'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Comment
Dish Subscriber, Too
Suggestion: Don't plug or review Viacom/CBS shows on the Entertainment page until it's worked out.
Especially the shows they WANT advertising for.
I miss Jon Stewart already - guess me and my husband will have to read or have sex at 11 0'clock now.
Mrs. B
Thanks, Mrs. B!
They can keep their MTV, just give me back my Comedy Central!
Reader Review
Re: 'Survivor'
Survivor (and why you should watch)
I admit it: I'm a Survivor junkie. And I'm cool with that. Here's why.
"Survivor" is nothing more than a parable of human nature set on an island. In each season, you witness daily power struggles, individual strategies, and strange-bedfellow alliances all in the name of personal gain. The higher up the ladder you climb, the more money you'll make. And back-stabbing is all a part of the game.
They may as well replace each person's name with that of a country: USA, China, North Korea, Brazil, Venezuela, etc. You see the same patterns of behavior on a governmental level that you do on an individual level.
In the first season, Richard Hatch provided his tribe (or hemisphere) with food. As annoying and arrogant as he was, he was kept around because he offered a valuable trade. Other tribe members were kept around for their muscle (military might), or like Ethan (Switzerland?), their neutrality.
Last season's winner (V-Latin America) retaliated against her tribe for voting out her ally, Rupert (a personable Viking). She dumped their dinner in the woods after the vote, and never fessed up to it. Another tribe member was everyone's target of suspicion and voted out next. These kinds of things happen on the world stage all the time. (Irish potato famine?) This week, Susan Hawk went ballistic over Richard dangling in her aura. Richard was the same cocky (ahem!), scheming food provider, but others in the tribe learned how to fish this week. His tribe realized how powerful he still was, that they didn't need him, and he was booted the first chance they had.
And just like American media, we NEVER get the full story of what's really going on behind the scenes. It's packaged for us in a dramatic, white-washed narrative that we can digest within the hour. What wouldn't I give to see Survivor: World Leaders Edition....
--Fred M
Thanks, Fred!
Reader Link
10 Worst Album Covers
from Mark
Gee Dubya on 9/11
Reader Comment
Re: Paul Winfield
"City Confidential" won't be the same without him.
He did a great job as narrator on that show on A&E, and he will be missed.
Terry C
NJ
Thanks, Terry!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
The Wall Street Poet
Some folks have gotten pretty hysterical about legalizing gay marriages. So an hysterical rhyme seems in order...
© 2004
*********
For more political poetry: http://www.beltwaybard.com
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still too damn hot & the air stinks.
Sadly, there won't be a FRESH Disinfotainment Today because the ever-fabulous Michael Dare is finally taking a well-deserved break.
Had a conference with the kid's teacher - the school schedules these conferences before report cards are issued.
It wasn't pretty. Seems he's been going out of his way to fail so he can stay in the 5th grade (and doing a real bang-up job of it).
Tonight, Wednesday, CBS starts the night with '60 Minutes II', followed by a RERUN 'The King Of Queens', then a RERUN
'Yes, Dear', followed by '48 Hours'.
On a RERUN Dave (from 1/12/04), are Patricia Heaton and Kate Bosworth.
On a RERUN Craiggers are Jack Osbourne, Dominic Monaghan, and Engelbert Humperdinck.
NBC opens the night with the weekly-RERUN of 'Trump Atrocity', followed by a RERUN 'Law & Order', then another
RERUN 'Law & Order'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Elijah Wood, Hollis Gillespie, and Maroon 5.
Scheduled on a FRESH Conan are Jeff Goldblum, Juliette Lewis, and Sarah McLachlan.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Viggo Mortensen, Jill Hennessy, and Cee-Lo.
ABC begins the night with a FRESH 'My Wife & Kids', followed by a RERUN 'My Wife & Kids', then a
FRESH 'Extreme Makeover', followed by a FRESH 'Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel is Pat Green, with this week's guest co-host Kevin Nealon.
The WB offers a RERUN 'Smallville', followed by another RERUN 'Smallville'.
Faux has a FRESH 'That 70s Show', followed by a FRESH 'American Idol', then a FRESH
'Cracking Up'.
UPN tweaks their schedule with a FRESH 'Game Over', followed by a FRESH 'The Mullets', then a RERUN
'Enterprise'.
A&E has 'American Justice', 'Biography' (Erik & Lyly Menendez), another 'American Justice', and 'City Confidential'.
