'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Baron Dave Romm
The New TV Season
By Baron Dave Romm
May you be be inscribed in the blog of life. Happy New Year! And happy fall tv season!
Joan of Arcadia, or My So-Called Sainthood. Joan, played by Amber Tamblyn, is a high school girl with a big brother in a wheelchair after a car accident, a younger brother who's a science geek with an attitude, a father who happens to be the new police chief and a mother who holds them all together. Oh... and G-d wants her. For what, we don't know as yet. G-d appears in various forms, from a teen hunk to the black high school cafeteria lady. Sometimes, it's hard to tell just who is G-d; it's a joke that can't be milked forever but might generate a few plot twists. In the first episode, Joan is introduced to her new life and manages to help her father, Joe Montenga, solve a crime and inspire her older brother. Her mother, Mary Steenburgen, gets to rant about G-d to a priest. Her younger brother explains why G-d must exist for scientific reasons.
Rating after one show: B, with optimism.
Whoopi Goldberg is executive producer (with Turner/Casey) as well as star of the epynoumous show. The two episodes I've watched so far haven't been afraid to tackle subjects not always the subject of comedies: Terrorism and the health care system. Whoopi plays a former singer, the owner of a hotel who is too claustrophobic to take the elevator, with a big-mouthed Persian as main assistant. Neither are afraid to inject race or nationalities into arguments. Whoopi's brother is engaged to a white woman who talks more black that Whoopi. The funniest moments are this woman talkin' jive in her dreadlocks. Otherwise, the show has had a few funny moments but has relied mostly on the racial interplay between the characters. They get off some good lines, treading the tricky waters between funny and offensive, but Newharts's Stratford Inn it isn't. Neither show has been great, but the ensemble cast hasn't gelled yet. I predict that either the show will be cancelled midway through the season (think Chicken Soup with Jackie Mason) or start to click and last for several years until the star is tired of it (as with Roseanne).
Rating after seeing two shows: C+, but I'll give it another couple of watches.
Happy Family stars John Larroquette and Christine Baranski as the parents of a family that's dysfunctional even by tv standards. Frankly, after seeing two shows I'm not sure which of the sons is sleeping or marrying whom, and I don't care. The daughter is pitiful even by Rhoda standards. Both shows have been pretty bad, rescued into mediocrity by the developing comfort level of the two stars. The producers need to fix this show, and fast, or it will die an ungainly death. Fortunately, they seem to be headed in that direction, and I suspect Larroquette's experience with his own show, which was great the first season and got steadily worse each year when they got away from the main comedy, will work in his favor.
Rating after seeing two shows: D, and I'm one more bad show away from simply not watching anything that half-hour.
Threat Matrix is a spy show with gadgets. Some neat special effects can't hide the basic paucity of the situations. The two shows so far haven't been particularly good, with an odd blend of patriotism and sympathy for right wing extremists. Sort of The Agency as written by a hate radio listener. Both episodes looked nice with a large budget, and the second one was better than the pilot, but there are better shows around.
Rating after two shows: B-, and I'm not hopeful for improvement.
The Six Million Dollar Man was 1.0. Jake 2.0 is a better spy show than Threat Matrix and occasionally as fun as Freakazoid. Jake is a low-level NSA employee who is accidentally infused with nanotechnology to become a superagent with as-yet unknown powers. But it's not a cartoon, and Real Life (tm) intrudes violently. Romantic entanglements are in the making, as they set up longer story arcs. Christopher Gorham playing Jake has the eager innocence of The Karate Kid and his abilities are revealed fairly well. The tone of the show ranges from the light humor to the dark worldview of Robocop. I'd like to think that both can exist in a sort of Man From UNCLE way, but I suspect that it will settle more into the darker aspects of the post-9/11.
Rating after seeing one show: B, with optimism.
The best part of the pilot for Hope & Faith was the food fight. With the husband and kids watching. Something for everyone, sort of like a gross-out beer commercial. Hope has a nice family with two kids and a dentist husband. Into her life comes Faith, a soap opera star who's long running character was killed off ignominiously. Depressed and out of work (and too old to be on soaps, she says), she moves in with her sister. Hilarity ensues... Well, not quite, but the bickering Faith Ford and Kelly Ripa is usually fun to watch. And everyone clearly loves each other, even the husband who has to deal with a new tenant. If the show rises above catfights it will rise above the sitcom pack, but not until then.
Rating after one show: B, and it'll probably stay there.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia with a radio show, a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. He reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E here, and you can hear the last two Shockwave broadcasts in Real Audio here (scroll down to Shockwave). Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air, and I'm collecting extra-weird stuff for a possible CD compilation.
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Selected Readings
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In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Not a lot of sun, but still a nice day.
