describing what it was like working with John Lennon or Dan Rather describing how the Zapruder film just missed being shown by CBS News instead of being published in Life magazine -- these are interviews that would still hold up today. And isn't 'repurposing content' is all the rage at NBC these days? MSNBC's 'Time and Again' springs to mind, although since the same nine shows seem to be constantly repeated I think of it as 'Time and Again and Again.'" *** Tom Heald's THIS NIGHT IN HISTORY We 1/27: In 1918, "Skitch" Henderson is born (as Lyle Russell Cedric). Henderson was a "Tonight Show" survivor for the better part of a decade (1954-57 and 1962-66) as the pianist/bandleader for hosts Steve Allen and Johnny Carson. Th 1/28: In 1966, Time magazine profiles future late night host Dick Cavett, "former writer on 'The Jerry Lewis Show.'" Fr 1/29: In 1983, "Saturday Night Live's" Eddie Murphy asks viewers to send in letters asking Ronald Reagan to support a holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Sa 1/30: In 1982, following the cancellation of "Soap," NBC launches "The Billy Crystal Comedy Hour," a variety show which lasts only a month. Su 1/31: In 1987, Paul Shaffer returns to his old stomping grounds at "Saturday Night Live" where the cast worries that the show isn't hip enough for their host. Mo 2/1: What better way to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of "Late Night with David Letterman" than by reading "Merrill Markoe's Guide to Love by Merrill Markoe," published this day in 1997. Tu 2/2: In 1973, Burt Sugarman's late night concert series "The Midnight Special" makes its debut on NBC. [Thanks to David Tanny. Special thanks to Donz5; ask him about Herbalife sometime. Do you miss Craig Kilborn on "The Daily Show"? Get the Daily Show's "5 Questions" book at Tom Heald's This Night In History Bookstore at .] *** THE LINEUPS with Sue Trowbridge (http://www.interbridge.com/) LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS Mo 1/25 Yasmine Bleeth, Adam Carolla, James Brown Tu 1/26 Alicia Silverstone, D.L. Hughley, dance troupe The Second Hand We 1/27 Sophia Loren, The Mavericks Th 1/28 Bill Murray, Shania Twain Fr 1/29 Jason Schwartzman, Brandy Mo 2/1 Bill Cosby, Brendan Fraser, Randy Scruggs and Vince Gill Tu 2/2 Catherine Bell, David Brenner We 2/3 Richard Kind, Creed Th 2/4 Mel Gibson, supermodel Laetitia Casta THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO, NBC Mo 1/25 Calista Flockhart, Ian Michael Smith, 'N Sync (R 9/10/98) Tu 1/26 Nicolas Cage, Harland Williams, Squirrel Nut Zippers (R 8/7/98) We 1/27 Harrison Ford, Oscar de la Hoya, John Fogerty (R 6/8/98) Th 1/28 Will Smith, Cher, Shawn Mullins (R 11/24/98) Fr 1/29 Dana Carvey, Yasmine Bleeth, Jewel (R 11/19/98) LATE LATE SHOW WITH TOM SNYDER, CBS Mo 1/25 Charlie Schlatter, crime reporter John Miller (R 9/29/98) Tu 1/26 Faith Ford, scientist Kary Mullis (R 10/6/98) We 1/27 Jennifer Tilly, news anchor Kelly Lange (R 10/1/98) Th 1/28 Jane Seymour, biographer A. Scott Berg (R 10/9/98) Fr 1/29 Billy Connolly, historian Douglas Brinkley LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, NBC Mo 1/25 Chris Kattan, Kate Mulgrew, Gomez (R 11/10/98) Tu 1/26 Ray Romano, Reese Witherspoon, Dan Naturman (R 10/29/98) We 1/27 Sam Donaldson, Bob Odenkirk, Motley Crue (R 10/28/98) Th 1/28 Roma Downey, Todd Solondz, Al Green (R 11/13/98) Fr 1/29 Rob Schneider, Jerry Stiller, Dr. Drew Pinsky and Adam Carolla (R 11/18/98) Mo 2/1 David Spade, Fred Savage, Canibus (R 11/6/98) Tu 2/2 Julia Sweeney, The Marvelous 3 We 2/3 Eric McCormack LATER, NBC Mo 1/25 David Alan Grier with Kareem Abdul Jabbar (R 10/29/96) Tu 1/26 Ahmad Rashad with Wilt Chamberlain (R 5/26/97) We 1/27 Ahmad Rashad with Shaquille O'Neal (R 11/18/96) Th 1/28 Greg Kinnear with Reggie Miller (R 8/30/95) CHARLIE ROSE, PBS Please note that Charlie Rose listings are very tentative Mo 1/25 Authors Ian McEwan, Erik Tarloff Tu 1/26 NBA Commissioner David Stern; Bret Easton Ellis; Skip Gates; Harvard professor Dr. Kwame Anthony Appiah We 1/27 Author Ian Kershaw; Cate Blanchett Th 1/28 Sophia Loren, David Halberstam Fr 1/29 Bill Murray POLITICALLY INCORRECT WITH BILL MAHER, ABC Mo 1/25 