Issue #32
Disinfotainment Today
By Michael Dare
UNDO THE COUP
'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast early, sunny later. Not a bad weather pattern.
The lead story on KABC at 11pm was Britney Spears may have a stalker. And they say there's no real news anymore < /sarcasm>
The Kid is starting to come home with some interesting factoids from his teacher. Guess I won't feel too bad getting the teacher a cheesy Christmas present.
Ginger disappeared 2 weeks ago tonight. : (
Tonight, Tuesday, CBS starts the evening with a RERUN 'JAG', then a fresh 'The Guardian' and a fresh 'Judging Amy'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave are Jason Alexander and Ryan Adams.
Scheduled on a fresh Craiggers is Alanis Morissette.
NBC opens with a fresh 'special' - 'An Evening With The District Chicks', followed by a fresh 'Frasier', then a fresh 'Hidden Hills', and caps it with 'Dateline'.
Scheduled on a fresh Jay are Rudolph Giuliani, George Lopez, and Counting Crows.
Scheduled on a fresh Conan are Rob Schneider, Henry Winkler, and Sheryl Crow.
Scheduled on a fresh Carson Daly are Parker Posey, the Roots, and Cody Chesnutt.
ABC has a fresh '8 Simple Rules', then a fresh 'Jim', followed by a fresh 'Bonnie', then a fresh 'Less Than Perfect' and a fresh NYPD Blue'.
The WB offers a fresh 'Gilmore Girls' then a RERUN 'Smallville'.
Faux opens with a fresh 'That 70's Show', then a fresh 'Grounded For Life', followed by a fresh '24' (Day 2: 2pm - 3pm)
UPN has a RERUN 'Buffy' followed by a RERUN 'One On One' and a RERUN 'The Parkers'.
TNN (or is that the 'New' TNN), starts a 16 episode marathon of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'.
MTV has a fresh 'The Osbournes'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Little Rock, Ark
Socks
Marie Clinton Bruno, a volunteer with the President Clinton Foundation, holds Socks, formerly the Clinton family pet, as he looks at his picture at the Clinton Presidential Library Preview
Exhibit, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2002 in Little Rock, Ark. Socks stopped in at the exhibit Saturday before he participated as the the 2002 Grand Marshal of the City of Little Rock's Big Jingle Jubilee Holiday Parade.
Photo by Mike Wintroath
Anti-War Letter
100 Celebrities
Mike Farrell and Anjelica Huston will release a letter Tuesday signed by a hundred celebrities who want President Bush to stop his war rhetoric toward Iraq.
The letter reportedly is signed by stars including Kim Basinger, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Lange and Martin
Sheen, publicists for the event said Monday.
Farrell, who plays a veterinarian on the NBC drama "Providence," previously compiled a celebrity-endorsed letter in June asking U.S. senators to vote against a plan to bury
the nation's nuclear power waste at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.
Co-signers of that letter included Alec Baldwin and Tim Robbins, Rob Reiner, Barbra Streisand and Harry Belafonte.
On July 9, senators voted 60-39 in favor of the Yucca Mountain project.
100 Celebrities
Cinema Icon
Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee is piling up his credentials as a cinema icon -- he has played the villain in James Bond, Star Wars and "The Lord of the Rings."
All the 80-year-old British actor now needs to complete the set is an appearance in the "Harry Potter" movies.
Lee, a tall and saturnine figure with an unmistakable air of menace, rose to fame playing Count Dracula in the classic Hammer horror films and has made more than 280 movies.
Now he is in more demand than ever and readily admits: "I'll never retire. What would I do?"
For a lot more, Christopher Lee
Nashville, Tenn
Bono
U2 singer Bono talks about his 'Heart of America' tour and his effort to bring attention to the worldwide AIDS crisis during a forum in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Dec. 9, 2002. Bono and Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist appeared at
a Global Health Council forum to discuss mother-to-child transmission of the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
Photo by John Russell
Tony Gets Tossed in Season Finale
'The Sopranos'
The fourth season of HBO's "The Sopranos" ended with Carmela Soprano tossing her mob boss husband out of the house after she was tipped to his philandering by one of his scorned girlfriends.
