LATE SHOW NEWS #191 February 17, 1998 *** FOURTH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE *** (published Feb. 18) by Aaron Barnhart One very helpful way to measure where we are is by looking at where we *were.* To help me do that, I called on a group of old friends and acquaintances and asked them what they were watching four years ago, when LATE SHOW NEWS was created, and how their late-night viewing habits have changed since then. MARK EVANIER, writer/raconteur: Not all that long ago, I used to watch both Dave and Jay, taping one and watching the other live. These days, I enjoy both...but find neither offers sufficient surprises that I'm afraid of missing a night. I rarely bother setting up the VCR and, if I do, it's to make certain I don't miss Bill Maher on a night when he has on his wittier (as opposed to most strident) conversationalists. I probably watch Leno about 80% of the time. Dave is still brilliant but there's a sense of deja vu about him some nights while others, he looks like he just doesn't want to be there. If he doesn't, I don't either. It's probably neck-and-neck these days 'twixt Conan and Maher for my late-night fave. Bill could do with less of the kind of guest who has learned that voicing outrageous, pontificating POVs is a great way to get on television. But when he's good, he's very good. Conan has learned his craft -- no one in his line gets "into" interviews better -- and Andy Richter has become the funniest sidekick in talk show history. I also love the Dennis Miller and Chris Rock shows. What do I miss in late night TV? Spontaneity. Except for Maher's gabfest, they might as well all be reading TelePrompters. But it was that way four years ago, as well. SUE TROWBRIDGE, partner in crime: Four years ago, of course, I was a die-hard Letterman fan who never missed an episode. These days, the only thing I regularly watch in late night is HBO's "Dennis Miller Live," which is able to sustain its freshness since it's only on once a week. (I couldn't believe the way he sucked up to Sharon Stone, though.) I did watch a couple recent "Late Show's" in honor of CBS' Olympic coverage. Maybe I'm getting old, but every time Dave brought on those "ski-jumping dogs," I just groaned -- it wasn't funny to begin with and of course he drove it into the ground. After watching Dave for over a decade, I just feel that there's nothing new in his (or his writers') bag of tricks. They're still doing the same bits that were genuinely hilarious when Merrill Markoe created them back in the early '80s! Someone should give her a talk show. Or Dave's Mom, for that matter. I would rather sit through a hundred hours of "Late Show" than a single Jay Leno monologue, though. I was just visiting my parents so I had to endure bits and pieces of "Tonight." At one point, Jay asked the crowd, "Aren't you sick of Clinton jokes? Well, I'm not!" and proceeded to launch into dozens more lame gags about the Commander in Chief's penchant for fondling interns. I'm not the world's biggest Clinton fan, but Jay makes me wish we were still back in the days when there was a "gentleman's agreement" not to reveal the dirty laundry of those in power! As Dave once rightly said (before he too jumped on the O.J. joke bandwagon), double murders aren't funny. Well, neither is a presidency in crisis. Which network will be smart enough to land Lizz Winstead? I can't believe Comedy Central was willing to let her go instead of that empty-headed blond "himbo" Craig Kilborn! Of course, a glance over the line-ups schedule confirms the fact that late night is still a man's, man's, man's world. I can't imagine a caustic wit like Lizz's anywhere *but* late night, so maybe she'll finally succeed where Whoopi and Joan couldn't. Hmm, Lizz and Merrill...now *that* I'd stay up late for! ERIN CLERMONT, online host: My late-night viewing habits continue to flip-flop. The Simpson monologues on Leno that went on for a year-plus pulled me away from Letterman, whose monologues were then pathetic and Simpson-less. Lately, however, I've returned to the fold; his monologues--and monologue style--have picked up considerably, for which once again I think he owes a debt to the Leno influence, and maybe to Rob Burnett. So now I just switch back and forth and see which of them are cookin'. I don't usually stick around for the guests. I go on to Nightline or Rose, or, uh, a good book... ERIC MINK, TV critic, New York Daily News: For what it's worth, my late-night viewing is down markedly from four years ago. Unless working on a specific project, I may check out "Nightline," check