Special Monday Night TV Program Alert
"Third Watch"
Just heard from one of my old tv-pals....what they watched at work today was so moving,
poignant, and such a shining example of Great TV, that they felt obligated to play the
show forward.
This program is tonight's episode of "Third Watch" (on NBC at 8 pm), is titled 'In
Their Own Words'.
The football game is gonna suck. CBS' comedies can wait for rerun-time (which will
be sooner rather than later, anyway)....
As my pal put it "remarkable, compelling, and gut-wrenching, all in the first-person."
and
"Not To Be Missed!"
Not used to raves like this from this source. It really must be something special.
In The Chaos Household
Sunday Night's TV
Started out watching 'Max Bickford', but kept finding myself talking back to
the tv, and changed to 'Weakest Link'.
Plan to watch 'Surviving Gilligan's Island', 'cause I'm in the mood for cheese.
The 'Gilligan-thing' wasn't as bad as anticipated, and it had great cheesey-ness, to boot.
It was a treasure trove of Gilligan-trivia...like, all the names--The Skipper's 'name' was
Jonas Grimsby, The Professor's, Roy Hinckley, and Gilligan's never-used
first name was Willy.
Way back in the mid-70's, Alan Hale, Jr. had a restaurant on La Cienega, in Hollywood, CA.
Drawing a blank on the name, but I think it was 'Alan Hale's Lobster Barrel'.
The floor plan was a giant "U", with a huge bar across the 'top' of the letter...
the service was top notch, the food was pretty good, the atmosphere--it had a life
preserver from the 'Minnow' on the left wall of the bar, and so many waiters that
they literally seemed to lurk...the kind of place that if a patron pulled out a
cigarette, they never had a chance to try to light it...
The biggest draw, though, was the presence of Alan Hale, himself. It was one place
a local could guarantee a 'celebrity' for the visiting relatives.
He'd start at the bar, and work his way around the room, and I mean 'work' the room,
in the most postive way--he was the epitome of graciousness and good-natured banter.
And it seemed that he became even more pleasant with every pass of the bar.
Anyway, Monday Night Football has been having some ratings problems--and it
doesn't seem that tonights 'Loser vs. Loser' (Redskins & Cowgirls) game will help much.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
50 Years Ago Today
"I Love Lucy"
In 1950, when the networks were converting radio comedies to TV, CBS decided to
move My Favorite Husband starring Lucille Ball and Richard Denning to the new
medium. Ball agreed with one proviso: she wanted her husband, bandleader Desi
Arnaz, as co-star.
Network officials balked: "No one would believe that Desi is your husband." She
replied indignantly: "But he IS my husband." CBS and potential advertisers
remained dubious about the pairing.
Their objections, in part, were unspoken, observes Cleo Morgan Smith, cousin and
confidante to Ball: "They wondered if the general audience would accept a Cuban
Latino with an accent as Lucy's husband and leading man."
But accept them they did. A half-century after the Oct. 15, 1951, debut of I
Love Lucy, the sitcom has been seen in more than 90 countries by more people
than any other TV show.
Because the only way to record television in those pre-videotape days was by
filming a TV screen - a fuzzy process called kinescope - CBS insisted that the
show be done live in New York.
"We refused to move to New York," Ball said in her autobiography. "Desi
suggested that we film the show live in front of an audience (in Hollywood). The
network people screamed. A film show cost twice as much as a live one.
"The sponsor wouldn't put up more money, and neither would CBS. So Desi made a
canny offer: in return for a $1,000 weekly salary cut for us, we were given
complete ownership of the show; originally CBS had owned half."
The transaction would produce a future fortune for the couple: shooting the
sitcom on film meant that it had the technical quality to be reproduced and
rerun in syndication; owning the show meant that all the revenue from
syndication - where a TV show typically makes its profit - went to Ball and Arnaz.
The deal also would lead to sitcom innovations that remain industry standards to this day.
For a whole lot more, I Love Lucy Is 50
Picking Up Where BC Left Off...