James Coburn, Kathy Griffin, Jeffrey Tambor, Carmen Pate (R 8/13/98) Tu 1/26 Joan Rivers, Eric Braede, Naomi Wolf, Dr. Jerome D. Levin (R 9/14/98) We 1/27 David Wyndorf, Melanie Morgan, Richard Lewis Th 1/28 Danielle Crittendon, a "citizen panelist" Fr 1/29 Joshua Harris, Christine O'Donnell, Nikki Sixx THE DAILY SHOW, Comedy Central Mo 1/25 Matthew Lillard Tu 1/26 D.L. Hughley We 1/27 Yasmine Bleeth Th 1/28 David Cross HOWARD STERN, E! Mo 1/25 Kenneth Keith vs. Gary The Retard, Lucy Lawless Part 1 (R), Strip Jeopardy Part 1 (R) Tu 1/26 Queen Of Anal Sex, Lucy Lawless Part 2 (R), Strip Jeopardy Part 2 (R) We 1/27 Debbie Gibson (R), What's My Color (R), Paige Summers Part 1 (R) Th 1/28 Elephant Boy & His Girls (R), Sandra Taylor (R), Paige Summers Part 2 (R) Fr 1/29 Drunk Girls & Midget Tossing, Superbowl Party (R), Lisa The Lifeguard (R) Su 1/31 Tori Spelling Returns Parts 1 and 2 (R) DENNIS MILLER LIVE, HBO Fr 1/29 Noah Wyle, topic TBA Fr 2/5 Norm Macdonald, David Spade (R) SPACE GHOST COAST TO COAST, Cartoon Network Fr 1/29 Jeff Foxworthy, Fran Drescher, Carol Channing, Alice Cooper (R) MADtv, FOX Sa 1/30 Super Bowl Edition SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, NBC Sa 1/30 Sports Extra SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, Comedy Central Reruns We 1/27 Noon : Sally Field / Tony! Toni! Tone! (1993-'94) - I Want My Baby Back!, "Headgames", Matt Foley as Santa, Jesus & the housewife, Mike Judge's "Milton"; 6 PM & Midnight : Lisa Kudrow/Sheryl Crowe (1996-'97) - Mary Katherine Gallagher, Suel Forrester, Fun With Real Audio- Ross Perot & Larry King, Single & Loving It, Mickey The Dyke Th 1/28 Noon : Jason Patric / Blind Melon + Richard Simmons (1993-'94) - Mister Intense, NFL on Fox, Coffee Talk, The Herlihy Boy; 6 PM & Midnight : Rosie O'Donnell / Whitney Houston + Penny Marshall + Beavis & Butt-Head (1996-'97) - Spartan Spirits, Mary Katherine Gallagher, The Singing Mohan- Culps, Ambiguously Gay Duo, Goat Boy, Rita Delvecchio, Russell & Tate Fr 1/29 Noon : Sara Gilbert / Counting Crows (1993-'94) - Simon, Gap Girls, "A Very Special Blossom", "Lunch Lady Land", Rob Schneider's Girlfriend Theater, 20 Questions With Bryant Gumbel; 6 PM : Matthew Perry / Oasis (1997-'98) - Spartan Spirits, Cookie Dough Sport, Celebrity Jeopardy!, The Ladies' Man, Harry Caray, Goat Boy, The Kevin Franklin Show, Friends, Good Morning With Liza! Sa 1/30 11 AM : Alec Baldwin / Tina Turner + Howard Stern (1996-'97) - Late Show with David Letterman, Roxbury Guys, Mary Katherine Gallagher, Fun With Real Audio- Tom Snyder & Dolly Parton, The Gossip Show, Long Island phone sex, Bill Braskey Su 1/31 11 AM : Mike Meyers / Aerosmith (1996-'97) - Barbara Walters, Mary Katherine Gallagher, Coffee Talk, Sprockets, Scottish Soccer Hooligans, Prematurely Gray Mo 2/1 Noon : Patrick Stewart / Salt -N- Pepa (1993-'94) - Philadelphia Action Figures, The Love Boat the Next Generation, Cosby Mysteries, Show & Tell with Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, It's Not Their Fault; 6 PM & Midnight : Steve Martin / Eric Clapton + Brian Austin Green, Roger Clemens, Bobby Bonilla, Jack McDowell (1994-'95) - Clinton auditions, O.J. Trial, The Ron Wood Show Tu 2/2 Noon : Alec Baldwin & Kim Basinger / UB40 + Billy & Steve Baldwin (1993-'94) - Family Feud, Canteen Boy, Ike Turner, Pyramid Of Pain, hyperactive Phillip, Tiny Elvis; 6 PM & Midnight : Marisa Tomei / Bonnie Raitt (1994-'95) - the Lexon Paradox, Mona Lisa Vito testifies for O.J., Piercing Today, Cool Guy's Week-in-Review, Daily Affirmation, Eric Bogosian vs. Spaulding Gray, Bridal Fair 2000; 10 PM : Helen Hunt / Hanson + Jack Nicholson (1997-'98) - The Singing Mohan-Culps, The Delicious Dish, Fun With Real Audio- Jesus searches for X-mas, The Ladies' Man, Roxbury Guys, A Burt Reynolds Christmas, Bill Gates TRACEY TAKES ON, HBO We 1/27 Lies We 2/3 Erotica We 2/10 Books We 2/17 Road Rage Also on late nights: NIGHTLINE and WORLD NEWS NOW, ABC BET TONIGHT WITH TAVIS SMILEY, BET LOVELINE, MTV THE HOWARD STERN RADIO SHOW, CBS and syndicated UP TO THE MINUTE, CBS DIE HARALD SCHMIDT SHOW, SAT.1 MAD TV, Fox Entire contents Copyright 1999 by Aaron Barnhart. All rights reserved.