out Dave and then check out. This is barring special events, say, on "Late Show" or something. Four years ago, I would almost always make a point of watching Letterman and feeling out of it if I didn't. How much of this is the result of simple aging, I'm not in a position to know, but I suspect there's something to it. BECKY GARRISON, comedy writer: In 1994, my favorite late- night show was Comedy Central's "Politically Incorrect." I loved the off-the-wall obscure NY radical guests (e.g., Harvey Fierstein) that would pay Maher a visit. By this time, "SNL" had hit the skids as far as I was concerned. Presently "Dennis Miller" is the one show that makes me laugh consistently, with Chris Rock a close second. I find myself channel surfing a lot more during the 11:30 p.m. hour than I used to back in '94. Also, Leno's jokes have gotten so mean-spirited, rude and just plain unfunny that the only time I'll switch over to his show is if he has a guest that I really want to see (e.g., Trey Parker and Matt Stone, co-creators of "South Park"). STACY HORN, owner-proprietor of ECHO: These days I continuously scan about 50 channels, rarely watching any one of them for more than 15 seconds before moving on, over and over, in a desperate search for something worth stopping on, hitting next-next-next on the remote hour after hour until I pass out. Sometimes there's a good movie on, sometimes I'm frozen in horror by some late- night traffic accident like Farrah's last appearance on Letterman, oh and there's Seinfeld at 11, thank God, but otherwise there are no surprises anymore on late-night TV, and I don't know who's fault that is, the guests or the people interviewing them or the crowds behind the curtain but good lord! They're all going to drive me to ... to ... BOOKS. ROBERT ROSSNEY, journalist/novelist/computerist: I wasn't watching much of anything four years ago when you started LSN. I'd occasionally tune in to Letterman, but very infrequently - I've never been much of a TV watcher. What got me interested in LSN was the enthusiasm and integrity that you brought to the subject, the assurance with which you approached a subject purely because you thought it was worth writing about and nobody else was doing it. To me, LSN is evidence that a good writer can make any subject interesting. It made me notice something that I'd really never paid more than passing attention to. So I guess I have you to blame for my Conan O'Brien habit. *** Thanks, Bob! Four years ago I was a secretary in a Chicago real estate investment advisory, typing, filing, making a good income, and finding my voice by posting endlessly to Internet newsgroups and bulletin boards. I acquired the alt.fan.letterman FAQ file and then rewrote it three times in three months, top to bottom. Because I had spent most of my adult life until then living in communal arrangements or at school, I did not actually own a TV set until three months into Dave's run at CBS. At the time, late night was just about all I watched, and I watched a lot of it, as I have all my life. I would start with Tom Snyder on CNBC and continue many nights all the way through to Bob Costas on "Later." A project like LATE SHOW NEWS suggested itself naturally. In that first year I spent lunch breaks watching old "Tonight" and "Tomorrow" shows at the Museum of Broadcast Communications, not far from the office where I worked. I read all the essential books on late night (and recall, LATE SHOW NEWS was inspired by the frenzy that accompanied Bill Carter's book "The Late Shift"). It was, as theologians might say, a foundational time. What's changed since then? What *hasn't* changed? I got married, quit my job, became a full-time freelancer, got noticed and hired, moved to Kansas City, and now write 200 bylines a year for a major daily newspaper. The bloom fell off my affection for Letterman -- as it did for many of you, judging from your letters over the years -- and I grew to appreciate Leno and O'Brien in ways I didn't in '94. I miss Maher and Snyder, whose shows I only catch occasionally, as I no longer live in a city where network-owned stations are forced to air network programs at their god-given times. Nor, as that last phrase suggests, do I stay up as late. For as you've probably noticed from all the overdue issues, LATE SHOW NEWS is produced under considerably greater time constraints than in the years before I joined the Kansas City Star. However, it's produced exactly the same way as the first issue was: I outline all of the items I'm going to write about that week, gather all the material I'll need, and then, in