LATE SHOW NEWS #149 *** Happy 50, Dave *** April 14, 1997 by Aaron Barnhart Not a bad week for Norm MacDonald, was it? Things were going so well for the fake-news guy on "Saturday Night Live" that, when Saturday finally did roll around and Norm, in his "Weekend Update" anchor role, let the F word slip out on live television, you instantly knew there would be nothing but upside from it. The f(a)ux pas, for those who weren't watching, was nearly imperceptible, but Norm knew he'd said it, as did some viewers and those in the studio audience, prompting him to offer an improvised signoff: "Tune in next week to see if I'm still here!" Undoubtedly he will be. Unlike his predecessor Kevin Nealon, MacDonald inspires strong emotions, most of them positive among "SNL" fans who credit him with spicing up an otherwise predictable season on the show. Initially, MacDonald wasn't seen much outside of "Update," but in the past year he has established two bona fide hit characters besides his imitation-newsreader guy. One of them -- his so-so Bob Dole impersonation -- got him invited to the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner on Thursday, while the other -- his stunning take on David Letterman's 10 most annoying on-air tics -- earned him a just-as-stunning invite to "Late Show" on Tuesday, where the host treated him as he might his official biographer. (By the way, a number of MacDonald's admirers wrote me following that "Late Show" experience to note, some a little more smugly than others, that my prediction -- that Norm's take on Letterman would make him persona non grata around the "Late Show" -- was wrong. One even demanded that I "offer a retraction this week" for daring to say such a thing. Retraction? Sure, bub, just as soon as you show me your NCAA pool entry with Arizona at the top ...) At the Correspondents' Dinner, MacDonald had trouble warming up the crowd during his half hour of remarks, though he had no trouble with this home viewer. His joke about an ABC News producer who got really drunk at a party and "actually wound up having sex with his own wife" cut a little too close to the bone, but even Dan Rather could laugh at a joke about his tendency to break "into a huge frozen smile." And a trifecta of punchlines about "the most powerful man in Washington ... Alan Greenspan" brought down the house, especially the one about Greenspan's honeymoon with his new wife, NBC's Andrea Mitchell, in Mexico. As a wedding gift to Mitchell, said Norm, Greenspan devalued the Mexican peso ... Another good sign for Norm: The White House did not implore C-SPAN to pull the repeat showings of the Correspondents' Dinner. *** The May sweep for "Late Show" is going to work a little differently than the November sweep. Last fall, you'll recall Dave took his show to four different cities. This spring, he's *inviting* fans from four different cities to come to New York for a special city-themed taping. The cities are Indianapolis (Apr. 25), St. Louis (May 2), Minneapolis-St. Paul (May 9), and Denver (May 16), the number 25, 21, 14, and 18 markets in the country, respectively. (Last year's four road shows originated from No. 3 Chicago, No. 16 Miami, No. 7 Washington and No. 6 Boston.) Each Friday stunt will include giveaways to lucky fans in each of the four cities, who will win airfare, accommodations, and show tickets to "their" taping; send a postcard to LATE SHOW ONLINE - (MSP/DENVER), 1697 Broadway #1232, NY NY 10019. Sorry, but Late Show Online already held the drawings for the first two cities ... It looks like the hoopsters will be left holding the towels when the black-oriented late-night talkers take to the airwaves beginning later this year. Disney just