It was a powerful punch to a program that has grown into a television phenomenon since it was launched nearly four years ago. The finale could be another big ratings draw for the award-winning
series, starring James Gandolfini as Tony and Edie Falco as Carmela.
In the finale, co-written by series creator David Chase, the clash between Tony and Carmela is as powerful as anything ever seen on "The Sopranos," which is saying a lot. So is this:
In her portrayal of a wife betrayed, enraged and despairing, Falco outdid herself. It was an electrifying performance.
Now the season ends with everybody miserable (including Uncle Junior), but none more than Tony and Carmela. Can their marriage be saved? Production on the fifth, perhaps last, "Sopranos"
season begins in January, but answers must await its return to the air next fall.
'The Sopranos'
www.hbo.com/sopranos/
Laments Languishing Libido
Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson says his legendary libido is languishing - and that he now prefers sleeping alone.
The Hollywood legend, 65, made the remarkable confession to Newsweek in a wide-ranging interview where he shattered his lady-killer reputation.
"I'm a different guy here in my 60s. I don't have the same libido," Nicholson told the magazine.
"It used to be that I didn't think I could go to sleep if I wasn't involved in some kind of amorous contact or another.
"Well, I spend a lot of time sleeping alone these days. That's different. And very liberating."
"It wasn't until the last few years that I became completely comfortable with it," the three-time Oscar-winning actor said.
"You know, my fear is that I'm beginning to prefer it."
Jack Nicholson
Super Bowl Ad Rates
ABC Eyes Record
A revved-up marketplace is pushing the ad revenues of the 2003 Super Bowl on ABC toward a possible record $130 million.
That's the word along Madison Avenue, which is buzzing about the $2.2 million per 30-second spot ABC has extracted, on average, from such advertisers as Anheuser-Busch, Pepsi, Cadillac and Levi's.
These sponsors have already bought 80% or so of the 61 available spots in the 37th annual Super Bowl, slated for Jan. 26 in San Diego.
During last January's Super Bowl on the Fox Network, the nailbiter in which New England beat St. Louis on a last-second field goal, Fox wound up pocketing about $1.9 million per 30-second spot. Fox was
hurt somewhat by sluggish advertiser demand and tough competition from the 2002 Winter Olympics on NBC.
ABC Eyes Record
NBC Sitcom Deal
Jon Stewart
In his first stab at primetime series television, late-night veteran Jon Stewart will write and executive produce an NBC sitcom starring fellow "Daily Show" writer/actor Stephen Colbert.
Stewart and Colbert will co-write the pilot script for the project, which will borrow heavily from Colbert's experiences growing up in South Carolina. The untitled series is being developed for NBC's fall 2003 schedule.
Stewart said the real impetus for the project was his desire to get Colbert to stop yakking about his past.
"I'm just tired of Stephen telling me stories about how he grew up," Stewart quipped. "I figured if we write it all down in script form, he'll stop talking about it."
Jon Stewart
Painting Featured
Apollo 17 Exhibit
Astronaut Alan Bean's painting that depicts Gene Cernan repairing a lunar rover is part of an exhibit at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 17 mission.
The lunar rover's damaged fender and a map book Cernan used on the moon mission also will be displayed through Jan. 10.
The painting, titled "Tender Loving Care," was commissioned by Barry Schartz and his wife, Charlotte, after they met Bean, who paints space art as a hobby.
Barry Schartz was one of two Kansas residents chosen for the 1985 Challenger project that allowed a teacher to participate in the space program. Christa McAuliffe died
aboard the space shuttle when it exploded shortly after launch in 1986.
Apollo 17 Exhibit
Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center Web site
Ms Magazine
Women of Year
In a long-running rejoinder to Time magazine's annual person of the year, which has generally been a man, Ms. decided to honor women and women's groups in its current issue.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat who last month became the first woman to head a party in Congress, got the Ms. award "for gaining the trust of her colleagues
to become the most powerful woman in Congress, while keeping the trust of her sisters by using that power for peace and the powerless."
