From: wumba_man@yahoo.ca
Date: Sat Apr 21, 2001 9:03pm
Subject: I-Crave Canadian headlines

Ok, so it is not icravetv.com.  But, if you are interested in 
watching live "headline news" TV now that the _Summit of the 
Americas_ is going on in Quebec City, surf to www.ctvnews.com.  This 
morning I watched them use the water-cannon on them protesters.

The main page has a Macromedia Splash/Realvideo frame that can give 
you a live feed of the cable-only headline-news-format news channel.  
Headlines are on every 15 minutes.

Dubya is there as well as our Prime Minister Jean Chretien [aka Jean 
Poutine].

Oh, just found the real-only feed.

http://www.ctvnews.com/smil/newsnetliveframe.smi

From: pmurray@bigfoot.com
Date: Sat Apr 21, 2001 9:51pm
Subject: Re: FCC: Wha? Public interest?

--- In tvbarn2@y..., aaron@t... wrote:
> MEDIA ADVISORY: FCC Moves to Intensify Media Consolidation
> 
> The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is moving to 
> weaken or eliminate two of the few remaining broadcasting rules 
> that protect some degree of media diversity.

For years I have been predicting that five companies will own 
basically everything (not just media). Mr. Powell and friends are 
doing their part to encourage this in the media arena. 

A very bad idea, IMHO, but then again my father wasn't famous so I 
must not know what I'm talking about.

Paul

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Sat Apr 21, 2001 7:35pm
Subject: Our long national nightmare is over (for now)

Hilights from AP coverage of the XFL blowout : 
 Xtreme 38, Demons 6 

The ``Million Dollar Game'' drew a crowd of 24,153 to the 90,000-seat Los 
Angeles Coliseum. Attendance was some 10,000 fewer than the Xtreme's 
inaugural game at home.

The Xtreme will split the $1 million bonus 45 ways because the 38 players on 
the regular roster voted to include the seven players on their practice 
squad. That works out to $22,222 per man, about half what each earned for the 
entire 10-game regular season.  

The losing Demons earned $7,000 each for making it to the title game. 


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From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Sat Apr 21, 2001 11:38pm
Subject: You are The Kristin Chenoweth, Goodbye!

from NBC PR BS :

NBC TO PREMIERE 'KRISTIN,' A NEW COMEDY SERIES STARRING TONY WINNER KRISTIN 
CHENOWETH ON JUNE 5

 NBC will premiere a new comedy series, "Kristin" – featuring Tony Award 
winner Kristin Chenoweth ("You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown") starring as a 
small town girl trying to make it in the big city – on Tuesday, June 5 
(9:30-10 p.m. ET).  

In this uptown comedy, Chenoweth portrays Kristin Yancey, a small-town girl 
who left her sheltered life in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to pursue her dream of 
becoming a Broadway star. Until then, however, Kristin reluctantly accepts a 
job working for a handsome but morally bankrupt real estate tycoon, Tommy 
Ballantine (Jon Tenney, "You Can Count on Me") – and, just maybe by being 
herself, she'll be a good influence on him.

The misadventures begin when Kristin's unorthodox terms of employment are 
brokered by Reverend Thornhill (Tony Award nominee Christopher Durang, "A 
History of the American Film," "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for 
You"), whose small Lower East Side chapel was saved from the wrecking ball by 
Tommy. While the bad-boy real estate mogul remains skeptical that he can 
improve his image by hiring an assistant -- one who won't end up suing him 
for harassment -- the Reverend has faith that pairing Kristin with Tommy will 
answer everyone's prayers.

Kristin's allies in the Ballantine Enterprises offices are Aldo Bonnadonna 
(Larry Romano, "King of Queens"), who is Ballantine's right-hand-man with an 
appreciation for how Kristin keeps the boss in line and on track, and Tyrique 
(Dale Godboldo, "Shasta McNasty"), the fearless and "Hell-bent-for-leather" 
messenger. However, jealous Santa Clemente (Ana Ortiz, "NYPD Blue"), a former 
conquest of smooth-operator Tommy and who is now his director of sales and 
leasing, wants to turn what she considers to be Kristin's down-home act into 
a limited run.


    
    

    







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From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Sun Apr 22, 2001 4:42pm
Subject: Law & Orde-Revolving Door, no longer where the Bull's Rohm

<http://www.elisabethrohmonline.com/>

The Hollywood Reporter sleuthed : 

Sunday April 22 09:19 PM EDT 
'Law & Order' summons Rohm for Harmon role
By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES  -- In a swift move, Elisabeth Rohm (TNT's "Bull") has been cast 
in the NBC drama "Law & Order" from Wolf Films and Studios USA to replace 
Angie Harmon, who said this month that she is leaving the show at the end of 
the season (HR 4/10).

Rohm will join the cast of the Dick Wolf series next week, when the show will 
start production of extra strike-contingency episodes for next season. She 
will play a gifted and ambitious young prosecutor who works with Jack McCoy 
(Sam Waterson).

Rohm first appeared on Wolf's radar in 1998 when she was cast in his pilot 
for Fox "The Invisible Man" starring Kyle MacLachlan.

"I first worked with Liz three years ago, and I have watched her develop into 
one of the finest young actresses working in television," Wolf said in a 
statement. "Both (executive producer/head writer) Barry Schindel and I look 
forward to introducing another new and unique member of the 'Law & Order' 
family."

During the past two seasons, Rohm has had a recurring role on the WB Network 
series "Angel." Rohm's other credits include the soap opera "One Life to 
Live," the NBC miniseries "The 60s" and "Eureka Street" for BBC. She is 
repped by Paradigm, Brillstein-Grey Entertainment and attorney Bob Myman.



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From: pmurray@bigfoot.com
Date: Sun Apr 22, 2001 8:49pm
Subject: The Weakest Read

Inside sez:

Saturday April 21 04:24 PM EDT 
TV's New Queen of Mean Shops Memoirs Around, and It's Only Been a Week
By PJ Mark
The Weakest Link may be this week's pop culture meal, but will Anne 
Robinson, television's best reality villain since Richard Hatch, find 
herself a Hatch-like flash in the pan, especially when it comes to a 
book deal? 

British agent Ed Victor recently sold Robinson's life story, Memoirs 
of an Unfit Mother, to Little, Brown UK for an October publication at 
an undisclosed price. The book is on submission stateside and 
reportedly Victor has already turned down a $500,000 offer here.

Complete article at:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/in/20010421/en/tv_s_new_queen_of_mean_sho
ps_memoirs_around_and_it_s_only_been_a_week_1.html

From: thumbsup3@aol.com
Date: Sun Apr 22, 2001 7:58pm
Subject: MTV 2 on broadcast TV

I was just programming a new TV, and it picked up MTV 2 on a broadcast 
channel. It looks like it replaced "The Box" here in Atlanta, but I'm 
curious: Is anyone else in a different market receiving it over the air?

Christine

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Sun Apr 22, 2001 8:04pm
Subject: Darling you gotta let me know ... should I stay or should I go

<http://www.suntimes.com/output/television/phil12.html>

Will your favorite show be back? 

Chicago Suntimes
BY PHIL ROSENTHAL TELEVISION CRITIC 

It's the mean season in TV land.

With only a month to go until the networks announce their fall schedules, the 
next few weeks will determine which shows survive and which do not.

Ratings play a big role, but they are hardly the only factor.

ABC, for example, must decide whether it can afford to carry one, two or no 
low-rated, high-prestige shows. "Once and Again'' might have to contend with 
"Gideon's Crossing'' for a single hour of schedule space, and neither will be 
back if the network feels it has come up with something new that holds more 
promise.

Contract negotiations again this year will determine the fate of Fox's "The 
X-Files,'' and uncertainty over whether "Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' will 
remain on the WB could affect other networks and other shows.

Little is written in stone at this point, and it's hardly an exact science.

NBC just last year axed the steady but unspectacular dramas "Pretender'' and 
"Profiler'' to make room on Saturday nights for a TV treat called the XFL.

We all know how well that has worked out.


Coming back

These shows have either been renewed or are almost certain to be renewed.


ABC: "The Drew Carey Show,'' "Monday Night Football,'' "The Mole,'' "NYPD 
Blue,'' "The Practice'' "Primetime Thursday,'' "Spin City,'' "20/20,'' "Who 
Wants to Be a Millionaire'' and "Whose Line Is It Anyway?''

CBS: "Becker,'' "C.S.I.ÑCrime Scene Investigation,'' "The District,'' 
"Everybody Loves Raymond,'' "48 Hours,'' "Judging Amy,'' "JAG,'' "King of 
Queens,'' "60 Minutes,'' "60 Minutes II,'' "Survivor,'' "Touched by an 
Angel'' and "Yes, Dear.'' 

FOX: "Ally McBeal,'' "America's Most Wanted,'' "Boston Public,'' "Cops,'' 
"Futurama,'' "King of the Hill,'' "Malcolm in the Middle,'' "The Simpsons,'' 
"Temptation Island,'' "That '70s Show'' and "Titus.''

NBC: "Dateline,'' "Ed,'' "ER,'' "Frasier,'' "Friends,'' "Just Shoot Me,'' 
"Law & Order,'' "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,'' "Providence,'' "Third 
Watch,'' "The West Wing'' and "Will & Grace.'' 

UPN: "Girlfriends,'' "The Hughleys,'' "The Parkers'' and "WWF Smackdown!''

THE WB: "Charmed,'' "Dawson's Creek,'' "For Your Love,'' "Gilmore Girls,'' 
"Nikki,'' "Popstars,'' "Sabrina the Teenage Witch,'' "The Steve Harvey Show'' 
and "7th Heaven.''


On the bubble

These are the shows whose fates are uncertain.


ABC

"The Geena Davis Show'': This bland sitcom starring Geena Davis and Peter 
Horton was a disappointment in many ways, but the success of "What About 
Joan'' in its slot only makes its performance look worse.

"Gideon's Crossing'': This actorly drama starring Andre Braugher never 
parlayed its good reviews into a following. Though its supporters are 
devoted, there may not be enough of them.

"The Job'': If it were up to us, this Denis Leary-as-antihero cop show would 
come back despite so-so numbers. Sadly, it's not up to us.

"My Wife and Kids'': Damon Wayans' family sitcom has fared fine so far. All 
things being equal, it probably has earned a second season.

"Norm'': If anybody were watching on Fridays, they would notice Norm 
Macdonald's been phoning it in lately, as if anticipating the inevitable.

"Once and Again'': This acutely observed family drama is apparently a very 
tough sell. It would be a shame if it went away. The question is whether the 
network feels it has invested too much to give up on the show or if it's 
going to cut its losses.

"Two Guys and a Girl'': If this reliable but unextraordinary sitcom went 
away, would anyone notice or care?

"What About Joan'': Chicago-based midseason standout seems like a lock for 
renewal. The only speed bump it has hit was this week when it went up against 
"Boot Camp.''


CBS

"Diagnosis Murder'': Every year this is a bubble show, and yet it always gets 
picked up and does all right. Dick Van Dyke wavered briefly about how long he 
wanted to do the show, and that may have an effect. But it can be plugged 
anywhere on a schedule and its audience follows.

"Family Law'': The show got better this season with the addition of Tony 
Danza, but it's not blowing anyone away.

"The Fugitive'': After a huge sendoff, this revival never quite caught onÑand 
it's expensive to boot. It's not bad, but it hasn't lived up to its hype.

"Kate Brasher'': Syrupy female-oriented Saturday-night fare has fared OK in 
its limited run, but it's hard to gauge because the XFL on NBC was so weak.

"Nash Bridges'': Don Johnson's show may be running out of gas after five 
years. On the other hand, it could coast on fumes for at least another season.

"That's Life'': The excellent cast offsets a lot of the criticisms this 
female-oriented show earns. 


FOX

"Boot Camp'': It may not be all that original, but viewers don't seem to care.

"Dark Angel'': This sci-fi hit would be an absolute lock if it weren't so 
expensive.

"Grounded for Life'': It's the kind of off-kilter, one-camera comedy that's 
in vogue at Fox, so it's not a bad bet for renewal.

"The Lone Gunmen'': This "X-Files'' spinoff has been mediocre in the ratings. 
Negotiations over that show's future may affect this show's fate.

"Police Videos'': Even if Fox says it's canceling this show, don't believe 
it. Fox is addicted to this sort of stuff, and every time it's left off the 
schedule, it somehow finds a way back on.

"World's Most Amazing Videos'': See above.


NBC

"DAG'': The best bet for David Alan Grier's White House comedy to get renewed 
is if NBC confuses it with CBS' "JAG,'' which may be how it got picked up in 
the first place.

"The Fighting Fitzgeralds'': Brian Dennehy's strong midseason entry may well 
have enough oomph to get a pickup, Irish stereotypes notwithstanding.

"Mysterious Ways'': This show, shared with Pax, started strong last summer 
and then disappeared. Mysteriously. Way mysteriously.

"Three Sisters'': This show was cruising along toward almost certain renewal 
until "What About Joan'' debuted and showed it was as vulnerable as it was 
unfunny. It's still likely to get an order for next season, but it's no sure 
thing.

"The Weber Show'': The series formerly known as "Cursed'' is not nearly as 
bad as it was when it began, and the ratings it gets between "Friends'' and 
"Will & Grace'' are respectable, so we'll see. The show's April 26 season 
finale is called "...And Then They Hoped For a Second Season.''

XFL Football: There is no way in the world this record-breaking NBC-XFL 
failure ever should have run in prime time.


UPN

"Celebrity Deathmatch'': Since these are MTV reruns, they're always available 
and inexpensive.

"Gary & Mike'': This Claymation road trip may come to a dead end.

"7 Days'': The cult following for this sci-fi drama may be enough to save it. 
Perhaps a time traveler will save it.

"Special Unit 2'': Hey, it only debuted last night! What do you want?

XFL Football: NBC at least has an equity stake in the failing league. The 
only reason UPN would stick with this is because of its business relationship 
with the WWF.


THE WB

"Angel'': If the WB loses "Buffy,'' its spinoff "Angel'' can pack its bags, 
too. Given the lackluster recent episodes, that might not be a huge loss.

"Felicity'': Now that Keri Russell's hair has grown back, there are no more 
excuses. It's likely to be brought back, but how it does after returning next 
week will solidify things.

"Grosse Pointe'': There's still a chance this "90210'' parody could return, 
but the odds aren't good.

"Jack & Jill'': Jack fell down and broke her crown, and Jill came tumbling 
after.

"The Oblongs'': It's too soon to tell whether this gross, unfunny animated 
series has a shot. We can only hope not.

"Popular'': It's no longer popular. The series simply lost its way.

"Roswell'': This show dodged a bullet last year. This year it has struggled. 
The thinking here is that the only way it comes back is if Twentieth ties its 
renewal to the WB getting to keep "Buffy.''


In contract limbo

"The X-Files'': Fox is in negotiations with creator Chris Carter about doing 
yet another season. Carter may want to end the series and continue the show 
through feature films.

"Dharma & Greg'': ABC is in renewal talks with Twentieth Century Fox 
Television, but the less-than-stellar performance this season undercuts the 
sitcom's bargaining power.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer'': This is the hottest show on the block this 
season. The WB is playing hardball in renewal negotiations with Twentieth, 
which is threatening to take the show to a rival network, most likely Fox.

"Moesha'': UPN has to cut a deal to make star Brandy Norwood and the 
producers feel it's worthwhile to return.


Rest in peace


These shows have already been canceled or announced they are ending their 
run. They may resurface briefly with unseen episodes in the event of a strike 
by writers and/or actors. But barring a major revision, they're dead, dead, 
dead.


ABC: "Dot Comedy'' "Madigan Men'' and "The Trouble With Normal.''

CBS: "Bette,'' "Big Apple,'' "City of Angels,'' "Some of My Best Friends,'' 
"Walker, Texas Ranger'' and "Welcome to New York.''

FOX:"Freakylinks,'' "Normal, Ohio'' and "The $treet.''

NBC: "Daddio,'' "Deadline,'' "First Years,'' "The Michael Richards Show,'' 
"3rd Rock From the Sun,'' "Titans'' and "Tucker.''

UPN: "Freedom,'' "Level 9'' and "Star Trek: Voyager.''

THE WB: "Hype,'' "The PJs'' and "The Jamie Foxx Show.''


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Sun Apr 22, 2001 8:04pm
Subject: Norm (L, Ohio?)

I would assume "Norm" will only be back if paired with "The Job."

Wednesdays is ABC's "So's Your Mother / Dirty Dirty Whore / Bite Me / You 
Want Some of This?" night -- 
The Job 
Norm
Drew Carey 
NYPD Blue 
and introducing The Lea Delaria Show !


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Sun Apr 22, 2001 8:13pm
Subject: Re: MTV 2 on broadcast TV

>I was just programming a new TV, and it picked up MTV 2 on a broadcast 
>channel. It looks like it replaced "The Box" here in Atlanta, but I'm 
>curious: Is anyone else in a different market receiving it over the air?

MTV2 bought the box. you can still buy music in some markets tho




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: Steve Rhodes  <srhodes@well.com>
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 2:06am
Subject: soon to be xfl

RATINGS REPORT: XFL Made Saturday the Loneliest Night for NBC 
The audience for league's championship game was the biggest in six weeks,
but the dreadful venture has thrown the network for a ratings loss. 
by Tom Bierbaum

Sunday, April 22 10:43 P.M. 

The first and maybe the last season of XFL Football on NBC expired quietly
Saturday night with a championship game that generated only about half the
Nielsen rating NBC was hoping to average when it signed up as a partner in
the new league. 
Once Nielsen translates Saturday's local-market results to national figures
on Tuesday, the title game is expected to come in at about a 2.2 or 2.3
household rating. That's the best NBC has done with the XFL in six weeks,
but it's still only about half the network's target 4.5 and less than a
quarter of the 9.5 the league started with Feb. 3. 

It was a minor rally at the end of a dismal XFL campaign, and probably far
too small a bump to give the league any chance of retaining NBC as a partner
for future seasons. Vince McMahon, head of the World Wrestling Federation
which operated the league, has already said he doesn't expect NBC to be
back. 

According to averages in the 49 local markets metered by Nielsen, Saturday
night's 38-6 victory by the Los Angeles Xtreme over the San Francisco Demons
averaged a 2.5 rating, 5 share from 8:15-11:15 p.m. That's higher than
anything the league has managed in the five weeks since it got walloped by
CBS's coverage of The NCAA Basketball Tournament on March 17, but it's also
lower than the six weeks before March 17. 

The title game ratings were no doubt undercut by a poor contest in which the
heavily favored Xtreme dominated throughout, building a 21-0 lead by
halftime. The underdog Demons were merely 5-5 during the regular season and
had already lost to L.A. 24-0 on the season's final Saturday. The San
Francisco team didn't even score in the championship game until there were
just 25 seconds left. Announced attendance was 24,153 in the 90,000-seat
L.A. Coliseum. 

NBC's failed football experiment has been costly to the network, dragging
down its overall average among adults 18-49 to the point that, as of April
15, NBC was leading the prime-time pack by a mere 10th of a rating point
season-to-date. That margin is likely to increase to 0.2 of a rating point
after this week, in part because of the strong start for the new game show
The Weakest Link. 

That promising schedule addition should also allow NBC to snap a four-week
streak during which it's finished either tied for third or alone in fourth
among adults 18-49, the network's target demographic. Unless NBC bombs
completely Sunday night with the 1998 Godzilla movie, it should win the
April 16-22 week among adults 18-49. But if so, the XFL will have had little
to do with NBC's win -- Saturday's 18-49 average will probably land within
0.1-0.2 of a rating point of the lowest nightlong rating all week for any of
the six biggest networks. 

Three times during its difficult season, the XFL dragged NBC down to its
lowest prime-time ratings ever, for any show or any night, even including
the dregs of the summer rerun season. Researchers could find no
regular-series prime-time telecast in ABC, CBS or NBC history that was
lower-rated than the league's March 17, March 31 and April 7 telecasts (1.6,
1.5 and 1.5 in households respectively). Researchers also found no
lower-rated night of programming in ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox history. 

Fox won this past Saturday among adults 18-49 according to preliminary
''fast-affiliate'' national Nielsens. A rerun of Cops: The Top 15 Moments of
All Time climbed to that network's highest Saturday 18-49 average in four
weeks, a preliminary 4.0/13. 

The XFL also faced stronger-than-usual competition for male viewers from
ABC's rerun of Lethal Weapon 3 (preliminary 3.0/10 in 18-49) and CBS's
double dose of Walker, Texas Ranger (preliminary 2.2/7 in 18-49). 

These ''fast-affiliate'' numbers aren't particularly reliable for live
events such as the XFL, but they suggest Saturday's title game will come in
with about a 1.1/4 among adults 18-49, less than half of the night's
next-lowest performer (CBS's 2.6/9). 

The league's championship ratings represent a major comedown from the
powerful numbers that accompanied the XFL's early February launch. The
concept of a brash new league co-owned by the WWF stirred up lots of
publicity and initial curiosity, but the product that actually appeared on
the screen didn't hold the interest of most viewers. NBC initiated its
Saturday night coverage Feb. 3 with a powerful 9.5 household rating and even
topped ABC's Monday Night Football average among men 18-34 (10.2 rating vs.
a 9.5). But the Nielsens were cut in half the following week and kept
dropping from there, until three consecutive Saturdays of competition from
the NCAA tournament delivered a killer blow. 

