LATE SHOW NEWS #193 March 10, 1998 by Aaron Barnhart Conan O'Brien fans were elated to discover over the past few weeks that NBC has finally done a makeover of the long-neglected "Late Night" web page. It all started in January when the network's NBC Interactive division created a producer's spot in New York to oversee "Late Night," and filled it with John Knox, the guy responsible for Jay Leno's current "Tonight Show" site since its creation (LSN #153). The redo of Conan's page took about three weeks and incorporated the most-requested segments on the show ("If They Mated," "Actual Items," "In the Year 2000"). Besides the freshened-up look, the new Web pages also download faster. "I was concerned that a lot of people coming to Conan's page will be students with dial-ups," Knox told LATE SHOW NEWS. "My thought was, let's keep this light but in the spirit of the show that has a 'We're a network show, but barely' attitude to it. And it's okay for the Web site to be of that same attitude." Once word spread among online fans that the Conan page had been made over, "the e-mail started flowing in," Knox said. "And as I was reading that, the next step seemed to be to go to the people and say, 'Tell us what you'd like on the site,' because the fan base is so present and so vocal and frankly has a lot of great ideas." So Knox has been posting to alt.fan.conan-obrien and other newsgroups, encouraging fans to send in wish lists of what else they'd like to see on the site. He's at if you've got suggestions. An even bigger and better site is well underway. The show's involvement in the redesign is "very deep," according to Know. "We just had a meeting with Conan, and he and the writers are reviewing the feedback," he said. "It's the best of all possible worlds." http://www.nbc.com/conan/ *** That Seinfeld-for-Letterman rumor I smartly defeated last week was later attributed to some morning-zoo deejays who wanted to see how far a rumor could spread, even a lousy one like that ... "Vibe," in trouble because its audience has dropped by nearly one-quarter since the November ratings sweep, has changed producers -- again. Jose Pretlow, most recently the executive producer of Geraldo Rivera's syndicated talkshow, is on board, replacing the guy who replaced ex-Letterman's Daniel Kellison. Ratings for "Keenen" are also down since November, but only by 6% ... Canadian "Larry Sanders" impersonator Ken Finkleman is back. He revives his George Findlay character from "The Newsroom" in a new four-part series, "More Tears" airing on the CBC beginning March 30 at 9:30 p.m. Eastern. *** Reader mail: The letters I get! Annie Katz in L.A. writes, "Lifetime's CEO Doug McCormick is right that most late-night TV is filled with 'guy jock humor,' and I personally am sick of it! Grow up, Jay, Dave and Bill, and deal with the fact that there are women in your audience. Still, I'd rather read a book than watch 'New Attitudes.' Even the title sucks" ... Sharp-eared Mike Dooley writes, "Did anybody out there catch this remarkable musical pun from Paul Shaffer? At the closing of Friday night's Top Ten List, ('Top Ten Pet Peeves of the McCoy Septuplets'), the band played 'Money' by Pink Floyd. The joke? -- that song is written in an unusual 7/8 time signature, meaning seven beats to the measure or 'seven time'" ... And Marty Kofsky writes, "The Leno show of Monday, March 2, and the Letterman shows of Monday and Tuesday, March 2-3, were some of the funniest I have seen in a long time. These shows lacked a 'big name' guest, and instead had kids doing science experiements, more headlines, etc., and the hosts being funny without just sitting and interviewing a guest. They should do more