announced that it has sold "The Keenen Wayans Show" to -- why didn't I see *this* one coming? -- the 22 stations owned by Fox Broadcasting, which has made loads o'cash over the years off of "In Living Color." That certainly trumps the Chris-Craft-affiliated stations that have bought into Quincy Jones- produced "Vibe," not to mention the new late-night talker that cable's Black Entertainment Television just unveiled for a fall launch. And it almost surely means that John Salley, whose project is also with Disney, and Magic Johnson, who was not even planning to take to the airwaves until August 1998, are on the outs. Neither Salley's nor Johnson's distributor has said as much, however, and it's entirely possible they'll be repackaged and sold to a different tier of stations as something other than nightly talk shows ... CBS has renewed the Worldwide Pants-produced "Everybody Loves Raymond," which is up sharply in the ratings since being moved to Big Comedy Monday ... Memo to concerned viewer(s): "The Chris Rock Show" is *not* cancelled but was only supposed to air four shows as part of its pilot. HBO's bringing it back for a full run in August, and expect new "Mr. Show" episodes shortly thereafter ... Last month, BBC-TV personality Noel Edmonds originated his Saturday-night program "Noel's House Party" from this side of the pond. Get this: it originated from the Ed Sullivan Theater. "As the show unfolded, it was clear that large chunks of the regular format had been dropped or changed, and it took on the air of a rather surreal 'Late Show,' as Edmonds attempted a monologue, surprised an audience member and made her watch the show from a monitor on Broadway, and showed several (pretty lame) remotes featuring amongst others, William Shatner and David Hasselhoff," writes viewer Jeremy Black. "There was a candid-camera style humiliation of Joan Rivers, who was presented with a garish portrait supposedly done by Stephanie Beecham." Letterman people confirm the sighting was genuine; Edmonds did his broadcast during a "dark" (non-taping) week at the "Late Show" ... Speaking of the BBC, its new Channel Five has launched, and includes late-night talk show entry, fronted by a Scottish comedian, Jack Docherty. Yes, it will be "based on the American David Letterman format," according to a news report. So far, Docherty has no real competitors on the other British TV channels. His show will be followed by what the report terms "risque comedy programming" ... Every year, National Public Radio airs a spoof news report during its April 1 programs (last year, you may recall, "Weekend Edition" featured a lengthy story about a small town that was so much in favor of family values that it had mandated monogamy). This year's jokecast covered the "ninth annual mouth sounds competition" in Belleville, Ill., including an interview with the contest "winner," played by NPR's Sean Collins. Guess which late-night show fell for the gag and tried booking the winner? Here's a hint: its host would win any chin-music competition going away ... Here's another hint: he's the only late-night comedy host *not* mentioned in this week's Entertainment Weekly list of "The 50 Funniest People Alive" ... The National Enquirer says that Letterman is secretly learning Japanese in preparation for taking his show to the Winter Olympics in 10 months. A spokesman for CBS Sports, which will be covering the Games, said the Dave-to-Japan part "probably has more credibility than the first part," but emphasized that nothing is set in stone at this early stage ... Jim Windolf's 50th-birthday tribute to Letterman in the April 14 edition of The New York Observer is must reading. Sorry, but it's only available