It looks like NBC will end up with about a 2.9/5 household average for its
XFL season, which is less than a third of the 9.5/17 accomplished in week
one. 

If Saturday's game comes in at about a 2.3 in national households, that
would leave it nowhere near the results for any major title game. NFL
Football averaged a 10.7 rating during last year's regular season and
exploded to a 40.4 for January's Super Bowl. Major League Baseball averaged
just a 2.6 last season on Fox (outside of prime time), but the World Series
went on to score a 12.4. Last year's NBA Basketball averaged a 3.3 during
the regular season (again mostly outside of prime time) and the NBA Finals
rose to an 11.6. Even hockey's traditionally low-rated Stanley Cup Finals
rose to a 3.7/6 last year on ABC, to easily beat Saturday's XFL result. 

It's all but certain that NBC is out if the league survives into a second
season. The other broadcast partners, UPN and TNN, haven't expressed a firm
commitment to stay aboard. This past season, TNN carried Sunday afternoon
games and UPN took over on Sunday nights. 

The league seemed to genuinely work on TNN, where coverage brought ratings
increases to the cable channel. But it's an exaggeration to call the XFL a
success on UPN, where it's been nothing more than a borderline survivor. 

For example, UPN's XFL average of a 0.7/2 among adults 18-49 ties a couple
of that network's flops (Level 9 and a Friday 9:30 edition of Celebrity
Deathmatch) for the 158th and very bottom position on this season's list of
network prime-time shows. And to make matters worse, UPN's telecast only
achieved that lowly 0.7 average once in its last six tries. 

What makes the XFL a viable proposition for UPN is how it expands the
network onto a sixth night of the week with about the same ratings a new
schedule of traditional entertainment programming might have generated but
at a lower cost. 

TNN doesn't have any reason to complain about the new league's overall
Nielsens, which brought significant increases over the channel's results for
the same time period a year ago. Sunday afternoon XFL coverage on TNN
averaged a 0.93 rating in households (up 48 percent over the same period a
year earlier), and a 0.71 among adults 18-49 (up 92 percent). 

In the 18-49 demographic, that 0.71 XFL average on TNN beats such alternate
cable sports attractions as NBA Basketball on TBS (0.69) and TNT (0.65), NHL
Hockey on ESPN (0.39) and NCAA Basketball on ESPN (0.37). 

But like NBC, both UPN and TNN suffered steady and serious audience erosion
and closed their seasons with numbers far below their respectable
season-long averages. For example, TNN's last game mustered just a 0.34 in
households, barely one-third the 0.93 the channel averaged over its full
slate of nine games. 

One of the reasons Saturday's championship game picked up a little over
recent NBC results was a solid lead-in from the network's NBA Basketball
overrun. Throughout the day Saturday, all three of NBC's playoff basketball
telecasts finished fairly close to year-ago overnights: Indiana-Philadelphia
at 12:30 p.m., 3.7/10 in metered market households (down 3 percent from last
year); Dallas-Utah at 3 p.m., 4.2/11 (down 5 percent); and the 5:45
Minnesota-San Antonio game, 4.5/10 (down 8 percent). 

Though all three NBA games were down, results weren't bad considering the
league's regular-season coverage was off nationally by 12 percent versus
last year (2.9/7 vs. 3.3/7).

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Sun Apr 22, 2001 10:59pm
Subject: a Power of Attorney episode waiting to happen

Monday April 23 12:38 AM ET
Robin Hood becomes TV reality 

By Melissa Grego

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Cable's USA Network is in final negotiations to 
greenlight a new cloak-and-dagger reality series that brings modern-day Robin 
Hoods to television.

The series -- tentatively dubbed ``Break In!'' -- pits two teams in a race to 
execute a repo-style retrieval.

The teams may be asked to pull off such tasks as locating and returning a 
stolen painting or recovering stolen government secrets from a Russian yacht 
during a lavish party. The first team to return the booty to its rightful 
owners wins. The prize has yet to be determined.

A pilot will likely go into production over the summer, under the eye of 
veteran veteran reality producer Bruce Nash (``World's Most Amazing Videos'').

Chris Sloan, USA Network's senior VP of reality programming, said he's aiming 
to have the show premiere on the general entertainment cable network as a 
weekly, one-hour series in the fourth quarter of this year.

Sloan said the show takes its inspiration from the intricate heists of such 
fictional films as ``The Pink Panther'' or ``Mission: Impossible,'' where the 
protagonists go through elaborate plans to bring things back to their 
rightful owners.

What the show will not do is teach people how to pull off a crime, he said.

``That's why we're doing the fairly fantastical type of things -- we're not 
breaking into someone's house. You're not going to hear us saying here's how 
you break in to steal the Oscars (news - web sites).''

Specialized security professionals will train contestants as they prepare and 
plan for their challenge.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 7:43am
Subject: Geting more interactive with Pam Anderson (with both hands on the keyboard)

V.I.P.' Sizzles With Premiere Interactive May Event
 
CULVER CITY, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--April 23, 2001-- 
Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment, Coca-Cola and Columbia 
TriStar Television Distribution Invite Fans to 'Be A Player' 
With Exclusive Episodes of 'V.I.P. Interactive' 

Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment's (SPDE) Interactive Television unit 
(iTV); a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive 
television content for Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE); is partnering with 
Columbia TriStar Television Distribution (CTTD), Columbia TriStar Television 
Advertiser Sales (CTTAS), Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) and Ultimate TV, 
the digital evolution of Microsoft's Web TV platform, to create four 
exclusive interactive episodes of "V.I.P.," the hit syndicated action drama. 
"V.I.P. Interactive" is sponsored by Coca-Cola. 

Designed to give viewers new exciting enhancements to the popular series, 
"V.I.P. Interactive" is scheduled to air one episode during each of the 
following weekends: April 28, May 5, 12 and 19, 2001. Check local listings or 
www.vipactiontv.com for air times. 

With compelling and engaging content for both devoted fans as well as new 
viewers, "V.I.P. Interactive" positions CTTD at the forefront of advanced 
interactive television entertainment and provides an outlet for SPDE to 
demonstrate next-generation interactivity to viewers within the drama format. 

"We (SPDE) have already demonstrated how highly successful interactive 
television can be through iTV versions of 'Wheel of Fortune' and 
'JEOPARDY!,'" explained Nicholas Wodtke, senior vice president, iTV, SPDE. 
"With 'V.I.P. Interactive,' we are expanding our product offering, increasing 
consumer awareness of iTV and building synergy within the Sony family and 
with our partners in the iTV industry." 

"Enhanced broadcasts are innovative, exciting and hold enormous potential, 
and are a wonderful showcase for Sony's leadership in new technology," noted 
Bo Argentino, executive vice president, CTTAS. "We are pleased that 
Coca-Cola, a valued advertiser which has shown interest in exploring 
interactive television, is our partner in this project." 

As the overall sponsor of "V.I.P. Interactive," the Coca-Cola name will be 
part of the interface, and the company's national commercial spot within the 
broadcast episodes of "V.I.P." will become interactive to the Ultimate TV 
participant. Also, extensive marketing and advertising research information 
will be generated by the event. 

"V.I.P. Interactive" features numerous entertainment options that enhance the 
action and humor of the "V.I.P." broadcast series experience by providing 
auxiliary program information and bringing the viewer in touch with fellow 
fans. "V.I.P. Interactive" participants are provided with four enhanced 
options and may activate as many or as few interactive elements as they wish. 

Vital Stats' consists of synched-to-show trivia and additional information 
about the series and its cast -- ranging from background stories to actor 
profiles. 'Eye Spy' is a synched-to-show quiz in which players can engage 
while watching each episode. Each correct answer earns points for the 
players, which are applied toward prizes and community recognition. 

My Vote' polls viewers and allows them to receive direct real-time feedback 
from the "V.I.P. Interactive" community. Exclusive content such as premium 
photos and promotional items as well as the opportunity to purchase items 
from within the series is available through the 'V.I.P. Club.' 

According to Russ Krasnoff, president, programming and production, CTTD, "As 
a series that's successfully pushed the envelope creatively in the television 
arena since its debut and served as centerpiece for a variety of novel 
licensing and merchandise, 'V.I.P.' offers a perfect framework for 
cutting-edge digital content and technology. We're very pleased with how our 
partners in this project have captured the series' essence, diversity, tone 
and humor." 

"When we write and produce 'V.I.P.' episodes, there are two litmus tests: Is 
it fun? And does it have some quirky surprises, something fresh and 
unexpected? Everything we do in terms of the comedy, stunts, pop-culture 
references and cameos is geared toward fulfilling those requirements. The 
'V.I.P.' Interactive concept parallels our approach to the series and takes 
it to a new level," stated Morgan Gendel, executive producer, "V.I.P." 

Offering advertisers more than 30-second spot buys, interactive ads during 
this event include a loyalty points program where players compete for prizes. 
 

Points are awarded per participation; players automatically receive 100 
points each time they go interactive per episode and are then entered into a 
"V.I.P. Interactive" sweepstakes. Sony CD Walkmans, Sony Mini-HiFi Stereo 
Systems, and a Sony DVD player will be awarded each episode to sweepstakes 
winners.  

All players who qualify will be eligible for the grand prize, a Sony 32" FD 
Triniton WEGA television. 

Advertisers become part of the programming as never before via key 
positioning on the screen interface and interactive ad placement on the 
Companion Club site. "V.I.P. Interactive" players must visit the Companion 
Club site, located at www.playviptv.com, immediately after the show to 
register their points. Additionally, the show site, which can be accessed at 
www.vipactiontv.com, features tie-in information. 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: Pollak, Melissa  <mpollak@nsf.gov>
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 0:41pm
Subject: It's about time someone wrote about this issue!

Back about a year ago when "Who Wants to be a Millionaire was spawning
"copycat" gameshows on all the other networks, I noticed this oddity and
thought someone should write about it.  But, I never got around to
contacting either of the two TV reporters in my personal address book --
Aaron and Paul Farhi.  It took the "charming" Ms. Robinson for Paul to
notice...

> To view the entire article, go to
> http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50132-2001Apr22.html
> 
> For $64,000: Anne Robinson
> 
>  Anne Robinson, the super-snippy Brit who hosts NBC's new game show, "The
> Weakest Link" (airing tonight at 8 on Channel 4), has been called many
> things since the program debuted last week: "dour," "sarcastic,"
> "merciless," even "sadistic."
> 
>  Curiously, the most remarkable thing about her seems to have escaped
> notice: Robinson is a woman.
> 
>  In the long and proud history of the American game show, this is a
> stunning fact. Women don't host game shows. They host talk shows, sure.
> They anchor newscasts, certainly. They run companies, households and
> governments. But game shows have been, and are, as rarefied a male
> preserve as an NFL locker room.
> 
>  Since the dawn of TV, it has been men who have donned the obligatory
> suit, chatted up the excited contestants and spoken those undying words,
> "And now, let's play . . . [fill in name of game]!"
> 
>  A few women<em> have </em>held the quiz cards. But here's your special
> lightning-round bonus question: Can you name even one?
> 
>  [Sound of bri!
> !
> dging theme music] . . . Okay, time's up.
> 
>  The "personalities" appendix of "The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows"
> (1995) lists a mere 22 women who were hosts (or in many cases, co-hosts)
> of game shows during the preceding 47 years. Four women, including Arlene
> Francis and Gypsy Rose Lee (Gypsy Rose Lee!), briefly made it as
> prime-time quiz show hosts in the early 1950s. David Schwartz, a co-author
> of the encyclopedia, estimates that 60 new game shows have been developed
> (mostly for cable channels) since the last edition was published in 1999;
> he couldn't recall any hosted by women.
> 
>  Men? Let's put it this way: Wink Martindale -- he of the perfect
> Pepsodent smile and the immovable hair -- has hosted almost as many game
> shows during his career (19) as there have been female hosts through all
> of TV history.
> 
>  Schwartz's book lists 428 men who've hosted programs. These range from
> game show gods like Martindale, Monty Hall, Art Fleming, Tom Kennedy, Art
> and Dennis James, Bill Cullen!
> !
>  and Jack Barry to curiosities like Walter Cronkite (he hosted "It's News
> to Me" in 1954) and Charlton Heston (a substitute host on "The $64,000
> Question" in 1957).
> 
>  The game show hall of fame would also include Jim Lange, Gene Rayburn,
> Peter Marshall, Bob Eubanks, Allen Ludden, Bob Barker and Chuck Woolery.
> The modern era includes titans such as Alex Trebek, Pat Sajak, Ben Stein,
> Jeff Probst and, of course, Regis.
> 
>  It's been three decades since the modern feminist movement transformed
> virtually every American institution.
> 
>  In game show land, it's still the age of the Neanderthal.
> 
>  Women have traditionally played lesser roles in the rigid game show
> social hierarchy. The highest status generally accorded them has been
> "panelist." Panelists get to answer questions and solve puzzles, of
> course, and they are valued for their wit. But it's a middle-management
> gig, the glass ceiling. Panelists don't have real authority. They can't
> initiate the action or direct it, nor can they e!
> !
> ngage in the ceremonial greeting or sign-off. Only the host is vested with
> these ritual symbolic powers.
> 
>  Even so, it's better than the next rung down, the game show's pink-collar
> ghetto. "Wheel of Fortune's" Vanna White along with "Barker's Beauties" on
> "The Price Is Right" come from a long tradition of subservient workaday
> ornamental roles. Women (almost never men) have been performing these
> incidental functions since game shows began. The game show encyclopedia
> lists these jobs under various <em>noms de showbiz:</em> "model,"
> "assistant," "scoreboard girl." Two women from the 1950s are described as
> "dancing cigarette packs." In my house back when, we referred to one group
> of such women as "prize feelers," for the odd and suggestive manner in
> which they ran their manicured fingers over the merchandise ("Carol
> Merrill is really feeling up that Amana RadarRange!").
> 
>  Martindale, who's just written his autobiography ("Winking at Life: God,
> Country, Mom and Apple Pie") and is d!
> !
> eveloping new game shows, has his own historical thesis on game show
> gender politics.
> 
>  "Most shows in the 1960s and '70s were daytime shows, as opposed to the
> evening shows you have now," he says. "The audience at home during the day
> tended to be female, and the thinking was, they didn't necessarily want to
> watch another woman hosting a show. They wanted to look at a man."
> 
>  Except this is now. And where, aside from Robinson, are the women?
> 
>  Jake Tauber, a veteran game show writer ("The Match Game") and producer,
> says men tend to control the means of game show production. Hence,
> producers tend to cast in their own image. 
> 
> "Don't underestimate that fact," says Tauber, who has worked for Mark
> Goodson and Bill Todman, the prolific Hanna and Barbera of game show
> creators.
> 
>  Which brings us back to Anne Robinson.
> 
>  Does her apparent success -- "Weakest Link's" audience grew over the
> three nights it aired last week -- suggest a breakthrough, that Americans,
> or at least American g!
> !
> ame show producers, are ready to embrace women in their traditionally male
> redoubt?
> 
>  Or does her severe haircut, no-nonsensedress and imperious manner ("You
> are the weakest link. Goodbye!") suggest something darker: that to get
> ahead in a man's world, a woman has to be more of a man than her male
> contemporaries?
> 
>  Consider the question from another angle: Could a male game show host get
> away with Robinson's aggressive, belittling manner without being regarded
> as a bully, a thug, a traitor to all that Monty Hall stood for?
> 
>  Martindale prefers not to pass judgment on Robinson, but it's clear she's
> not up to his old-school standards. He says, "I prefer someone like Regis,
> or someone like Betty White [a longtime panelist and host of a short-lived
> show, "Just Men!," in the early 1980s]. Betty was the female version of
> Regis. The host should add to the flow of the game. That's what Regis
> does. He knows when to start talking, and when to shut up. He knows when
> to move on. You just !
> !
> feel comfortable with Regis."
> 
>  Tauber, now an executive with cable's Game Show Network, also prefers not
> to tackle the question directly. But he notes that it's long past the time
> when society values women solely for their feminine attributes. "Women are
> on a par with men in business, in athletics, in the home. They can present
> a strong character.
> 
>  "The culture is more aggressive now," he says. "Everything on television
> is, from talk shows to dramas to game shows. There's more sarcasm. Game
> shows don't set the culture. I guess they're just mirroring it."
> 
>  Here's to you, Ms. Robinson.
> 
>   
>

From: Jeffries, Mark  <mjeffries@krw.com>
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 3:09pm
Subject: RE: How about TV-Y7?

> >> "BACKSTREET BOYS:  LARGER THAN LIFE," THE 
> > >PHENOMENAL POP GROUP'S FIRST NETWORK TELEVISION 
> > >SPECIAL, TO BE BROADCAST MAY 30 ON THE CBS 
> > >TELEVISION NETWORK
> > 
> > Punchline A) Only if they vote one another out of the group.
> > 
> > Punchline B) Of course, the last successful project that 
> used the title 
> > "Larger Than Life" was that Disney "road movie" with Bill 
> Murray, Janeane 
> > Garafolo, and the elephant.

The Disney elephant movie was called "Operation Dumbo Drop."  "Larger Than
Life" was distributed by MGM.

The video box quotes the late Gene Siskel as saying "For children of all
ages."  That sure sounds like a quote out of context to me...

Mark Jeffries
mjeffries@k...
mjsaints@a...

From: Jeffries, Mark  <mjeffries@krw.com>
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 3:27pm
Subject: RE: Re:[TV DEADPOOL] Some of my worst sitcoms are...

> Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't the "lesser" networks 
> like FOX, UPN, and 
> the WB hindered in the ratings game due to lack of 
> "penetration" in the 
> marketplace?  
> 
> In other words, if FOX is only available,say, in 75% of the 
> US, there's a 
> maximum "rating" it could pull in even if every household 
> that had FOX tuned 
> into that show. It seems to me that it's rating number would 
> have to be 
> adjusted (by dividing by .75) to show how popular a show 
> like, "The Simpsons" 
> truly is when compared to another on say, ABC, NBC, or CBS.
> 
> I am surprised, then, that *someone* hasn't come out with an 
> "Adjusted 
> Ratings" which would account for these statistical inequities.

That's exactly how cable ratings are computed--they're based on each
individual channel's number of homes where the cable company carries the
channel, or their "universe."  Because there are still channels in much
smaller numbers of homes compared to the big guys (CNN, ESPN, USA, TBS,
etc.), cable ratings are always weighted that way.

The only reason broadcast ratings aren't done that way is probably because
they've always been done the other way.  I don't think Nielsen compiles a
list of every single cable prime time show (particularly because the cable
networks combine ratings from multiple airings), but they continue to do so
for broadcast.  Fox was able to get some respectable numbers with "The
Simpsons" and "Married...With Children" with about as much of the country
cleared as affilliates as UPN or The WB do now (and without things like the
cable channel schemes The WB does with small market television stations to
get WB into the smaller markets, where they provide a 24-hour feed of
programming, get the cable systems in the market to agree to air the service
on the same channel number and have a local station handle the local
advertising).  Meanwhile, I don't think either mini-net has yet to
consistently get *any* series into the Top *100.*

Mark Jeffries
mjeffries@k...
mjsaints@a...

From: Jeffries, Mark  <mjeffries@krw.com>
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 3:51pm
Subject: RE: MTV 2 on broadcast TV

> I was just programming a new TV, and it picked up MTV 2 on a 
> broadcast 
> channel. It looks like it replaced "The Box" here in Atlanta, but I'm 
> curious: Is anyone else in a different market receiving it 
> over the air?

MTV2 is airing on several low-power broadcast channels throughout the
country that once carried The Box.

Viacom acquired The Box in 1999, when it purchased the channel and
sonicnet.com from TCI Music (now the Liberty Digital division of Liberty
Media, who owns the DMX music service and half of Game Show Network).  In
the fall of 1999, it replaced The Box's digital tier channels with MTV/VH1
digital spinoff channels.  And at the beginning of this year, The Box was
put out of commission and replaced by MTV2.  However, portions of MTV2's
programming do have interactive request elements similar to The Box (notably
the prime time "Control Freaks," where web users can vote on the next video
to be played among three).

Mark Jeffries
mjeffries@k...
mjsaints@a...

From: The KJB  <osiris@idir.net>
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 7:27pm
Subject: Gays on TV (not the dress up kind) WAS: [TV DEADPOOL] Some of my worst sitcoms are...

At 05:42 PM 4/21/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>The entrenching of Will and Grace as Neo-"Mary Tyler Moore Show" allows for
>future Gay "ERs," "Iron Chefs," "Whose Line is It Anyways" (okay that's not
>too much of a stretch), "GAY-Team," etc. The failure of "Some Of My Best
>Friends" means that with 28 shows with gay / bi / trans characters (some
>cancelled i.e. "Bette," "Normal Ohio," "Beggers & Choosers") in lead,
>supporting, or recurring roles, gayness is no longer a free ride. It's daring
>to have higher standards over just daring to be daring. Quality keeps you on
>the air, not merely being Queer.