one or two sittings over the course of a few hours, I write the issue. And I write until I'm done. Years spent hitting word counts for newspapers haven't changed this personal policy toward LATE SHOW NEWS one inch. The challenge has been carving out the hours needed to write. This newsletter's strengths and weaknesses are as one: it's wholly mine, and it can't be rushed. In another sense, of course, LATE SHOW NEWS has changed significantly. It's become newsier over the years, with reporting and analysis augmenting the commentary. Below, for instance, you'll read two scoops and one exclusive, to use the excitable parlance of the tabbies. This change is a reflection of my paid writing career, which moved away from the punditry of those early Village Voice pieces -- big thanks as always to Richard Gehr and Jeff Salomon for breaking me into print there -- and toward news gathering. But it's also a survival tactic. After all, LATE SHOW NEWS items often wind up in print, and it's the vast network of friendships and acquaintances created by the LSN readership that have made possible some of my best stories for the newspaper. When LATE SHOW NEWS stops paying for itself, it will cease. I've always believed that you and I share one of the great hidden fascinations in our culture: the TV show that persuades you to stay up late, night after night. What other TV show in the world has the same tortured relationship with its fans as David Letterman's? At what other time of the day would we even *tolerate* Bill Maher? Why is it Imus in the Morning but Howard Stern at 11 p.m.? Late night is different, and as long as you and I are agreed on that, LATE SHOW NEWS will continue. Besides, it's fun hearing from dozens of readers each week, trading information, gossiping and speculating through the weird intimacy of e-mail. Years ago I used to kick myself for quitting journalism school and pursuing higher-ed degrees that got me nowhere in the job market. But thanks to LATE SHOW NEWS, I can truly say I wouldn'a done it any other way. No issue next week. See you March 3. *** "Up All Night," perhaps the best-loved national TV franchise to never appear in TV Guide, is going away, at least in its present Gilbert Gottfried-Rhonda Shear form, LATE SHOW NEWS has learned. A decade ago, the USA Network was looking for a way to freshen its presentation of overnight movies. So it grabbed comedians Gottfried and later Shear to come in once a month and tape new "wrap-arounds" to these B-movie chestnuts. The two built cult followings among high school and college viewers, but "Up All Night" remained well beneath the radar even of USA Network executives. "We're the little show that made a ton of money for the network," Shear told LATE SHOW NEWS this week. "After all, there are only so many times you can watch 'Attack of the Killer Bimbos.'" It was a success by any measure. Twos and threes in the ratings book were, and are, commonplace for "Up All Night." (By the way, the reason you don't see it in TV Guide, according to Shear, is that TV books make you choose whether to list the title of the movie or the title of the wrap-around franchise.) Snapple bought a ton of time on "Up All Night" after Shear and Gottfried agreed to do original ads for the beverage. USA even ported Shear to its Latin American viewers for two years of "Levantada todo a la Noche." But last month USA executives told the "Up All Night" folks that there wasn't going to be a February shoot, and that after Barry Diller, whose HSN Inc. acquired USA Network last fall, came in to help reshape USA into the cable channel of the future, "Up All Night" as we know it would likely be no more. A USA spokesman confirmed the account, but added that the network may retain the "Up All Night" name for future overnight programming. "We were the 'Up All Night' network; now they want to be the 'La Femme Nikita' network," said Shear, referring to USA's heavily-promoted Sunday-night drama anchor. So the last original set of wraps you'll see will be a special compilation of clips, airing March 6. Shear, who continues to do standup in Vegas, Tahoe and Atlantic City, is heading off to do Chuck Shepherd's "News of the Weird" for TV, probably in syndication. No word on Gottfried's future plans. *** I chatted last week with Al Franken, in town to give a performance at the University of Kansas. Franken and John Markus of NBC "Cosby Show" fame are readying themselves for the launch of "Lateline," a terrific new sitcom that's gotten a choice position on Tuesday nights beginning March 17 on NBC. Part of the reason it's terrific