LATE SHOW NEWS #221 October 13, 1998 by Aaron Barnhart To join or leave the LATE-SHOW-NEWS mailing list, see instructions at end of message. Language advisory! The S-word hits the fan three times in this issue, beginning with ... (The Advertisement) "I am not even to the Tuesday section yet, but I've laughed more at BUTV '98 than the EW fall TV preview issue. Hell, it's making me think about signing up for cable again, and I'm never home to watch TV! Let's just say my copy is going to have a very high pass-along rate among my loser hipster friends. BUTV '98 ... it's the shit!" -- Josette A. Torres Hey Bay Area readers! Skittish about ordering books online? Don't get your head examined -- just drop by your local independent bookseller and pick up a copy of BARNHART'S UNAUTHORIZED TV '98, now available at Booksmith, Stacey's, Clean Well-Lighted, Cody's, Modern Times and even Harold's International Newsstand. Mrs. LATE SHOW NEWS and I were vacationing there last week and made sure the book-buying fiends of San Francisco and Berkeley could get offline access to BUTV '98. Yes, they're cancelling some of the new fall shows already -- Nathan Lane didn't even make the second "Encore!" -- but your copy of BUTV '98 will be fresh all fall and winter, since it covers the returning shows and cable channels that won't be going away anytime soon (unfortunately, in some cases). You can see a 15-page preview copy and order it online at http://lateshownews.com or mail $9.95 in U.S. funds (plus $5 if you live outside the U.S., Canada or Mexico) made payable to Aaron Barnhart to P.O. Box 36331, Kansas City, MO 64171. Don't worry, I'll give you your money back if you don't like it. It's also a good way to support LATE SHOW NEWS, if you feel so inclined. "It's very impressive. Almost makes me want to go out and buy a television." -- Sheri Steinberg *** On Thursday, you'll get your chance to hear me jabber about TV, regardless of where you live. That's because "Extension 720," the nightly two-hour interview show featuring Chicago's own professor of the airwaves, Milt Rosenberg, is netcast on http://www.wgnradio.com. Tune in at 9 p.m. Central time and let's hope Phil Rosenthal lets me get a word in edgewise. Kansas Citians take note, my talk at Prospero's Books on 39th Street was rescheduled. It'll be on Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. (Don't worry, the Chiefs game is on Monday that week.) And yours truly is the subject of a feature by columnist Randall Rothenberg in this week's (Oct. 12) issue of Advertising Age. I doubt anything this favorable -- or this extensive -- will be written about me again before I turn 60, so get to your newsstand quick. *** Fall's most anticipated television event among the Ten Percenters, as I refer to the Canadian subscribers to LATE SHOW NEWS, was the return of "Open Mike with Mike Bullard," the first new late-night talk show in years not to suck. Bullard, Orin Isaacs and the whole gang moved from Wayne Gretzky's sports bar to their own rent-free facility this season, and though the studio audience seating multiplied in size, the producers didn't make the mistake Letterman's people did five years ago by multiplying the sound. There's still a low-intensity feel to "Open Mike," although they did have to turn down the lights after the first night and instruct the audience that there would be no more standing O's after Monday's. ("I'm sorry, we didn't have applause last year," Bullard said at one point on his first night back. "You're freaking me out." Actually, most of the applause on "Open Mike" tends to be of the polite variety, as though Bullard were announcing bake-off winners rather than telling jokes.) What's really impressive about this show is how much of it Bullard fills with unscripted material -- and how consistently hi-grade are his ad libs. During Wednesday's broadcast, after an especially tasteless Clinton joke failed to elicit the correct audience response, Bullard said, "It's at times like this I'd like to remind you that we're all Canadians." Bullard's unhurried pose and lack of awe relax his