shows like the last two days, and maybe I will stay up and watch more often." *** Tom Heald's THIS NIGHT IN HISTORY tomalhe@aol.com Exclusive to LATE SHOW NEWS Tu 3/10: In 1964: CBS Orchestra guitarist Felicia Michele Collins is born. (Shh ... keep it under your hat.) We 3/11: In 1978, "Saturday Night Live" airs "Don't Look Back In Anger," a short film by Tom Schiller, featuring an elderly John Belushi visiting all of his deceased friends at the "Not Ready For Prime Time Cemetery." Belushi rues, "Why did I live so long... they're all dead... I'll tell you why ... 'cause I'm a DANCER!" A mere four years later, on this day in 1982, about 1,000 of Belushi's family and friends attend *his* memorial service in New York at the Cathedral of Saint John Divine. As he promised Belushi, Dan Aykroyd takes out a tape player and holds it to the microphone and plays the song "2000 Pound Bee." The audience is stunned at first but then begins to laugh. Th 3/12: In 1996, sketch comedy "The Taco Bell Dana Carvey Show" premieres on ABC, with a truly macabre impression of an eager-to-please Bill Clinton which ends with an open-shirted President breast-feeding a pair of puppies. As Carvey later relates to Conan O'Brien, by the time the opening sketch ended, 14 million viewers were lost, as yet another "Saturday Night Live" cast member proves himself "Not Ready For Prime Time." Fr 3/13: In 1972, having failed to knock out ratings champ Johnny Carson, "The Merv Griffin Show" returns to daytime courtesy of Metromedia Television. Joining Merv in this, the show's third incarnation, are sidekick Arthur Treacher and Mort Lindsey and his Orchestra. Sa 3/14: In 1947, Billy Crystal is born. And he looooooooooked absolutely MAHVELOUS! Su 3/15: In 1971, CBS Television announces the cancellation of "The Ed Sullivan Show" on June 6, ending an astonishing 23 years run on the network. Years later, his theater will house ABC's "Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell" and current tenant David Letterman. Mo 3/16: In 1991, "Saturday Night Live's" Stuart Smalley (in Al Franken's second sketch as the character) is forced to adjust when his "Daily Affirmation" is displaced to a late-night slot by a hair-replacement infomercial. "Maybe the show is garbage and they should cancel it," he says. But in the end, Smalley realizes that his worries are just "stinkin' thinkin'." Corecctions department: "I'm Losing You" was written by Bruce Wagner. [Thanks to Herb Gambill, Mike Cader, and David Tanny. Special thanks to Don(z5) Giller, celebrating his 47th birthday on Thursday.] Tom Heald's tongue-in-cheek tribute to ABC overnight news anchor Mark Mullen, as seen this past week on ABC's "World News Now," may be found at THE LINEUPS with Sue Trowbridge NOTE: A reader has asked me to revive the "Pick to Click" tag I used to apply to must-watch shows. In theory, it sounds like a fine idea -- so let's put it in practice and watch it bomb. LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS Tu 3/10 Martin Short, Larenz Tate, KODO (R 3/18/97) We 3/11 Howard Stern, Ray Romano, The Chieftains (R 3/17/97) Th 3/12 Matthew Perry, Natasha Lyonne, Jewel (R 1/30/97) Fr 3/13 John Cusack, Liv Tyler, David Bowie (R 4/4/97) Mo 3/16 Emma Thompson, Alex Zanardi, Willie Nelson Tu 3/17 John Travolta, Jack Johnson, The Chieftains We 3/18 Bill Murray, Eddie Izzard Th 3/19 Pierce Brosnan, million-dollar kicker Lance Alstodt, Brian Regan (R 2/6/97) Fr 3/20 Jason Alexander, Griffin Dunne, Sammy Hagar (R 5/23/97) THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO, NBC Tu 3/10 Kevin Bacon, Gloria Stuart, The Mavericks We 3/11 Julianna Margulies, Carl Michael Lindner, Tim McGraw Th 3/12 Garry