is that Franken has tapped into that policy-wonk side of himself that invites parody -- a side that was very much on display as he did the meet-and-greet last week in Lawrence. At the sparsely-attended press conference before the event, a question about Arianna Huffington prompted an unusually long discursus from Franken on the writings of conservative author Marvin Olasky. Later Franken spoke to me at length about a cause, the Congressional Hunger Center, led by Rep. Tony Hall of Ohio, for which he recently performed a benefit. Still later he informed me that Lionel Kunst, the Kansas City entrepreneur who was the area's foremost crusader for election campaign reform, was his uncle. Clearly Franken comes by his passion for politics honestly. Which makes the utter humiliation his character, Al Freundlich, endures each week on "Lateline" all the more exquisite. Freundlich, like Franken, is always the most idealistic, and probably also the smartest, guy in the room. But as with all great sitcom characters, he has major cluelessness issues. The resulting hilarity and hijinks are of a kind you couldn't quite picture NBC pairing with any other show but "Frasier," "Lateline's" companion on Tuesday nights. I've now seen the episode that's scheduled to air March 24, and it starts off with Al versus an air bag -- a scene that gets funnier as it circulates throughout the episode. In our heart of hearts, most of us would enjoy seeing this happen to Ralph Nader or Joan Claybrook at least once in our lives. (Don't tell me that video of Bill Gates getting the cream pie treatment in Belgium didn't satisfy something deep within.) Back in Lawrence, I thought to ask Franken, while the tape recorders and cameras were still running, what he thought of the firing of Norm Macdonald from "SNL." Was this decision was just another sad sign of NBC's strategy to hand this show over to the 12-to-18-year-old crowd once and for all? "As you know," Franken said, "my fate is in the same hands that Norm Macdonald's was, so on the record I just want to say that was a *great* decision." *** HBO told LATE SHOW NEWS Tuesday that "Mr. Show," the nutty shock-making sketch comedy program with Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, will be returning for a third season sometime this year. A spokesman said further details hadn't been cleared, but the standard HBO response is to give its comedy series 10-episode orders. The show is now airing in Canada on that country's ha-ha channel ... Buddy the "Air Bud" dog, friend of the Letterman show, died of cancer last week at the age of roughly 10 years old. The stray dog became a basketball-shooting phenomenon and sired his first litter in December before being diagnosed with synovial cell sarcoma last month ... So far, terrific shows have bred excellent ratings for Dave and the "Late Show with David Letterman" gang: ratings in the 38 metered markets are back into the mid-5's, and for the first time in 17 months "Late Show" topped "Tonight Show" in viewership, thanks of course to the decent lead-in offered by the Nagano Games. As executive producer Rob Burnett has been telling anyone who will listen for the past two years, the killer number in late night is the local stations' late local news ratings. That, after all, is the lead-in to "Tonight," "Late Show" and "Nightline" in most markets. In recent months, NBC stations have enjoyed 50% higher ratings than their CBS rivals in late news, giving Leno a huge edge. But that's been wiped away during the Olympics, with NBC and CBS stations in near-parity ... A reader forwarded me a letter from apologizing and scraping for the unfortunate comments of a United Air Lines flight attendant during last week's "Know Your Current Events" segment. The salient exchange from that show went like this: DAVE: Are people on airplanes better behaved or worse than they were 10 years ago? FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Well, let me see ... When I talk to them, they seem pretty okay, they're pretty decent. DAVE: So what you're trying to say is you try not to talk to passengers. FLIGHT ATTENDANT: (nods) passengers are the enemy -- In no time Letterman had embroidered that to "Passengers Are Our Worst Enemy" and had great fun with it. Perhaps foretelling her fate, the attendant later said, "I'm gonna get fired," which is what this statement attributed to Sara Fields, senior vice president - Onboard Service, more or less says: "The statement of the flight attendant is not representative of the attitude of the rest of our 22,000 professional flight attendants. We've