guests as well. After journalist Knowlton Nash made a comment about seeing "Clinton's penis on the front page," Bullard mused, "I've always wanted to see mine in the want ads." To which Nash instantly replied, "In 'Help Wanted'?" The writing on the show is pretty good too, though perhaps inevitably a fair amount of it relies on templates long ago forged by American late-night writers. The desk bits are indistinguishable from Leno's and Letterman's, except that they seem to get away with dicier stuff than their U.S. counterparts. From a "Then and Now" bit that compared the state of the world today with five and a half months ago when the last "Open Mike" aired: Then: People bemoaning the demise of Seinfeld. Now: People bemoaning the return of Suddenly Susan. Then: Bill and Hillary's marriage thought to be shaky. Now: Bill and Hillary clearly have a rock-solid business relationship. Later in the week, Bullard answered a viewer-mail question asking what happened after he disappeared off-stage while rollerblading with Canadian figure-skating champ Kurt Browning. That led to a taped bit with Bullard skating behind the anchor during a nightly newscast. After the bit, Bullard ad-libbed, "For those of you who think we rip off Letterman, that was a Dan Rather *lookalike.*" I don't think Bullard needs to apologize; even when he's doing comedy that's older than the Catskills, he imparts a certain charm to it -- if you thought Jay Leno had a goofy giggle, wait till you see the host of "Open Mike" -- and the unscriptedness is something we haven't seen in the States since Jon Stewart signed off three years ago. Chris Berthelot attended a taping of "Open Mike" during week two and writes, "Mike seemed really normal and pretty blue collar and far funnier off camera than actually on. He made a penis joke and asked the females in the audience if they where offended during the commercial. He stood around after the show with the audience for about a half an hour just shooting the shit. Upon exiting the parking garage near the theatre, I noticed Mike outside having a butt with some people. Just a completely different situation than the big two." I'd love to tell you who's on Mike's show this week, but unfortunately the knuckleheads who update the www.open-mike.com site don't do the week's lineups until Tuesday or so. *** It's out and I'm giving it a pick-to-click: "Adventures in a TV Nation," the companion paperback to the much-missed comedy-reality show, by Michael Moore and his wife and "TV Nation" executive producer Kathleen Glynn. It's not every show that can wait three years before putting out a book largely comprised of text descriptions of on-air segments you've already seen. But "TV Nation" isn't every show. Criticized as "Roger and Me" done to death, Moore's foray into prime-time TV aired on NBC in 1994 and Fox in 1995 and was written up here constantly for no particular reason other than I liked it a lot and had Lettermanesque qualities to it (not to mention Merrill Markoe). You'll read about some of the more noteworthy segments from the show's 17-episode run, like Rusty Cundieff's short career as a slaveowner in South Carolina and the exploits of Crackers the Corporate Crime-Fighting Chicken, as well as accounts of the five segments that never saw air (like the one featuring an interviewer walking into drugstores around New York and asking for condoms in the *small* size). There's an FAQ-like set of appendices in the back recounting each episode, each Widgery & Associates poll and even some resources for activists. And I note in the acknowledgements in the back the authors pay cryptic tribute to three ex-writers who later wrote back-stabbing accounts about the hell they endured under Moore: "Thanks also to Randy Cohen, Chris Kelly, and Jeff Stilson who showed us that, indeed, tragedy plus time equals comedy." *** Kathie Freeman was in the dress-rehearsal audience for the 5th anniversary special of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" that aired in prime time last month. The energy level for the dress rehearsal was so good that large