"Boondocks" (9 Oct 01)
Really like this one...gonna let it ride another day.
Saturday Night
Thalians Ball
Actor Martin Landau and Laurel Aston pose upon arriving at the 46th annual
Thalians Ball October 13, 2001 in Los Angeles, California. Actress Ruta Lee was
honored for her 33 years of service in raising over $30 million for the
Thalians, a celebrity charity created in 1955 by actor Hugh O'Brian. This year's
gala benefited The Thalian's Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Photo by Jim Ruymen
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BartCop TV!
Visit the site at BC TV
The 'Vidiot' never seems to rest!
Every show on TV must be listed--days worth of reading there.
For an amazing variety of information on an astounding array of tv programs check out
BC TV!
October Is 'Breast Cancer Awareness' Month
Tea Leoni
``Jurassic Park'' actress Tea Leoni hopes to increase breast cancer awareness
with her participation in the sixth annual Take-A-Hike.
``She really is very committed at this. Her grandmother had breast cancer,''
said Take-A-Hike spokeswoman Brenda Himelfarb. ``This is the fourth year that
Tea has been involved.''
The event, which benefits several breast cancer research organizations, involved
taking participants for hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Leoni, original ``Shaft'' star Richard Roundtree and exercise guru Kathy Smith
were among the celebrities who led participants on the trails Saturday.
The event coincided with breast cancer awareness month.
Tea Leoni
Look Who's 75
Winnie The Pooh
The world's most famous bear, A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh, celebrates his
birthday this weekend having enchanted children around the world for 75 years.
Pooh, created after Milne's 5-year-old son, Christopher Robin, saw a real black
bear called Winnie at London Zoo, first appeared in a short story published in a
London newspaper.
The bear's adventures were set in Ashdown Forest in Sussex, southern England,
where the Milne family had a cottage.
And it is to Ashdown Forest, to the famous Pooh Sticks Bridge, that fans are
flocking this weekend to mark the birthday.
The bridge, renovated and reopened in 1979 by Christopher Robin, is popular with
visitors who toss twigs into the stream below and watch them race into the
distance in imitation of Pooh and the fictitious Christopher Robin, his human pal.
The first Pooh story, ``The Wrong Sort of Bees,'' was published in the London
Evening News in 1925. It was so popular Milne wrote a host of Pooh books and
poetry volumes over the next three years.
Winnie The Pooh Is 75
New! Updated!
BartCop Astrology
Check it out at BC Astrology.
"Guitar Greats" is still on hiatus, but, this week, it's a look at 'The Birth of
Aviation', and a relevant USA horoscope courtesy of Marc Penfield.
Very interesting reading!
In Germany...
David Copperfield
American illusionist David Copperfield said Sunday he was bombarded by requests
for tips on the winning numbers in Germany's national lottery Saturday
night -- numbers he said he had predicted seven months ago.
Copperfield wrote down his forecast on Feb. 17 for the multi-million mark
lottery drawing due Saturday Oct. 13. The prediction was sealed by a notary and
locked in a box that was kept under round-the-clock surveillance.
One hour after the winning numbers were drawn, the box was opened on a live
television broadcast and the numbers on the slip of paper matched the winning
draw: 2, 9, 10, 15, 25, 38, 4.
``It wasn't a trick,'' Copperfield told Bild am Sonntag newspaper after the
Saturday night performance on the popular ''Wanna Bet?'' broadcast on ZDF
television. ``It was more an experiment and mental exercise. We only use about
10 percent of our brain capacity.''
Copperfield said he doesn't participate in lotteries because ``I find them
boring. I'm not a gambler.'' He said he isn't tempted to play the lottery
himself because then he wouldn't be able to ``see'' the numbers.
``I used to try it out by giving friends the numbers, but then it would never
work,'' he said. ``If the numbers aren't kept secret, it doesn't work.''
David Copperfield & The German Lottery
American Academy Of Arts And Sciences
Class Of 2001
Music producer Quincy Jones, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and
more than 200 other luminaries of politics, arts, science and the humanities
were inducted Saturday into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Jones thanked the academy for his membership and called a ``new spirit of unity
throughout the world'' heartening and encouraging.