Hear, hear.
I do have to admit, I am not a fan of QaF, mostly because I just find it 
annoying.  Also, the only series I remember with a bi character was 
"Homicide".  Not a surprise since the bi community is shunned by straights 
and gays.  Even the trans community is getting better play than the bi's.
And, while we're on the subject, are the trans characters on series other 
than "NYPD Blue" (a series which seems to like finding the most unlikely 
candidates to ever wear a dress) ever going to be played by anyone other 
than Turner or Moriarty?  I mean, RuPaul can't be the ONLY one out there!

KJB
Editor, Backstage Pass
http://www.backstage-pass.com
Film Writer, FilmForce.Net
http://www.filmforce.net

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 3:30pm
Subject: Re: It's about time someone wrote about this issue!

>> Back about a year ago when "Who Wants to be a Millionaire was spawning
> >"copycat" gameshows on all the other networks, I noticed this oddity and
> >thought someone should write about it.  
> 
> Well, on NBC it's being brought to you by many of the brain trust of 
> "Twenty One."




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: The KJB  <osiris@idir.net>
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 7:37pm
Subject: RE: Re:[TV DEADPOOL] Some of my worst sitcoms are...

At 03:27 PM 4/23/2001 -0500, you wrote:
>Meanwhile, I don't think either mini-net has yet to consistently get *any* 
>series into the Top *100.*

Not consistently but UPN did make the top 10 with the premiere night of 
it's network (which just happened to be the premiere of Star Trek: Voyager 
as well).  I think both mini-nets have had minor spikes into the top 100 
but not on a regular basis.


KJB
Editor, Backstage Pass
http://www.backstage-pass.com
Film Writer, FilmForce.Net
http://www.filmforce.net

From: Jeremy DeStefano  <jsd1122@optonline.net>
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 7:42pm
Subject: Re: Re:[TV DEADPOOL] Some of my worst sitcoms are...

>Meanwhile, I don't think either mini-net has yet to consistently get *any*
>series into the Top *100.*

What about WWF Smackdown?  I believe that it is _technically_ considered a
"series".

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 5:21pm
Subject: Re: How about TV-Y7?

>> The Disney elephant movie was called "Operation Dumbo Drop."  "Larger Than
> >Life" was distributed by MGM.
> 
> Disney-esque then, seems like it's been on the ABC's Wonderful World of 
> Childrens Movies schedule.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 6:05pm
Subject: Re: Gays on TV (not the dress up kind) WAS: [TV DEADPOOL] Some of m...

>I do have to admit, I am not a fan of QaF, mostly because I just find it 
>annoying.  

Again it's the guys behind "Sisters," which had its cringe-worhty moments 
every episode as well. 

>Also, the only series I remember with a bi character was 
> >"Homicide".  
>> and gays.  

As a whole, perhaps. 

As for U.S. TV... Well, Sandra Bernhard's character "Nancy" on Roseanne... 
she married Arnie, remember. 

Aside from that : 
(from David A. Wyatt's Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Television Characters at <
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~wyatt/tv-characters.html>)

Days of Our Lives : In 1977 the unhappily married Sharon Duval (Sally Stark) 
admitted to her dear friend Julie Williams that she was bisexual and was in 
love with her. The story line was quickly wrapped up when problems broke out 
backstage between head writer Pat Falken Smith and the NBC top brass.

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman -- Annie `Tippytoes' Wylie (Gloria DeHaven) 

The Real World New York (1992) Norman

Head Over Heels (UPN) 1997 Ian (Patrick Bristow, of Ellen) a celebate 
bisexual romance counsellor.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 6:05pm
Subject: Re: Gays on TV (not the dress up kind) WAS: [TV DEADPOOL] Some of m...

In a message dated 4/23/01 6:29:26 PM Mountain Daylight Time, osiris@i... 
writes:


> >And, while we're on the subject, 

"KIDS, what's the matter with KIDS THESE DAYS!"

>> than "NYPD Blue" (a series which 
> seems to like finding the most unlikely candidates to ever wear a dress) 
> > than Turner or Moriarty?  

As drag/transvestitism goes, you might find as many that queens look like 
Anthony Tyler Quinn as you would "small town" gay men who look like John 
Goodman. And drag kings that look more like Lea Delaria as Elvis than k.d. 
lang. Diversity transcends looks after all. Well, except if you're thin. :)

> I mean, RuPaul can't be the ONLY one out there!

I guess Ally McBeal had a transgender character fall for the pseudo-Billy 
replacement this season, I haven't been watching her. (Bravo "Cold Feet" in 
this time zone)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 6:12pm
Subject: Re: Gays on TV (not the dress up kind) WAS: [TV DEADPOOL] Some of m...

As for transgender and intersex here's a recent rapsheet from GLAAD : 

TELEVISION - TRANSGENDER & INTERSEX REPRESENTATIONS 

Here are some instances of transgender & intersex representations on 
television. 
 
 Freaks and Geeks (NBC: 1999 - 2000): In "The Little Things," Ken's (Seth 
Rogen) girlfriend Amy (Jessica Campbell) reveals her deepest secret to Ken - 
she is intersexual. Although Amy tells Ken that she is now female, he is 
confused and asks his friends if this makes him gay. Ken finally finds the 
answer to this question within himself, and he decides that regardless of his 
sexual orientation, he is in love with Amy. (Episode 17) 

Ally McBeal (FOX: 1997 - present): During its five season run, this program 
has featured several transgender characters: 

In "Girls' Night Out" (Season 4, Episode 2), Richard (Greg Germann) and 
Ling's (Lucy Liu) client, Cindy (Lisa Edelstein), is suing her employer for 
trying to force her to have a physical examination. Cindy reveals that she is 
not completely a woman. They are stunned - they never would have guessed. Her 
case is tried and the team wins quickly. Back at the office, Mark has 
developed an attraction to Cindy and asks her out. She declines at first, but 
he persists. Richard tries to dissuade him, but he cannot reveal the client 
confidential information. Mark and Cindy dance together at the bar, and they 
kiss as Richard and Ling look on in surprise.

In "Without a Net" (Season 4, Episode 3), Mark backs out of his relationship 
with Cindy, unable to deal with her transgenderism. He states that he 
considers Cindy "aberrant" and that he could "never be sexual with her." 
Cindy was a well-written, multi-dimensional character. However, she was 
surrounded by situations and commentary that were so offensive, they 
completely overwhelmed any positive impact her character might have made. 
Bigoted comments by every regular character on the show went unchallenged, 
and every character ended the storyline as transphobic as they began. GLAAD 
has written a letter to David E. Kelley productions requesting a meeting to 
discuss the manner in which "Ally McBeal" portrays lesbian, gay, bisexual and 
transgender people. GLAAD also encouraged the community to contact Kelley and 
urge him to meet with GLAAD, and to create fair, accurate and inclusive 
stories about transgender people - instead of simply exploiting them for 
ratings during sweeps.

In "Boy to the World" (Season 1, Episode 9), Ally (Calista Flockhart) becomes 
the attorney for Stephanie (Wilson Cruz), a transgender fashion designer who 
has turned to sex work to pay the bills. Ally offers an insanity plea for the 
solicitation rap; the plea is based on "transvesitite fetishism." Stephanie 
expresses great reservations and eventually refuses the strategy, noting she 
left home to escape being called "sick." Ally calls upon experts to diagnose 
Stephanie with "gender dysphoria" and one of them says "He's [Stephanie] more 
like a woman, or thinks he's one," calling Stephanie "confused." Ally offers 
Stephanie a job at the law office, where she is faced with a few insensitive 
remarks. Eventually, she returns to prostitution and is murdered. GLAAD and 
GenderPAC responded to this transphobic representation in a letter, stating 
that the episode portrayed transgender people as "sad, desperate hookers."

Just Shoot Me (NBC: 1996 - present): Finch (David Spade) is excited to 
reunite with his best pal from his childhood, only to learn that Burt has 
undergone sex reassignment surgery and is now Brandi (Jenny McCarthy) in 
"Brandi You're a Fine Girl." Finch cannnot deal with Brandi at first, and 
doesn't want to see her. He later reconciles this fear within himself and he 
and Brandi become close friends again. Finch finds himself attracted to 
Brandi, but understands when she rejects his advances. (Episode 506)

Gideon's Crossing (ABC: 2000-present): A male to female transsexual finds out 
that she has breast cancer. In addition to a lumpectomy, she must endure a 
medication that would save her life, but only if she stops taking female 
hormone. She battles over whether to lose her identity or her life. Her 
husband leaves her, but eventually returns to reaffirm his love for her and a 
desire to "work things out." (Episode 6)

Chicago Hope (CBS: 1994-2000): In "Boys Will be Girls," Dr. Jack McNeil (Mark 
Harmon) is surprised to discover that his female teenage patient was actually 
born a boy. An error during the circumcision resulted in the loss of the 
boy’s penis, and while doctors advised the parents to raise the child as a 
girl, the adolescent Deborah now desires to live as a boy. (Season 6, Episode 
13)

Popular (WB: 1999 - present): It's gender-bender time at Kennedy High when 
Mr. Don Jackson comes out as transgender, and will be transitioning to Miss 
Debbie Jackson . Her job as shop teacher is in jeapordy, and Harrison 
(Christopher Gorham) champions the cause, involving the other students. To 
protest the conflict at the school, the students show up to a PTA meeting 
cross-dressed. The students fail to persuade the PTA to retain Miss Debbie, 
but fail, and the she loses her job. (Episode 18 "Ch-Ch-Changes")

Tales of the City / More Tales of the City (PBS: 1994; Showtime: 1998): Based 
on Armistead Maupin's series of books, these mini-series feature the 
transgender landlady Anna Madrigal (Olympia Dukakis). 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: The KJB  <osiris@idir.net>
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 10:15pm
Subject: Re: Gays on TV (not the dress up kind) WAS: [TV DEADPOOL] Some of m...

I meant bi-sexual men, since bi women have always been moderately 
acceptable in the modern era.  I don't think I could count all of the bi 
female referances but I think I could count the guys on one hand (with 
plenty of digits left over).

At 11:05 PM 4/23/2001 -0400, you wrote:
> >I do have to admit, I am not a fan of QaF, mostly because I just find it
> >annoying.
>
>Again it's the guys behind "Sisters," which had its cringe-worhty moments
>every episode as well.
>
> >Also, the only series I remember with a bi character was
> > >"Homicide".
> >> and gays.
>
>As a whole, perhaps.
>
>As for U.S. TV... Well, Sandra Bernhard's character "Nancy" on Roseanne...
>she married Arnie, remember.
>
>Aside from that :
>(from David A. Wyatt's Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Television Characters at <
>http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~wyatt/tv-characters.html>)
>
>Days of Our Lives : In 1977 the unhappily married Sharon Duval (Sally Stark)
>admitted to her dear friend Julie Williams that she was bisexual and was in
>love with her. The story line was quickly wrapped up when problems broke out
>backstage between head writer Pat Falken Smith and the NBC top brass.
>
>Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman -- Annie `Tippytoes' Wylie (Gloria DeHaven)
>
>The Real World New York (1992) Norman
>
>Head Over Heels (UPN) 1997 Ian (Patrick Bristow, of Ellen) a celebate
>bisexual romance counsellor.
>
>
>
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>TVBarn2: America's funniest TV chat room.
>Goodbye: tvbarn2-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

KJB
Editor, Backstage Pass
http://www.backstage-pass.com
Film Writer, FilmForce.Net
http://www.filmforce.net

From: The KJB  <osiris@idir.net>
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 10:20pm
Subject: Re: Gays on TV (not the dress up kind) WAS: [TV DEADPOOL] Some of m...

At 11:05 PM 4/23/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>I guess Ally McBeal had a transgender character fall for the pseudo-Billy
>replacement this season, I haven't been watching her. (Bravo "Cold Feet" in
>this time zone)

I remember a transgendered character that Ally took under her wing who 
lasted all of a couple of episodes before a john killed her.  Because all 
transgendered people are also hookers, deep down.  I haven't been watching 
Ally this season either so I don't know about any new ones on the show but 
if anyone would be likely to have a regular trans character, it would be 
David E. Kelly.  I seem to remember Lauren Holly dating a transvestite on 
"Picket Fences" for a while.


KJB
Editor, Backstage Pass
http://www.backstage-pass.com
Film Writer, FilmForce.Net
http://www.filmforce.net

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 6:36pm
Subject: Re: Gays on TV (not the dress up kind) WAS: [TV DEADPOOL] Some of m...

>I remember a transgendered character that Ally took under her wing who 
>lasted all of a couple of episodes before a john killed her.  Because all 
>transgendered people are also hookers, deep down.  I haven't 

As listed, that was "Boy To The World" the pre-christmas (so Ally could weep 
in the fake snow) episode Wilson Cruz, (real life gay teen from My So called 
Life) and was a single show. 

An episode which creeped a lot of people out because it was such a "sad 
episode for a sexy/slutty comedy series." Besides... nobody 'sposed to be 
unhappy at Christmas time. :(


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: The KJB  <osiris@idir.net>
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 10:44pm
Subject: Re: Gays on TV (not the dress up kind) WAS: [TV DEADPOOL] Some of m...

At 11:12 PM 4/23/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>As for transgender and intersex here's a recent rapsheet from GLAAD :
>
>TELEVISION - TRANSGENDER & INTERSEX REPRESENTATIONS

Wasn't there a big deal about one of the soaps (the one with Morgan 
Fairchild that had the film to video look and didn't last very long) having 
a transsexual?  I seem to remember that character being gone very quickly 
after the initial appearance.  She was some model or something and the 
truth came out.  What was the name of that show?  It's going to bug me now 
and I don't see it on either of the lists you sent.

KJB
(who wonders how many list members are just sort of shifting uncomfortably 
during this particular thread....)

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 7:16pm
Subject: Re: Gays on TV (not the dress up kind) WAS: [TV DEADPOOL] Some of m...

>Wasn't there a big deal about one of the soaps (the one with Morgan 
>Fairchild that had the film to video look and didn't last very long) having 
>a transsexual?  

Well, on "Flamingo Road," I have her being both adopted and having a brothel 
keeper for a momma.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 7:17pm
Subject: Re: Gays on TV (not the dress up kind) WAS: [TV DEADPOOL] Some of m...

>I seem to remember Lauren Holly dating a transvestite on 
>"Picket Fences" for a while.


I left those out to perhaps deal with seperately, transgendered being 
generally a different conversation than transvestite, and a seperate 
conversation for drag. (And on tv usually the Single White Female / Psycho 
heterosexual stalker). 

Notably we had David Duchovny as Agent Denise on "Twin Peaks," the all very 
heterosexual Jamie Farr on M*A*S*H, Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari on "Bosom 
Buddies," the aforementioned "Ask Harriet" and I'm intentionally blanking on 
a horrible ABC sitcom in the last 6-7 years which was sort of a black sitcom 
version of Party of Five, where the oldest surviving brother had to Mrs. 
Doubtfire himself up as their long lost Aunt every time social services 
visited. (Probably someone on the WB these days.)

John Caroll Lynch as Drew's brother Steve on the Drew Carey Show"

Young Americans (WB: 2000): Jake (Katherine Moennig) blurs the strict gender 
lines at Rawley Academy, an elite all-male boarding school (supporting role). 
Jake develops a relationship with Hamilton (Ian Somerhalder), the Dean's son, 
despite some challenging moments for the both of them. When Jake's mother 
comes to visit him, he has to hide his new identity and wears a dress.  
    
Ally McBeal "Oddball Parade" (Season 3, Episode 14), the firm represents a 
number of individuals considered "odd," including a cross-dressser, Matthew 
Vault (Anthony Anderson). Matthew was fired from a job for being an 
unattractive detriment to the business. The "weirdos" eventually lose their 
case. Matthew also appears in the following episode, "Prime Suspect" (Season 
3, Episode 15). Matthew consults John because the boss has been murdered and 
another "oddball" has been accused of the crime.    
    
All in the Family (CBS: 1971 - 1979): In "Archie, The Hero" (Episode 114), 
lead character Archie Bunker (Carol O'Connor) gets a great deal of attention 
as a hero after saving the life of a woman riding in his cab. The woman turns 
out to be a drag queen named Beverly LaSalle (Lori Shannon) who appears in a 
few other episodes of the series. In "Beverly Rides Again" (Episode 142), 
Archie tricks a friend by setting him up with Beverly as a practical joke. 
Finally, in a two part episode entitled "Edith's Crisis of Faith" (Episodes 
172-173), Archie's wife Edith (Jean Stapleton) questions her faith in God 
after Beverly, who she had come to befriend, is brutally murdered by thugs 
trying to mug her. The epsiode is poignant and gripping.    
    





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: The KJB  <osiris@idir.net>
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 11:36pm
Subject: Re: Gays on TV (not the dress up kind) WAS: [TV DEADPOOL] Some of m...

At 12:16 AM 4/24/2001 -0400, you wrote:
> >Wasn't there a big deal about one of the soaps (the one with Morgan
> >Fairchild that had the film to video look and didn't last very long) having
> >a transsexual?
>
>Well, on "Flamingo Road," I have her being both adopted and having a brothel
>keeper for a momma.

Nah, this was a daytime soaper.  Half hour, I think.  Lasted a season, I think.


KJB
Editor, Backstage Pass
http://www.backstage-pass.com
Film Writer, FilmForce.Net
http://www.filmforce.net

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2001 8:08pm
Subject: Re: Gays on TV (not the dress up kind) WAS: [TV DEADPOOL] Some of m...

>> Nah, this was a daytime soaper.  Half hour, I think.  Lasted a season, I 
> think.
> 

The City / Loving?


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: The KJB  <osiris@idir.net>
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2001 0:23am
Subject: Re: Gays on TV (not the dress up kind) WAS: [TV DEADPOOL] Some of m...

At 01:08 AM 4/24/2001 -0400, you wrote:
> >> Nah, this was a daytime soaper.  Half hour, I think.  Lasted a season, I
> > think.
> >
>
>The City / Loving?

The City, that's the one!  I remember the press for the storyline and the 
daytime viewers stayed away in droves.  The fact it was bumped to 2 AM 
(kind of like Port Charles is here) probably didn't help it's viewership 
much, either.  The fact the show was just not very good wasn't much more help.


KJB
Editor, Backstage Pass
http://www.backstage-pass.com
Film Writer, FilmForce.Net
http://www.filmforce.net

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2001 0:02am
Subject: Re: Gays on TV (not the dress up kind) WAS: [TV DEADPOOL] Some of m...

>> The City, that's the one!  I remember the press for the storyline and the 
> >daytime viewers stayed away in droves.  The fact it was bumped to 2 AM 
> >(kind of like Port Charles is here) probably didn't help it's viewership 
> >much, either.  The fact the show was just not very good wasn't much more 
> help.
> 
> Well, Sydney Chase was ultimately murdered anyway... so there ya go.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2001 0:21am
Subject: Burnt Reynolds

Tuesday April 24 4:00 AM ET
UPDATE 1-Burt Reynolds storms off TV project 

(Adds Reynolds quotes in para 3)

By Army Archerd, Daily Variety Senior Columnist

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - There was an early boom during Sunday's cast reading of 
``Late Boomers,'' CBS-Artist Television Group's pilot.

The repercussion sounds like star Burt Reynolds has departed. The 
series-to-be costars Robert Urich and Joe Bologna told me they hope the 
fireworks, that were ignited during Saturday's reading, can be extinguished 
and that Reynolds can/will return.

But Reynolds philosophically said, ``I probably would've been very good in 
this role. My major regret is not being able to work with my pal Bob Urich.'' 
He added, ``I've never been busier.''

The first reading session, before a group of 40 network and ATG'ers 
(including ATG principal Michael Ovitz) wound with the players off in one 
corner while the two producing groups debated 45 minutes, and then told the 
cast to return Sunday. It did not sit well with Reynolds or his coworkers.

On Sunday the feelings between Reynolds and director Andrew Wayman hit the 
fan. And that session quickly wound up. The next reading is not until 
Wednesday, but a replacement for Reynolds or Wayman is reportedly in the 
works. The series is written and produced by Mitchell Katlin and Nat 
Bernstein.

Urich tells me, ``Nobody on this planet could play this role better than 
Burt.'' He adds, ``Maybe, if everyone stops for a day and catches his breath 
--? I'm just hoping cooler heads prevail. We (actors) live with our emotions 
on our sleeve.''

Joe Bologna allows, ``I took this part because of Burt. Fifty percent of the 
laughs are about how many women he's slept with. It will be hard for anyone 
to follow him. He's so perfect for the part, but what's needed is to clear 
the air -- in a room with all parties.''

Meanwhile, Bologna admitted, as of late Monday, ``things are in flux.''



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2001 2:32am
Subject: Candice Camera

[Another bad sign for the CO2 network? -- Tom]

Denver Post
Monday, April 23, 2001 
Bergen welcomes breath of fresh air

By Joanne Ostrow 
Denver Post TV/Radio Critic

In the ranks of Hollywood stars, there are an elite few who manage to be 
respected for their intelligence, class and breeding as much as for their 
cred it list. Candice Bergen ranks in that circle, with credits ranging from 
TV's "Murphy Brown" and film (most recently "Miss Congeniality" and "View 
From the Top") to an involving autobiography ("Knock Wood"), and classic 
Hollywood lineage (Edgar Bergen was her father, Charlie McCarthy her wooden 
sibling). 
  
There's an intelligent, low-key talk show in Bergen's future, but she says it 
probably won't be on Oxygen. 

After two seasons and a total of 80 hours as host of "Exhale," the low-key 
and intelligent talk show on Oxygen, Bergen doubts she'll continue with the 
beleaguered cable channel. 