chunks of it were included in the special that you saw (including the two mock-awards presentations that featured Tony Randall and Tom Arnold). Kathie writes, "I thought the whole show came off great, though Conan's anxiety was really obvious during the breaks. Wow, is he tightly strung! I was caught off-guard -- I didn't expect to see such a truly extreme level of intensity. ... I'm also 35, raised Catholic and the third of six children. Believe me, I understand all of that "It's got to be good"/"I have to earn it"/ depressive/guilt-driven motivation. It's what we tend to be *made* of. But, geez-o-might, I'm now actually worried about the guy. I can see why he jokes about the impending heart attack." *** If you get HBO Signature, formerly HBO3, then you may know this already: Starting Oct. 1, "The Larry Sanders Show" and "Dennis Miller Live" airs every weeknight at 9 p.m. ET/PT ... Spotted on www.mrshow.com's "Weekly Episode Guide" page: "Once we start airing, this is where you'll come to get a rundown of the new episode of 'Mr. Show.' But, of course, the season hasn't begun yet, so we're not showing you shit right now. You'll just have to wait until our NEW SEASON PREMIERES ON: MONDAY, OCTOBER 26TH AT MIDNIGHT ON HBO" ... Aaron Dickey informs me that "World News Now" is still alive, but has been reduced by 30 minutes, which as Aaron notes is better than being reduced by 120 minutes ... Robert Bob "Morty" Morton's Panamort Productions has inked www.breakupgirl.com and the Web site's creator, Lynn Harris, for a sitcom development deal. ABC has first look at whatever develops, sez Variety ... John Salley's new game show for Fox Family Channel is already history ... Despite the fact that his network has lost a million viewers in prime time over the past year, Jay Leno attracted the largest premiere week audience since 1991 with 6.53 million viewers for the week of Sept. 21-25 (``Late Show With David Letterman'' drew 3.62 million) ... Leno's will be the first NBC show regularly aired in high-definition TV (like you'll be watching) ... Jack Haskell, a 30-year television veteran who became a fixture as a stand-in on Jack Paar's and Johnny Carson's shows, died Sept. 26. He was 79 ... And let's pray Margaret Ray's troubled soul has found some peace. The 46-year-old former stalker of David Letterman knelt in front of an oncoming train last week and was killed instantly. *** Reader mail: The sharp-eyed Erik Pittock took issue with my kudos for a bit that aired in the season premiere of "Saturday Night Live." He writes, "'The Best of the First 20 Minutes of "SNL"' was okay, but hardly original. The exact same concept, complete with snippets of the sketches already shown, aired in the season premiere in 1989 with Bruce Willis. Also, wasn't Cameron Diaz wearing a tight black skirt in her 'Ladies' Man' sketch? In the video highlight five minutes later she's wearing some sort of leopard print skirt. I guess they couldn't have edited that scene into the commercial in time and not used rehearsal footage?" ... Stephen Cooke writes from Halifax, "Unfortunately, Canada will not be getting 'Space Ghost: Coast to Coast' in the foreseeable future, because its American owners forgot to secure Canadian rights for the guests appearances. So, eager viewers tuning into Teletoon for their first glimpse of the big white guy instead got a dose of the Road Runner Show (another Time Warner property, natch) and a banner on the bottom of the screen apologizing for the lack of Space Ghost. Teletoon said in a press release it hopes to get Space Ghost on the channel soon, but it could take a while. If you consider the 'Surprise' episode, which has something like 30 guests ('to get publicists off our backs' according to one website), this could indeed be a while." *** Tom Heald's THIS NIGHT IN HISTORY Tomalhe@aol.com We 10/7: In 1997, "Live From 6A: Great Musical Performances from 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien'" is unleashed in music stores. An enhanced version of the CD is reportedly due out next year. Th 10/8: In 1996, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" celebrates