LATE SHOW NEWS #182 December 9, 1997 by Aaron Barnhart A year or so ago, I wrote in this space that "The Daily Show" broke "no new ground in television comedy," and its political humor was "surprisingly lame," although "its satires of the entertainment industry" were superb. How could I have envisioned that a scant few months later, the moat that once kept news protected from the Huns of entertainment would have dried up completely? How could I have forseen the day would arrive so quickly when networks like NBC would create a universal motherboard with hot buttons that swapped out effortlessly between prime-time movies, newsmagazines, "Law & Order" and MSNBC? (Just now I hold in my hand a press release for an upcoming NBC movie "Blackout Effect," a paranoia-inducing "topical thriller" about the hazards of air traffic control. "For the millions and millions of Americans who will watch 'Blackout Effect,' the experience will be alarming and anxiety-making," the p.r. fairly salivates. Actually, given the audience that showed up for that network's last alleged blockbuster, "House of Frankenstein 1997," I wouldn't count on the millions *and* millions. But then again, consider all those who'll watch related non-entertainment pieces on "Dateline NBC" and "your" late local news.) Which brings us back to "The Daily Show" and its "Year-End Spectacular '97," a one-hour special airing Wednesday night on Comedy Central. "The Daily Show" originates from the studios of New York's Channel 13 (same building where "Charlie Rose" is taped), and it is in this sinful nexus of midtown Manhattan that the show's wonderfully wicked writers must toil, where ABC News producers contemplate using New York Post front pages on a "World News Tonight" broadcast and Andrew Heyward is making America do penance for the failure of his network, CBS, to get on the air in the moments after Princess Diana's death with the same irresponsible talking-head bullshit as the other networks (Heyward's news division recently broke into soap operas four times in one week with McCaughey septuplet "updates," according to the New York Observer). And don't even get me started with Fox or the Channel 2 news chopper "NOW with INFRARED," the device that allows you to watch color pictures in brilliant black and white. So although I should've expected no less, what those writers turn out in "The Daily Show's" look back is nothing short of a coup d'etat. Not only is it absorbingly entertaining from start to finish, it supplies spot-on diagnosis of the media's sickness unto death that got much, much worse than anyone could have imagined in 1997. In so doing, Comedy Central has managed to revive a form of the serious commentary that was once a component of every nightly network news program. Perhaps "The Daily Show" isn't breaking new ground so much as occupying the rugged analytical sod from which news organizations have fled. And they *still* somehow got Peter Jennings to do a guest spot on the show. From the opening salvo delivered by Craig Kilborn ("1997 was the year news coverage shed the distasteful image of 'infotainment' to become simply *tainment*"), this program joins its unsparing commentary to some of the year's most disturbing images, disturbing if you consider the job of news organizations to be following its nose to political and social trends around the world, rather than poking its nose into the buttocks of the same four or five neighborhood mutts night after night. One segment takes a not-so-playful jab at the media's blood-soaked coverage of international news. And after seeing a roundup of the top celebrity stories of 1997 -- from Cos to Ellen, Jacko to Tyson -- you'll find yourself wondering when there was time for the "legitimate media" to report, well, legitimate news. I asked "Daily Show" head writer Lizz Winstead on Monday what it meant that her comedy program might be the most cogent analysis of the news media to actually appear on television. (Yes, Dan Rather and Ted Koppel can be heard from time to time bemoaning the state of their industry, but only while they're working the rubber-chicken or commencement circuit.) "I think it's 'The Daily Show' showing signs of intelligent life," said Winstead. "When we went back to recap the year in entertainment or media or corporations or whatever, what was so glaring to us was not only the screwups of people in those fields but how they were presented to us. ... "JonBenet's not a national news story, it's a local news story. But the fact that the U.S. launched a plutonium missile into space that, if the slightest thing went wrong, it would blow up, was not