Referring indirectly to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, he said academy
members are uniquely positioned to build understanding.
``We have an opportunity to speak to a wide public, here and abroad, about the
value of employing our creative faculties - our intellects, our
expressiveness - to overcome the hatred and suspicions that have proved so
deadly and dangerous,'' Jones said during Saturday's ceremony at Harvard Law School.
Among this year's other inductees are Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel,
photographer Richard Avedon and Tony-award winning lyricist Stephen Sondheim.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011014/en/qunicy_jones_1.html
New!
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Don't worry about the HTML, just send text, or rich text, or a Word document, photos, video, whatever you have, and Michele will take care of the rest. Don't hesitate to write with any questions you may have and bring on the recipes!
To check out 'Train Station Chicken', and more (like 'Cranberry Autumn Tea'),
In The Kitchen With BartCop
Music News
Moby
Music could provide a comforting refuge and a venue for political expression
after the terrorist attacks, says 35-year-old singer-song writer Moby.
Moby, whose birthday is Sept. 11, said that in times of national crisis, more
artists and audiences turn to activism and social commentary.
``Over the last few years, I think popular music has become kind of irrelevant
for a lot of people. In times of crisis, people turn to music because it does
have the ability to communicate, soothe and comfort,'' Moby said in a Los
Angeles Times interview. ``I just hope this will force people to re-evaluate
their priorities so that they create music that speaks to people on a more
profound level.''
Moby, who broke into the mainstream with his best-selling 1999 album ``Play,''
said that although the attacks may drive artists to be more political, he'll
probably keep politics out of his music.
``Whenever I tried over the years to write political music, it ended up really
strident or didactic,'' he said. ``Trust me, I've written political songs, but
thank goodness I've never released any of them.''
Moby and Music
Off To Court
Heirs Of Bing Crosby
A suit that pits the estate of legendary crooner Bing Crosby against Universal
Music Group alleges that the family has been cheated out of royalties to the
tune of $16 million.
A hearing in the case, filed last year in the Santa Monica branch of L.A.
Superior Court, is scheduled for next month. The plaintiffs -- the estates of
Crosby and his first wife Wilma Wyatt (the actress known as Dixie Lee, who died
in 1952) -- are seeking documents, including 10 email messages, they expect will
support their breach of contract claims.
The attorney representing the Crosby estate did not return a phone call seeking
comment. A spokesman for Universal, the world's largest music company, said the
company does not comment on pending litigation.
According to court papers, Crosby recorded for Decca Records under two major
contracts. Decca was acquired by MCA Records and ultimately folded into
Universal Music.
On songs recorded before 1949, Crosby was to receive a royalty rate of 15% of
the wholesale price; on songs after that date, he was to receive a royalty of
7% of the retail price.
Following an audit, the Crosby estate informed Universal that it was paying
7% royalties on all songs, instead of 15% on pre-1949 songs. UMG claimed that
the royalty rate had been contractually changed in 1948. The plaintiffs claim
there never was a 1948 agreement.
One subject of the upcoming hearing is a series of email messages pertaining to
the supposed 1948 contract, which Universal claims are protected by the
attorney-client privilege.
The Crosby case is one of several pending against Universal. Others include a
class action challenging royalty rates brought by singer Peggy Lee on behalf of
all artists who performed for Decca Records. Two suits by singer Courtney Love
on behalf of herself and the estate of her husband Kurt Cobain also challenge
royalties, but primarily seek to nullify the contracts with Universal.
Bings Kin Sue Universal
First Person Diary
Ray Berry
Ray has temporarily (I hope), suspended 'Bush-Toons'. In its place, he has put
his daily diary of life in Manhattan since Tuesday.
Ray has great observational abilities, and a wonderful way with words.
To visit & read, www.bush-toons.com
Still MISSING
Marc Chagall's "Study for 'Over Vitebsk'"
