'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Question Mark #33
BBC America - Tonight
VCR Alert
This weeks episode of Blackadder is the best of series 2. Called "Potato",
we find Blackadder playing for the Queen's hand as he sets out to explore
the world like old "What a potato I've found" Walter Raleigh.
Full of their
best lines this shows what Britcoms are really about. Look for Tom "4th Dr
Who" Baker in a special guest star role. He has always said it's the
appearance he liked himself in least, but he's very funny. One of the great
lines is when Melchett hands Blackadder a map from England's finest
cartographers. Its a blank page and Blackadder is told to fill it in as he
goes. Of course, Blackadder isn't really going exploring. He's just going
to the south of France for a few months, but that was before he talked with
his captain Rum.
Seems Rum not only can't find the south seas, he can't
find the south of France. Kind of like George Bush looking at a map of the
world without a "you are here" label on it. But as they say Rum was a 2nd
class sailor but a 1st class entree. This episode can stand alone which is
something so few tv comedies can do.
On another note, I've heard people trying to come up with a replacement for
the "F" word. Those of us who watch "Red Dwarf" know the word is SMEG. And
if those smeg-heads at the FCC don't smegging like it, they can go smeg
themselves.
Thank you, Mr. Hawk!
Reader Question
Re: SMEG
I have been enjoying your Entertainment Page on
bartcop.com for some time now. I have read with
interest Mr. Hawk's notes regarding "Black Adder" and
"Red Dwarf." I wholeheartedly agree with him--the
shows are great.
I can't say I've been a fan of the "F" word, but in
watching "Red Dwarf" I did find that "smeg" had its
charms. I did not, however, perceive it as a
substitute for the "F" word. All that is beside the
point, however.
I have been curious as to where the word "smeg" comes
from, because I have never heard it before seeing "Red
Dwarf." One day I happened to have on Jamie Oliver,
and I noticed that SMEG is spelled out on his
refrigerator--like it was the brand name. (That is, it
wasn't spelled out in magnets.) Could this be an
appliance line in Britain? Inquiring minds wouldn't
mind knowing. Do you think Mr. Hawk knows?
Keep up the good work.
Colleen
Thanks, Colleen!
Let's ask Mr. Hawk.
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
Reader Comment
Re: West Wing
We've been having some record breaking heat here in Phoenix with
temperatures in the 90's. Of course this means that Phoenicians start acting
like fools and taking SEVERE fashion risks. Just yesterday I stopped off at
Starbucks for a Iced Caffè Mocha and coming out of Einstein bros was some
skanky-lliking gal wearing platform sandals, cutoff shorts and a tank top.
What struck me most about this ensemblé most was the freakin' PISTOL she had
shoved down the front of her shorts. WHAT-EVER (as my daughter would say)
That's a fashion risk even I won't take.
I think we can also blame the heat
on Richard Simmons being cited, accused of slapping cage fighter . Simmons
slapped a 6-foot-2, 250-pound athlete after the man reportedly made a
derogatory remark about Simmons. What in the world was he thinking? I think
he was NOT THINKING or he, like the rest of us, is suffering heatstroke.
I
am sure blaming the heat for my bawling like an infant during last night's
The West Wing. Glenn Close starred the first woman nominated for Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court. Upon her ratification, the President has her
sign a copy of the U.S. Constitution - Amendment XIX for a staffer's
daughter. I swear I wept like an infant.
Heather
houndog2
Reader Comment/Link
Ralph Nader Buttons
I think this says it all.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Bit cooler, but still damn nice weather.
Did the CostCo/Farmer's Market loop today. Strawberries, asparagus & artichokes came home with us.
Yesterday's page had a wrong picture - was supposed to be of the 'Pledge' rally in San Francisco, but ran one from a year ago where Carlyle was the cause. The archived page has been corrected.
Tonight, Friday, CBS fills the night with more 'March Madness'.
On a RERUN Dave are Turkey Callers, Julia Stiles, and Jessica Simpson.
On a RERUN Craiggers are Harry Connick Jr. and John Waters.
NBC starts the night with a 2-hour 'Dateline', followed by a FRESH 'Crossing Jordan'.
On a RERUN Leno are Ashton Kutcher, Spokane Streakers, and Fefe Dobson.
On a RERUN Conan (from 1/21/04), are Donald Trump, Jeff Garlin, and Brian Kiley.