I'm so tired of empty-eyed newsreaders who can't pronounce names, even when the copy spells it out phonetically. Tonight, the vacuous blonde on KABC called Elia Kazan - ah-lee-ah ka-zahn.
Sam Rubin, who does the entertainment for KTLA's morning news never once pronouced Warren Zevon's name properly - kept saying z'von.
Both the LA Times and the Sacramento Bee came out NO ON RECALL - about arfing time!
Tonight, Monday, CBS opens the evening with a FRESH 'Yes, Dear', followed by a FRESH 'Still Standing', then a FRESH
'Raymond', followed by a FRESH '2½ Men', then a FRESH 'CSI: Miami'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are Denzel Washington, "Survivor" castoff Ryan Shoulders, the New York Philharmonic, and Randy Newman.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are The Rock, Amber Tamblyn, and Kings of Leon.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH 'Fear Factor', followed by a FRESH 'Las Vegas', then the Season Premiere of 'Third Watch'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Kevin Bacon, Quentin Tarantino, and the Mavericks.
On a traditional Monday-night RERUN Conan are Seann William Scott, Oliver Martinez, and the Jayhawks.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Sarah Wynter and Lifehouse.
ABC, depending on your coast will have either 'Primetime Monday' followed by 'MNF', while on the left coast, it'll be 'MNF', followed by 'Primetime Monday'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Evander Holyfield and Daryl Hannah, with this week's guest co-host Kermit the Frog.
The WB offers a FRESH '7th Heaven', followed by a FRESH 'Everwood'.
Faux has the Season Finale of 'Temptation Island'.
UPN has a FRESH 'The Parkers', followed by a FRESH 'Eve', then a FRESH
'Girlfriends', followed by a FRESH 'Half & Half'.
A&E has 'Biography' (Marilyn Monroe), 'Cold Case Files', and 'City Confidential'.
AMC offers the movie 'Flashdance', followed by the movie 'Scent Of A Wooman', then the movie 'My Fair Lady'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Lovell;
[7pm] 'Ground Force' - Gerrards Cross;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - St. Ives;
[8pm] 'Murder in Mind' - Teacher;
[9pm] 'Rebus' - Dead Souls;
[11pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Larry Hagman;
[11:30pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Susan Sarandon, Goldie Hawn;
[12am] 'Rebus' - Dead Souls;
[2am] 'Murder in Mind' - Teacher;
[3am] 'So Graham Norton' - Larry Hagman;
[3am] 'So Graham Norton' - Susan Sarandon, Goldie Hawn;
[4am] 'Rebus' - Dead Souls; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'West Wing', followed by the movie 'The Messenger: The Story Of Joan Of Arc', then 'West Wing', again.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jon Stewart is Jack Black.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Mail Call', 'Guts & Bolts', 'The SS', another 'The SS', and still another 'The SS'.
SciFi is all 'Stargate SG-1' all night.
TCM celebrates Greer Garson (today would have been her 99th birthday) all day
and movies directed by Michael Curtiz all night.
[6am] 'Goodbye Mr. Chips' (1939);
[8am] 'Harvest' [AKA: 'Random Harvest'] (1942);
[10:15am] 'Mrs. Miniver' (1942);
[12:30pm] 'That Forsyte Woman' (1949);
[2:30pm] 'The Law And The Lady' (1951);
[4:30pm] 'Her Twelve Men' (1954);
[6:15pm] 'The Singing Nun' (1966);
[8pm] 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' (1938);
[10pm] 'Welcome to Sherwood: The Story of The Adventures of Robin Hood' (2003);
[11pm] 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' (1942);
[1:15am] 'Let Freedom Sing: The Story of Yankee Doodle Dandy' (2003);
[2:15am] 'Life With Father' (1947); and
[4:15am] 'The Man In The Net' (1959). (ALL TIMES EDT)
Arnold Schwarzenegger For Governor supporter Julie Fraracci (L) and opposer Todd Warden (R), dressed as a chicken, express their views outside Schwarzenegger's campaign headquarters in Santa Monica, California.
Photo by Robyn Beck
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Guards Arrested in Theft
'Troy'
Police arrested six security guards hired to protect the set of the upcoming Warner Bros. film "Troy," and charged them with stealing an all-terrain motorcycle and tools belonging to the production crew, police said Saturday.
Producers built a replica of ancient Tory in Baja California Sur, not far from the Pacific Coast resort city of Cabo San Lucas. The set, which is closed to the media and visitors, sustained minor damage when Hurricane Marty blew through the area Monday, said Cabo San Lucas police captain Francisco Solis.