Oxygen was launched with "very premature promotion and a long fizzle" as they 
underestimated what it would take to gain a toehold in the cable TV 
marketplace. 

Bergen can imagine a future in public broadcasting, a la Charlie Rose, or 
perhaps a different network talk format. But she won't get into the 
five-day-a-week syndication fray ("I don't want to work that hard"). Nor does 
the "Murphy Brown" star intend to return to sitcoms, noting the effort is too 
demanding on her personal life. 

"It's a lot of work, much more than I want to be doing. I don't think I could 
deal with my lines anymore at that level. It's not such a mystery. For 10 
years I was in every scene of a 50-page script. It's a lot to learn." 

Reflecting on Bette Midler's recent sitcom debacle, Bergen said, "She dealt 
with what you deal with. The writing was not something she was happy with all 
the time. And I know it was a shocking amount of work for her." 

Bergen's next venture is uncertain, but she finds the extended TV interview 
format inspiring. Unlike TV's usual five-minute sound bite and book or movie 
plug, the hour-long interview is a luxury for the guests, too. Her Oxygen 
sit-downs with the likes of Madeleine Albright, architect Frank Ghery, Diane 
Keaton, Hillary Clinton and artist Maya Lin allowed for in-depth discussion 
and required much homework. The result is "like a microcosm of a graduate 
course in a person or topic." 

"Talking to one person for one hour is no mean feat," Bergen said by phone 
last week. "There are times when you are so desperate." 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: Michael Jones  <spikej555@earthlink.net>
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2001 9:01am
Subject: Re: Burnt Reynolds

<Joe Bologna allows, ``I took this part because of Burt. Fifty percent of the 
laughs are about how many women he's slept with.> 


In addition to some rather spicy jokes on his transgender struggles. 
I think its fitting that Burt has apparently rejected the part and decided to stick with more traditional roles.  I doubt potential viewers, like myself, could make the requisite leap here with this character.  


Michael 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: tomalhe@a... 
  To: tvbarn2@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 2:21 AM
  Subject: [tvbarn2] Burnt Reynolds


  Tuesday April 24 4:00 AM ET
  UPDATE 1-Burt Reynolds storms off TV project 

  (Adds Reynolds quotes in para 3)

  By Army Archerd, Daily Variety Senior Columnist

  HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - There was an early boom during Sunday's cast reading of 
  ``Late Boomers,'' CBS-Artist Television Group's pilot.

  The repercussion sounds like star Burt Reynolds has departed. The 
  series-to-be costars Robert Urich and Joe Bologna told me they hope the 
  fireworks, that were ignited during Saturday's reading, can be extinguished 
  and that Reynolds can/will return.

  But Reynolds philosophically said, ``I probably would've been very good in 
  this role. My major regret is not being able to work with my pal Bob Urich.'' 
  He added, ``I've never been busier.''

  The first reading session, before a group of 40 network and ATG'ers 
  (including ATG principal Michael Ovitz) wound with the players off in one 
  corner while the two producing groups debated 45 minutes, and then told the 
  cast to return Sunday. It did not sit well with Reynolds or his coworkers.

  On Sunday the feelings between Reynolds and director Andrew Wayman hit the 
  fan. And that session quickly wound up. The next reading is not until 
  Wednesday, but a replacement for Reynolds or Wayman is reportedly in the 
  works. The series is written and produced by Mitchell Katlin and Nat 
  Bernstein.

  Urich tells me, ``Nobody on this planet could play this role better than 
  Burt.'' He adds, ``Maybe, if everyone stops for a day and catches his breath 
  --? I'm just hoping cooler heads prevail. We (actors) live with our emotions 
  on our sleeve.''

  Joe Bologna allows, ``I took this part because of Burt. Fifty percent of the 
  laughs are about how many women he's slept with. It will be hard for anyone 
  to follow him. He's so perfect for the part, but what's needed is to clear 
  the air -- in a room with all parties.''

  Meanwhile, Bologna admitted, as of late Monday, ``things are in flux.''



  [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


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From: Jeffries, Mark  <mjeffries@krw.com>
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2001 11:51am
Subject: RE: Re:[TV DEADPOOL] Some of my worst sitcoms are...

> >Meanwhile, I don't think either mini-net has yet to 
> consistently get *any*
> >series into the Top *100.*
> 
> What about WWF Smackdown?  I believe that it is _technically_ 
> considered a
> "series".

Has it broken into the Top 100 consistently or was it on last year's
year-end listing in the Top 100?  If it is, I'm sorry I forgot about it.

Mark Jeffries
mjeffries@k...
mjsaints@a...

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2001 0:21pm
Subject: Downey for the countie

Actor Robert Downey Jr. arrested in Los Angeles

  
LOS ANGELES, April 24 (Reuters) - Troubled actor Robert Downey Jr. was 
arrested early on Tuesday on charges of being under the influence of a 
controlled substance, police said. 

Downey, 36, who spent a year in a California prison on drug charges, was 
taken into custody just after midnight in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver 
City and detained for a few hours, a police spokesman said. 

The spokesman would not release further details or identify the substance 
Downey was accused of taking. The actor was ultimately released to the 
custody of his parole agent and ordered to return for a court hearing. 

Downey, who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in "Chaplin," 
already faces drug charges in nearby San Bernardino County, which could send 
him back to prison if he is convicted. 

The actor is currently appearing as a guest star on Fox-TV's "Ally McBeal," 
playing a lawyer and the love interest of Calista Flockhart's title 
character. He landed the role just one week after his release from prison. 

16:47 04-24-01



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: Jeffries, Mark  <mjeffries@krw.com>
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2001 4:24pm
Subject: RE: Downey for the countie

> LOS ANGELES, April 24 (Reuters) - Troubled actor Robert 
> Downey Jr. was 
> arrested early on Tuesday on charges of being under the 
> influence of a 
> controlled substance, police said. 

There goes his appearance at the Virgin Megastore in LA tonight that Vonda
Shepard plugged on Leno last night.

Drop him off at the Betty Ford and throw away the key.

Mark Jeffries
mjeffries@k...
mjsaints@a...

From: The KJB  <osiris@idir.net>
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2001 4:47pm
Subject: Re: Downey for the countie

At 05:21 PM 4/24/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>The actor was ultimately released to the custody of his parole agent and 
>ordered to return for a court hearing.

Parole *agent*?  Wow, now that's a new one.  I wonder if he's with the 
special parolee division of William Morris?

So, Downey got busted again.  Are the cops following this guy?  How many 
people go their entire lives doing drugs and never see the inside of a jail 
(not to mention all of those people who have sold or distributed them and 
never been busted, but I digress)?  This guy couldn't do a double espresso 
without someone from LA County giving him a urine test.

The last bust came from police entering his hotel room, a place where he 
was doing damage to no one but himself, and busted him.  Now he was in some 
suburb and got taken in again.  Was he wandering the streets?  I somehow 
doubt it.  I think this poor SOB has his photo in every squad car in the LA 
area and now knows every LA cop on a first name basis.

I'm just waiting for FOX to run the inevitable "COPS: The Robert Downey, 
Jr. Edition".  It's such a shame because even when doing such obvious tripe 
as "Ally McBeal", the guy has got talent.


KJB
Editor, Backstage Pass
http://www.backstage-pass.com
Film Writer, FilmForce.Net
http://www.filmforce.net

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2001 0:54pm
Subject: after Larry King Live it's.... NYPD Nues

CNN Headline News hires former `NYPD Blue' actress
By DAVID BAUDER
AP Television Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - CNN Headline News is looking for star power to boost its
ratings, hiring former "NYPD Blue" actress Andrea Thompson for a news job.

Thompson will be an anchorwoman for the network, according to a CNN
executive who spoke on condition of anonymity.

CNN also announced Tuesday that it has hired former ABC News reporter Sheila
MacVicar as a London-based international correspondent.

Thompson played detective Jill Kirkendall on "NYPD Blue." Her character
exited the ABC show in 1999 after marital problems interfered with her
police work.

She switched careers and was hired last May as a reporter and fill-in anchor
at television station KRQE in Albuquerque, N.M. She said at the time she
wanted a job that allowed her more time with her child and to study
economics.

Thompson didn't return a call seeking comment on Tuesday.

Her hiring may signal a flashier new era at CNN. The network recently came
under the control of Jamie Kellner, former chief at the Fox and WB networks,
and he told USA Today on Tuesday that he was looking for more star power at
the news networks.

CNN Headline News, an offshoot of the main CNN network, has an average
audience of 171,000 viewers so far this year, according to Nielsen Media
Research. That's virtually unchanged since last year.

Headline News runs a complete news report in half-hour cycles around the
clock.

MacVicar was cut loose earlier this year from ABC, where she had reported on
Africa, Europe and the Middle East for "World News Tonight" and "Nightline."

She will start reporting for CNN on May 7, said Eason Jordan, chief news
executive for the CNN News Group.

"I am thrilled to be joining CNN, which is committed to serious
international news coverage," MacVicar said.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: Jeffries, Mark  <mjeffries@krw.com>
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2001 4:59pm
Subject: RE: after Larry King Live it's.... NYPD Nues

> NEW YORK (AP) - CNN Headline News is looking for star power 
> to boost its
> ratings, hiring former "NYPD Blue" actress Andrea Thompson 
> for a news job.
> 
> Thompson will be an anchorwoman for the network, according to a CNN
> executive who spoke on condition of anonymity.

I wonder if she'll try to keep herself off the CNN web site like she kept
herself off the KRQE site (allegedly for reasons of "privacy," although
every other anchor and reporter has a page and E-mail link on the site).

I have a feeling someone at CNN is looking for anyone who might have on tape
that "Arliss" episode she appeared in where she was naked--and it'll be
extremely popular around the shop until she arrives... 

Mark Jeffries
mjeffries@k...
mjsaints@a...

From: bleemer@excite.com
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2001 5:58pm
Subject: Re: Downey for the countie

--- In tvbarn2@y..., The KJB <osiris@i...> wrote:

> So, Downey got busted again.  Are the cops following this guy?  How 
many 
> people go their entire lives doing drugs and never see the inside 
of a jail 
> (not to mention all of those people who have sold or distributed 
them and 
> never been busted, but I digress)?  This guy couldn't do a double 
espresso 
> without someone from LA County giving him a urine test.
> 
> The last bust came from police entering his hotel room, a place 
where he 
> was doing damage to no one but himself, and busted him.  Now he was 
in some 
> suburb and got taken in again.  Was he wandering the streets?  I 
somehow 
> doubt it.  I think this poor SOB has his photo in every squad car 
in the LA 
> area and now knows every LA cop on a first name basis.

If you were writing this tongue-in-cheek, you shouldn't be. I caught 
snippets of the Lenny Bruce biography on E! and there were interviews 
with the cops who repeatedly arrested him for possession. They were 
definitely looking out for him, and if he was seen on the street, he 
would be followed to see if he would lead them to a dealer. Who knows 
what intelligence is out there about Downey? Maybe his his dealer is 
under surveillance and they know when he buys.

Even he is only harming himself when he uses, we assume that he is 
competent, meaning that he understands the consequences of his 
actions. Addicted or not, he knows that he is breaking the law and he 
must be held accountable. If law enforcement turns a blind eye now, 
they may be taken to task if he turns up dead somewhere.

I wish Hollywood would blacklist him for his own good. If he must 
act, let him work in community theater somewhere. If he is in a new 
environment without all that money, maybe he could stay clean and 
sober.

Tom W

From: The KJB  <osiris@idir.net>
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2001 6:21pm
Subject: Re: Re: Downey for the countie

At 10:58 PM 4/24/2001 +0000, you wrote:
>If you were writing this tongue-in-cheek, you shouldn't be.

Not as tongue in cheek as you would think.

>I caught snippets of the Lenny Bruce biography on E! and there were 
>interviews
>with the cops who repeatedly arrested him for possession. They were
>definitely looking out for him, and if he was seen on the street, he
>would be followed to see if he would lead them to a dealer. Who knows
>what intelligence is out there about Downey? Maybe his his dealer is
>under surveillance and they know when he buys.

So BUST THE DEALER. Cut off the supply.  Isn't that the major philosophy 
behind the "war on drugs" (which is really the war on drug users, but I'll 
not go there right now)?


>Even he is only harming himself when he uses, we assume that he is
>competent, meaning that he understands the consequences of his
>actions. Addicted or not, he knows that he is breaking the law and he
>must be held accountable. If law enforcement turns a blind eye now,
>they may be taken to task if he turns up dead somewhere.

I'm not saying turn a blind eye but to keep that much surveillance on 
someone who is only a user and has never been accused or implicated in 
sales, distribution or anything else is not only waste of time and money 
but borderline harassment.  Yes, he's doing something against the law and 
if he's seen doing it, fine.  Arrest him. But going after him just because 
he uses?  Putting him under a 24 hour watch to see if he smokes weed or 
snorts some coke?  Give me a break - if he were anyone else the police 
would have long forgotten about him by now.  He is getting this much 
attention because of what he is, a Hollywood star. Period, full 
stop.  There was a homosexual couple arrested for having sex IN THEIR OWN 
HOME because they were breaking a state sodomy law.  The same thing 
happened to Downey the last time he was arrested.  Where do we draw the 
line between personal privacy and the public good?

>I wish Hollywood would blacklist him for his own good. If he must
>act, let him work in community theater somewhere. If he is in a new
>environment without all that money, maybe he could stay clean and
>sober.

What makes you think there are no drugs in community theater OR that you 
need to have the money he makes now to use them?  He's addicted and would 
find a way to pay for the drugs his system craves.  Do I hate seeing 
it?  Yes.  Do I wish he could do something about it?  Absolutely.  But it's 
something that he's got to do himself and there aren't enough cops, judges, 
rehab clinics, parole "agents" or well meaning industry "blacklists" (I 
really hope you were being tongue in cheek with that one - the thought of 
ANY blacklist in Hollywood sends a chill up my spine) that are going to fix 
the problem for him.


KJB
Editor, Backstage Pass
http://www.backstage-pass.com
Film Writer, FilmForce.Net
http://www.filmforce.net

From: pmurray@bigfoot.com
Date: Wed Apr 25, 2001 1:02am
Subject: Re: Downey for the countie

--- In tvbarn2@y..., tomalhe@a... wrote:

> The actor is currently appearing as a guest star on Fox-TV's "Ally 
McBeal," 
> playing a lawyer and the love interest of Calista Flockhart's title 
> character. He landed the role just one week after his release from 
prison. 

Not anymore...

CULVER CITY, Calif. (AP) - Robert Downey Jr. was fired from the TV 
show ``Ally McBeal'' on Tuesday, hours after his arrest for 
investigation of being under the influence of drugs.

[snip]

David E. Kelley, the Emmy-winning producer of ``Ally McBeal,'' 
released a statement Tuesday saying that he has scuttled plans to 
feature Downey in several more episodes.

``We are wrapping up the stories on the final few episodes of ``Ally 
McBeal'' for the season without him,'' Kelley said.

The producer had publicly supported Downey until his latest arrest, 
even signing him to more episodes after the actor's arrest last 
November on drug charges.

[snip]

From: mandylor@mailcity.com
Date: Wed Apr 25, 2001 2:12am
Subject: Re: Downey for the countie

> CULVER CITY, Calif. (AP) - Robert Downey Jr. was fired from the TV 
> show ``Ally McBeal'' on Tuesday, hours after his arrest for 
> investigation of being under the influence of drugs.

So, that makes two regulars of Fox shows to be fired in one season 
due to drug addiction.  I wonder what's the record...

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2001 10:15pm
Subject: Re: Re: Downey for the countie

>> So, that makes two regulars of Fox shows to be fired in one season 
> >due to drug addiction.  I wonder what's the record...
> 
> It's not Saturday Night Live...




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Wed Apr 25, 2001 0:18am
Subject: Robert's Rules of Disorder

You know the really sad thing about the Robert Downey Jr case? 

His doctor specifically prescribed Ritalin and not "mass quantities of 
cocaine." You'd think the phramacy at Walmart would have been able to read 
the doc's handwriting by now. 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Wed Apr 25, 2001 0:18am
Subject: Blow me up tom.tv

Wednesday April 25 3:54 AM ET
UPN is listening to Leykis 
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - UPN has picked up a reality pilot starring radio shock 
jock Tom Leykis.The project, in development at Telepictures Productions, is a 
talk/variety hybrid that focuses on male-female relationships. Leykis hosts 
afternoon drive on KLSX-FM in Los Angeles and is syndicated nationwide by 
Westwood One.The Leykis pilot is being developed for a potential fall berth; 
Telepictures had originally developed a project starring Leykis for the 
syndication marketplace.
    




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Wed Apr 25, 2001 0:18am
Subject: Erin Brockovich : the TV show (and not on UPN neither)

The Hollywood reporter sayeth
'Dog' chased 
Apr. 25, 2001 

The peacock, ABC and Fox were said to be bidding on the latest BBC offering, 
"Dog Eat Dog," described as a "Survivor"-style elimination contest involving 
physical and mental challenges. ABC and others are also taking a look at 
"Challenge America," a project to be hosted by Erin Brockovich that would 
send contestants on a mission to complete a charitable or socially beneficial 
task in a short period of time. (Cynthia Littleton) 
    



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Wed Apr 25, 2001 0:18am
Subject: Sponsored by Energizer... Survivor keeps going... and going... and going... and

Wednesday April 25 3:53 AM ET
''Survivor'' will survive another week 

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Hoping to squeeze every last ratings point out of 
``Survivor: The Australian Outback (news - Y! TV),'' CBS will air the 
one-hour special ``Survivor: Back From the Outback'' a week after the 
contest's $1 million winner is revealed.

``Back From the Outback'' will air May 10 at 8 p.m.; the special follows the 
16 ``Survivor'' contestants as they return home and deal with their newfound 
fame. The hour also will feature interviews with the original ``Survivor'' 
castmates.

``Back From the Outback'' pushes the ``Survivor'' franchise into the third 
week of sweeps. It also sets up a battle between old-school ``Survivor'' and 
new-school ``Survivor'': The second half-hour of ``Back From the Outback'' 
airs against NBC's special half-hour edition of ``Weakest Link'' featuring a 
handful of original ``Survivors.''





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Wed Apr 25, 2001 2:58pm
Subject: We are the weakest pretend TV network, Goodbye!

Wednesday April 25, 5:34 pm Eastern Time
Press Release

PAX TV to Air the Hit Game Show `Weakest Link' Beginning June 1

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--April 25, 2001--PAX TV, the 
family entertainment network, will re-broadcast the hit primetime quiz show, 
``Weakest Link'' every Friday at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT beginning Friday, June 1. 

The announcement was made today by Jeff Sagansky, PAX President & CEO, on the 
heels of NBC's renewal for an additional 13 episodes. ``Viewers have 
obviously taken to this unique, fast-paced and witty program,'' commented 
Sagansky. ``We're thrilled to bring our audience an opportunity to catch the 
action again.'' 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Wed Apr 25, 2001 4:37pm
Subject: That's My Bush...

Okay, so it's been a few weeks since Aaron asked for comment Re : "That's My 
Bush." Finally came up with one : 

Why is it that "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer" is suddenly acceptable 
if the presidential lead character is changed to George W. Bush?  


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Wed Apr 25, 2001 6:10pm
Subject: (spoiler/prediction) That other white house show

GOOD LORD, THE WEST WING'S AARON SORKIN IS GOING TO....








SPOILER SPACE
















STILL MORE SPOILER SPACE













DELETE ME NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW











5






4






3







2





impeach the President. 



Thank you heavy foreshadowing and the ever reliable NBC promo dept for that 
revelation. ITS THE BIGGEST CLIFFHANGER EVER! AND THERE WILL BE LESBIANS AND 
DRAG QUEENS... (oh wait that's Friends.) As if last year's assasination 
attempt wasn't jarring enough. Sheesh. Those magic mushrooms must have been 
some pretty good s...tuff..





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: The KJB  <osiris@idir.net>
Date: Wed Apr 25, 2001 10:49pm
Subject: Re: (spoiler/prediction) That other white house show

At 11:10 PM 4/25/2001 -0400, you wrote:
<actual spoiler - if you could call it that since it's been pointing that 
direction for weeks>

>Thank you heavy foreshadowing and the ever reliable NBC promo dept for that
>revelation. ITS THE BIGGEST CLIFFHANGER EVER! AND THERE WILL BE LESBIANS AND
>DRAG QUEENS... (oh wait that's Friends.) As if last year's assasination
>attempt wasn't jarring enough. Sheesh. Those magic mushrooms must have been
>some pretty good s...tuff..

Once again, NBC publicity does it's usual top notch job.  *sheesh*

Makes me glad I watch the clean sat feed, just so I don't have to see how 
NBC is going to screw up another one.

Interesting note about the promos - the week before an episode airs, 
Warners feeds a package of roughly 10 minutes of episode material to the 
network so they can make up the promos.  I've caught these for Third Watch, 
West Wing and ER and it's a weird thing to see.  In the case of some of the 
shows, it's rushes (I saw a feed for Third Watch early on that really were 
the dailies for one scene, out takes and all) and other raw material from 
the show.  So I guess part of the fault lies at NBC's feet but Warner's 
does give them an awful lot to work with.