identified the employee and will take appropriate action." (Thanks Donz5 and Cogbill Collins) *** One New York-based standup comedian this week gave me a different take on Colin Quinn's "Weekend Update" routines on "SNL": "Colin Quinn is one of the most interesting standups I've ever seen. Where Norm will take things over the edge again and again to shock, and many times elicit stares (which are usually the parts I think are the funniest), Colin is king of the reference. Back in the 1986-87-88, he was the king of the New York standup scene, amongst the comics that is. He is as intelligent as they come. This past week he already started taking the news into the Colin direction...comparing the President to the kind of guy who could get anybody but always has a hankering for the 'Olive Garden hostess type.' You probably saw that Colin will not be even doing that many jokes. If he has his way, I'm sure he'll turn the news into much more of an editorial session with Col'...which if given the chance to blossom will be incredible, you watch. ... This may be a whole new thing for Update itself." *** Tom Heald's THIS NIGHT IN HISTORY Tu 2/17: In 1965, Joan Rivers makes her standup comedy debut on "The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson." We 2/18: In 1989, from cable access channel 10 in Aurora, Illinois, Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar interview Garth's dad Beev and Nancy-from-school on the very first broadcast of "Wayne's World" on "Saturday Night Live." Party time! Excellent! Th 2/19: In 1994, Martin Lawrence hosts "Saturday Night Live," deviates from his planned monologue, and instead launches into a segment on Lorena Bobbitt and women who "don't wash their a**es" -- a performance which not only gets him uninvited from a "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" appearance the following month but unofficially banned from all shows on NBC. The episode is currently gathering dust in the vaults of Broadway Video, never to air again on NBC or in reruns on Comedy Central. Fr 2/20: In 1996, "just another slumber party after a Friday show. A bedtime game of hide and seek. Hey, come on! Let's go! Conan and Andy thought they knew a perfect place to hide. A closed-up room they'd heard about but never been inside. A scary old room they'd been warned about, told never to go inside. There at the back! A big spooky head! There was no time to waste, so inside they went!" And so began "Time Travel Week," the first week-long effort on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." Each night, a different time period, with everyone O'Brien and crew dressed in period garb, the set done up appropriately, and comedy on that topic. On this first night in "Ancient Greece," the show sent a group of "writers over to David Letterman's with a Trojan horse. They're going to take over the Ed Sullivan Theatre for our purposes so we can screw the whole thing up." Just as the horse arrives at the theatre it is demolished by an out-of-control garbage truck. Sa 2/21: In 1953, Christine Ebersole is born. Ebersole anchored "SNL Newsbreak" during "Saturday Night Live's" 1981-1982 season. And for a former "SNL" castmember, she's found an amazing amount of steady work since, including a 2-year stint on ABC's "One Life To Live" and roles in "Toostie," "Amadeus," "Dead Again," as a society columnist on the CBS bomb "Ink," and Howie Mandel's mother on the cartoon "Bobby's World." Su 2/22: In 1994, with its second issue, Aaron Barnhart changes the name of his "Letterman News" ("a new electronic sheet, published irregularly") to the broader-spectrum "LATE SHOW NEWS" ("a weekly electronic sheet"). Thus, making this the true anniversary of "LSN." (EDITOR'S NOTE: Just for that, I'm sending your "Happy Millennium" card a year late, Mr. Stickler.) Mo 2/23: In 1982, on the first Wednesday of "Late Night with David Letterman," Alan Alda and his Chinese food are profiled on "Report from George Miller's Room," while Letterman chats with guest Hank Aaron. [Thanks to Dave Tanny, Frank Serpas III, and Damone. Special thanks to Donz5, still being taunted by his coworkers about the "bobcat in the sack" reference in this column exactly a year ago.] Got a favorite late night moment you don't think Tom Heald mentioned this year or last? Tell him at . THE LINEUPS with Sue Trowbridge LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS Tu 2/17 Mike Myers, Paula Cole We 2/18 Nathan Lane, Picabo Street, bingo granny Maxine Stinson Th 2/19 Bob Dole, Marilyn Manson Fr 2/20 Stupid Pet Tricks, Jonny Moseley, Al Nino (!) Mo 2/23 Paul