Solis said six Mexicans hired as part of the set's private security team had complained for several days that they hadn't been paid since before the hurricane arrived. On Friday, they stole a 2003 Honda four-wheel motorcycle designed for use on sand dunes, a chain saw and an air compressor from the set.
'Troy'
Lloyd Scott, 41, wearing his antique deep sea diving suit, gives a final wave before submerging to begin his underwater marathon world record attempt to raise money for children with Leukaemia in Loch Ness, Scotland, September 28, 2003. Scott, a former leukaemia sufferer, who also completed the 2002 London Marathon in a diving suit, began the attempt on Sunday and will take 14 days to complete his 26-mile underwater trek where he will be 30 feet (9.14 metres) below the surface of the loch, the home of the mythical Loch Ness Monster.
Photo by Christopher Furlong
Guesting On 'Arrested Development'
Liza Minnelli
In her first screen acting gig in more than eight years, Liza Minnelli has been tapped to do a multiepisode guest arc on Fox's new comedy "Arrested Development."
The show, set to premiere Nov. 2, revolves around the eccentric Bluth clan, which has to band together after the family patriarch (Jeffrey Tambor) is arrested for fraud and their assets are frozen.
Minnelli will play a rich widowed socialite who is the Bluth family matriarch's (Jessica Walter) biggest nemesis.
Liza Minnelli
Buys Former Mike Tyson Mansion
50 Cent
Rapper 50 Cent has purchased a mansion that once belonged to former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
The rapper, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III, bought the 48,000-square-foot mansion for $4.1 million, according to records on file with the town clerk.
Tyson purchased the house in 1996 for $2.7 million.
50 Cent
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Hometown May Honor
Eugene O'Neill
Playwright Eugene O'Neill spent some of his most productive writing years on a ranch in Danville, a San Francisco Bay area suburb — but you'd never know it from a walk around town.
Though he is widely hailed as America's greatest playwright, Danville has no monument to O'Neill, who lived and worked in the town from 1937 to 1944. During that span he penned classics including "The Iceman Cometh" and the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Long Day's Journey Into Night."
The National Park Service made his ranch a historical site in 1976, but it's in the hills outside town and reservations are required for visits.
Eugene O'Neill
O'Neill Historic Site
Chinese Tai Chi practitioners line the Great Wall to perform the ancient martial art September 28, 2003. More than 10,000 Tai Chi practitioners took part in the event on the outskirts of China's capital as part of a culture festival to promote the 2008 Beijing Olympics and to showcase China's ability to choreograph highly visual performances on a mass scale.
Photo by Andrew Wong
Schools Reject Microsoft
Thailand
Thailand's schools are switching to open-source software because of concerns about costs and intellectual property rights
Concerns about intellectual property rights and software costs have prompted 18 Thai schools to switch to an open-source productivity suite, according to officials at the country's National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec).
The schools are already teaching their students the Office TLE productivity suite, which was partly developed in Thailand, said a report in the Bangkok Post.
Thailand
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Crashed To Earth In India
Meteorite
Five people were injured and two houses gutted when a meteorite crashed to earth in eastern India after panicking hundreds of villagers as it shot across the sky, reports and residents said.
The meteorite crashed Saturday in a remote village near the Bay of Bengal in the state of Orissa, local media said, adding five people were sent to hospital with injuries.
The provincial revenue minister, Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, said authorities were waiting for more concrete information about damages or casualties.
Meteorite
A wooden Eda 5 plane, a replica of an 1910 plane made by Yugoslav pilot Edvard Rusijan, is seen at an air show dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the first flight by the Wright brothers in Belgrade, Sunday Sept. 28 2003. This replica is made by Slovenian retired pilot Albin Novak, who was not flying the plane Sunday.
Photo by Mikica Petrovic
Merit in Censorship?
Egyptian Artists
A few years ago, a brief nude scene in "American Beauty" that made it past Egypt's censors prompted some moviegoers to stand up and shout in protest. So theater owners cut the scene themselves.
With Egyptians becoming increasingly religious — and socially conservative — it's not just government officials who see censorship as necessary. Even some artists, who traditionally bemoan infringements on their creativity, say censorship may be the only way to cope with conservative Islam.
"We used to protest censorship," said film director Inas el-Degheidi, known for tackling such touchy themes as teenage sexuality and gender equality in Egyptian society. "But now, society has developed in such a way that censorship sometimes works in favor of the artist, shielding him from society."
For an interesting read, Egyptian Artists
20th Century Aesthete Extraordinaire
Jean Cocteau
Who was Jean Cocteau? The name is instantly familiar, conjuring an image of mid-century aesthete, poised with tousled hair and cigarette in slender hand as he contemplates a line of poetry, a set-design or the curve of some other objet d'art.