On a RERUN Carson Daly are Dave Chappelle, Krista Allen, Corey Greenberg, Steve Byrne, French Kicks, and Kanye West.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH 'George Lopez', followed by a FRESH 'Married To The Kellys', then a
RERUN 'Hope & Faith', followed by a FRESH 'Bonnie' (special guest star Jonathan Winters), then a FRESH 'The D.A.'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel is David Arquette.
The WB offers a FRESH 'Reba', followed by a RERUN 'Reba', then a
FRESH 'Grounded For Life', followed by a FRESH 'The Help'.
Faux has a FRESH 'Playing It Straight', followed by a FRESH 'Wonderfalls'.
UPN has a RERUN 'Game Over', followed by another RERUN 'Game Over', then a RERUN of the
'America's Next Top Model' finale.
PLEASE check local PBS listings for the BEST show on over-the-air-TV, 'NOW With Bill Moyers (& David Brancaccio)'.
A&E has 'American Justice', followed by the movie 'The Last King'.
AMC offers the movie 'Thelma & Louise', followed by the movie 'Jaws 2', then the movie 'Jaws: The Revenge'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Ogden White;
[7pm] 'House Invaders' - Bournville;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - France;
[8pm] 'The Thin Blue Line' - Honey Trap;
[8:40pm] 'Blackadder' - Potato;
[9:20pm] 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' - The Buzz Aldrin Show;
[10pm] 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' - Live From the Grillomat;
[10:40pm] 'Dead Ringers' - Episode 2;
[11pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Joan Collins;
[11:30pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Rod Stewart/ Rosanna Arquette;
[12am] 'The Thin Blue Line' - Honey Trap;
[12:40am] 'Blackadder' - Potato;
[1:20am] 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' - The Buzz Aldrin Show;
[2am] 'So Graham Norton' - Joan Collins;
[2:30am] 'So Graham Norton' - Rod Stewart/ Rosanna Arquette;
[3am] 'The Thin Blue Line' - Honey Trap;
[3:40am] 'Blackadder' - Potato;
[4:20am] 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' - The Buzz Aldrin Show;
[5am] 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' - Live From the Grillomat;
[5:40am] 'Dead Ringers' - Episode 2;
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Inside The Actor's Studio' (cast of 'Will & Grace'), 'Queer Eye', and the movie 'Pollock'
Comedy Central has 'MAD TV', 'Comedy Central Presents' (Dat Phan), 'Tracy Morgan: One Mic', 'Comedy Central Presents' (Vince Morris), and another
'Comedy Central Presents' (Gene Pompa).
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Dead Men's Secrets', 'Battles That Doomed Japan', and 'Battles The Doomed Hitler'.
IFC -
[4PM] 'Zentropa' (1991);
[6PM] 'Hairspray' (1988);
[7:45PM] 'IFC In Theaters';
[8PM] 'Sexy Beast' (2001);
[9:35PM] 'At The Angelika 82' (2003);
[10PM] 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000);
[11:45PM] 'IFC In Theaters';
[12AM] 'Way Of The Gun' (2000);
[2AM] 'Sexy Beast' (2001);
[3:45AM] 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000);
[5:30AM] 'At The Angelika 82' (2003). (ALL TIMES EST)
SciFi has the 2-hour pilot of 'Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda', followed by a night of 'Stargate SG-1'.
Sundance -
[3:15PM] 'The Designated Mourner' (Feature);
[5PM] 'Just a Kiss' (Feature);
[6:30PM] 'Searching for Paradise' (Feature);
[8PM] 'Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead' (Feature);
[10PM] 'Revolution #9' (Feature);
[11:30PM] 'Tanner '88: The Girlfriend Factor' (Short);
[12AM] 'Romeo Is Bleeding' (Feature);
[1:55AM] 'Searching for Paradise' (Feature);
[3:25AM] 'Spirits Of The Dead' (World Cinema);
[5:30AM] 'Revolution #9' (Feature). (ALL TIMES EST)
TCM spends the late night with
Greta Garbo.
