LATE SHOW NEWS #153 May 12, 1997 by Aaron Barnhart LATE SHOW NEWS has just previewed "The Ruby Wax Show," the frantically paced celebrity chat show with the British-American host that is coming to the Fox network this summer. Although there has been talk of Fox making this a late-night program -- where have we heard *that* before, Michael Moore? -- its debut will be on Mondays starting June 9 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern. Wax is a former Royal Shakespeare Company actor who has, by all accounts, done it all, writing and performing in her own stage productions, co-writing "Ab Fab" and currently starring in her own thrice-weekly political talk show on the BBC. Not bad for an American who hails from Evanston, Illinois. "The Ruby Wax Show" is a series of apparently unrehearsed, occasionally unhinged and, considering the genre, reasonably candid interviews. In the first episode, Ruby runs around the "Baywatch" set in a swimsuit, rolls in the sack with a giggly Goldie Hawn, and goes shopping at the Food Hall with Bette Midler. Wax holds her own with these women, mugging, improvising, joking, doing anything to get a rise and a revealing comment out of them. Sometimes the strain shows, especially with guests who clearly do not dig the freewheeling Ruby routine (like Midler, who seems desperate to insert a plug for her upcoming LP). But Hawn and Wax pal around like old roommates, which professionally they practically are (the two women are writing a screenplay together). Americans may take a cotton to seeing their favorite celebs in goofier settings -- or they may see through the clever artifice to see this for the p.r. vehicle, however unconventional, that it is. In any case, I don't see Fox picking this up for a late-night strip (five nights a week), although conceivably it could run in the post-"MAD TV" slot on Saturdays. It would be hard to imagine sharper counterprogramming to "Saturday Night Live" than this female-driven half hour of chitchat. *** Reruns of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," which had begun airing in January on CNBC, are being yanked in favor of a repeat of that evening's "The News with Brian Williams" on MSNBC ... Meanwhile in Dallas, Ed Dravecky notes that WFAA has upgraded "Politically Incorrect" to 11:35 Central time, a 30-minute delay (down from 90 minutes when it sat parked behind the now-cancelled "Rolanda") ... Harrison Wyman checked and discovered that Dave doesn't run fifth in L.A., he runs *sixth,* behind Jay, Ted, Jerry Springer, "M*A*S*H" and "Murphy Brown" ... Keenen Ivory Wayans' Disney-produced late-night show is already sold to 75% of the country, and with the announcement that John Salley's project has been shelved, that makes it effectively a two-man battle between Wayans and Quincy Jones' "Vibe," hosted by Chris Spencer (Earvin "Magic" Johnson's show isn't supposed to launch until January, if ever) ... American audiences will finally get to see how close to a "Larry Sanders" ripoff is Ken Finkleman's CBC sitcom, "The Newsroom." The first 13 episodes have been sold to "key PBS stations in the U.S.," according to a Toronto Star report ... Norm MacDonald, who we all recently learned uses nearly all of his own material for his fake-news routine, told Entertainment Weekly that -- hard as it may be to believe -- the program actually does exercise some restraint with his "stories." For example? "They didn't want to deal with Fred Goldman," said Norm. "I wanted to do all these jokes about his mustache. He's such a sympathetic character, but at the same time he's got this crazy mustache that makes you laugh. He looks like he should be tying a girl to the train tracks" ... Elsewhere in EW two anonymous former "SNL" staffers passed along this juicy insight into "Austin Powers," the new Mike Myers movie, where Myers plays both the hopelessly retro superspy and his nemesis Dr. Evil: "The best joke in 'Austin Powers' was that Dr. Evil was