Others on the Ms. list included:
-- Actress and author Jamie Lee Curtis, for exposing her slightly flabby midsection in a photograph published in More magazine in September 2002. This showed "the shared
reality of unique and vulnerable human bodies," Ms. said;
-- Enron accountant Sherron Watkins, WorldCom internal auditor Cynthia Cooper and FBI senior attorney Coleen Rowley for exposing missteps at their organizations;
-- and Barbara Blaine, founder of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and an abuse survivor.
Writer and actress Nia Vardalos of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" fame, Middle East peace activists Terry Greenblatt and Maha Abu-Dayyeh Shamas, basketball star Lisa Leslie
of the L.A. Sparks, documentary filmmaker Lourdes Portillo and the performing troupe Stand with Sisters for Economic Dignity also made the list.
Women of Year
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Some Tweaks
TV Networks
NBC will air all three editions of the "Law & Order" franchise on Saturday, Jan. 11, from 8-11 p.m., making way for a regular 8-10 p.m. Saturday block of "L&O" and "L&O: Special Victims Unit" that will start Jan. 18. NBC is expected to keep repeats of "L&O" on Saturdays through February sweeps, likely returning to theatrical pics in the spring.
Over at Fox, the network next week will begin airing original episodes of the critically worshipped "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" Tuesdays at 8:30. The episodes will air in addition to the show's regularly scheduled Sunday 9:30 p.m. run.
Fox plans to double-pump "Richter" for at least the month of December, with the intent of giving the show some added exposure.
TV Networks
5th National Body Painting Competition
Madrid
Male and female models smile with their painted bodies during the 5th National body painting competition at Madrid's Atocha train station on December 5, 2002. Sixteen artists participated
in the event which was won by Judith Martin.
Photo by Andrea Comas
Involved In A Feud?
Kelly Osbourne
Kelly Osbourne may appear tough as nails on TV, but behind the scenes she's a wuss. Ozzy's high-maintainance daughter pulled out of a concert in Australia when she learned that her arch-rival Natalie Imbruglia would be there. Music fans were looking
forward to a great catfight when the two were scheduled to perform at the Rumba Festival in Melbourne Sunday, but Osbourne canceled at the last minute, claiming she was ill. The pair have been feuding since Osbourne used the dirtiest of all dirty words
to describe Imbruglia recently. Since then, Imbruglia has been referring to Osbourne as "Kelly who?"
Kelly Osbourne
Hospital News
Paul Hogan
"Crocodile Dundee" star Paul Hogan, known for his roles wrestling crocs, was recovering in a hospital Monday after he suffered from a slipped disc while wrestling with furniture.
The 63-year-old Australian actor was admitted recently to St. Vincents Private Hospital in Sydney for treatment of the back injury he sustained while moving furniture.
The hospital issued a brief statement saying the actor would be back on his feet within a few weeks and asking that his privacy be respected.
Paul Hogan
Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year - 2002
Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong was chosen Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year for 2002 after becoming the first American to win a fourth Tour de France.
Armstrong claimed his fourth straight Tour this year, winning by 7 minutes, 17 seconds. He'll go for a record-tying fifth victory at the 100th Tour
next year. Four riders have won the race five times.
Lance Armstrong
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
New Salute
Roy Clark
No, it wasn't old Saint 'Knickers'' way of saluting the Commander in Chief. Apparently, Santa is more svelte than we thought and needs a new belt for Christmas. The President agrees.
Though the nation's capital was blanketed under its first snowfall of the season Thursday and temperatures dipped to below freezing by the evening hours, it wasn't cold enough for country
singer Roy Clark (a.k.a. Mr. Claus) to notice that the pants to his Santa suit had fallen to his knees - in front of thousands of onlookers that included resident Bush and the First Lady.
The blooper happened after actress Barbara Eden, who was emceeing the event, tossed the show over to Clark to begin singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". A few seconds passed into the
song and Clark's red trousers slowly began slipping to below his knees - and stayed there long enough for everyone to notice. Luckily for him, he was wearing black sweatpants underneath.
Television cameras cut to a shot of the resident, sitting behind bullet-proof glass on a separate stage, as he was laughing hysterically with his guests. Mrs. Bush, ever so dignified,
chuckled and then smiled politely.