AMC offers the movie 'Halls of Montezuma', followed by the movie 'Zulu', then the movie 'Von Ryan's Express'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Hirst;
[7pm] 'House Invaders' - Hillingdon;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Basildon;
[8pm] 'The Life Laundry' - Anita: Stanmore;
[8:30pm] 'House Doctor' - Episode 9;
[9pm] 'The Thin Blue Line' - Honey Trap;
[9:40pm] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 3;
[10:20pm] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 4;
[11pm] 'The Life Laundry' - Anita: Stanmore;
[11:30pm] 'House Doctor' - Episode 9;
[12am] 'The Thin Blue Line' - Honey Trap;
[12:40am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 3;
[1:20am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 4;
[2am] 'House Invaders' - Hillingdon;
[2:30am] 'Changing Rooms' - Basildon;
[3am] 'The Thin Blue Line' - Honey Trap;
[3:40am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 3;
[4:20am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 4;
[5am] 'The Life Laundry' - Anita: Stanmore;
[5:30am] 'House Doctor' - Episode 9; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'West Wing', 'Queer Eye', 'Keen Eddie', and 'Keen Eddie'.
Comedy Central has 'MAD TV', 'Crank Yankers', 'Insomniac', 'South Park', another 'South Park', and 'Chappelle's Show'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jon Stewart is George Carlin.
History is all 'Modern Marvels' all night.
SciFi has the movie 'It', followed by the movie 'Pet Sematary'.
TCM spends all day celebrating the short, but remarkable, career of director
Gregory La Cava (who was born in Towanda, PA, on this day in 1892, and died in Malibu in 1952), then devotes all night
to Charlie Chaplin.
[6am] 'Smart Woman' (1931);
[7:30am] 'Symphony Of Six Million' (1932);
[9:30am] 'Gabriel Over The White House' (1933);
[11am] 'The Half-Naked Truth' (1933);
[12:30pm] 'What Every Woman Knows' (1934);
[2pm] 'My Man Godfrey' (1936);
[4pm] 'Primrose Path' (1940);
[6pm] 'Living In A Big Way' (1947);
[8pm] 'Chaplin Today: Modern Times' (2003);
[8:30pm] 'Modern Times' (1936);
[10pm] 'Unknown Chaplin' (Episode 1) (1983);
[11pm] 'Chaplin at Keystone Studios' (1914) SILENT ;
[12am] 'Chaplin at Mutual Studios II' (1916)[includes digitally remastered classic shorts: 'The Count', 'The Vagabond', 'The Fireman' and 'Behind the Screen'] SILENT ;
[1:45am] 'Chaplin at Mutual Studios III' (1916)[includes digitally remastered classic shorts: 'One A.M.', 'The Pawnshop', 'The Floorwalker' and 'The Rink'] SILENT ;
[3:30am] 'Shoulder Arms' (1918) SILENT ;
[4:15am] 'A Dog's Life' (1918) SILENT ;
[5am] 'A Day's Pleasure' (1919) SILENT ;
[5:30am] 'Sunnyside' (1919) SILENT . (ALL TIMES EST)
Former President Bill Clinton addresses the 18th annual forecast breakfast for CB Richard Ellis, the world's largest real estate provider Tuesday, March 9, 2004 in New York.
Photo by Mary Altaffer
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Starting Radio Station at Home
Bob Denver
Bob Denver, who starred in the '60s sitcom "Gilligan's Island," is starting a radio station in his house.
Denver says he plans to promote West Virginia by creating the station downstairs in his Princeton home.
He wants to broadcast oldies music and radio dramas when he takes to the airwaves within a month. He says the station will reach 100,000 people in southern West Virginia.
"I expect it to have quite a reach," he said. "On Interstate 77, I'll be picking up people all the way into Virginia."
Bob Denver
www.bobdenver.com
Writing Books
Harvey Pekar
Harvey Pekar, the cult comic book hero and inspiration for the acclaimed film "American Splendor," has agreed to write three graphic novels for Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, Inc.
Pekar's first work for Ballantine, a "sequel of sorts" to "American Splendor," will come out this fall.
"People have been frustrated for the last 10 years or so. They've known Harvey's around, they've known he's alive, but they can't find his stuff anywhere," Pekar's wife and collaborator, Joyce Brabner, said in a statement Tuesday.
"Now, publishing with Ballantine, the work will have a much wider distribution and Harvey will find a much broader audience."
Harvey Pekar
Broadcasting Show Via Satellite
Prince
Twenty years after he first appeared on the big screen in "Purple Rain," Prince returns to movie theaters for one night only March 29.
The Minnesota rock star plans to broadcast his concert in Los Angeles live via satellite to 32 Regal Cinema theaters around the country.
Tickets are on sale at the theaters for $15 and online starting Tuesday at http://www.RegalCM.com.
Prince
Left to right, hotel industrialist J.W. Marriot, actress Ruby Dee, Sean 'Puffy' Combs, actor Ossie Davis and Sharon Robinson pose for photographers following the presentation of the 2004 Lifetime Achievment Award that was given to Davis and Lee at the Jackie Robinson Foundation Annual Dinner, Monday, March 8, 2004, in New York. Marriot also received the 'Robie' award for achievement in Industry.