sexy. What *was* sexy was a little girl who was in beauty pageants who was probably killed by her parents ... "I feel like that's the reason a small little show on a small little network gets as much attention as it does. People like information and since they know they're not going to get it on the news anymore, with us they'll get some version that at least is funny and will make them feel like they're in on the joke, as opposed to *being* the joke. "You really belittle people when you say JonBenet is the most important news. I was watching the ABC network news during the last break we had. They had a story about a little group of cheerleaders who had been banned from a cheerleading competition in Dallas because they had done a routine to some sexually explicit song. And they showed a video of them dancing to the sexually explicit song, and then some other song that I thought was just as sexually explicit as the first. And then two stories after that: our progress in Iraq and how many ships have been sent to the gulf. And I said, 'You're telling me that you're pre-empting Bill Richardson talking about our ships in the Gulf to do cheerleaders!' "At least we say to our viewers, 'You're smart enough to be in on the satire.'" By the way, it should not be overlooked that Jennings and David Letterman have been broadcasting a few blocks apart from each other for more than 15 years, and yet the ABC anchor still hasn't done Dave's show. Jennings has never said why, but one suspects it may have something to do with the abominable treatment ABC's legal correspondent Cynthia McFadden got three years ago on "Late Show," when Letterman seemed to razz her endlessly during a mercifully brief panel. The fact that Jennings, whose kids love "The Daily Show," would choose instead to panel with Kilborn says a lot for the Craigger's ability to give-and-take with guests -- which is to say, he knows how to give as well as take, something Dave often forgets to do. A week from Wednesday, another spectacular, "The Daily Show Andy Williams Christmas Special," airs at 10:30 p.m. Eastern, with guest Donny Osmond. *** Readers occasionally write to complain about my fascination with "Die Harald Schmidt Show," a program that can only be seen on Germany's SAT.1 network, which only the 100 or so LATE SHOW NEWS subscribers in the .de domain, plus a few satellite jockeys, can watch. But I happen to think it's interesting to see wine poured into different wineskins, especially when it happens to be a cheap American import. And sure enough, my persistence was rewarded yet again on Nov. 26, when Schmidt held up a card on his show and said, in *English,* "Ladies and Gentlemen, here in my left hand I hold a copy of tonight„s TO" -- then stopped and introduced, you guessed it, his very first all-German Top Ten List. With annotations supplied by one of the show's writers, here it is: TOP TEN NAMES FOR THE NEW BAYERN MUNICH SOCCER STADIUM 1. Kaiser's (name of a German store chain similar to 7-Eleven) 2. Das ist.... BAYERN Stadion (a jab at the speaking style of Bayern Munich player Lothar Matthaeus) 3. Puff (a joke about some members of the team being spotted with hookers) 4. Ja gut ich sach ma - Stadion (apparently team president Franz Beckenbauer starts every sentence with 'ja gut ich sach ma') 5. Gerd Mueller - Endstadion (the team's co-trainer is a drinker) 6. Ballermann 11 (remember that German blockbuster movie "Ballermann 6"? No?) 7. Estadio wo spiele Bayern Molto senso tactico (The team's other co-trainer Giovanni Trappatoni is not very fluent in German, it seems) 8. Uli's Bumsbude (another hooker joke, this one at the expense of team manager Uli Hoeness) 9. Opel Niederlassung Sued (an untranslatable gag about carmaker Opel, Bayern Munich's main sponsor) 10. Dem Franz sein Stadion (this is a grammatically challenged phrase in German, apropos of Beckenbauer's own problems with the German language) Okay, you can get off the floor now. *** This week's "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" jumps on the musical bandwagon that seems to be sweeping the comedy world this season. And with a vengeance: no fewer than 11 numbers are performed during this 15-minute episode, including a "man on the street" with Steve Allen and the insane Brak. "NewsRadio's" Andy Dick also beams in for an interview, acting only slightly less daft than usual ... Speaking of daft, *of course* it was Bobby Goldsboro, not Bobby Sherman as reported here last issue, who sang "Honey" ... Our pal Daniel Kellison is out of his second producing job in a year. After riding the "Rosie O'Donnell" wave in daytime, only to be