Newman, John Fogerty, Jeff Bridges Tu 2/24 Kelsey Grammer, child entrepreneur Richie Stachowski, Sarah McLachlan We 2/25 Susan Sarandon, Aretha Franklin, Sarah Teuting Th 2/26 David Schwimmer THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO, NBC Tu 2/17 Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Patti LaBelle We 2/18 David Schwimmer, Sports Illustrated cover model, Michael Bolton Th 2/19 Gina Gershon, Egg-eating contest, Kathleen Madigan Fr 2/20 Halle Berry, Jerry O'Connell, Mary Ellen Hooper Mo 2/23 Ali Landry Tu 2/24 Maestro Harrell, Elizabeth Berkley We 2/25 Noah Wyle, Jenna Elfman LATE LATE SHOW WITH TOM SNYDER, CBS Pre-empted due to Olympic late night coverage LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, NBC Tu 2/17 Michael J. Fox, Alana Davis We 2/18 Ricki Lake Th 2/19 TBA Fr 2/20 Billy Zane Mo 2/23 Matt Lauer, Lisa Rinna, James Ellroy (R 11/12/97) LATER, NBC Tu 2/17 Pat O'Brien with Sugar Ray Leonard We 2/18 Pat O'Brien with Kathleen Sullivan Th 2/19 Pat O'Brien with Greg Louganis Mo 2/23 - Th 2/26 Rob Schneider as Dick Thistle with guests TBA CHARLIE ROSE, PBS Please note that Charlie Rose listings are very tentative Tu 2/17 Tom Selleck, David Granger, Frank Sinatra We 2/18 D.M. Thomas, Joel Klein Th 2/19 Joe Eszterhas, Stanley Crouch Fr 2/20 David Strathairn; "Love And Death On Long Island" w/ Jason Priestly, John Hurt Mo 2/23 Fouad Ajami, Abbas Kiarostami Tu 2/24 Grammy Panel Of Music Critics, Gloria Stuart We 2/25 Steve Allen, August Wilson Th 2/26 Chuck Close Fr 2/27 Brian Stokes Mitchell POLITICALLY INCORRECT WITH BILL MAHER, ABC Tu 2/17 Frances Fisher, Christopher Darden, Grover Norquist We 2/18 Pauly Shore, Naomi Judd, Bob Dornan, Jim Brown Th 2/19 Wayne Knight, Christine Lahti, Rep. Billy Tauzin, Don Cornelius Fr 2/20 Kim Coles, Katrina Vanden Huevel, Sen. Alan Simpson, Ron Silver VIBE TV, syndicated Tu 2/17 Halle Berry, James Cameron, James Ingram & John Tesh We 2/18 Gregory Hines, Robert Duvall, Ashford & Simpson Th 2/19 Jimmy Smits, Jennifer Lopez, Tito Nieves, Celia Cruz Fr 2/20 Giancarlo Esposito, Tamara Taylor, Dianne Reeves Mo 2/23 Michael Bergin, Delroy Lindo, Snoop Doggy Dog & Korupt KEENEN IVORY WAYANS, syndicated Tu 2/17 LL Cool J, Lynn Whitfield We 2/18 Mark Curry, Vanessa L. Williams, T'keyah Crystal Keymah, Joe Th 2/19 Marlon Wayans, Jonny Moseley, Eileen Davidson, Jungle Brothers Fr 2/20 The Puff Daddy Show with Lil' Kim, The Lox, Carl Thomas Mo 2/23 Bill Maher, Heidi Klum, Joshua Jackson, Timbaland & Magoo Tu 2/24 Talent Showcase Finals, Margaret Cho, Wallace Langham We 2/25 Traci Bingham, Enrico Colantoni, Kelly Perine Th 2/26 TBA Fr 2/27 Queen Latifah, Dr. Drew & Adam Carolla, Next Mo 3/2 Dennis Miller, Andrea Parker Tu 3/3 Talent Showcase Finals, Wendie Malick We 3/4 David Schwimmer, Chrisitna Applegate, SWV HOWARD STERN, E! Tu 2/17 Dawn Radenbaugh Part 1, Eleanor Mondale (R) We 2/18 Dawn Radenbaugh Part 2, Andrew Dice Clay/Club Soda Pt. 1 (R) Th 2/19 Bryan Adams Part 1, Andrew Dice Clay/Club Soda Pt. 2 (R) Fr 2/20 Bryan Adams Part 2, Show Bumper Controversy (R) Sa 2/21 Dallas Stripper (R), Krise Strips For Fred (R) THE DAILY SHOW, Comedy Central We 2/18 Traci Lords Th 2/19 Marlon Wayans Mo 2/23 Peter Graves Tu 2/24 Michael Boatman We 2/25 Matthew Modine Th 2/26 Joe Eszterhas DENNIS MILLER LIVE, HBO Fr 2/20 Drew Barrymore on "The End Of Privacy" Fr 2/27 LL Cool J on topic TBA Fr 3/6 John Cleese on "Money and Greed" (show will originate from Aspen) SPACE GHOST COAST TO COAST, Cartoon Network Fr 2/20 Genndy Tartakovsky, Van Partible, Craig McCracken and Pat Ventura (R) Fr 2/27 Charlton Heston (R) Steve Allen and Andy Dick (musical) (R) DIE HARALD SCHMIDT SHOW, SAT.1 Mi 18/2 Dirk Bach, Gundis Zambo Also on late nights: NIGHTLINE and WORLD NEWS NOW, ABC CHARLES GRODIN, CNBC MAD TV, Fox SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, NBC (this season) and Comedy Central (classics) THE RUPAUL SHOW, VH1 LOVELINE, MTV UP TO THE MINUTE, CBS NIGHTSIDE, NBC THE DAILY SHOW, Comedy Central ======================================== AARON BARNHART IN THE KANSAS CITY STAR (a Knight-Ridder newspaper) The URL for recent TV stories is Scroll to the bottom of the page. ======================================== Entire contents Copyright 1998 by Aaron Barnhart. All rights reserved. Current e-mail circulation: 11,996 subscribers in 53 countries. Guest lineups are updated throughout the week by Sue Trowbridge at LATE SHOW NEWS is made possible with the generous assistance of ECHO, New York City's premiere online service. Send news for and comments about this newsletter to aaron@tvbarn.com