in offline form ... (By the way, all my Enquirer sightings come courtesy of Tom Heald, who last week got in a call-in question to the "Late Late Show" with Jon Stewart guest-hosting and Arsenio Hall in the guest chair. Tom reports that he told Stewart that his mother liked Jon. "He's no Tom Snyder," said Tom's mom, "but he's okay." Stew responded, "What does Mom think of [venerable porn star] Ron Jeremy?" to which Tom replied, "Oh, she *loves* him!") Two LSN-related Web sites announced major renovations this week: The "Tonight Show" site at nbc.com and "The Daily Show" at comcentral.com -- now you can participate in Craig's Five Questions bit! ... Plenty of reader mail this week. Besides the Norm alerts, I received the gamut of opinions about "The Daily Show," about which I raved in a midweek report. Perhaps the most interesting response was from a CBS executive who shall remain nameless, since it's obvious that s/he mistakenly sent to me mail intended for someone else. "Okay, so I agree with him on 'Fired Up,'" the note begins, "but he loses me on 'The Daily Show.' I know we're biased, but how can anyone find Lizz Winstead funny?" Tom Heald's THIS NIGHT IN HISTORY Mo 4/14: In 1968, Anthony Michael Hall is born. Hall was a "Saturday Night Live" castmember during the 1985-1986 season. Since then, he's been in -- well, there was the ... um ... hey, what do you expect, this isn't the WASHED UP-DATE . Tu 4/15: In 1992, Jay Leno makes his final appearance as permanent guest host of the "Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" before taking over the reins for good. We 4/16: In 1983, on "SNL" Velvet Jones (Eddie Murphy) plugs his titillating new "The Exercises of Love" videotape. "Yes, It's all here: the squatting, the thrusting, the grunting and the groaning. Take it from Velvet, these are exercises you'll want to watch again and again." Th 4/17: In 1934, Don Kirshner is born. Rock promoter/producer Kirshner was hired to host ABC's short-lived (and since-revived) "In Concert" series in 1972, but left for his own syndicated show when he realized that "some ABC executives didn't seem to know the difference between the Allman Brothers and the Osmond Brothers." "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" ran from 1973 to 1991. Fr 4/18: In 1963, Conan O'Brien starts growing a pompadour. In 1994, Arsenio Hall announces he will end his show the following month. Sa 4/19: In 1996, after nearly a decade of midnight movie commentary on the small screen, Crow and Tom Servo invade theatres with "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie." Su 4/20: In 1992, Benny Hill goes to that great big Oktoberfest in the sky, where he slaps a surprisingly buxom Virgin Mary on the... (Thanks to Tim Brooks, Mike Cader, Earl Marsh, and Dave Tanny. Special thanks to Donz5, who just like my mother, *loves* Ron Jeremy.) Any particular porn stars *your* mom loves? Send them wacky anecdotes to Tom Heald at . THE LINEUPS (with Sue Trowbridge) LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS Mo 4/14 Robin Williams (R 11/30/93), Whoopi Goldberg (9/4/96), Bruce Springsteen (4/5/95) Tu 4/15 Dana Carvey (R 11/19/93), Helen Hunt (6/29/94), LeAnn Rimes (9/5/96) We 4/16 Ellen DeGeneres (R 9/24/96), Will Smith (7/2/96), Celine Dion (4/24/96) Th 4/17 Arnold Schwarzenegger (R 7/20/94), Dennis Rodman (8/20/96), Courteney Cox (1/20/96) Fr 4/18 Tom Hanks (R 10/1/96), Wesley Snipes (9/8/95), Jewel (4/22/96) Mo 4/21 George Foreman, Alicia Witt, Mary J. Blige Tu 4/22 Katie Couric, Roma Downey, INXS We 4/23 Jennifer Jason Leigh, Steven Weber, Wilco Th 4/24 TBA Fr 4/25 Indianapolis Night THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO, NBC Mo 4/14 Glenn