KJB
Editor, Backstage Pass
http://www.backstage-pass.com
Film Writer, FilmForce.Net
http://www.filmforce.net

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Wed Apr 25, 2001 10:43pm
Subject: Uncle Miltie now officially a pain in the...

Wednesday April 25 1:41 PM ET
Doctors To Leave Berle Tumor Alone 


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Milton Berle has a small cancerous tumor in his colon but 
doctors have decided against surgery.

``He's actually doing very well. He's doing fine,'' Berle's wife, Lorna, said 
Wednesday. ``It's a small tumor in his colon. He isn't scheduled for any 
surgery, but that could always change. He is in no pain.''

Berle, who turns 93 on July 12, vows to win his cancer battle and is looking 
forward to living to at least 100, she said.

The comedian and TV pioneer known to generations as Mr. Television uses a 
wheelchair because his legs have weakened, his wife said, adding, ``he gets a 
kick out of sailing into restaurants in it.''

Berle and his wife dine twice a week at Spago and he spends most afternoons 
at the Friars Club in Beverly Hills.

``We had dinner at Spago's last night and he loves all the attention. He's 
doing just fine,'' Lorna Berle said. 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tvbarn2@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thu Apr 26, 2001 10:05am
Subject: New poll for tvbarn2

Enter your vote today!  A new poll has been created for the 
tvbarn2 group:

Which of the following ACTUAL pilot 
concepts would you like to see on 
the fall schedule? 

  o "Alias" - A co-ed juggles college studies with her life as a spy. (Touchstone TV for ABC) 
  o "Wolf Lake" - Werewolf suspense thriller in the Pacific Northwest.  (CBS Productions) 
  o "Heart Department " - Tony Shaloub and Felicity Huffman are heart surgeons. From the creators of Party of Five. (Columbia TriStar for CBS) 
  o "Ball & Chain " - A husband and wife on the brink of divorce who find out they have super powers that only work if they stay together.  (20th/Regency for Fox) 
  o "Supermodels " - Models by day, superheroes by night. (Viacom Productions for UPN) 


To vote, please visit the following web page:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tvbarn2/polls 

Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are 
not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the Yahoo! Groups 
web site listed above.

Thanks!

From: aaron@tvbarn.com
Date: Thu Apr 26, 2001 10:12am
Subject: Take Charge of Your TV

From a spokesguy for one of the cable companies serving 
Kansas City:

Take Charge of Your Television Viewing This Week
By Tom Krewson, 
      Comcast	
      Manager of Public Affairs and Government Relations
      4700 Little Blue Parkway
      Independence, MO 64057

You may have read about a national effort designed to 
encourage you to turn off your television this week.  Proponents 
of "Turn Off Your TV Week" want you to spend the week without 
television to reflect on its place in your life and its impact on your 
family.  

As an active member of the Kansas City metropolitan 
community, I understand the frustration that many viewers feel 
when "channel surfing."  Violence and sexually explicit 
programming has indeed become a big part of broadcast 
television.  On the other hand, never before has so much 
family-oriented and educational programming been available to 
a mass audience.  In fact, there are options available to you, 
some of which you may have not yet discovered.  So rather than 
turning off the TV altogether, I urge you to consider, for this week, 
changing the manner in which you watch TV.

The cable industry heartily supports the critical evaluation of 
television -- not simply during the last week in April, but through 
the other 51 weeks as well.  We believe you can tune into the 
message of "Turn Off Your TV Week" while keeping your 
television on all year long.

Television can be a powerful and broadening educational tool.  
Merely turning off the TV does eliminate objectionable programs, 
but it forfeits the opportunity to become enriched by the quality 
children's and family programming available, particularly on 
cable.  By using critical viewing techniques, parents can open an 
important family dialogue, determine strategies that make sense 
in their family settings, and teach children how to watch 
television carefully, and with a critical eye. 

The cable television industry believes it is vital to learn how to 
watch TV as well as to make smart decision about what and 
when to watch – all year long.  Savvy TV viewers can choose 
programs that entertain, and that educate and excite both 
children and adults.  Television can take families to places they 
might not otherwise go, see and hear things they might not 
otherwise experience, and expose them to cultures and 
concepts they might not otherwise understand.

Television can be a potentially beneficial tool at school as well 
as at home.  Our educators understand the potential of 
television.  The cable industry's Cable in the Classroom initiative 
provides schools with free basic cable service and more than 
540 hours of commercial free programming every month.  
Comcast, for example, provides cable service free of charge to 
all schools and libraries in the communities that we serve.

Six years ago, the cable industry created the Take Charge of 
Your TV Project, in partnership with the National PTA.  This 
unique initiative provides parents and families 
easy-to-understand critical viewing skills through workshops 
conducted by local Parent Teacher Associations and cable 
partners.  It also offers an extensive series of media literacy 
materials and videos, available free of charge from local cable 
providers.

So, this week, instead of turning off your TV, we recommend 
taking charge of your TV - taking a closer look when reviewing 
the program listings in the newspaper or on your cable system's 
program guide. This week presents an opportunity to explore 
channels and programs that may not be part of your regular 
viewing habits.  Through each part of the day, you will find 
programming that focuses on the arts, education, history or 
science – all suitable for the entire family to watch together.

Thanks in large part to cable, television no longer is the 
monolithic "vast cultural wasteland" described by former FCC 
Chairman Newton Minow some thirty years ago.  Television 
today is a diverse and vast collection of high quality 
programming choices and genres that offers something for 
every taste.   The challenge lies in navigating through the 
impressive array of choices. The cable industry continues to 
provide tools that enable not only an entertaining television 
experience, but also an educational experience.

Television, like most other products and services, requires an 
informed and critical eye if its value is to be maximized.   Merely 
"turning it off" cuts you and your family off from rich and varied 
content.  It is up to you, the viewer, to find the right balance and 
get the most out of the valuable resource that is television at the 
beginning of the 21st Century.

From: Jeffries, Mark  <mjeffries@krw.com>
Date: Thu Apr 26, 2001 10:18am
Subject: RE: Take Charge of Your TV

> Thanks in large part to cable, television no longer is the 
> monolithic "vast cultural wasteland" described by former FCC 
> Chairman Newton Minow some thirty years ago.  Television 
> today is a diverse and vast collection of high quality 
> programming choices and genres that offers something for 
> every taste.   The challenge lies in navigating through the 
> impressive array of choices. The cable industry continues to 
> provide tools that enable not only an entertaining television 
> experience, but also an educational experience.

The funny thing is that the Chicago Tribune interviewed Minow this week and
he says his opinions haven't changed a bit.

Another funny thing:  Minow is on the board of WTTW, Chicago's primary PBS
station, and has been for years.  I wonder if he can honestly look people in
the eye and say that he's prouder of today's WTTW, with QVC producing pledge
drive shows, longer and crasser pledge drives, and a "PI" ripoff called "The
Cheap Show," than the 'TTW of the 70s, of "Soundstage" and some very strong
investigative documentaries (most of which didn't air nationally because
they were of local interest).

Mark Jeffries
mjeffries@k...
mjsaints@a...

From: The KJB  <osiris@idir.net>
Date: Thu Apr 26, 2001 11:34am
Subject: Re: New poll for tvbarn2

At 03:05 PM 4/26/2001 +0000, you wrote:
>   o "Alias" - A co-ed juggles college studies with her life as a spy. 
> (Touchstone TV for ABC)
>   o "Wolf Lake" - Werewolf suspense thriller in the Pacific 
> Northwest.  (CBS Productions)
>   o "Heart Department " - Tony Shaloub and Felicity Huffman are heart 
> surgeons. From the creators of Party of Five. (Columbia TriStar for CBS)
>   o "Ball & Chain " - A husband and wife on the brink of divorce who find 
> out they have super powers that only work if they stay 
> together.  (20th/Regency for Fox)
>   o "Supermodels " - Models by day, superheroes by night. (Viacom 
> Productions for UPN)

Ugh.  Maybe the writer's strike would be a good thing after all.


KJB
Editor, Backstage Pass
http://www.backstage-pass.com
Film Writer, FilmForce.Net
http://www.filmforce.net

From: Jeffries, Mark  <mjeffries@krw.com>
Date: Thu Apr 26, 2001 11:41am
Subject: RE: New poll for tvbarn2

> >   o "Alias" - A co-ed juggles college studies with her life 
> as a spy. 
> > (Touchstone TV for ABC)
> >   o "Wolf Lake" - Werewolf suspense thriller in the Pacific 
> > Northwest.  (CBS Productions)
> >   o "Heart Department " - Tony Shaloub and Felicity Huffman 
> are heart 
> > surgeons. From the creators of Party of Five. (Columbia 
> TriStar for CBS)
> >   o "Ball & Chain " - A husband and wife on the brink of 
> divorce who find 
> > out they have super powers that only work if they stay 
> > together.  (20th/Regency for Fox)
> >   o "Supermodels " - Models by day, superheroes by night. (Viacom 
> > Productions for UPN)
> 
> Ugh.  Maybe the writer's strike would be a good thing after all.

I don't know. The Tony Shaloub/Felicity Huffman show may not be bad.
Besides, it's the only one of the five that's not an in-house production or
related to the network (although I have the feeling that CBS Entertainment's
probably a co-producer).

Mark Jeffries
mjeffries@k...
mjsaints@a...

From: aaron@tvbarn.com
Date: Thu Apr 26, 2001 1:05pm
Subject: Kerrey on, my wayward son

FORMER SENATOR BOB KERREY TELLS 60 MINUTES II 
CORRESPONDENT DAN RATHER  AND THE NEW YORK 
TIMES MAGAZINE ABOUT THE ATROCITY HE AUTHORIZED IN 
VIETNAM THAT LEFT MORE THAN 20 CIVILIAN WOMEN AND 
CHILDREN DEAD -

ON "60 MINUTES II," TUESDAY, MAY 1

Former Squadron Member And Vietnamese Eyewitness Tell 60 
MINUTES II That Kerry's Unit Rounded-up Women and Children 
and Shot Them At Close Range

For 32 years, Bob Kerrey - a former governor and senator - has 
kept a terrible secret that he will reveal in an interview with Dan 
Rather on 60 MINUTES II, Tuesday, May 1 (9:00-10:00 PM, 
ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.  Kerrey, a Navy lieutenant 
in the Vietnam War, tells Rather that he led a SEAL team that 
killed more than 20 unarmed civilians in the small Vietnamese 
village of Thanh Phong.  Kerrey admits to Rather that the 
operation in Thanh Phong was an atrocity because the victims 
were mostly women and children.  Kerry says, "...To describe it 
as an atrocity, I would say, is pretty close to being right, because 
that's how it felt and that's why I feel guilt and shame for it."  Kerry 
tells Rather that his squadron made a mistake -- they didn't 
know they were killing unarmed civilians.

After Kerrey told Rather what happened in Vietnam, 60 MINUTES 
II went to Thanh Phong to investigate and found Pham Tri Lanh, 
a woman who claims to be an eyewitness to the atrocity 32 years 
ago.  Lanh tells Rather a different version of the slaughter, and 
describes in detail Americans brutally killing woman and 
children that night.  Rather also talks to Gerhard Klann, one of 
the seven SEALS in Lieutenant Kerrey's unit in Thanh Phong, 
who supports the eyewitness, and contradicts Kerrey's account.  
Following are quotes from Tuesday's broadcast.  You must 
credit 60 MINUTES II:

On The Enormity Of Killing Unarmed Women And Children:

Kerrey:  "...I lost something more important than losing.  If I'd lost 
both arms and both legs and my sight and my hearing, it 
wouldn't have been as much as I lost that night."

(More)

CBS News...2

On What Happened At The First Hooch In Thanh Phong:

Kerrey: "We went in at night and we found men in a hooch and 
the people who were running out in front of me, said `We've got 
people.  We've found men and we're gonna

take care of them,' which I understood and I would authorize 
without saying so meant they were going to kill them."

On What Happened At The Second Hooch In Thanh Phong:

Kerrey:  "...We fired LAVs, we fired M-79s, M-60s.  We stood back 
and we just emptied every thing we could into this place and we 
were taking fire and we came into the village and it wasn't a big 
village it was, you know, four or five hooches.  There was a 
cluster of women and children.  They were all dead...."

The Surviving Eyewitness Remembers What happened At The 
Second Hooch Differently Than Kerrey:

Lanh: "It was very crowded, so it wasn't possible for them to cut 
everybody's throats one by one.  Two women came out and 
kneeled down.  They shot these two old women and they fell 
forward and they rolled over and then they ordered everybody out 
from the bunker and they lined them up and they shot all of them 
from behind."

Fellow Squad Member Contradicts Kerrey And Supports 
Eyewitness:

Klann:  "We gathered everybody up, searched the place, 
searched everything."

Rather:  "So you got all the people out of there?"

Klann:   "We herded them together in a group."

Rather:   "Were any of these people armed?"

Klann:    "I don't believe so."

Rather:   "And then what happened?"

Klann:    "We lined them up and we opened fire."

Rather:    "At roughly what range?" Klann:     "Six feet? Ten feet?  
Very close."

On Why His Squadron Killed Unarmed People Instead Of 
Capturing Them:

Rather: "Why not take them prisoner?"

Kerrey: "Because of where we're operating, our belief is that they 
could break free and we could be at risk."

Rather: "They could compromise the mission?"

Kerrey: "Compromise the mission.  We end up being dead."

Rather: "At that moment, what did you think to yourself at that 
time?"

Kerrey:  "I just killed my own family.  I just did something really 
bad.  I mean, I thought, this shouldn't have happened."

(More)

CBS News...3

On His Remorse For The Killings:

Kerrey: "For a long time, I felt guilty. Guilty is to me, a more trivial 
and also more destructive feeling.   Remorse is what I feel today 
and the difference is very, very important. I mean, let the other 
people judge whether or not what I did was militarily allowable or 
morally ethical or inside the rules of war. Let them figure that out. 
I mean, I can make a case that it was. But it's still a dead 
woman, it's still a dead child, it's still a dead man.  It's still a dead 
person.  It's still death. It's still something dead that was formerly 
alive -- something that I value -- and I feel remorse for that."

Kerrey's Reaction To Klann's Claims:

Kerrey: "Gerhard I will not contradict.  I will not contradict the 
memory of any of the six people that were on the operation that 
night.  So if that's his view, I don't contradict it, it's not my memory 
of it and as to the eyewitness is, at the very least, sympathetic to 
the Viet Cong.  At the absolute very least."

On Civilians:

Kerrey: "...In a guerrilla war, the people that get caught in the 
middle are the civilians and the Viet Cong were a thousand per 
cent more ruthless than any standard operating procedure that 
any American GI or Navy SEAL had."

On Being Investigated For Committing War Crimes:

Kerrey: "...If they wanted to do an investigation, they should have 
done an investigation.  To describe it as a war crime, I think, is 
wrong...To describe it as an atrocity, I would say, is pretty close to 
being right, because that's how it felt and that's why I feel guilt 
and shame for it."

On The Consequences Of Speaking Out After 32 Years:

Kerrey: "...I've got to be prepared to tolerate any consequences of 
this.  I understand that that are all kinds of potential 
consequences, up to and including somebody saying, `This is a 
war crime and let's investigate and charge him and put him in 
prison.'"

On Experiencing Hell:

Kerrey: "...When you think about hell and you imagine what hell 
is, you imagine horrible things happening.  Well, hell's not an 
imaginary thing. It's a...real place and you can experience it on 
earth and I experienced it on that night."

60 MINUTES II and The New York Times Magazine have 
coordinated reporting efforts on this story.  The story will also be 
reported in The New York Times Magazine on Sunday (29) and 
broadcast on 60 MINUTES II on Tuesday (1).  Jeff Fager is the 
executive producer of 60 MINUTES II and Tom Anderson and 
Gregory Vistica are the producers.

From: Shawn Levasseur  <slevasseur@mac.com>
Date: Thu Apr 26, 2001 1:09pm
Subject: Re: New poll for tvbarn2

Actually, I am familiar with "Ball & Chain" which was a comic book mini-series a year or two ago. It was a well executed concept. It was primarily a romantic comedy in an adventure setting that was largly character driven. Think of the comedic and dramatic effect of the couple in the film "The Ref", and you wouldn't be far off.

"Supermodels" sounds similar to another comic from nearly ten years ago that I know was optioned to Hollywood, "Model by Day", although it was about a single model that was a vigilate by night, no super-powers involved. If this show is based on that property, it's obvious that it has been heavily altered.


--- In tvbarn2@y..., The KJB <osiris@i...> wrote:
> At 03:05 PM 4/26/2001 +0000, you wrote:
....
> >   o "Ball & Chain " - A husband and wife on the brink of divorce who find 
> > out they have super powers that only work if they stay 
> > together.  (20th/Regency for Fox)
> >   o "Supermodels " - Models by day, superheroes by night. (Viacom 
> > Productions for UPN)
> 
> Ugh.  Maybe the writer's strike would be a good thing after all.
> 

-Shawn L.

From: The KJB  <osiris@idir.net>
Date: Thu Apr 26, 2001 2:06pm
Subject: Re: Re: New poll for tvbarn2

At 06:09 PM 4/26/2001 +0000, you wrote:
>Actually, I am familiar with "Ball & Chain" which was a comic book 
>mini-series a year or two ago. It was a well executed concept. It was 
>primarily a romantic comedy in an adventure setting that was largly 
>character driven. Think of the comedic and dramatic effect of the couple 
>in the film "The Ref", and you wouldn't be far off.
>
>"Supermodels" sounds similar to another comic from nearly ten years ago 
>that I know was optioned to Hollywood, "Model by Day", although it was 
>about a single model that was a vigilate by night, no super-powers 
>involved. If this show is based on that property, it's obvious that it has 
>been heavily altered.

I think you're right on "Model".  I've read both series but my problem is I 
just don't see the current regimes in Hollywood doing much more than using 
the concept and then re-working it to make it "better" (Harsh Realm, 
anyone?).  Hollywood has a pathetic track record when it comes to adapting 
comic books to film or television.  Even most of the adaptations that have 
made money tend to be little more than the original concept used as a 
wrapper for a retread of standard formulas.  Even FOX's "Tick" live action 
series has it's problems in the adaptation department.  It's still one of 
the best of the bunch (if we ever get to see it) but it has lost a little 
in the translation.

I'd like to be wrong but years of disappointment has taught me to be 
cautiously optimistic at best.


KJB
Editor, Backstage Pass
http://www.backstage-pass.com
Film Writer, FilmForce.Net
http://www.filmforce.net

From: symposium1@aol.com
Date: Thu Apr 26, 2001 3:25pm
Subject: Re: New poll for tvbarn2

I'm always interested in a good poll. However, given the 
discriminating tastes of Aaron's readers, wouldn't this be just about 
the best indicator of mass-market failure? My good opinion of a show 
is generally the kiss-of-death ratings-wise. 

"Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be network programmers..."

--Ann

--- In tvbarn2@y..., tvbarn2@y... wrote:
 
> Which of the following ACTUAL pilot 
> concepts would you like to see on 
> the fall schedule? 
>

From: Jeffries, Mark  <mjeffries@krw.com>
Date: Thu Apr 26, 2001 3:31pm
Subject: RE: Re: New poll for tvbarn2

> I'm always interested in a good poll. However, given the 
> discriminating tastes of Aaron's readers, wouldn't this be just about 
> the best indicator of mass-market failure? My good opinion of a show 
> is generally the kiss-of-death ratings-wise. 

But with the possible exceptions of reality shows, it seems to me that
nowadays critics' tastes and either the top of the Nielsens or what's
considered "buzz shows" are pretty much the same today.  Yes, you have the
"Sports Night"s and the "Freaks and Geeks," but for the most part the
Electronic Media critics poll and the Nielsens seem to be a lot more
parallel than they used to be.

I do agree that Internet newsgroups or message boards like this one tend to
be more favorable towards SF and one-hour dramas in general than the
Nielsens, but it does seem to me that popularity and critical acclaim are
not exclusive concepts like they were back in the 60s, where the critics
loved "The Defenders" and hated "The Beverly Hillbillies" while the public
was the opposite.

Mark Jeffries
mjeffries@k...
mjsaints@a...

From: Michael Jones  <spikej555@earthlink.net>
Date: Thu Apr 26, 2001 3:47pm
Subject: Re: New poll for tvbarn2

<"Ball & Chain " - A husband and wife on the brink of divorce who find out they have super powers that only work if they stay together. >

As long as the wife doesn't run for a senate seat in NY,  I have no problems with this one. 

<"Supermodels " - Models by day, superheroes by night> 

This is definitely my last choice.     If these models were something more interesting at night (werewolves, heart surgeons, weak link contestants)  I might  consider watching.  


Michael




----- Original Message ----- 
  From: tvbarn2@yahoogroups.com 
  To: tvbarn2@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2001 8:05 AM
  Subject: [tvbarn2] New poll for tvbarn2 



  Enter your vote today!  A new poll has been created for the 
  tvbarn2 group:

  Which of the following ACTUAL pilot 
  concepts would you like to see on 
  the fall schedule? 

    o "Alias" - A co-ed juggles college studies with her life as a spy. (Touchstone TV for ABC) 
    o "Wolf Lake" - Werewolf suspense thriller in the Pacific Northwest.  (CBS Productions) 
    o "Heart Department " - Tony Shaloub and Felicity Huffman are heart surgeons. From the creators of Party of Five. (Columbia TriStar for CBS) 
    o "Ball & Chain " - A husband and wife on the brink of divorce who find out they have super powers that only work if they stay together.  (20th/Regency for Fox) 
    o "Supermodels " - Models by day, superheroes by night. (Viacom Productions for UPN) 


  To vote, please visit the following web page:

  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tvbarn2/polls 

  Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are 
  not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the Yahoo! Groups 
  web site listed above.