show #666. Satan being unavailable, the show instead books Dr. Ruth Westheimer. Fr 10/9: In 1986, Fox makes its debut as a broadcast network by stripping "The Late Show" starring Joan Rivers five-nights-a-week in late night. Sa 10/10: In 1961, Julia Sweeney is born. Last seen by only one or two Nielsen families as a nanny on CBS's underwhelming "George and Leo," Sweeney is a regular these days at the Un-Cabaret in Los Angeles. Su 10/11: In 1996, Dennis Miller begins as host of the four-week series "Not Necessarily the Elections" on HBO. Mo 10/12: In 1962, as part of the rampant Skifflemania spreading across the country, "Lonnie Donnegan & His Skiffle Group" perform on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." Tu 10/13: In 1979, Steve Martin is the Pope in his eighth time hosting "Saturday Night Live" This appearance with musical guest Blondie stands as the highest rated in "SNL" history with a rating of 16.0 with a 47 share. We 10/14: In 1978, John Belushi's "Louie Louie" from the movie "Animal House" peaks at #89 on the pop singles chart. Th 10/15: "Penis, penis, penis, penis, penis, song! Penis, penis, penis, penis, all day long!" In 1988, "Saturday Night Live" airs the controversial "Nude Beach" sketch written by Conan O'Brien. Over the course of the sketch, the word penis is used 43 times (17 spoken, and 26 sung). Fr 10/16: In 1958, Johnny Carson guest hosts Jack Paar's "Tonight Show."  Sa 10/17: In 1994, Eddie Murphy's album "Comedian" is certified multi-platinum, having sold 2 million copies. Su 10/18: In 1975, Simon and Garfunkel reunite to sing "My Little Town" on "Saturday Night Live." Mo 10/19: In 1970, "Roxbury Guy" Chris Kattan is born. A last minute addition to SNL's 1995 cast, Kattan landed an on-air slot sketch in his first week, as the gibberish-speaking substitute teacher Suel Forrester. Tu 10/20: In 1974, "Weekend" debuts on NBC with host Lloyd Dobyns. An experimental mix of hard news, odd features ("The Pigeon Wars"), sarcastic commentary and running cartoons, this offbeat late-night newsmagazine airs once a month, and will alternate with "Saturday Night Live" once that program starts. [Thanks to Sean Bradley, and the ever amazing David Tanny/ Special thanks to Donz5, original fifth member of KISS.] For more info on these items and some great bargains on related merchandise, please visit Tom Heald's "This Night In History Bookstore." *** THE LINEUPS with Sue Trowbridge (http://www.interbridge.com/) LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS Mo 10/12 David Duchovny, Emily Mae Young, Todd Barry (R 10/13/97) Tu 10/13 John Travolta, Cybill Shepherd, The Kuznetsov Troupe (R 11/3/97) We 10/14 Joe Torre, Don Rickles, The Heads (R 10/28/96) Th 10/15 Jerry Seinfeld, 13-year-old historian Hunter Scott (R 8/6/98) Fr 10/16 Samuel L. Jackson, Barry Sonnenfeld (R 7/25/97) Mo 10/19 Mark McGwire, Roberto Benigni, Bruce Hornsby Tu 10/20 Ringo Starr, best of nationwide state fairs We 10/21 Jeff Daniels, Mitch Hedberg THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO, NBC Mo 10/12 Oprah Winfrey, Lea Thompson Tu 10/13 Bo Derek, William H. Macy, Lyle Lovett We 10/14 Kurt Russell, Kieran Culkin, P.J. Harvey Th 10/15 Kim Delaney, Joan Embery and San Diego Zoo animals, Hootie and the Blowfish Fr 10/16 Dennis Rodman, Reese Witherspoon, Trey Parker Mo 10/19 Pamela Anderson Lee, Wolfgang Puck, Carrot Top (R 7/17/98) Tu 10/20 Halle Berry, Rob Schneider, Mary Cutrufello (R 8/27/98) We 10/21 Tom Hanks, 12-year-old actress Lindsay Lohan, Edwin McCain (R 7/21/98) Th 10/22 George Clooney, Ming-Na Wen, Sarah McLachlan (R 6/25/98) LATE LATE SHOW WITH TOM SNYDER, CBS Mo 10/12 Della Reese Tu 10/13 Billy Connolly, author Greg Sarris We 10/14 Pete Hamill, Linda Lavin Th 10/15 Thomas Gibson, Lorrie Morgan Fr 10/16 David Milch, Dr. Ruth Westheimer Mo 10/19 Lisa Kudrow, Michael Moore (R 6/25/98) Tu 10/20 Judge Judy Scheindlin, attorney Mark Bravo We 10/21 Ed Harris, Graham Hancock LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, NBC Mo 10/12 Tony Danza, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Patrice