totally a Lorne Michaels impression," said one. "It's a perfect caricature," said another. "His obsessing about minutiae, the way he ends everything by bringing his pinky up and chewing the fingernail" ... Reader mail: John Knox -- not the 16th-century reformer who shilled for Calvin but the latter-day promotion guy who shills for NBC -- writes to inform me that NBC's new "Tonight Show" site is not outsourced, as I had reported, but is handled in-house by the network's fabled NBC 2000 unit. NBC 2000 is the shop that has made the 30-second show promo into a minor art ... In Russia, the country has its first indigenous late-night progam, "Dobri Vecher," according to one of LSN's German readers, Bernd Brueggemann. As for the Letterman ripoff on his native soil -- "Die Harald Schmidt Show" -- Bernd writes, "Even though I have to admit that it is all getting better I still think this show sucks, because Schmidt simply does not have the combination of wit, elegance, dignity and weirdness a man like Letterman has. His contract ends in November or December and there is still no news of even TALKING about a renewal" ... One of my Canadian readers, in a typically astute Canadian observation about TV in the U.S., says that if Jay Leno can appear on NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Street," then "why can't Dave Letterman kick Ranger Walker's ass in an episode?" ... Finally, a public word of thanks to Jim McIntosh, list administrator at American University, who is leaving his post at the end of this month. For most of LATE SHOW NEWS's three-plus years as an Internet publication, it has been delivered to its e-mail readership through the efficient and trouble-free portals of the AU listserver. You can't take a smooth-running listserver for granted, and that owed in large part to Jim's management. He arranged for LSN's transfer from a less reliable server and,a lthough I do all the donkey work -- sending messages to the list, adding and deleting the names of people who were unable to do it themselves -- Jim's assistance at crucial moments has made all the difference. I can truly say that the less I've had to think about the LATE SHOW NEWS listserver over the years, the more I must count myself in Jim's debt. Good luck, Jim. Tom Heald's THIS NIGHT IN HISTORY Mo 5/12: In 1936, Mother Snyder gives birth to a boy named Tom, who bears a striking resemblance to Lorne Greene. (And it's a safe bet that Mother Snyder is not too pleased that I'm mentioning this.) Tu 5/13: In 1982, Jerry Seinfeld makes his first appearance on "Late Night with David Letterman." Following a guest appearance by Billy Carter, in which the discussion touched on Carter's controversial business relationship with Libya, Letterman asks Seinfeld, "Ever get a loan from the Libyans?" "No," answers Seinfeld. Cut to commercial. We 5/14: In 1996, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" presents "Journey Past Midnight," a week-long behind-the-scenes soap opera parodying HBO's "Late Shift" movie. The plot involves sidekick Andy Richter pruning a successor to force host O'Brien out, O'Brien trying to outmaneuver Richter, and bandleader Max Weinberg playing both of them off each other. Everyone plays themselves, except for Weinberg, who is played by a different guest actor each night, including the likes of Charlene Tilton. Th 5/15: In 1987, amidst mediocre ratings, Joan Rivers finally bails out of the Fox network's first television series, "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers." Fr 5/16: In 1984, in what some consider the start and/or end of one of the world's greatest practical jokes, Andy Kaufman dies of a rare form of lung cancer, despite being a life-long nonsmoker who never drank, used drugs, or ate red meat. For more than can possibly be detailed *here* on the life and/or "death" of Kaufman, please visit "The Last Days of Andy Kaufman" at . Sa 5/17: In 1984, at the end of the show, David Letterman steps out