  Thanks!







        Yahoo! Groups Sponsor 
              
       
       

  TVBarn2: America's funniest TV chat room.
  Goodbye: tvbarn2-unsubscribe@egroups.com



  Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: pmurray@bigfoot.com
Date: Thu Apr 26, 2001 4:23pm
Subject: CNN and FoxNews put their foot in it

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2840-2001Apr25.html

CNN's Very Secret Agent: CIA Says Man's Story Is Phony


On Monday, CNN ballyhooed an interview with a "former CIA narcotics 
officer" -- a guest the network liked so much he was brought back 
hours later to appear on Greta Van Susteren's talk show.

 Yesterday, the CIA said that Kenneth Bucchi is an impostor. CNN 
anchor Joie Chen read a statement to that effect on the air, but the 
network did not retract the story or apologize.

 CNN isn't the only network to face embarrassment by Bucchi; Fox News 
Channel's Bill O'Reilly interviewed him in January.

 Bucchi "never worked for the CIA in any capacity, as an employee or 
a contractor," Bill Harlow, the agency's director of public 
relations, told The Washington Post. He called Bucchi's claims on CNN 
that he had been involved with Colombian drug smugglers "utter 
nonsense" and "complete fiction."

 Reached yesterday in Los Angeles, where he works as a city personnel 
officer, Bucchi said he could not prove he worked with the CIA. "I 
certainly don't know how I can do that," he said. "I don't really 
give a [expletive] if people think I was in the CIA."

 In a rambling interview, Bucchi also acknowledged that he was 
discharged from the Air Force a decade ago after being labeled as 
delusional. "How do you prove you're not delusional?" he asked.

 In a statement, CNN said Bucchi was given airtime because of his 
book, "Operation Pseudo Miranda: A Veteran of the CIA Drug Wars Tells 
All." Despite several television and radio appearances since the book 
was first published in 1994, "at no time did the Central Intelligence 
Agency or any other governmental entity raise publicly a concern with 
either Mr. Bucchi's employment history or the issues he raises in his 
book. Based on all of these factors, as well as two pre-interview 
discussions with him, our Guest Bookings department made the judgment 
that the experience he claimed with counter-narcotic activities would 
be useful in a discussion of the recent Peruvian military shootdown 
of a civilian aircraft. . . .

 "We have taken the appropriate opportunity to inform our viewers of 
the CIA's perspective as well as Mr. Bucchi's rebuttal," the 
statement said.

 Fox Executive Producer Bill Shine said his network tried to verify 
Bucchi's claims by phoning the CIA and the State Department -- Bucchi 
had brought some State documents suggesting that he worked there -- 
but that neither agency called back. He noted that O'Reilly told 
viewers that he could not vouch for Bucchi's story.

 "I wish we had done more checking before we put him on," Shine said.

 Penmarin Books, a small California publisher, recently issued 5,000 
copies of Bucchi's book. Penmarin also published a 1999 book in which 
Bucchi described his life as a "corporate spy."

 "We stand behind it," Penmarin President Hal Lockwood said of 
Bucchi's CIA book. "Before publishing it, we checked out his story." 
But, he said, "the particulars, nobody can substantiate. The CIA does 
not leave a paper trail, and plausible deniability is always the 
rule."!

 The book was praised by director Oliver Stone as "one of the three 
best non-fictions I've ever read," according to a Penmarin release.

 On Van Susteren's "The Point" program, Bucchi said, "We basically 
had a complicit operation -- a quid pro quo, if you will -- with the 
drug lords of Colombia and essentially, what we did is we put the 
lion's share of the market in small cash [in] drug lords' hands, and 
we set up corridors with ILS systems for those drugs to [be] flown 
in, and then we took half of them."

 Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said a moment later: "Ken, I want to 
thank you for being the clearest voice that I have ever heard coming 
out of the CIA or any of the related agencies about what is going on 
in this drug war. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

 Van Susteren said last night: "I have a secret agency of the 
government telling me one thing and a citizen telling me another. 
I've seen and heard falsehoods from both before. Both the positions 
are aired on CNN."

 Bucchi said yesterday that he had been framed by the Air Force 
during his discharge, and that his superiors had allowed him to work 
with the CIA in watching drugs surrendered in Colombia be put on 
helicopters at what he called a "CIA airstrip" in Texas. He said he 
was never paid by the CIA.

 Bucchi faxed a 1991 Justice Department letter turning down his 
Freedom of Information request for records involving him. The letter 
said the records were "compiled for law enforcement purposes" and 
that their release "could reasonably be expected to interfere with 
enforcement proceedings."


Howard Kurtz appears on CNN's weekly media program.

From: pmurray@bigfoot.com
Date: Thu Apr 26, 2001 4:30pm
Subject: Re: Kerrey on, my wayward son

--- In tvbarn2@y..., aaron@t... wrote:
> FORMER SENATOR BOB KERREY TELLS 60 MINUTES II 
> CORRESPONDENT DAN RATHER  AND THE NEW YORK 
> TIMES MAGAZINE ABOUT THE ATROCITY HE AUTHORIZED IN 
> VIETNAM THAT LEFT MORE THAN 20 CIVILIAN WOMEN AND 
> CHILDREN DEAD -
> 
> ON "60 MINUTES II," TUESDAY, MAY 1

If you're really curious, why wait. The NYT has already posted the 
article from this Sunday's Magazine at 

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/25/magazine/25KERREY.html

It's huge (7 web pages), so I won't post it here. There's also a 
slide show, map, etc. if you go in through the link on the home page.

It's somewhat of a "Rashomon" story where different participants have 
very different memories of the same event.

Paul

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Fri Apr 27, 2001 0:04am
Subject: I was right, it IS pronounced Zero-Town

Friday April 27 12:57 AM ET
ABC's O-Town now boys of summer 

By Michael Schneider

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - The members of boy band O-Town should be singing the 
blues: ABC has shelved its reality show ``Making the Band'' until summer.

The network had ordered 13 episodes for the second season of the series, 
which chronicles boy-band Svengali Lou Pearlman and his latest creation, 
O-Town; two episodes have aired so far.

Since returning for a second season April 13, ``Making the Band's'' firstrun 
edition has averaged only 4.7 million groupies, while its repeat entry snared 
just 4.4 million. (ABC airs a repeat ``Making the Band'' at 8 p.m., followed 
by an original episode at 8:30 p.m.)

With the end-of-season race among adults 18-49 and total viewers tighter than 
a boy-band member's pants, ABC instead will air back-to-back episodes of 
``Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' on Fridays at 8 p.m. beginning this week and 
running through sweeps.

``Making the Band's'' 13-episode run in the summer also posted only so-so 
numbers, but it developed a cult following with viewers and a large number of 
fans inside ABC. Clive Davis' nascent J Records imprint recently released 
O-Town's eponymous debut album.

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Fri Apr 27, 2001 0:04am
Subject: FUMBLE! Bakula = Burt ?

Friday April 27 1:19 AM ET
Bakula takes a ``Late'' shift 

By Michael Schneider

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Former ``Quantum Leap'' star Scott Bakula has agreed to 
replace Burt Reynolds as the lead on the troubled CBS comedy pilot ``Late 
Boomers.''

Bakula will keep his options open, however: he has so far only agreed to 
appear, contractually, as a guest in the initial episode. That means he still 
assume the lead role on the upcoming ``Star Trek: Enterprise'' TV series.

Bakula had initially passed on the ``Star Trek'' gig, but has resumed talks 
with producer Paramount TV in recent days -- although no deal has been 
sealed. The show is expected to bow on UPN in the fall although nothing has 
been announced.

In ``Late Boomers,'' Bakula will play Teddy Barnett, a former NFL quarterback 
who now owns a Chicago bar; Markie Post plays his ex-wife, while Adam Arkin 
plays his friend and personal physician. Production begins Friday.

Like Bakula, Arkin (''Chicago Hope'') and Post (''Night Court'') are also 
last-minute additions, replacing Joe Bologna and Michele Lee, respectively. 
Reynolds, Bologna and Lee all departed the project under various 
circumstances.

``It's best to say that things didn't work out and that we had creative 
differences (with Reynolds),'' said Eric Tannenbaum, president of the show's 
producer, Artists Television Group (ATG). ``We have great respect for the 
guy, but it wasn't meant to be.''

But Arkin and Post, like Bakula, are on board only for the pilot. Arkin's 
first priority is the Studios USA drama ``The Third Degree,'' for Fox, should 
that project go to series; Post is in first position on another ATG project, 
the WB's new version of ``Electra Woman and Dyna Girl.''

That means ``Late Boomers'' could potentially have to recast three key roles 
if the show is picked up to series.

``When it gets late in the casting season and you have material you like, you 
do things that normally you wouldn't,'' Tannenbaum said.

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Fri Apr 27, 2001 0:04am
Subject: Remind me not to get on a plane w/ Kristin Chenoweth

Friday April 27 1:19 AM ET
''Roses'' will not bloom in fall for CBS 

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Viewers won't be checking into ``The Seven Roses'' this 
fall.

The show's producer, Paramount Network Television, has instead pushed the CBS 
comedy pilot, set in a family-run hotel, back for midseason consideration.

Sources say Paramount wasn't able to cast the project's male lead in time to 
shoot the pilot for a potential fall berth. At this point in the development 
game, most pilots are wrapping and some have already been delivered to the 
networks.

``Seven Roses'' stars Brenda Blethyn as Pamela, an ex-stage actress and 
recently widowed woman in her late-50s who runs a western Massachusetts inn 
along with her adult children. Theater veteran Kristin Chenoweth also stars.

From: The KJB  <osiris@idir.net>
Date: Fri Apr 27, 2001 11:27am
Subject: Re: FUMBLE! Bakula = Burt ?

At 05:04 AM 4/27/2001 -0400, you wrote:

>That means ``Late Boomers'' could potentially have to recast three key roles
>if the show is picked up to series.
>
>``When it gets late in the casting season and you have material you like, you
>do things that normally you wouldn't,'' Tannenbaum said.

This is the truly insane part of this news story.  What network in it's 
right mind (better check myself there - there aren't any) would buy a pilot 
knowing full well that the three stars are probably going to be bailing out?
Bakula is fairly close to a STAR TREK deal, which would lock him up for 7 
years.  The main sticking point there is that Bakula wants some creative 
control (don't think somebody had to get Rick Berman some tranquilizers the 
second he heard that) but it could happen.  Having just finished reading 
the script, I hope he gets the part.  I think he'd be a good fit.
Post would be well advised to stick around after the pilot and bail from 
ELECTRA WOMAN.  That pilot has "career ending dog" written all over 
it.  And Arkin is worth keeping around if at all possible but, I confess, I 
know little about THIRD DEGREE.
Maybe it's time for Clint Eastwood to try a sitcom.....


KJB
Editor, Backstage Pass
http://www.backstage-pass.com
Film Writer, FilmForce.Net
http://www.filmforce.net

From: Pollak, Melissa  <mpollak@nsf.gov>
Date: Fri Apr 27, 2001 1:11pm
Subject: RE: FUMBLE! Bakula = Burt ?

If anyone reading this lives in the L.A. area and wants to go to the taping
-- this Sunday -- you have to be there by 3:45 p.m., please email me
privately.  (I can't go, but I've just seen word that Audiences Unlimited is
looking for bodies to fill seats).

Melissa
mpollak@n...

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	The KJB [SMTP:osiris@i...]
> Sent:	Friday, April 27, 2001 12:28 PM
> To:	tvbarn2@yahoogroups.com
> Subject:	Re: [tvbarn2] FUMBLE! Bakula = Burt ?
> 
> At 05:04 AM 4/27/2001 -0400, you wrote:
> 
> >That means ``Late Boomers'' could potentially have to recast three key
> roles
> >if the show is picked up to series.
> >
> >``When it gets late in the casting season and you have material you like,
> you
> >do things that normally you wouldn't,'' Tannenbaum said.
> 
> This is the truly insane part of this news story.  What network in it's 
> right mind (better check myself there - there aren't any) would buy a
> pilot 
> knowing full well that the three stars are probably going to be bailing
> out?
> Bakula is fairly close to a STAR TREK deal, which would lock him up for 7 
> years.  The main sticking point there is that Bakula wants some creative 
> control (don't think somebody had to get Rick Berman some tranquilizers
> the 
> second he heard that) but it could happen.  Having just finished reading 
> the script, I hope he gets the part.  I think he'd be a good fit.
> Post would be well advised to stick around after the pilot and bail from 
> ELECTRA WOMAN.  That pilot has "career ending dog" written all over 
> it.  And Arkin is worth keeping around if at all possible but, I confess,
> I 
> know little about THIRD DEGREE.
> Maybe it's time for Clint Eastwood to try a sitcom.....
> 
> 
> KJB
> Editor, Backstage Pass
> http://www.backstage-pass.com
> Film Writer, FilmForce.Net
> http://www.filmforce.net 
> 
> 
> 
> TVBarn2: America's funniest TV chat room.
> Goodbye: tvbarn2-unsubscribe@egroups.com
> 
>  
> 
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 
>

From: Jeffries, Mark  <mjeffries@krw.com>
Date: Fri Apr 27, 2001 4:00pm
Subject: RE: I was right, it IS pronounced Zero-Town

> With the end-of-season race among adults 18-49 and total 
> viewers tighter than 
> a boy-band member's pants, ABC instead will air back-to-back 
> episodes of 
> ``Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' on Fridays at 8 p.m. beginning 
> this week and 
> running through sweeps.

Considering the Thursday night ratings lately, I bet Regis just loves that.

"I HAVE TO PULL UP THE NETWORK AFTER THAT SCHMUCK CAREY FOR TWO NIGHTS NOW?
I'M ONLY ONE MAN!!!!"
 
> ``Making the Band's'' 13-episode run in the summer also 
> posted only so-so 
> numbers, but it developed a cult following with viewers and a 
> large number of 
> fans inside ABC. Clive Davis' nascent J Records imprint 
> recently released 
> O-Town's eponymous debut album.

However, with Top 40 radio starting to inch away from the boy bands and teen
divas now (O-Town's handlers are peeved that despite the sales and "TRL"
play, it seems to them like Radio Disney is the only station that will play
them), ABC's patience with the show may be running out.

Mark Jeffries
mjeffries@k...
mjsaints@a...

From: aaron@tvbarn.com
Date: Fri Apr 27, 2001 6:26pm
Subject: How about Joan!

ABC EXTENDS RUN OF ITS MID-SEASON COMEDY HIT, "WHAT 
ABOUT JOAN," THROUGH MAY SWEEPS WITH ALL-NEW 
EPISODES


The ABC Television Network has extended the run of "What 
About Joan," ABC's mid-season comedy hit starring 
multi-talented actress Joan Cusack, through the May sweeps 
with all-new episodes.  The series will continue to air 
TUESDAYS (9:30-10:00 p.m., ET).

Debuting on March 27, 2001, "What About Joan" is showing the 
greatest audience retention of any series to ever follow "Dharma 
& Greg" in its four seasons on the air.  In its five telecasts in the 
Tuesday 9:30 p.m. time period, "What About Joan" has made 
ABC the No. 1 network in the half-hour in both Total Viewers and 
Adults 18-49.  Since its debut "What About Joan" has improved 
ABC's performance in the time period by 2 million viewers (12.3 
million vs. 10.3 million) and by 15% among Adults 18-49 (5.5/14 
vs. 4.8/12). "What About Joan" is one of the most Upscale 
comedies on the air, currently seeing one of the highest 
concentrations of Upscale young adults in its audience of any 
comedy on television this season.

"What About Joan" stars Joan Cusack as Joan Gallagher, Kyle 
Chandler as Jake, Jessica Hecht as Betsy, Donna Murphy as Dr. 
Ruby Stern, Kellie Shanygne Williams as Alice Adams and 
Wallace Langham as Mark.

Academy and Emmy Award-winner James L. Brooks ("As Good 
As It Gets," "Jerry Maguire," "The Simpsons," "Terms of 
Endearment"), David Richardson ("Malcolm in the Middle," 
"Phenom," "Manhattan AZ," "The Simpsons") and Richard Sakai 
("As Good As It Gets," "Jerry Maguire," "The Simpsons") are 
executive producers of the series. "What About Joan" is a 
production of Gracie Films in association with Columbia TriStar 
Television.

From: aaron@tvbarn.com
Date: Fri Apr 27, 2001 10:01pm
Subject: You must be loca

April 24, 2001

INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTAR RICKY MARTIN TO PERFORM 
LIVE ON "MISS UNIVERSE® 2001," MAY 11 ON THE CBS 
TELEVISION NETWORK

Grammy Award Winner Returns To Perform in His Homeland 
For the First Time in 15 Months

International superstar Ricky Martin will perform live on the MISS 
UNIVERSE® 2001 special, to be broadcast from the Ruben 
Rodriguez Coliseum in Puerto Rico, Friday, May 11 (9:00-11:00 
PM, live ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network.  He will 
perform in his homeland for the first time in 14 months as part of 
the 50th anniversary celebration.

The multi-award-winning artist will perform two songs, including 
"Loaded," his current hit single from the multi-platinum selling 
album Sound Loaded. The special will also spotlight the 
passion and beauty of Latin culture, featuring an opening tribute 
in the spirit of Carnival.  From salsa to cha cha to meringue, the 
broadcast will feature music that reflects the essence of Latin 
America.

Joining Martin will be international supermodels Elle 
Macpherson and Naomi Campbell, who, as previously 
announced, will co-host MISS UNIVERSE 2001, and a panel of 
celebrity judges including model, writer and actress Veronica 
Webb, Polo model Tyson Beckford, New York Post "Page Six" 
columnist Richard Johnson, spokesperson and former Miss 
Universe (1993) Dayanara Torres Muniz, supermodel Mini 
Anden, "Survivor II" contestant Kel Gleason and international 
fashion designer Marc Bouwer.

With career sales over 40 million, Ricky Martin, the tireless 
international superstar who detonated the Latin Pop Explosion, 
is currently riding the success of Sound Loaded, which has sold 
more than 5.5 million copies worldwide since its release on Nov. 
14, 2000 and has already been certified gold and/or platinum in 
30 countries and double-platinum in the U.S.  Martin was 
nominated for the Best Male Pop Vocal Grammy for "She Bangs," 
the first single from Sound Loaded.  His chart-topping, self-titled 
English language debut recording of "Livin' La Vida Loca" 
became the first single to occupy the #1 slot on the Billboard Hot 
100 and the Latin chart in the same week. He won the Best Latin 
Pop Performance Grammy for Vuelve, a full-length Latin 
recording, at the 41st annual Grammy ceremony in 1999.  He 
was named World's Best-selling Pop Male Artist and World's 
Best-selling Latin Artist at the 12th Annual World Music Awards. 
At last year's 10th Annual Billboard Music Awards, he was 
named Male Artist of the Year and Male Hot 100 Singles Artist of 
the Year.

The Miss Universe Organization, producers of the MISS 
UNIVERSE, MISS USA® and MISS TEEN USA® competitions, is 
a Donald J. Trump and CBS partnership. Utilizing its global 
grass roots infrastructure, the Miss Universe Organization is 
committed to increasing HIV/AIDS Awareness and women's 
health and reproductive issues.

From: aaron@tvbarn.com
Date: Fri Apr 27, 2001 10:02pm
Subject: Death by Survivor

SEE HOW THE LIVES OF THE SURVIVORS HAVE CHANGED 
SINCE THEIR RETURN FROM AUSTRALIA, ON "SURVIVOR: 
BACK FROM THE OUTBACK," MAY 10 ON THE CBS 
TELEVISION NETWORK

Program Hosted by Jeff Probst

Special Appearances by Members of the First "Survivor" Series 
Included

Catch up with the survivors in their hometowns and see how 
their lives have changed since they returned from Australia, on 
SURVIVOR: BACK FROM THE OUTBACK, hosted by Jeff Probst, 
Thursday, May 10 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television 
Network.

The 16 survivors have returned home to family, friends, jobs and 
classes, although their lives are far from normal. SURVIVOR: 
BACK FROM THE OUTBACK visits with the survivors in their 
familiar surroundings, as they reflect on what they've learned and 
how they've changed.  Additionally, they'll share some of their 
new adventures since returning from the Outback.

SURVIVOR: BACK FROM THE OUTBACK also features 
interviews with members of the first SURVIVOR series, 
commenting about the performance of their successors.

Mark Burnett and Hal Gessner are executive producers, for CBS 
Eye Too Productions, a unit of CBS News Productions.

RATING:  TVPG

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Fri Apr 27, 2001 11:06pm
Subject: The Man-heim Show

Quoting from TVBarn Daily :  

>Now I read that Joseph Perkins, a former editorial writer at the
>Journal, [2]is on unexpected hiatus from the San Diego Union-Tribune,
>apparently over a column he wrote last week critical of single moms
>and, in particular, NBC's Katie Couric. 