Close, Howie Mandel, SeaWorld animal expert Julie Scardina Tu 4/15 Minnie Driver, Larry King, Richard Marx We 4/16 Christopher Reeve, John Cusack, Sharon Lawrence Th 4/17 Julianna Margulies, world champion pizza thrower Tony Gemignani, Duncan Shiek Fr 4/18 Cindy Crawford, Jon Secada Mo 4/21 Rebecca DeMornay Tu 4/22 Michael J. Fox, Penn & Teller We 4/23 Patrick Stewart, Carmen Electra Th 4/24 Bill Paxton, Joan Embery and animals, LeAnn Rimes LATE LATE SHOW WITH TOM SNYDER, CBS Mo 4/14 Dyan Cannon, Andrew Sullivan Tu 4/15 Tom Arnold We 4/16 Sol Wachtler Th 4/17 Frank McCourt Fr 4/18 Joe Pesci Mo 4/21 John Hockenberry Tu 4/22 Tanya Tucker We 4/23 Computer expert "Robert X. Cringely" LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, NBC Mo 4/14 Patricia Hearst, James Carville, Mitch Fatel (R 9/6/96) Tu 4/15 Tyra Banks, Rich Hall, Alexi Lalas (R 9/19/96) We 4/16 Norm Macdonald, Steve Buscemi, The Connells (R 10/9/96) Th 4/17 Third Anniversary Show (R 9/13/96) Fr 4/18 Rob Schneider, Mimi Rogers, Carl Perkins (R 11/13/96) Mo 4/21 John Turturro, Colin Quinn, Keb Mo Tu 4/22 John Tesh, Space We 4/23 Martin Mull, Dr. Joyce Brothers Th 4/24 Steven Weber, Radish Fr 4/25 Charlie Rose, Physics guru Dr. David Wright LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN RERUNS, CNBC Mo 4/14 Tori Spelling, Danny Aiello, Eels (R 9/27/96) Tu 4/15 Mark Hamill, Carey Lowell, Mighty Mighty Boss Tones (R 3/18/97) We 4/16 Nia Peeples, Marc Maron, Yasmine Bleeth (R 3/19/97) Th 4/17 Willem Dafoe, Famke Janssen, Hugh Fink (R 3/20/97) Fr 4/18 Barbara Walters, Halle Berry, Morcheeba (R 3/21/97) LATER, NBC Mo 4/14 Carlos Mencia with Pauly Shore Tu 4/15 Carlos Mencia with Coolio CHARLIE ROSE, PBS Mo 4/14 Frances McDormand, "Waiting for Lefty" (JoAnne Woodward, Marisa Tomei, Greg Naughton) Tu 4/15 Terry Gross, Jackie Robinson 50th Anniversary We 4/16 David Horowitz, Yaron Ezrahi Th 4/17 Wendy Wasserstein, Joan Lunden Fr 4/18 Peter Maas, Rick Pitino THE DAILY SHOW, Comedy Central Tu 4/15 David Alan Grier We 4/16 Naomi Judd Th 4/17 Howie Mandel (has a new HBO special coming out) POLITICALLY INCORRECT WITH BILL MAHER, ABC Tu 4/15 Barbara Bosson, Karen Finley, ethicist Michael Josephson, Heavy D We 4/16 Dane Matthews, Clarence Page, Carl Reiner, Judith Regan Th 4/17 Lionel Chetwynd, Paxton Quigley, Richard Reeves, Elizabeth Perkins Fr 4/18 Frank McCourt, Christa Miller, Oliver North DENNIS MILLER LIVE, HBO Fr 4/18 Phil Hartman Fr 4/25 Lisa Kudrow SPACE GHOST COAST TO COAST, Cartoon Network Fr 4/18 Fran Drescher, Carol Channing, Alice Cooper (R) Michael Stipe, Lassie, Mujibur & Sirajul (R) HOWARD STERN, E! Mo 4/14 John Mellencamp, Carly Simon, Pt. 1 Tu 4/15 Richard Lewis Nose Job, Carly Simon, Pt. 2 We 4/16 Abby the Doorman, Adam West Th 4/17 What's My Color?, Mr. Blackwell, Pt. 1 Fr 4/18 Lauren Holly, Mr. Blackwell, Pt. 2 Sa 4/19 Tori Spelling, Ralph and the Condom List Mo 4/21 David Spade, Pt. 1, Josie Returns Tu 4/22 David Spade, Pt. 2, Penthouse Pet In A Suit, Pt. 1 Also on late nights: NIGHTLINE, ABC CHARLES GRODIN, CNBC CARSON'S COMEDY CLASSICS, Family Channel MAD TV, Fox SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, NBC SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, Comedy Central WORLD NEWS NOW, ABC UP TO THE MINUTE, CBS ====================================================== AARON BARNHART IN THE KANSAS CITY STAR (soon to be a Knight-Ridder newspaper) How to find my articles in the Star archive: (1) Go to . (2) Under the "Additional search criteria" heading, type Aaron Barnhart in the "AUTHOR" entry blank. (3) Click the Search button. Entire contents Copyright 1997 by Aaron Barnhart. All rights reserved. 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