dumped at the crest of the show's popularity, he's now gone from "Vibe" just as that show was in the thick of a November ratings sweep, ending up in a dead heat with "Keenen Ivory Wayans." The Sinbad-hosted program is up in audience while "Keenen" is down, and that's bad news for Wayans in a competition that's likely to end with only one show standing after this season. *** Reader mail: Longtime West Coast reader Angus MacDonald writes, "Aaron, I just don't understand why all those people didn't enjoy seeing the London performance of Van Morrison, et alia, on Letterman a few years back. [I haven't yet heard the CD, so I'll reserve judgement on the audio-only presentation.] As Irish-Americans, my wife and I are still delighted by the memory of Morrison lunging to one side and singing quite plainly 'blah, blah, blah, blah' late in the number. Anything that made Sinead O'Connor laugh on camera is to be celebrated, not denounced" ... And Sue Trowbridge writes, "I find it interesting to note that Jay Leno seems to be adopting Comedy Central's 'South Park' in a very similar way to David Letterman's appropriation of 'Beavis and Butt-Head' four years ago. A couple of weeks ago, Jay actually had 'South Park' creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone produce a special cartoon (much less obscene than its cable counterpart, of course) just for the Tonight Show; on Dec. 12, the duo will be on as guests. "Considering the vile, blasphemous nature of 'South Park,' which is really only funny if you think the idea of little kids swearing is hilarious entertainment (yes, I have seen a couple episodes all the way through), I wonder what Jay thinks he stands to gain through this new alliance. Does Jay think that he'll persuade 'South Park's' hip, young audience to start tuning into his program instead of one of his youth-oriented competitors? All I know is that my parents, who are over 50 (and thus more likely to be Jay's 'typical' fans) and had never seen the cartoon before, were completely mystified and definitely not amused by the 'South Park' sketch that ran last month. Somehow, I doubt that 'South Park' will enjoy the five-year lifespan of 'Beavis and Butt-head,' and I suspect that Jay's fling with the show will be short-lived as well." *** Tom Heald's THIS NIGHT IN HISTORY Exclusive to LATE SHOW NEWS Tu 12/2: In 1978, in "Saturday Night Live's" last "Bees" sketch Walter Matthau, coach of the Bad News Bees," counsels his young ballplayers about masturbation. We 12/3: In 1988, "Saturday Night Live's" bodybuilders Hans & Franz are visited by their "cousin" Arnold Schwarzenegger who advises them, "It doesn't matter how pumped you are, as long as you reach your full pump- tential." Th 12/4: In 1976, Chevy Chase weds Jacquelin Carlin. Fr 12/5: In 1984, "Beverly Hills Cop" opens. It's Eddie Murphy's first movie as a former cast member of "Saturday Night Live." Sa 12/6: in 1980, Bill Paxton presents his long-form video of the Barnes & Barnes demented tune "Fish Heads" on "Saturday Night Live." Su 12/7: In 1958, Edd Hall is born. Before becoming the announcer of NBC's "Friday Night" and that other show with what's-his-name-with-the-chin, Hall was a graphics coordinator for comedy pieces and bumpers on the "Late Night with David Letterman." Mo 12/8: In 1986, when the White House requests a jolly fat man with a red nose, Ed McMahon answers the call in a red suit and beard. McMahon and First Lady Nancy Reagan exchange kisses. According to McMahon, "She gave me a kiss, and I gave her a Hershey." Tu 12/9: In 1994, "Disclosure" is released in theatres. Earning rave reviews from LATE SHOW NEWS readers? Dennis Miller, in a rare dramatic turn. We 12/10: In 1993, "Wayne's World 2" becomes the first "Saturday Night Live" movie sequel released in theatres. The second to accomplish this feat? "Blues Brothers 2000," due out in February. Th 12/11: In 1995, "The Stephanie Miller Show" airs its last original show with Miller as host. Taking over the final four days is Danny Bonaduce. Fr 12/12: In 1964, "Mr. Show's" Bob Odenkirk is born. But more importantly, in 1985, Paul Shaffer performs his 4th impression of Cher singing "O Holy Night" on "Late Night with David Letterman." Sa 12/13: In 1986, Penn & Teller perform "The World's Most Expensive Card Trick" on "Saturday Night Live." Su 12/14: In 1946, superagent Michael Ovitz, responsible for Letterman's move to CBS, is born. I'd say more, but I'm afraid of him. Mo 12/15: In 1987, Paul Shaffer's fifth impression of Cher singing "O Holy Night" on "Late Night With David Letterman." It now includes disco lighting. In 1989, during a commercial