    I'm guessing he figures single moms only read "US Weekly," and not the 
"Wall Street Journal."

>Perkins thinks that celebrities who have children out of wedlock 
>send a bad message to single women. And so, referring to a group of 
>celebrity single moms recently featured on the cover of US Weekly, 
>Perkins wrote, "If such a 'lifestyle choice' is OK for Katie and 
>Calista and Jodie and Camryn, it must be okay for (non-celebrities) as 
>well."

    I think it's bad for anyone who can't afford kids to have them and/or 
geting preggers to trap a man into marriage. (Okay, I watched the man show 
once. And let me repeat that -- ONCE.) Besides, I don't think everyone should 
have children.

>Perkins must have been the only person in America not to know that
>Couric was "single" because her husband, Jay Monahan, died of colon
>cancer in 1998. Not exactly a "lifestyle choice."

    Damning proof he never read the article. That's the very first line about 
her in the collage of celeb moms. Katie "has been a single mother since the 
death of her husband." Besides that -- "It hasn't been easy."

As for the other glamour girls he ropes together: 

    Jodie Foster was "surprised how dramatically a child would change her 
priorities."

    Calista Flockhart says "being a parent, no matter how you do it, is 
challenging and wonderful. It's a privilege."

    Rosie O'Donnell "plans to give up her TV show next year to spend more 
time with her family."

    Nicole Kidman is just learning the ropes of single motherhood, which she 
calls 'scary.'"
    
    Diane Keaton says nothing has transformed her as much as (son" Dexter.

    The lesson we can learn from all of this : having a baby will make you a 
rich and glamorous actress. Just like reading the Wall Street Journal will 
make you a billionaire from day-trading.

    I'd think Perkins would have had a better article lashing out at the true 
cover subject. Not Katie, but Cameryn Manheim. 

If so he mighta been even more outraged that : Manheim is posing with the 
child (both in biker leather) held in front of herself on a motorcycle and no 
helmet! (Scandalous!)

    How dare she raise a child as a single parent in her pit of a five 
bedroom Mediterranean style beachfront home!!!

    Details of breastfeeding and accidentally flashing the cable guy! (How 
immoral! Proper etiquette is to flash the pizza guy instead!!!)

    A doctor saying how big her hips are. (Which is conversation better 
suited to the "petite" section of Wal*Mart.)

    Describing the intense pain and agony of her contractions! (And 
glamourous contractions too. After seeing this article, teen pregnancy will  
most certainly quadruple!)

    Her thrill at taking heavy drugs (Epidural!)

    Cheating on the baby's father! ("I loved my anesthesiologist. I even 
asked him to marry me.")

    The overwhelming feelings adjusting to motherhood (tears five weeks 
later, who doesn't want that?)

    Not telling us who the father is! ("It's nobody's f---ing business, 
period! I'm a single mom. I'm a single mom.")

    Planning it for five years. (The nerve.)

    Waiting til she could afford it. (What is she some kinda  communist?)

    Wondering how big she'd be while preggers-- "60 pounds or if i would gain 
20 pounds" (There's an encouragement for the 80-pound mall chick this is 
supposed to influence.)

    Taking parenting classes, reading books and scouring baby sites (How dare 
she make intelligent decisions!)

    She'd like to find a significant other -- "That would make it all 
complete for me." (As you were saying WSJ?")

    "IF ANYONE IS EXPECCTING HER TO ISSUE A RALLYING CRY FOR SINGLE MOTHERS 
AS SHE DID FOR FAT GIRLS THEY'D BETTER LISTEN CAREFULLY." "The best way i can 
be a role model as a single parent is to be a really great parent... I want 
to give him the same values my parents gave me -- being a decent kind and 
caring person." (That harlot!)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Fri Apr 27, 2001 11:10pm
Subject: The Man-heim Show

Quoting from TVBarn Daily :  

>Now I read that Joseph Perkins, a former editorial writer at the
>Journal, [2]is on unexpected hiatus from the San Diego Union-Tribune,
>apparently over a column he wrote last week critical of single moms
>and, in particular, NBC's Katie Couric. 

    I'm guessing he figures single moms only read "US Weekly," and not the 
"Wall Street Journal."

>Perkins thinks that celebrities who have children out of wedlock 
>send a bad message to single women. And so, referring to a group of 
>celebrity single moms recently featured on the cover of US Weekly, 
>Perkins wrote, "If such a 'lifestyle choice' is OK for Katie and 
>Calista and Jodie and Camryn, it must be okay for (non-celebrities) as 
>well."

    I think it's bad for anyone who can't afford kids to have them and/or 
geting preggers to trap a man into marriage. (Okay, I watched the man show 
once. And let me repeat that -- ONCE.) Besides, I don't think everyone should 
have children.

>Perkins must have been the only person in America not to know that
>Couric was "single" because her husband, Jay Monahan, died of colon
>cancer in 1998. Not exactly a "lifestyle choice."

    Damning proof he never read the article. That's the very first line about 
her in the collage of celeb moms. Katie "has been a single mother since the 
death of her husband." Besides that -- "It hasn't been easy."

As for the other glamour girls he ropes together: 

    Jodie Foster was "surprised how dramatically a child would change her 
priorities."

    Calista Flockhart says "being a parent, no matter how you do it, is 
challenging and wonderful. It's a privilege."

    Rosie O'Donnell "plans to give up her TV show next year to spend more 
time with her family."

    Nicole Kidman is just learning the ropes of single motherhood, which she 
calls 'scary.'"
    
    Diane Keaton says nothing has transformed her as much as (son" Dexter.

    The lesson we can learn from all of this : having a baby will make you a 
rich and glamorous actress. Just like reading the Wall Street Journal will 
make you a billionaire from day-trading.

    I'd think Perkins would have had a better article lashing out at the true 
cover subject. Not Katie, but Cameryn Manheim. 

If so he mighta been even more outraged that : Manheim is posing with the 
child (both in biker leather) held in front of herself on a motorcycle and no 
helmet! (Scandalous!)

    How dare she raise a child as a single parent in her pit of a five 
bedroom Mediterranean style beachfront home!!!

    Details of breastfeeding and accidentally flashing the cable guy! (How 
immoral! Proper etiquette is to flash the pizza guy instead!!!)

    A doctor saying how big her hips are. (Which is conversation better 
suited to the "petite" section of Wal*Mart.)

    Describing the intense pain and agony of her contractions! (And 
glamourous contractions too. After seeing this article, teen pregnancy will  
most certainly quadruple!)

    Her thrill at taking heavy drugs (Epidural!)

    Cheating on the baby's father! ("I loved my anesthesiologist. I even 
asked him to marry me.")

    The overwhelming feelings adjusting to motherhood (tears five weeks 
later, who doesn't want that?)

    Not telling us who the father is! ("It's nobody's f---ing business, 
period! I'm a single mom. I'm a single mom.")

    Planning it for five years. (The nerve.)

    Waiting til she could afford it. (What is she some kinda  communist?)

    Wondering how big she'd be while preggers-- "60 pounds or if i would gain 
20 pounds" (There's an encouragement for the 80-pound mall chick this is 
supposed to influence.)

    Taking parenting classes, reading books and scouring baby sites (How dare 
she make intelligent decisions!)

    She'd like to find a significant other -- "That would make it all 
complete for me." (As you were saying WSJ?")

    "IF ANYONE IS EXPECCTING HER TO ISSUE A RALLYING CRY FOR SINGLE MOTHERS 
AS SHE DID FOR FAT GIRLS THEY'D BETTER LISTEN CAREFULLY." "The best way i can 
be a role model as a single parent is to be a really great parent... I want 
to give him the same values my parents gave me -- being a decent kind and 
caring person." (That harlot!)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Fri Apr 27, 2001 11:10pm
Subject: Re: You must be loca

>INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTAR RICKY MARTIN TO PERFORM 
>LIVE ON "MISS UNIVERSE® 2001," MAY 11 ON THE CBS 
>TELEVISION NETWORK

First was the Backstreet boys announcement, now Ricky. You get the feeling 
that on that May 10 Survivor : Back from the Outback... either the winner (or 
the losers)  will be treated to a personal concert from *NSYNC?




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: tomalhe@aol.com
Date: Sat Apr 28, 2001 0:58am
Subject: Colby cheese

Okay, so admittedly I was watching the 2 AM (ET) feed of the CHRISTMAS 
episode of "The Dukes of Hazzard" (Shaddup, or I'll tell everyone you 
actually watch "The Weber Show") Some yokel on the nightly TNN ("They've got 
pop!") say-something-stupid-on-the-pop-line-and-we'll-air it commercials says 
it would be awful durn unfair if Colby won the million on Survivor. 
(Obviously, not a caller from Texas.)

Cuz he's been winnin' so many of the challenges (except the half hour IM Chat 
with the Visa Card, and well, the food auction was a group win/loss.) But the 
real outrage is that in addition to the food and lodging challenges "the 
Colbster won a Pontiac Aztec, I mean come on man!" (Hmmmm, wasn't the freaky 
SUVlet thing also going to be part of the "Ultimate Survivor" package?) 

Let's think about that fer a moment, shall we?

When Debb (the marryin' her stepson Debb) got kicked off she said she thought 
the show was going to be about surviving instead of making friends or 
alliances (etc). If Colby were to win ... wouldn't that be more a survival 
victory? (Aside from the *very* Richard Hatch move of playing Jerri). 

Isn't Colby staying alive (cue Bee Gees) by winning? What's really wrong with 
that? Someone playing to win and being naked about it -- in the non Rich 
Hatch way. (I don't really have anything more to add, it's just cool making 
all these statements in parentheses.)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: Carlton Doerner  <knarley@midwest.net>
Date: Sat Apr 28, 2001 2:57pm
Subject: The evil star subject

I hope this isn't just repeating someone else...I tend to fall behind on my messages...

There has been some discussion about how american audiences don't like a mean character for the center of their shows and therefore Weakest Link would not survive. Apparently someone mentioned soap operas and wrestling and those were dismissed because they didn't have wide spread audiences.... I've been thinking about this. It may
be a good generally rule but it sure doesn't apply in all situations. I would think that Archie Bunker would be the first that would come to mind and that show was certainly a popular one with american audiences. I might also mention George Jefferson from the Jeffersons. Personally I find the Weakest Link refreshing. And as far as
real meanness...I would say it comes from the contestants about each other and the laughing of the audience about these barbs more than from the host. Can anybody else help me think of other central prime time characters who might fit this mold.

Carlton

From: Oliver Willis  <owillis@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat Apr 28, 2001 3:33pm
Subject: Re: The evil star subject

The difference is, there was a soft, good side to both
Archie Bunker and George Jefferson. The Weakest Link's
host has no soft side, what a terrible, artificial
show.
--
Oliver Willis
www.oliverwillis.com

--- Carlton Doerner <knarley@m...> wrote:
> I hope this isn't just repeating someone else...I
> tend to fall behind on my messages...
> 
> There has been some discussion about how american
> audiences don't like a mean character for the center
> of their shows and therefore Weakest Link would not
> survive. Apparently someone mentioned soap operas
> and wrestling and those were dismissed because they
> didn't have wide spread audiences.... I've been
> thinking about this. It may
> be a good generally rule but it sure doesn't apply
> in all situations. I would think that Archie Bunker
> would be the first that would come to mind and that
> show was certainly a popular one with american
> audiences. I might also mention George Jefferson
> from the Jeffersons. Personally I find the Weakest
> Link refreshing. And as far as
> real meanness...I would say it comes from the
> contestants about each other and the laughing of the
> audience about these barbs more than from the host.
> Can anybody else help me think of other central
> prime time characters who might fit this mold.
> 
> Carlton
> 
> 
> 


=====
Oliver Willis
owillis@y...

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices
http://auctions.yahoo.com/

From: PGage@AOL.COM
Date: Sat Apr 28, 2001 0:19pm
Subject: Re: The evil star subject

> 
> I hope this isn't just repeating someone else...I tend to fall behind on my 
> messages...
> 
> There has been some discussion about how american audiences don't like a 
> mean character for the center of their shows and therefore Weakest Link 
> would not survive. Apparently someone mentioned soap operas and wrestling 
> and those were dismissed because they didn't have wide spread audiences.... 
> I've been thinking about this. It may
> be a good generally rule but it sure doesn't apply in all situations. I 
> would think that Archie Bunker would be the first that would come to mind 
> and that show was certainly a popular one with american audiences. I might 
> also mention George Jefferson from the Jeffersons. Personally I find the 
> Weakest Link refreshing. And as far as
> real meanness...I would say it comes from the contestants about each other 
> and the laughing of the audience about these barbs more than from the host. 
> Can anybody else help me think of other central prime time characters who 
> 

PGage writes...
I had brought up soap operas (actually, day time talk shows) and wrestling, 
but I think I was not clear, as both the first response, and now Carlton, 
missed my point. I was trying to argue that whether or not Americans like 
shows with a mean central character, this is irrelevant since the host of WL 
is not really mean. Her so-called meanness is phony -- like the meanness in 
talk shows and wrestling, as is the meanness of the contestants in their post 
walk of shame comments. I think the show would be more mean (and more 
interesting) if the host saved her barbs for crucial moments when they would 
really hurt, and interacted more normally most of the time. They should get 
rid of the after-comments by the contestants all together. I like the game 
itself, though I agree with an earlier comment that she should hold off on 
revealing the votes until after she interviews the contestant to increase the 
drama.

The person who wrote the original piece on Americans not liking mean 
characters addressed the Archie Bunker issue, pointing out that Lear made the 
wife character sweet and likable to balance out Archie's meanness - as 
opposed to the original British version.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: John I. Carney  <jicarney@edge.net>
Date: Sat Apr 28, 2001 5:11pm
Subject: SNL tonight

I noticed in the listings that Saturday Night Live tonight is "The 
Best of Molly Shannon," which begs the question ....

What are they going to do with the _other_ 85 minutes?


John I. Carney  |  jicarney@e...  |  http://jicarney.cjb.net

From: thumbsup3@aol.com
Date: Sat Apr 28, 2001 2:49pm
Subject: Re: The evil star subject

<<  I was trying to argue that whether or not Americans like 
 shows with a mean central character, this is irrelevant since the host of WL 
 is not really mean. Her so-called meanness is phony  >>

I don't mind Anne Robinson's faux meanness so much as the contrived hostility 
among the contestants. 

I went to the contestant auditions in Atlanta this morning, and in the 
second-round mock show, we were told to reveal our vote and explain why we 
were voting for that person. The reason should relate to the game, they told 
us, but don't just repeat something that's already been said. So once the 
first person says, "I voted for John because he took too long to give a wrong 
answer," the rest of the group inevitably has to fall back on more personal 
barbs like, "If you don't know the answer's 'omega,' that's 'the end' for 
you."

As Paul Harris pointed out in his review, the show also stifles your normal 
instinct to cheer a victory. When they announced who had passed the 
first-round test and we applauded ourselves, we were told, "That's the last 
time you should clap today." We were coached to remain completely calm if we 
got an answer right or banked a signifcant amount of money. During the 
interviews, they advised, show confidence but don't look too cheerful or 
enthusiastic. But overall, of course, try to have fun.

The thing that struck me most was that when we were asked "Why should we pick 
you for the show?" almost everyone talked about how competitive and ruthless 
they were, which is what we had gathered the producers wanted to hear. Seems 
odd for a game that supposedly relies on teamwork.

Christine

From: thekid1955@aol.com
Date: Sun Apr 29, 2001 3:40am
Subject: Re: The evil star subject

>>Can anybody else help me think of other central prime time characters who 
might fit this mold.

Let's see...

Central character....
Mean demeanor....
Abuses the rest of the "cast"...

Been done, successfully, and more effectively than Anne Robinson and "The 
Weakest Link"..... by....

"Judge Judy" Sheindlin.

Ron Casalotti
Wayne, NJ

---------
   Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 14:57:18 -0500
   From: Carlton Doerner <knarley@m...>
Subject: The evil star subject

I hope this isn't just repeating someone else...I tend to fall behind on my 
messages...

There has been some discussion about how american audiences don't like a mean 
character for the center of their shows and therefore Weakest Link would not 
survive. Apparently someone mentioned soap operas and wrestling and those 
were dismissed because they didn't have wide spread audiences.... I've been 
thinking about this. It may
be a good generally rule but it sure doesn't apply in all situations. I would 
think that Archie Bunker would be the first that would come to mind and that 
show was certainly a popular one with american audiences. I might also 
mention George Jefferson from the Jeffersons. Personally I find the Weakest 
Link refreshing. And as far as
real meanness...I would say it comes from the contestants about each other 
and the laughing of the audience about these barbs more than from the host. 
Can anybody else help me think of other central prime time characters who 
might fit this mold.

Carlton



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: Jeffries, Mark  <mjeffries@krw.com>
Date: Sun Apr 29, 2001 0:18pm
Subject: RE: Death by Survivor

> SURVIVOR: BACK FROM THE OUTBACK also features 
> interviews with members of the first SURVIVOR series, 
> commenting about the performance of their successors.
> 
> Mark Burnett and Hal Gessner are executive producers, for CBS 
> Eye Too Productions, a unit of CBS News Productions.

Even if Edward R. Murrow did host "Person-to-Person," he still must be
spinning in his grave for that last paragraph.

Mark Jeffries
mjeffries@k...
mjsaints@a...

From: Jeffries, Mark  <mjeffries@krw.com>
Date: Sun Apr 29, 2001 0:24pm
Subject: RE: The Man-heim Show

> >Now I read that Joseph Perkins, a former editorial writer at the
> >Journal, [2]is on unexpected hiatus from the San Diego Union-Tribune,
> >apparently over a column he wrote last week critical of single moms
> >and, in particular, NBC's Katie Couric. 
> 
>     I'm guessing he figures single moms only read "US 
> Weekly," and not the 
> "Wall Street Journal."
> 
> >Perkins thinks that celebrities who have children out of wedlock 
> >send a bad message to single women. And so, referring to a group of 
> >celebrity single moms recently featured on the cover of US Weekly, 
> >Perkins wrote, "If such a 'lifestyle choice' is OK for Katie and 
> >Calista and Jodie and Camryn, it must be okay for 
> (non-celebrities) as 
> >well."
> 
>     I think it's bad for anyone who can't afford kids to have 
> them and/or 
> geting preggers to trap a man into marriage. (Okay, I watched 
> the man show 
> once. And let me repeat that -- ONCE.) Besides, I don't think 
> everyone should 
> have children.
> 
> >Perkins must have been the only person in America not to know that
> >Couric was "single" because her husband, Jay Monahan, died of colon
> >cancer in 1998. Not exactly a "lifestyle choice."
> 
>     Damning proof he never read the article. That's the very 
> first line about 
> her in the collage of celeb moms. Katie "has been a single 
> mother since the 
> death of her husband." Besides that -- "It hasn't been easy."

Well, Perkins was just doing the kneejerk conservative reaction (and easy
column subject) of going after "Godless Hollywood" again.

And considering that there are a lot of right-wingers who think that Katie
Couric's a Commie because she didn't ask Bill Clinton how big an erection he
had for Monica Lewinsky or Hilary Rodham Clinton if she was a closet
lesbian.

Besides, they think all of morning television is a bunch of Comsymps except
for "Fox and Friends."  They probably even think Brian Lamb's a Red.

Mark Jeffries
mjeffries@k...
mjsaints@a...

From: James Porteous  <porteous@interlog.com>
Date: Sun Apr 29, 2001 0:44pm
Subject: Aaron Sorkin is a Man of Many Words

Here is an interesting overview of Sorkin and his voice, both written and 
otherwise...

Aaron Sorkin is a Man of Many Words
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/tv/sork07.shtml


James



J a m e s P o r t e o u s
Toronto ON
Just because I have an ice-pick in my head doesn't mean I'm a Trotskyite

From: tvbarn2@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sun Apr 29, 2001 3:41pm
Subject: Poll results for tvbarn2

The following tvbarn2 poll is now closed.  Here are the 
final results: 


POLL QUESTION: Which of the following ACTUAL pilot 
concepts would you like to see on 
the fall schedule? 

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- "Alias" - A co-ed juggles college studies with her life as a spy. (Touchstone TV for ABC), 11 votes, 16.42%  
- "Wolf Lake" - Werewolf suspense thriller in the Pacific Northwest.  (CBS Productions), 8 votes, 11.94%  
- "Heart Department " - Tony Shaloub and Felicity Huffman are heart surgeons. From the creators of Party of Five. (Columbia TriStar for CBS), 27 votes, 40.30%  
- "Ball & Chain " - A husband and wife on the brink of divorce who find out they have super powers that only work if they stay together.  (20th/Regency for Fox), 16 votes, 23.88%  
- "Supermodels " - Models by day, superheroes by night. (Viacom Productions for UPN), 5 votes, 7.46%  



For more information about this group, please visit 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tvbarn2 

For help with Yahoo! Groups, please visit
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/

From: Pollak, Melissa  <mpollak@nsf.gov>
Date: Sun Apr 29, 2001 3:46pm
Subject: RE: Re: The evil star subject

Has somebody already mentioned Tony Soprano?  He's not the nicest person in
the world and we all love him.  Of course, the trick to getting a Tony
Soprano to work is not to make him all evil, to give him at least a little
chink in all that evilness.