of his tv character and mentions the passing of Andy Kaufman, one of the most extraordinary guests ever to appear on "Late Night with David Letterman." The show is never rebroadcast. Su 5/18: In 1991, Dennis Miller & Jan Hooks make their last appearances as regular cast members of "Saturday Night Live." [Thanks to Damone, B.K. Momchilov, and Dave Tanny. Special thanks to Donz5, who has not missed an episode of Letterman's television work since 5/17/84.] [Andy, if you're out there and feel like talkin'... I can keep a secret. Write me at .] THE LINEUPS (with Sue Trowbridge) LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS Mo 5/12 Cybill Shepherd, George Carlin Tu 5/13 Andy Garcia, George Foreman, Travis Tritt We 5/14 David Hyde Pierce, Dana Delany, Spice Girls Th 5/15 Helen Hunt, Jeffrey Tambor, sword swallower Brad Byers THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO, NBC Mo 5/12 John Lithgow, Australian tap sensation Tap Dogs Tu 5/13 Jason Alexander, Joe Cavallo, Milla Jovovich We 5/14 Teri Hatcher, bug expert Linda Mason Th 5/15 Fran Drescher, Depeche Mode Fr 5/16 Matt Lauer, Naomi Campbell, Jamiroquai Mo 5/19 Paul Reiser, one-person graduating class Joe Huber, James Taylor Tu 5/20 Don Rickles, Julianne Moore We 5/21 Michael Richards, Marcia Clark Th 5/22 Jay's Five Year Anniversary: Jerry Seinfeld, Garth Brooks LATE LATE SHOW WITH TOM SNYDER, CBS Mo 5/12 TBA Tu 5/13 TBA We 5/14 Della Reese Th 5/15 TBA Fr 5/16 Ted Danson, Earl Woods Mo 5/19 Bill Maher Tu 5/20 Jon Voight, Elizabeth Kaye We 5/21 TBA Th 5/22 Nadine Strossen LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, NBC Mo 5/12 Kevin Bacon, Bonnie Hunt, J.R. Havlan (R 7/12/96) Tu 5/13 Danny Aiello, George Carlin, Shawn Colvin We 5/14 Bob Dole, Tisha Campbell, magician David Blaine Th 5/15 Courtney Thorne-Smith, Collective Soul Fr 5/16 Isabella Rossellini, Doug E. Doug, hog caller Roxanne Ward Mo 5/19 Brian Kiley, Peter Bart Tu 5/20 Christa Miller, Mark Eitzel and Peter Buck LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN RERUNS, CNBC Mo 5/12 James Carville, Mitch Fatel, Patricia Hearst (R 9/6/96) Tu 5/13 Tyra Banks, Rich Hall, Alexi Lalas (R 9/19/96) We 5/14 Norm MacDonald, Steve Buscemi, The Connells (R 10/9/96) Th 5/15 George Wendt, Scott Thompson, Janeane Garofalo (R 9/13/96) Fr 5/16 Rob Schneider, Mimi Rogers, Carl Perkins (R 11/13/96) LATER, NBC Mo 5/12 Dave Chappelle with guest TBA Tu 5/13 Dave Chappelle with guest TBA We 5/14 Dave Chappelle with guest TBA Th 5/15 Dave Chappelle with guest TBA CHARLIE ROSE, PBS Mo 5/12 Andy Garcia, Sidney Lumet, Danny Aiello Tu 5/13 TBA We 5/14 Sir John Templeton, Ira Berkow, Danny Goldberg Th 5/15 Terence McNally, Joe Mantello POLITICALLY INCORRECT WITH BILL MAHER, ABC Mo 5/12 Eric Estrada, Pat Benatar, Richard Viguerie Tu 5/13 Laura Dern, Fran Drescher, Marianne Williamson, Sinbad We 5/14 Rob Lowe, Martin Short, Deborah Norville, Kellyanne Fitzpatrick Th 5/15 Gary Busey Fr 5/16 Rick Schroeder, Al Franken, Star Parker, Christine O'Donnell DENNIS MILLER LIVE, HBO Fr 5/16 TBA Fr 5/23 Rerun, TBA Fr 5/30 Ann Richards on sobriety THE DAILY SHOW, Comedy Central Mo 5/12 Lea Thompson Tu 5/13 Judd Nelson We 5/14 Tisha Campbell Th 5/15 Ron Liebman HOWARD STERN, E! Mo 5/12 Stacy vs. Julie, Pt. 1, Mackenzie Phillips Tu 5/13 Stacy vs. Julie, Pt. 2, Ralph/Scott the Engineer We 5/14 Monica Shows Implants, Grillo vs. The Interns Th 5/15 Jenna Jameson, Angry Melrose Fr 5/16 Janine Lindmuller, Pee Pee Diaper Sa 5/17 Carol Shaya Audition, Pts. 1 and 2 DIE HARALD SCHMIDT SHOW, SAT.1 Tu 13/5 Alice Schwarzer, Werner Lorant We 14/5 Vendela, Jens Lehmann Th 15/5 Sabine Sauer, Andre Kostolany Fr 16/5 Viva-Twins, Toni Schumacher Also on late nights: NIGHTLINE, ABC CHARLES GRODIN, CNBC CARSON'S COMEDY CLASSICS, Family Channel MAD TV, Fox 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. Distributed by e-mail and BBS to over 10,000 readers weekly. 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