O'Neal (R 8/5/98) Tu 10/13 Steven Baldwin, Jeri Ryan, Mark Leyner We 10/14 Sandra Bullock, Scott Thompson, Rasputina Th 10/15 Lucy Lawless, Tate Donovan, Kenny Rogerson Fr 10/16 Isabella Rossellini, David Arquette, Cake Mo 10/19 Brian Williams, Frank McCourt, Lewis Black (R 8/28/98) Tu 10/20 Gary Sinise, L.L. Cool J, Jonathan Richman (R 8/11/98) We 10/21 Ben Stiller, Seth Green, Brian Setzer Orchestra (R 7/15/98) Th 10/22 Salma Hayek, Richard Branson, The Dixie Chicks (R 8/27/98) Fr 10/23 Adam Arkin, Jim Fowler, Tori Amos (R 8/7/98) LATER, NBC Mo 10/12 Greg Kinnear with John Landis (R 6/9/94) Tu 10/13 Jeffrey Ross with Amy Heckerling (R 1/22/97) We 10/14 Jeffrey Ross with Ivan Reitman (R 4/22/97) Th 10/15 Duane Martin with Wes Craven (R 8/5/97) Mo 10/19 Greg Kinnear with Wayne Gretzky (R 1/19/95) Tu 10/20 Pat O'Brien with Sugar Ray Leonard (R 2/17/98) We 10/21 Ahmad Rashad with Wilt Chamberlain (R 5/26/97) Th 10/22 David Alan Grier with Kareem Abdul Jabbar (R 10/29/96) CHARLIE ROSE, PBS Please note that Charlie Rose listings are very tentative Mo 10/12 Oliver Platt Tu 10/13 Pete Hamill We 10/14 TBA Th 10/15 Bo Derek POLITICALLY INCORRECT WITH BILL MAHER, ABC Mo 10/12 Heather Nauert, Fred Savage, Wendie Malick, Kevin Rooney Tu 10/13 Dave Foley, Susan Carpenter McMillan, Whoopi Goldberg, Darlene Love We 10/14 Brad Keena, Drew Carey, Victoria Rowell Th 10/15 Dee Snider, John Fugelsang, Penelope Ann Miller Fr 10/16 Lorrie Morgan, Kathy Griffin, Richard Grieco Mo 10/19 Jennifer Tilly, Adam Carolla, Kathy Redmond HOWARD STERN, E! shows are listed in the order of 11 p.m., 11:30 p.m. and 2 a.m. ET Mo 10/12 Penis Knievel Part 1, Amy Lynn's Cabaret (R), Stacy vs Julie Part 1 (R) Tu 10/13 Penis Knievel Part 2, Walter Mercado (R), Stacy vs Julie Part 2 (R) We 10/14 Bushwick Bill, Jasmine Quits Gang Bangs (R), Goodbye Uzo (R) Th 10/15 Pam Anderson's "VIP" Part 1, Croix, Hank, Marty & Spice (R), Savannah and Scores Pay-Per-View (R) Fr 10/16 Pam Anderson VIP Part 2, Two Butts, Virgin & Japanese (R), Charity (R) Su 10/18 Lisa Kudrow (R), Anya the Au Pair (R) Remember, Howard's weekend "Power Hour" has moved to Sunday, at least till the CBS show is finally canned. THE CHRIS ROCK SHOW, HBO Fr 10/16 TBD Fr 10/23 George Carlin, Usher (R) Tu 10/27 Adam Sandler, Faith Evans (airs 10 p.m. ET) Fr 10/30 repeat of Tuesday's show INSTANT COMEDY WITH THE GROUNDLINGS, FX Mo 10/12 Teri Garr Tu 10/13 Simon Rex We 10/14 Ernie Hudson Th 10/15 Tom Arnold Fr 10/16 Richard Kind Mo 10/19 Ernie Hudson Tu 10/20 Richard Kind If they don't come up with some new shows, this addition to the lineups will be short-lived. SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, Comedy Central (repeats) Mo 10/12 Andie MacDowell / Tracy Chapman (11 AM & Midnight) Tu 10/13 Ed O'Neill / Harry Connick, Jr. (11 AM & Midnight); Jimmy Breslin / Level 42 / Sam Kinison (3 PM) We 10/14 Christopher Walken / Bonnie Raitt (11 AM & Midnight); Anjelica Huston / George Clinton / Father Guido Sarducci (3 PM) Th 10/15 Quincy Jones (11 AM & Midnight); Sigourney Weaver / Buster Poindexter (3 PM) Fr 10/16 Tom Hanks / Aerosmith (11 AM & Midnight); Malcolm-Jamal Warner / Run DMC / Sam Kinison (3PM) Sa 10/17 Rosanna Arquette / Ric Ocasek (11 AM) Su 10/18 Sam Kinison / Lou Reed (11 AM) Mo 10/19 Fred Savage / Technotronic (11 AM & Midnight); Robin Williams / Paul Simon (3PM) Tu 10/20 Rob Lowe / The Pogues (11 AM & Midnight); Chevy Chase / Steve Martin / Randy Newman (3PM) SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (NBC) Sa 10/3 Kelsey Grammer; musical guest Sheryl Crow. THE RUPAUL SHOW (VH1) We 9/30 Jerry Springer / musical guest Los Umbrellos THE CHRIS ROCK SHOW, HBO Fr 10/2 Wynton Marsalis and The Smashing Pumpkins Fr 10/9 D.L. Hughley and rappers Outkast Also on late nights: NIGHTLINE and WORLD NEWS NOW, ABC LOVELINE, MTV THE HOWARD STERN RADIO SHOW, CBS and syndicated UP TO THE MINUTE, CBS DIE HARALD SCHMIDT SHOW, SAT.1 THE DAILY SHOW, Comedy Central Entire contents Copyright 1998 by Aaron Barnhart. All rights reserved. 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