[6am] 'Captain Blood' (1935);
[8am] 'Anna Karenina' (1935);
[10am] 'Bombshell' (1933);
[12pm] 'Dinner At Eight' (1933);
[2pm] 'Little Women' (1933);
[4pm] 'San Francisco' (1936);
[6pm] 'Swing Time' (1936);
[8pm] 'Madigan' (1968);
[10pm] 'Brannigan' (1975);
[12am] 'On Dangerous Ground' (1951);
[2am] 'Anna Christie' (German) (1930);
[3:30am] 'Inspiration' (1930);
[4:45am] 'As You Desire Me' (1932). (ALL TIMES EST)
Actors from left, Matthew Broderick, Glenn Close, Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler, Faith Hill and Jon Lovitz pose Wenesday, March 24, 2004, during The Paramount ShoWest Dinner at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. ShoWest, which began Monday and concludes Thursday night, is the annual convention where movie-theater owners meet with everyone from popcorn vendors to movie studio C.E.O.s to firm up deals for the new year.
Photo by Eric Charbonneau
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Singles Out Issue of Music 'Monopolies'
Korn
Embattled shock jock Howard Stern has found a theme song: Korn's "Y'All Want a Single." The song, and especially its video, is an attack on radio conglomerates and the music industry, Korn lead singer Jonathan Davis says.
The Korn song has fallen so in line with Stern's political rants that a remixed version featuring Stern is available at the band's official Web site,
www.korn.com.
The video to "Y'All Want a Single," which Stern hails as "the most inspirational, the most spectacular understanding of what's going on in this country right now," was shot at an out-of-business Los Angeles record store. In it, Korn, joined by fans, storms through the aisles smashing the display cases and CDs with crowbars. While the store is being destroyed, statements taking the music industry to task cross the screen, including: "One corporation owns the 5 major video channels in the U.S."; "98% of the bands signed to a major don't make a profit"; "Two radio conglomerates control 42% of listeners"; "The music industry releases 100 songs per week."
"We've never been a political band," Davis says. "But if I can't say the word 'f---' in the United Sates of America, I'm going to say something about it. If it gets to the point, period, where you can't cuss on TV, I'm moving to a different country."
Korn
To Launch In Chicago
Stand-Up Comedy Television
Two brothers who hit it big with an online brokerage firm during the dot-com boom are trying a new venture: a stand-up comedy channel.
Joseph and Avi Fox, who founded Web Street Inc. in 1996 and sold it to E-Trade Financial Corp. for $45 million in 2001, said Thursday that Stand-Up Comedy Television will be a Chicago-based, 24-hour national cable network targeting baby boomers.
Besides original stand-up comedy programming produced at its studio stages in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and Phoenix, SCTV is to air vintage comedy shows, movies and classic stand-up routines.
Stand-Up Comedy Television
www.standuptv.com
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate, Senator John Kerry (L), gathers on stage with (L-R) North Carolina Senator and former presidential candidate John Edwards, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter and former Presidential candidate Rev Al Sharpton, at the Democratic National Committee fundraising dinner in Washington, March 25, 2004. Democrats embraced John Kerry as their new chief with a show of solidarity from Presidents Clinton and Carter, and former foes mending fences in an effort to oust resident Bush in this November's election.
Photo by Jonathan Ernst
Won't Appear in 'Angel' Finale
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Gellar won't appear in the series finale of "Angel," the spinoff of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in which she played the title role.
Joss Whedon, the show's executive producer, told TV Guide for its online edition that he didn't invite Gellar to appear in the final episode because he didn't want it to "revolve around a guest star."
He said he invited Gellar to appear in the second-to-last episode, but she wasn't available because she was in Tokyo working on the horror film "The Grudge" when the show was being shot.
Sarah Michelle Gellar
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Joining 'The Sopranos'
Frankie Valli
Frankie Valli is going from singing hits to making hits. He'll star as a mob type on "The Sopranos," beginning with Sunday's episode.
Valli actually read for a part on the show four years ago, but it wasn't right for him. Valli says it appears his character will survive to the next season, but one never knows. He says if that happens, he can go back to singing, this time, a jazz album.
Frankie Valli
Former United States Chief Weapons Inspector for Iraq David Kay (L) speaks to Al Franken, comedian and author, at the black tie 60th annual Radio and Television Correspondents Association Dinner in Washington, March 24, 2004. The event was also attended by U.S. resident George W. Bush.
Photo by Jason Reed
Road Named for Him
Alan Jackson
A stretch of Interstate 85 will likely be named for country music star Alan Jackson. The House voted 134-0 to honor the singer Thursday with a road naming in his native Coweta County.
The honor has already passed the Senate and now awaits the governor's signature.
Alan Jackson
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Leaves Drug Rehab After 5 Days
Whitney Houston
What's the deal with Whitney Houston and her rehab stint? Depends on who you ask. The New York Daily News reports Houston has left a drug rehabilitation facility, five days after checking in.