By the way, I've never been able to sit through any "good vs. evil" show --
because I don't find such character portrayal in any way realistic, i.e., no
one is all good or all evil.  That's such a simple concept -- I don't know
why all writers don't get it.  That perspective probably explains why I fell
asleep during the first Star Wars picture (I had to be dragged to it) and
have never been interested in seeing any of the others -- or any "good vs.
evil" pic for that matter, no matter how well-acted it is or how high the
other production values are.  I guess most audiences are satisfied with such
unimaginative storytelling, but I'm not.

Also, I remember someone with a long track record in writing sitcoms saying
-- on another list -- how difficult it is to have a successful show in which
the lead character is not likeable.  He was trying to explain why a show he
worked on a few years ago did not work -- and he cited the unlike-ability of
the main character as the reason.

Melissa 

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	thekid1955@a... [SMTP:thekid1955@a...]
> Sent:	Sunday, April 29, 2001 8:41 AM
> To:	tvbarn2@yahoogroups.com
> Subject:	[tvbarn2] Re: The evil star subject 
> 
> >>Can anybody else help me think of other central prime time characters
> who 
> might fit this mold.
> 
> Let's see...
> 
> Central character....
> Mean demeanor....
> Abuses the rest of the "cast"...
> 
> Been done, successfully, and more effectively than Anne Robinson and "The 
> Weakest Link"..... by....
> 
> "Judge Judy" Sheindlin.
> 
> Ron Casalotti
> Wayne, NJ
> 
> ---------
>    Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 14:57:18 -0500
>    From: Carlton Doerner <knarley@m...>
> Subject: The evil star subject
> 
> I hope this isn't just repeating someone else...I tend to fall behind on
> my 
> messages...
> 
> There has been some discussion about how american audiences don't like a
> mean 
> character for the center of their shows and therefore Weakest Link would
> not 
> survive. Apparently someone mentioned soap operas and wrestling and those 
> were dismissed because they didn't have wide spread audiences.... I've
> been 
> thinking about this. It may
> be a good generally rule but it sure doesn't apply in all situations. I
> would 
> think that Archie Bunker would be the first that would come to mind and
> that 
> show was certainly a popular one with american audiences. I might also 
> mention George Jefferson from the Jeffersons. Personally I find the
> Weakest 
> Link refreshing. And as far as
> real meanness...I would say it comes from the contestants about each other
> 
> and the laughing of the audience about these barbs more than from the
> host. 
> Can anybody else help me think of other central prime time characters who 
> might fit this mold.
> 
> Carlton
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> 
> 
> 
> TVBarn2: America's funniest TV chat room.
> Goodbye: tvbarn2-unsubscribe@egroups.com
> 
>  
> 
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 
>

From: Pollak, Melissa  <mpollak@nsf.gov>
Date: Sun Apr 29, 2001 3:57pm
Subject: I thought this article on fan fiction was interesting enough to f orward.

> To view the entire article, go to
> http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9680-2001Apr27.html
> 
> The E-Files
> 
> 
> The lights are off. A bowl of popcorn and a can of soda rest on the coffee
> table. The cat's curled up in a tight ball, watching the screen flicker as
> the final scene plays out and the credits roll.
> 
>  The average viewer may call it a day or catch the evening news, but this
> is not the home of an average viewer. The TV still hums as she bolts for
> her computer, eager to get down a few snippets of dialogue, flesh out a
> scene, explore an emotion.
> 
>  She is a member of a somewhat different species: people with a certain
> creative itch, for whom a show's characters pose nagging questions that
> won't let up until an answer is found. That answer often comes in the form
> of "fanfiction" (or, as those in the know say, "fanfic"). For its
> practitioners, a TV show and its characters are but the starting point for
> new flights of literary invention -- conflicts, romances, whole story
> lines that the series's actual creative team never dreamed of.
> 
>  And on the Web, fanfic is a bestseller.
> 
>  For pra!
> !
> ctically every show on television, there's a segment of this Net
> subculture devoted to penning prose about the characters' fates. "La Femme
> Nikita," "ER," "Dark Angel," "Dawson's Creek," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer,"
> "Star Trek," "JAG," "The West Wing" -- you name it, it's out there. Even
> movies have inspired fans to write. "Star Wars" may belong to Lucasfilm
> Ltd., but in their own imaginations, the fans own the characters.
> 
>  And they've taken Luke, Han Solo and Leia out for a spin.
> 
>  Fanfic isn't new. The spinning of stories based on someone else's
> creations began decades ago. Back then, however, stories were photocopied
> and bound together in fanzines and taken to conventions where writers and
> enthusiasts communed. You had to know about it to get it. You had to care.
> Above all, you had to drive.
> 
>  Now the only driving you have to do is with your mouse. Click and you can
> go from one Web site to another, from one story archive to another. The
> Net has beamed us up, making it easie!
> !
> r to trace this new-and-improved culture.
> 
>  Henry Jenkins, director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at MIT
> and author of "Textual Poachers: Television Fans & Participatory
> Culture," ought to know.
> 
>  He wrote "Poachers" in 1992 and thought he was "doing a great job because
> I referenced like 30 fandoms, but now if you go to the fanfiction on the
> Web sites, which I look at regularly, you've got like 200 different fan
> universes that people are writing in at this point."
> 
>  That's a lot of kilobytes. Imagine a Barnes & Noble filled with
> nothing but Xena, X-Men and Buffy. Xander and Willow. Spock and Kirk.
> 
> <a href="http://www.FanFiction.net">www.FanFiction.net</a> is a bit like
> that. It's a little virtual store filled with musings, rantings and
> stories. "Unleash your imagination and free your soul," urges the
> statement below the header. Below that are links to various fanfic
> fandoms. Click on TV shows and you'll find more than 300 series listed,
> each with its own se!
> !
> t of fanfiction. The site has more than 41,000 stories in all, the work of
> 13,000 authors.
> 
>  It's a culture that thrives on modern-day myth and seeks to wrench it
> free from corporate hands, says Jenkins. And he sees ample precedent for
> it. "Literature originates in the context of a folk practice," he says,
> "which is to say there are certain stories, certain larger-than-life
> protagonists who really become central to a culture. Think about the
> heroes and gods of Greek mythology. Historically, those characters
> belonged to all of the storytellers within that community."
> <h1>From Photocopier to Now</h1>
>  Granted, it's easier to find fanfiction today than it was, say, 10 years
> ago. But still, finding quality fanfiction can be daunting. First you have
> to sift through the various categories and character pairings, find a plot
> that's appealing and then read the first few paragraphs to see if the
> story is worth your time.
> 
>  "La Femme Nikita" has generated more than 4,000 stories that ca!
> !
> n be found on a variety of sites. There are also thousands of "Buffy the
> Vampire Slayer" tales floating around on the Web. The Gossamer Project
> (www.gossamer.org),  just one of many fan sites devoted to "The X-Files,"
> has more than 25,000 stories archived. And FanfiX.com  is just one site
> devoted to fanfiction about "Star Wars." It has about 1,500 stories.
> 
>  Then there are freshman shows. James Cameron's "Dark Angel" has already
> started to generate fanfiction and has several Web sites in its honor.
> "Survivor," believe it or not, has fans writing their own versions of the
> Outback quest for $1 million.
> 
>  That's a lot of fic. All for free.
> <h1>The World According To Fic Writers</h1>
>  They toil in front of their computers for hours on end, reworking scenes,
> changing adjectives, debating the merits of adverbs.
> 
>  While the Web can be a storage facility for dreck, it also houses the
> occasional gem. And some fanfic writers are revered. They get "stalked" by
> avid readers and are the en!
> !
> vy of newbies.
> 
>  They are stars. But back in the real world, they're just everyday people
> who put in 40-hour workweeks and deal with office politics.
> 
>  But what's the point of cranking out reams of story line devoted to . . .
> a television show? Especially when there's no money in it? Was William
> Shatner right when, during a "Saturday Night Live" skit, he told his fans
> to "get a life"?
> 
>  "There's a stereotype that anyone who sits around and writes stories
> about TV characters for Internet consumption must be a clueless, lonely
> dork with no friends and no life," says a 32-year-old "X-Files" devotee
> who goes by the pen name DashaK.  "But I've met over 30 writers in real
> life and I have to say that that stereotype is utterly untrue."
> 
>  It's impossible to attach a label to fanfiction writers. That person
> sitting in the next cubicle may have a thing for Xena and Gabrielle, or
> maybe Josh and Donna on "The West Wing." You never know.
> 
>  What these writers do know is that in their univer!
> !
> se, they control the characters and the outcome of the story. If a show's
> creator takes a series in a direction they perceive to be wrong, they can
> fix it.
> 
>  For instance, because some "X-Files" fans were upset this season by the
> absence of Agent Mulder, they disregarded the Season 8 narrative and
> created a virtual Season 8, with writers taking turns at the helm. The
> same thing happened when fans were disappointed with the third season of
> "Beauty and the Beast."
> 
>  "Fans are doing their own alternative series now," says MIT's Jenkins.
> "Shows that are canceled, shows where producers deviate from what the fans
> wanted, fans organize themselves. The earliest example I saw was 'Twin
> Peaks.' When it was on the air and it looked like it was going to be
> canceled, fans started writing their own alternative version."
> 
>  Even if a series ends, fans keep the characters alive via fanfiction. "La
> Femme Nikita" may have ended by sending its two star-crossed operatives in
> different directions, !
> !
> but that doesn't mean the fans are willing to let it go at that.
> 
>  "I think it very likely that the show will live on through fanfiction for
> quite some time," says South Carolina fanfic writer Katherine Gilbert, 32.
> 
>  And then there are the larger universes such as "Star Trek," which has
> spun off so many series that writers are likely to be penning prose for
> years to come.
> 
>  Loyalty, passion and a touch of obsession keep characters in these shows
> alive and well on the Net, saving the day, getting in trouble or lusting
> after another character . . . be it male or female.
> 
>  Zak Zandarah, 28, of Minneapolis became fascinated by "Buffy" during the
> show's first season. But what drew his attention were the show's secondary
> characters, especially Xander (Nicholas Brendon).
> 
>   "I'm more interested in writing about the sidekick characters, the ones
> whose destinies weren't the 'Chosen One' and yet for whatever reason
> choose to stay with her and put themselves in danger again and again," !
> !
> he says.
> 
>  Zandarah has told most of his friends and relatives that he spends a lot
> of time dreaming up "Buffy" plot lines. But other fanfic writers find that
> the anonymity of the Web allows them to blossom. There are no
> recriminations to be faced at the office, no smirks or giggles. They can
> post a story under a pen name and lurk behind the monitor as people read.
> 
>  DashaK, BoneTree, Shrift, Robyn the Snowshoe Hare: Pen names come in all
> forms. In public, these fans may admit to taping their favorite shows, but
> getting them to talk about writing fanfiction is another matter.
> 
>  "I'm not ashamed I do it, but I do write some stories that are high in
> sexual content," says DashaK. "I wouldn't want some weirdo to show up on
> my doorstep one day. Sadly, this has happened to a few writers I know. Or
> I would hate for my boss to cruise the Net one day and find what I've
> written. I know a writer who had a co-worker find her stories and
> maliciously 'out' her to the entire office."
> 
>  Those!
> !
>  who do talk about it are often teased.
> 
>  "Other professionals tend to think I'm crazy for admitting I do fanfic at
> all," says novelist Roxanne Longstreet Conrad, who writes fanfiction for
> "Pretender," "Prey" and other shows. "There are also purists who don't
> believe there is any such thing as good fanfic . . . that it's all
> essentially garbage. That kind of perception can lead people to prejudge
> your professional work."
> 
>  But still she writes. "I did it in the beginning partly to become
> comfortable with writing existing characters in television series
> settings, in the hopes of someday writing either media tie-in novels or
> television screenplays.
> 
>  "However, once I started doing it I found it was immensely relaxing for
> me -- fun, challenging and emotionally rewarding."
> <h1>Producers and Fanfiction</h1>
>  In the fanfic world, when something happens to a well-known author, word
> spreads fast.
> 
>  When a popular "X-Files" fanfiction writer was battling a recurrence of
> melanoma, an on!
> !
> line friend sent a letter to co-executive producer Frank Spotnitz, asking
> him to write to her. Spotnitz did.
> 
>  When he learned this year that she had died, he was preparing to write an
> episode about a young FBI agent who knows and loves everything about the
> X-Files and Agents Mulder and Scully.
> 
>  "I hadn't decided if it was a man or a woman yet. But when she passed
> away, it felt like too perfect a way to pay tribute to her," he said of
> his decision to name the character Special Agent Leyla Harrison, after the
> woman. (The episode, "Alone," will air next Sunday.)
> 
>  Spotnitz says he feels flattered that fans are writing about the show's
> characters. "I think it's an incredible compliment. When people are
> writing fanfiction, it's a very sure sign that these characters have
> become dimensional enough to them that they justify that sort of time and
> thought," he says.
> 
>  Marti Noxon, an executive producer of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," says
> staffers on "Buffy" and "Angel" know better "t!
> !
> han to disrespect the creative process of any of these people. . . . It's
> flattering because something you're creating -- a universe you're a part
> of -- has inspired people to go off and continue imagining."
> 
>  She says that she hasn't read fanfiction but that some staff members have
> checked out some of the more titillating stories on the Net. However, if a
> story line starts to lean toward something that may appear on the show,
> they have to bow out because they don't want to be accused of stealing
> someone's story. 
> 
>  "We're in a weird position with fanfiction. . . . Because of legal stuff,
> we have to be really judicious about how much we read," she says.
> 
>  Noxon, who has penned 19 "Buffy" episodes, admits feeling creeped out by
> some of the stories she's heard about, stories that take the characters to
> "a really dark or gratuitously dirty place. Sometimes you feel protective
> of your characters and you don't want to see them sullied. I've heard
> about some stuff that's going on, a!
> !
> nd I feel like saying, 'Use your own nubile girls. Get away from my girls.
> These girls are not like that.' "
> 
>  Asked whether it's possible for a fanfiction writer to step out of the
> Internet shadows and land a gig on a series, Noxon recounts the story of
> one fan who transformed herself from a disembodied voice on the Internet
> to a staffer at "Angel."
> 
>  Mere Smith, 26, was living in Brooklyn when she discovered "Buffy."
> 
>  She spent hours on an Internet posting board called the Bronze and wrote
> fanfiction that she stored on her hard drive. When a yearly gathering for
> Bronze members came up in 1998, she hopped a plane to Los Angeles. Among
> the 150 or so attendees, she met someone who helped her land a job as an
> assistant to a co-executive producer for the short-lived ABC show "Strange
> World." After it was canceled, she joined "Angel" as a script coordinator.
> A year later, she turned in a spec script and was offered a dry run. Now
> she's an official writer for the show.
> 
>  Her two w!
> !
> orlds have merged. "It's just so odd because I've been in both places,"
> she says. "I've been in the office at 7 in the morning on the board in New
> York. . . . And I've done the part where I stand over [executive producer
> Joss Whedon's] shoulder as he reads the board. It's very strange."
> 
>  According to Spotnitz, to get a job writing television, "you have to make
> it your goal in life." So Smith looks like the exception to the rule. And
> she's pretty happy. You can hear the excitement in her voice as she talks
> about her job.
> 
>  "Every time I write a script now, I feel like I'm writing fanfic," she
> says. "I get to actually make the characters do what I want them to do.
> It's like fanfic but 10 times better because you actually get to see it
> on-screen. I feel like I'm writing fanfic, it's just that they're paying
> me to do it now."
> 
>  And about that check?
> 
>  "I've told people before, I filled up my quota of dreams come true."
> 
>   Nancy Schulz is a reader and occasional writer of fanficti!
> !
> on.
> 
>   
>

From: John I. Carney  <jicarney@edge.net>
Date: Sun Apr 29, 2001 5:06pm
Subject: Re: The evil star subject

--- In tvbarn2@y..., "Pollak, Melissa" <mpollak@n...> wrote:

> By the way, I've never been able to sit through any "good vs. evil" 
show --
> because I don't find such character portrayal in any way realistic, 
i.e., no
> one is all good or all evil.  That's such a simple concept -- I 
don't know
> why all writers don't get it


I don't know -- I think there's room for both complex realism and 
simple, larger-than-life good-versus-evil adventure.  To me, bad TV 
shows or movies result when you aren't clear on which of the two 
you're doing, or when you try to hedge your bets -- such as when the 
simple entertainment tries to be trendy and throw in a mention of 
some complex issue, or when the realistic show begins to degrade into 
soap opera.


John I. Carney  |  jicarney@e...  |  http://jicarney.cjb.net

From: Michael Jones  <spikej555@earthlink.net>
Date: Sun Apr 29, 2001 5:16pm
Subject: Re: Poll results for tvbarn2 (tweaking a pilot)

< "Supermodels " - Models by day, superheroes by night. (Viacom Productions for UPN), 5 votes, 7.46% >

If the show's premise called for the girls to be supermodels on weekdays and superheroes on weekends (with say one Sunday off a month)--this pilot  would have attracted a lot more votes IMO. 

Michael
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: tvbarn2@yahoogroups.com 
  To: tvbarn2@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2001 1:41 PM
  Subject: [tvbarn2] Poll results for tvbarn2 



  The following tvbarn2 poll is now closed.  Here are the 
  final results: 


  POLL QUESTION: Which of the following ACTUAL pilot 
  concepts would you like to see on 
  the fall schedule? 

  CHOICES AND RESULTS
  - "Alias" - A co-ed juggles college studies with her life as a spy. (Touchstone TV for ABC), 11 votes, 16.42%  
  - "Wolf Lake" - Werewolf suspense thriller in the Pacific Northwest.  (CBS Productions), 8 votes, 11.94%  
  - "Heart Department " - Tony Shaloub and Felicity Huffman are heart surgeons. From the creators of Party of Five. (Columbia TriStar for CBS), 27 votes, 40.30%  
  - "Ball & Chain " - A husband and wife on the brink of divorce who find out they have super powers that only work if they stay together.  (20th/Regency for Fox), 16 votes, 23.88%  
  - "Supermodels " - Models by day, superheroes by night. (Viacom Productions for UPN), 5 votes, 7.46%  



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: The KJB  <osiris@idir.net>
Date: Sun Apr 29, 2001 5:49pm
Subject: RE: Re: The evil star subject

At 04:46 PM 4/29/2001 -0400, you wrote:

>By the way, I've never been able to sit through any "good vs. evil" show --
>because I don't find such character portrayal in any way realistic, i.e., no
>one is all good or all evil.  That's such a simple concept -- I don't know
>why all writers don't get it.  That perspective probably explains why I fell
>asleep during the first Star Wars picture (I had to be dragged to it) and
>have never been interested in seeing any of the others -- or any "good vs.
>evil" pic for that matter, no matter how well-acted it is or how high the
>other production values are.  I guess most audiences are satisfied with such
>unimaginative storytelling, but I'm not.

Ah, but then you missed the same change in the "evil" character in Star 
Wars that you like about Tony Soprano - the chink in his "evil" armor.  I 
agree with you, I don't believe in characters that are evil just to be 
evil.  I think Larry Hagman summed it up when he did an interview during 
the run of DALLAS when he said that he didn't think J.R. Ewing looked in 
the mirror every morning and said "man, I am so evil".  The really well 
done evil characters almost always *think* they're the good guys.

Having said that (and I'm in big danger of losing my TV geek wings here), 
we don't all love Tony Soprano.  I have tried a few times to watch The 
Sopranos (the first time being when they repeated the first series so I 
could try and catch it from the beginning) and I'm just not into it.  It's 
got nothing to do with the character, I just don't find the series 
particularly entertaining.  I know I'm a lone voice in the wilderness on 
this one and this will be the last thing I say on the subject.


>Also, I remember someone with a long track record in writing sitcoms saying
>-- on another list -- how difficult it is to have a successful show in which
>the lead character is not likeable.  He was trying to explain why a show he
>worked on a few years ago did not work -- and he cited the unlike-ability of
>the main character as the reason.

See any US attempt to re-create most British comedies, such as Fawlty 
Towers and, to some degree, Red Dwarf.  The didn't work because the main 
characters aren't really people you'd like to have over for dinner so the 
US producers almost always try to make them into the okay sort of person 
that just has insane things happening around them.  By doing that, they gut 
the show.

I can't say that US viewers outside of PBS or BBC America have done much to 
prove them wrong.  Just look at the dismal ratings on every Dabney Coleman 
show, 95% of which were very, very funny.


KJB
Editor, Backstage Pass
http://www.backstage-pass.com
Film Writer, FilmForce.Net
http://www.filmforce.net

From: pmurray@bigfoot.com
Date: Sun Apr 29, 2001 10:52pm
Subject: Re: The evil star subject

--- In tvbarn2@y..., The KJB <osiris@i...> wrote:
> I can't say that US viewers outside of PBS or BBC America have done
much to 
> prove them wrong.  Just look at the dismal ratings on every Dabney
Coleman 
> show, 95% of which were very, very funny.

Yup.

"Buffalo Bill" has always been one of my favorite cancelled shows. I
still chuckle just thinking about the episode where the station was
overrun by Jerry Lewis imitators.

The one where he was a columnist -- I can't remember the name -- was
good, too.

It seems like every new season, there's a show I fall love with that
I just know will be canceled. (The last one was "Sports Night.")
Nothing like falling for a show that you just know is doomed.

Paul