Evidently, Clark wasn't too adept at playing Santa; he also had his beard strapped to his neck instead of over his chin. Sometime during the performace he realized his pants were down and
attempted to pull them back up, but the resident couldn't let this one go quietly.
"I appreciate Santa coming," Bush said later in his address to the audience. "It looks like he needs a belt for Christmas."
Roy Clark
Watch the video
Island Peak, Nepal
Summit
Charles Mitchell, left, from Honolulu, Hawaii, and Kingkaew Buatoom of Thailand show their national flags on the summit of Island Peak in Nepal on Nov. 25, 2002. Kingkaew became the first Thai national to summit a mountain in the Himalayas.
Photo by Pema Dorje Sherpa
Directorial Debut
George Clooney
George Clooney is sending condolence cards to actors edited out of his directorial debut, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind." A hand-written card Clooney sent to one unlucky actress explains: "A lot of
people were cut because we came in overtime. This has nothing to do with your abilities. I wanted you to hear it from me first." Cha Cha da Vinci, the actress' agent, said her clients usually find out
they've ended up on the cutting floor at the premiere. "They go in expecting to show their friends how they look on the screen and come out crying," da Vinci said. "George was an actor before he was a
director, so he understands how much that hurts. He's a great guy for doing this." But Clooney's kindness did not extend to Maria Bertrand, the Montreal bartender he romanced while filming "Confessions,"
a biopic about goofy game show guru Chuck Barris. Clooney cast Bertrand in a pivotal scene with Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, where she plays a bachelorette on Barris' 1970s show, "The Dating Game." Pitt
and Damon play bachelors who don't get picked by Bertrand.
George Clooney
Actor Arrested
Tom Sizemore
Tough guy actor Tom Sizemore, best known for playing a gruff sergeant in "Saving Private Ryan," was arrested for allegedly punching his girlfriend in the face and throwing her to the ground, police said on Monday.
A police spokesman, Sgt John Pasquariello, said the woman reported that Sizemore, 38, hit her in the face, threw her to the ground and made threats. The woman's name was not released.
E Networks, the cable television network which initially broke the story, said the argument was over the couple's wedding plans.
Tom Sizemore
A little background - Heidi Fleiss Dumps Her 'Viagra-Taking Pig'
Altering Songwriting Credits
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney is reopening an old wound with Yoko Ono over Beatles songwriting credits.
His new live album, "Back in the U.S.," credits 19 Beatles songs to "Paul McCartney and John Lennon," rather than "Lennon/McCartney." Ono's lawyer, Peter Shukat, tells Rolling Stone what McCartney
did is "absolutely inappropriate" because Lennon and McCartney had an agreement to credit all their Beatles music to Lennon/McCartney.
McCartney disputes that claim. His spokesman, Geoff Baker, says Lennon and McCartney agreed in the 60's they could switch the names whenever they felt like it.
Paul McCartney
Singers To Help Raise Funds
Nelson Mandela
Bono, Macy Gray and Shaggy have agreed to help former South African President Nelson Mandela raise funds for African AIDS victims.
Mandela will host the concert Feb. 2 on Robben Island, a rocky outcrop off the coast of Cape Town where he was imprisoned for two decades. The location now serves as a museum.
Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Sting and Janet Jackson have also been approached but have not yet committed. The concert will be for an audience of 3,000 invited guests.
Nelson Mandela
Joins Johnson & Johnson
Dr. Nancy Snyderman
Dr. Nancy Snyderman is changing her specialty from TV journalism.
Since 1987 a medical correspondent for ABC News, Snyderman is joining Johnson & Johnson as vice president of medical affairs, the health-care products corporation
announced Monday. In her newly created position, she will advise the company on the introduction of new technologies.
At ABC, the San Francisco-based Snyderman served as a contributor to "20/20" and "Good Morning America," as well as a "GMA" substitute co-host. She also has had a practice in head and neck surgery.
Dr. Nancy Snyderman
5th National Body Painting Competition
2nd Prize
Model Ana Villalba displays her painted body created by artist Jaime Torres during the 5th National body painting competition at Madrid's Atocha train station December 5, 2002. Sixteen artists participated in the event and Torres
won the second prize with this creation.
Photo by Andrea Comas
'The Osbournes'
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