Houston's spokeswoman says the report is no big deal. Nancy Seltzer says Houston is in another location but is still taking part in the rehab program.
The Daily News quotes a source close to the singer as saying Houston left the facility because she "felt the walls were closing in on her." The source says the singer is now staying at a rented home near her home in the Atlanta area.
Whitney Houston
Claude Monet's 'Le Bassin aux Nympheas' will be auctioned at Sotheby's auction house May 6, 2004, in New York. The oil on canvas painting, from 1917-19, is from the collection of Hollywood producer Ray Stark.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cited for Slapping Man
Richard Simmons
Richard Simmons, known for his "Sweatin' to the Oldies" series of exercise videos set to songs from the 1950s and 60s, was cited for misdemeanor assault.
A fellow passenger recognized Simmons on Wednesday night at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport as he was waiting for a flight to Los Angeles, police said.
The man "made the off-hand comment, 'Hey everybody. It's Richard Simmons. Let's drop our bags and rock to the '50s,'" said Phoenix police Sgt. Tom Osborne. "Mr. Simmons took exception to it and walked over to the other passenger and apparently slapped him in the face."
Richard Simmons
Released After Day in Prison
Bobby Brown
Singer Bobby Brown was released from jail Thursday after spending a night behind bars for failing to pay $63,500 in child support.
On Wednesday, Family Court Judge Paula Carey found Brown in contempt of court and ordered him jailed for 90 days or until he could come up with the money.
Brown, a Boston native, had testified that he was unable to pay the child support he owes for the children, now 12 and 14, that he fathered with Kim Ward of Stoughton. The source of the support payment was not immediately clear.
Bobby Brown
Four-Eared Kitten Finds Home
Lilly
A four-eared German kitten has been given a new home after a German animal shelter was deluged with requests to adopt the animal born six months ago with the genetic defect.
"We wanted to make sure the people were looking for a normal cat and not a gag to make an exhibition out of her," Enrico Schlag, a worker at the Garmisch-Partenkirchen animal shelter, said on Thursday.
"We've found a completely normal family for her that has already adopted cats from us in the past."
The shelter in the foothills of the Alps in southern Germany received dozens of calls after local media published pictures of Lilly. Reuters, which reported the kitten's search for a home on Wednesday, also received numerous offers from readers around the world eager to adopt her or make donations to the shelter.
Lilly
Photos
The Pieta
While most of New York slept in the summers of 1964 and 1965, photographer Robert Hupka locked himself up at night alone with one of world's most famous masterpieces -- Michelangelo's Pieta.
Those sleepless nights resulted in not only a deeply spiritual experience for Hupka but some of the most detailed pictures ever taken of the five-century-old statue of the Madonna with the dead Christ.
Hupka, who was also a historian of sacred music, had special access to the Pieta while it was at the Vatican pavilion at the New York World's Fair -- the only time it has left St Peter's.
For the rest, The Pieta
Rankings for Top 15 Programs
Basic Cable
Rankings for the top 15 programs on basic cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of March 15-21. Each ratings point represents 1,084,000 households. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses.
1. "WWE Raw Zone" (Monday, 9:56 p.m.), Spike, 3.3, 3.60 million homes.
2. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.0, 3.27 million homes.
3. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), Spike, 3.0, 3.25 million homes.
4. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.9, 3.18 million homes.
5. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Sunday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.8, 3.08 million homes.
5. Movie: "What Women Want" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), TNT, 2.8, 3.08 million homes.
7. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.8, 3.04 million homes.
8. Movie: "What Women Want" (Friday, 8 p.m.), TNT, 2.8, 3.03 million homes.
9. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.8, 3 million homes.
10. "Real World XIV" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), MTV, 2.7, 2.96 million homes.
11. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.7, 2.94 million homes.
12. "Law & Order: SVU" (Saturday, 9 p.m.), USA, 2.7, 2.92 million homes.
13. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 5:30 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.7, 2.89 million homes.
14. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.7, 2.88 million homes.
15. Movie: "What Women Want" (Saturday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 2.7, 2.87 million homes.
Basic Cable
Palestinians gather to see a lamb born with what looked like 'Allah' spelled out in Arabic on its coat in the West Bank city of Hebron March 24, 2004.
Photo by Nayef Hashlamoun
'The Osbournes'
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