But what did Jean Cocteau actually do? Exactly 40 years after his death, the answer is less obvious. A man who counted among his friends the best-known painters and musicians of the time -- who symbolised an artistic sensibility that came to be defined as "modern" -- is today something of an abstraction.
Few even in France would be able to list more than a handful of his works -- the films "Beauty and the Beast" and "Orpheus" would probably top the list -- and the vast majority of his immense output of poetry, plays, novels, drawings and literary criticism has been long forgotten.
But somehow the magnetism remains. A major winter exhibition that opened this week at the Pompidou Centre in central Paris has been drawing in large crowds -- many young and many foreign -- all seeking a fuller understanding of an almost mythic figure of 20th century culture.
For a lot more, Jean Cocteau
New Exhibit
Paul Gauguin
Weakened by syphilis, even his eyesight failing, Paul Gauguin was only 54 when he died in solitude 100 years ago on the remote Pacific island of Hiva Oa in the Marquesas, his work yet to be recognised and his Polynesian paradise lost.
It was three years later in Paris in 1906 that Gauguin's prolific work at last came into the spotlight, winning such acclaim that his post-impressionist style and use of colour would influence 20th century painters, from Matisse to Picasso to the German expressionists.
For the first time in 50 years, a mammoth work regarded as Gauguin's pictorial testament will be on show this week at an exhibition centered on the artist's two stays in his South Pacific garden of Eden, bringing together his works with photos and objects depicting life on the islands at the time.
For the rest, Paul Gauguin
In Memory
Althea Gibson
Trailblazer Althea Gibson, the first black tennis player to win the Wimbledon and U.S. national championships, died on Sunday at age 76, according to media reports.
Gibson, who dominated women's tennis in the late 1950s and is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, had been seriously ill for years. She died in East Orange General Hospital, New Jersey, reports said.
Gibson, born to sharecroppers on a cotton farm in South Carolina and raised in Harlem, became the first American black to play in the U.S. championships in 1950 after posting a string of titles in the all-black American Tennis Association.
In 1951 she broke the racial barrier at Wimbledon.
Five years later, the tall, powerful right-hander became the first black woman to win a major tennis crown by winning the French championships title.
In 1957, Gibson became the first black to win the Wimbledon women's singles title and she repeated the feat by claiming the U.S. national crown at Forest Hills.
Her triumphs made her a national figure. After her victory at Wimbledon, she was given a ticker-tape parade in New York.
Gibson dominated the next season as well, again sweeping Wimbledon and the U.S. championship titles in 1958.
Gibson retired from the amateur ranks in tennis after the 1958 season. In all, she won 11 major tennis titles in singles and doubles.
There was no professional women's tennis circuit at the time, so Gibson parlayed her great amateur success into a lucrative series of exhibition tennis matches, preceding Harlem Globetrotters basketball games.
She then turned her athletic skills to golf and joined the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour in 1964.
Gibson failed to win at golf and retired from the tour in 1971. She tried her hand at professional tennis but at age 34 was past her prime on the court.
Gibson went on to become New Jersey state commissioner of athletics in 1975, a position she held for a decade.
Althea Gibson
In Memory
Elia Kazan
Director Elia Kazan, the hard-driving immigrant's son whose triumphs included the original Broadway productions of "Death of a Salesman" and "A Streetcar Named Desire," and the Academy Award-winning film "On the Waterfront," died Sunday. He was 94.
Kazan was at his home in Manhattan when he died, said his lawyer, Floria Lasky.
Five of the plays he staged won Pulitzer Prizes for their authors: "The Skin of Our Teeth," "A Streetcar Named Desire," "Death of a Salesman," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "J.B.," for which Kazan himself won a Tony Award. Other stage credits included "Camino Real," "Sweet Bird of Youth" and "Tea and Sympathy."
In Hollywood, he won Oscars for directing "Gentleman's Agreement" and "On the Waterfront." He also did "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," the film version of "Streetcar," "East of Eden," "Splendor in the Grass," "A Face in the Crowd" and "The Last Tycoon."
In his 50s he turned to writing and produced six novels — including several best sellers — and an autobiography. The first two novels, "America, America" and "The Arrangement," he also made into movies.
To some, Kazan diminished his stature when he went before the House Committee on Un-American Activities during the McCarthy era and named people he said had been members of the Communist Party with him in the mid-1930s.
He insisted years later that he bore no guilt as a result of what some saw as a betrayal. "There's a normal sadness about hurting people, but I'd rather hurt them a little than hurt myself a lot," he said.
Elia Kazan
Two men, one dress up as a one eye ghost and the other as a monster, walk at shopping mall, to promote next month's Halloween activities in the territory in Hong Kong Sunday, Sept. 28, 2003.
Photo by Vincent Yu
'The Osbournes'
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