Shandling, Daniela Pestova, Parrot Jungle Birds Fr 3/13 Neve Campbell, 'Boomer' The Amazing Dog, Al Franken (*** PICK TO CLICK ***) Mo 3/16 Lauren Holly, 7-Year-Old Furtick Quadruplets Tu 3/17 Matt Dillon, Michelle Williams We 3/18 Matt LeBlanc, Rebecca Romijn, Peter Gros Th 3/19 Billy Crystal, Wynonna Fr 3/20 John Travolta, Lacey Chabert, Jimmy Ray LATE LATE SHOW WITH TOM SNYDER, CBS Tu 3/10 Bob Schieffer, paralyzed former hockey player Travis Roy and dad Lee We 3/11 Gloria Stuart, Tom Selleck Th 3/12 - Fr 3/13 Preempted due to coverage of the NCAA Mo 3/16 Natalie Cole, Ruth Reichl Tu 3/17 TBA We 3/18 Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, NBC Tu 3/10 Tom Arnold, Elizabeth Berkley, Chantal Kreviazuk We 3/11 David Frost, Jeff Garlin Th 3/12 Fred Savage Fr 3/13 Denis Leary, Holly Robinson-Peete, Mary Lou Lord Mo 3/16 Minnie Driver, Richard Belzer, B.B. King (R) Tu 3/17 Blink 182 We 3/18 Kevin Bacon and The Bacon Brothers Th 3/19 Julianna Marguiles, Doris Wishman Fr 3/20 Al Franken, Ricky Jay LATER, NBC Tu 3/10 Judd Nelson with Jeff Conaway We 3/11 Judd Nelson with Dedee Pfeiffer Th 3/12 Judd Nelson with Jonny Moseley and Eric Bergoust CHARLIE ROSE, PBS Please note that Charlie Rose listings are very tentative Tu 3/10 Robin Williams & Matt Damon We 3/11 Robert Duvall Th 3/12 James Cameron, Curtis Hanson POLITICALLY INCORRECT WITH BILL MAHER, ABC Tu 3/10 Stefanie Powers, Paul Rodriguez, Matthew Modine We 3/11 Jackie Collins, Dr. Dean Ornish, James Toback Th 3/12 Adam Carolla, Jeffrey Tambor, Rick James, Barbara Howar Fr 3/13 Patrick Stewart, Veronica Webb Mo 3/16 Judd Nelson, Rip Torn, Carrot Top, Holly McClure Tu 3/17 Tim Meadows, Charles Shaughnessy, Rev. Earl Jackson We 3/18 Leslie Cockburn, Jack Burkman Th 3/19 Sally Jessy Raphael, Brian McKnight Fr 3/20 Kennedy, Henry Rollins THE DAILY SHOW, Comedy Central Mo 3/9 Miguel Ferrer ("Lateline") Tu 3/10 Timothy Dalton We 3/11 Jason Preistley Th 3/12 Henry Thomas VIBE TV, syndicated Tu 3/10 Christopher Darden, Adrian Lester We 3/11 Star Jones, Richard Jeni, Gena Lee Nolin, Gil Scott-Heron Th 3/12 Paul Rodriguez, Maestro Harrell, Jose Feliciano Fr 3/13 Teresa Edwards, CeCe Winans, Dr. Dean Ornish Mo 3/16 Veronica Webb, Tommy Ford Tu 3/17 Karen McLymont We 3/18 Denise Richards Th 3/19 Christy Haubegger Fr 3/20 Kevin Bacon, Dr. Dre and Ed Lover, Terry Murphy KEENEN IVORY WAYANS, syndicated Tu 3/10 Jamie Foxx, Jasmine Guy, Boys II Men (R 9/25/97) We 3/11 Vanessa Williams, Ice T (R 11/13/97) Th 3/12 Keanu Reeves, Donald Faison & Sean Holland, Nia Peeples, Brian McKnight (R) Fr 3/13 Carmen Electra, Jesse Jackson, Kerri Strug, Mase (R) Mo 3/16 Tommy Ford, Wendy Liebman, Salt-N-Pepa (R) Tu 3/17 Bill Bellamy, Angie Everhart, En Vogue (R) We 3/18 Jada Pinkett, Brendan Fraser, Babyface (R) Th 3/19 Johnnie Cochran, Margaret Cho, LL Cool J (R) Fr 3/20 Gena Lee Nolin, Mark Curry, Rosa Blasi; Cube, Snoop, Mack 10 (R) SPACE GHOST COAST TO COAST, Cartoon Network Fr 3/13 Beck, David Lander (R) Thurston Moore (R) Fr 3/20 Michael McKean, David Lander (R) Bill Nye, Michael Norman (R) DIE HARALD SCHMIDT SHOW, SAT.1 Di 10/3 Actress Franka Potente, singer Costa Cordalis, Ingo Appelt Mi 11/3 Nena, satirist Robert Gernhardt Do 12/3 Comedian Mike Krueger, Marlene Lufen Fr 13/3 Sportscaster Heribert Fassbender, singer Kylie Minogue 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 Entire contents Copyright 1998 by Aaron Barnhart. All rights reserved. Current e-mail circulation: 12,190 subscribers in 53 countries. LATE SHOW NEWS is made possible with the generous assistance of ECHO, New York City's premiere online service. http://www.echonyc.com Send news for and comments about this newsletter to aaron@tvbarn.com