break on "Late Night With David Letterman," Dr. John and his backup singers including Darlene Love break into "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," Love's second time performing the number for Letterman. THE LINEUPS with Sue Trowbridge LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS Tu 12/9 Helen Hunt, Terrell Davis, Chumbawamba We 12/10 Anthony Hopkins, Eric Lindros, Enya Th 12/11 Nathan Lane, Jada Pinkett, Bryan Adams Fr 12/12 Jerry O'Connell, Mitch Fatel Mo 12/15 Kevin Costner, Tyra Banks, Nina & Nikolai's transformation act Tu 12/16 Pam Grier, Tom Everett Scott, Bjork We 12/17 Greg Kinnear, Djimou Hounsou, Ben Folds Five THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO, NBC Tu 12/9 Alyssa Milano, Quentin Tarantino, Twinkie addict Lewis Browning We 12/10 Tim Allen, Ann Curry, Hootie and the Blowfish Th 12/11 Emma Thompson, Jimmy Carter, Jackson Browne Fr 12/12 Kirstie Alley, "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, George Foreman Mo 12/15 TBA Tu 12/16 Don Rickles, Sarah Michelle Geller, Celine Dion We 12/17 Richard Simmons Th 12/18 Teri Hatcher, Dwight Yoakam LATE LATE SHOW WITH TOM SNYDER, CBS Tu 12/9 David Brenner We 12/10 Robert Pastorelli Th 12/11 TBA Fr 12/12 Lorraine Monroe Mo 12/15 Nathan Lane Tu 12/16 Barry Levinson We 12/17 Kelly Flinn, Emeril Lagasse Th 12/18 James Cromwell Fr 12/19 Mike Luckovich LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, NBC Tu 12/9 Courteney Cox, Louis Anderson, Matthew Ryan We 12/10 Donald Trump, Marc Maron, dog biscuit experts Dan Dye & Mark Beckloff Th 12/11 Helen Hunt, Carmen Electra Fr 12/12 Imani Coppola LATER, NBC Tu 12/9 Judd Nelson with Traci Bingham We 12/10 Judd Nelson with Jim Rome Th 12/11 Judd Nelson with Kevin Pollak Mo 12/15 - We 12/17 Richard Jeni with guests TBA CHARLIE ROSE, PBS Tu 12/9 Jessica Lange (R 9/22/97), Gillian Armstrong (new segment) We 12/10 Michael Eisner (R 9/24/97) Th 12/11 Sean Penn (R 9/23/97) Fr 12/12 Michael Milken (R 9/09/97) Mo 12/15 Charlie Rose in Iran; Anne Heche, Michael Murphy Tu 12/16 Tommy Hilfiger, John Feinstein, William La Riche We 12/17 Nathan Lane, Thomas Hoving Th 12/18 Debbie Allen, Djimon Hounsou; Quentin Tarantino & Pam Grier Fr 12/19 Ed Bradley; from "The Diary Of Anne Frank": Natalie Portman, Linda Lavin, James Lapine POLITICALLY INCORRECT WITH BILL MAHER, ABC Tu 12/9 Karen Finley, Adrian Cronauer, Judd Nelson We 12/10 Ray Manzarek, Mimi Rogers Th 12/11 Michael McKean, Richard Marx, Tammy Faye Messner VIBE TV, syndicated Tu 12/9 Maria Canals, cast of "Black Dog," Sneaker Pimps We 12/10 Frances Fisher Th 12/11 TBA Fr 12/12 Steve Oedekerk KEENEN IVORY WAYANS, syndicated Tu 12/9 Kelly McGillis, Ernie Hudson, Michael T. Weiss We 12/10 Debbie Allen, Cindy Margolis, Luke Th 12/11 Marlon Wayans, Russell Simmons, Amy Yasbeck, Joe Fr 12/12 TBA Mo 12/15 T.C. Carson, Jamie Luner, Dr. Drew Pinsky & Adam Carolla, Naughty By Nature Tu 12/16 Whitney Houston, Melissa Joan Hart, Rondell Sheridan, Sam Salter We 12/17 Lela Rochon, Leah Remini, Jeremy London, Goldfinger Th 12/18 Kim Coles, Dominique Dawes, Third Eye Blind Fr 12/19 David Spade, Kellie Williams, Constance Marie, Busta Rhymes Mo 12/22 Regina King, Tonya Lee Williams, Rick James Tu 12/23 Steve Guttenberg, Traci Bingham, Casper Van Dien, Cypress Hill We 12/24 Fran Drescher, Jill Hennesey, Flex, James Brown Th 12/25 Gabrielle Reece, Tommy Davison, Scott Larose, Usher Fr 12/26 Whoopi Goldberg, Jon Voight, Next Mo 12/29 Damon Wayans, Daisy Fuentes, Ginuwine Tu 12/30 David Duchovny, Tichina Arnold, Bobby Brown We 12/31 Paul Rodriguez, Charlize Theron, A.J. Jamal, Immature/Bizzy Bone Th 1/1 Johnnie Cochran, Margaret Cho, LL Cool J Fr 1/2 Vanessa Williams, Ice T HOWARD STERN, E! Tu 12/9 Jenny Jones Part 2, Stuttering John VS Robin (R) We 12/10 Robert Shimmel, Danielle Brisbois (R) Th 12/11 Night Calls Girls Part 1, Fiona Apple (R) Fr 12/12 Night Calls Girls Part 2, Lou Ferrigno (R) Sa 12/13 Kelsey Grammer's Ex Girlfriend (R), Fran Drescher Dating (R) Robert Shimmel is a genius -- catch him if you can. SPACE GHOST COAST TO COAST, Cartoon Network Fr 12/12 Steve Allen, Andy Dick Also check out for a video preview of the next episode. DIE HARALD SCHMIDT SHOW, SAT.1 Di 9/12 Helge Schneider, Daniela Noak Mi 10/12 Martin Semmelrogge, Gaby Papenburg Do 11/12 Bastian Pastewka Fr 12/12 Verona Feldbusch, Wolfgang Korruhn 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 and ODDVILLE MTV, MTV UP TO THE MINUTE, CBS NIGHTSIDE, NBC Entire contents Copyright 1997 by Aaron Barnhart. All rights reserved. Current e-mail circulation: 11,286 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