Photo by Louis Lanzano
Judge OKs Sale of 'Kane' Oscar
Beatrice Welles
Orson Welles' daughter has moved a step closer to auctioning her father's "Citizen Kane" Oscar statuette through a ruling of the U.S. District Court. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which adamantly opposes the sale of any Oscar, said it will appeal.
Beatrice Welles hopes to sell the Oscar -- granted in 1942 for best original screenplay -- in order to fund her animal-rescue operations. The statuette has been appraised at $500,000-$1 million.
"Welles has unrestricted property rights in the original Oscar, which she may dispose of however she sees fit," according to a ruling Thursday by Judge Dean Pregerson in Los Angeles.
The case is complicated by the fact that Beatrice Welles requested and received a replacement Oscar in 1988 because it appeared that the original had been lost. At the time, she agreed to the Academy's standard ownership terms, including its right of first refusal to buy back the statuette for $1.
The original surfaced in 1994, and Beatrice Welles was able to get it back through a court order.
When she moved to auction the original last year, the Academy opposed the sale, and it was canceled.
Beatrice Welles
Visited Asia's Largest Slum
Jane Fonda
Oscar-winning Hollywood actress Jane Fonda visited the sea of shanties in Bombay that make up Asia's largest slum and later mingled with destitute women at a crisis centre.
"I'm very happy to see the way this centre is run," she told reporters after visiting the Sneha Crisis Centre (Centre of Affection) in the bustling Dharavi slum, home to 600,000 people who live crammed into ramshackle dwellings.
"I only hope people would donate more money to such centres regularly rather than giving once and forgetting about it," she said.
For more, Jane Fonda
Advertises for Audience
Dennis Miller
As seen at:
Audience work, one hour tape time, cash pay at end of show. Tapes 3/10, 3/11, and 3/12 (1:45pm). Reply to ****@yahoo.com, incude contact number, nationality, and age or age range (submit photo if possible).
Compensation: $15 FLAT RATE
The show's so hot they have to pay people to attend tapings?
And they want to know your nationality up front? Jeez.
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Drops Viacom Stations
EchoStar (DISH)
Satellite television service EchoStar Communications Corp. on Tuesday dropped CBS stations in 16 U.S. cities, as talks collapsed with CBS parent Viacom Inc. ahead of the popular NCAA college basketball tournament.
Echostar also dropped MTV, Nickelodeon and other Viacom Inc. cable channels nationwide, leaving 9.5 million viewers without 10 Viacom channels.
EchoStar, the No. 2 U.S. satellite broadcaster, sued Viacom in January, charging the media conglomerate with forcing it to carry cable channels it did not want in exchange for rights to rebroadcast CBS.
The Echostar-Viacom imbroglio was the largest break between a programing company and a distributor since Time Warner Inc.'s cable unit pulled Walt Disney Co.-owned channels ABC and ESPN from 3.5 million subscribers in 2000.
EchoStar (DISH)
Actor Ben Affleck puts his head on George Carlin's shoulder during a taping of 'Last Call with Carson Daly' in New York March 9, 2004. Carlin plays Affleck's father in their upcoming film, 'Jersey Girl' premiering tonight in New York. This show airs on March 18th.
Photo by Michael Simon
Masters Canadian Cuisine Menu
Mike Weir
Golf legends Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods will chow down on caribou, wild boar and Canadian wine and beer, before this year's Masters in April.
The Canadian flavored menu will come courtesy of 2003 green jacket winner Mike Weir at the traditional champions dinner on the Tuesday before the year's first major, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported Tuesday.
Weir's offering will include wild boar and chanterelle mushroom bundles, roasted rack of caribou and British Columbia mushrooms, the report said.
Tiger Woods served up cheeseburgers and milkshakes following his runaway 1997 triumph, while Scot Sandy Lyle risked the ire of past Masters champs by offering them haggis the year after his 1988 win.
Mike Weir
To Be Honored for Films
Ahnold
Ahnold Schwarzenegger (R-groper) will be honored as a movie Maverick by the Cinequest film festival.
The Cinequest organization, which oversees the 14th annual San Jose screening series, announced Monday it would present a special Maverick Spirit Award to "The Terminator" star Wednesday at the San Jose State University campus.
Ahnold
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
To Play Ice Hockey
Tonya Harding
The Indianapolis Ice of the Central Hockey League announced Monday that it has signed 33-year-old Tonya Harding to join the team for its game Friday against the Colorado Eagles.
The Ice in 2002 signed 7-foot-7 former NBA player Manute Bol for a one-game stint with the team, but he never made it on the ice because his feet swelled inside his custom-made skates.
Tonya Harding
A lithograph print of Nelson Mandela's right hand, which seems to outline the shape of Africa in the centre of his palm, is among 25 signed limited edition on sale at the Belgravia Gallery in New York, Tuesday March 9, 2004. The lithographs, on view for the first time in the United States, depict memories and thoughts of Mandela during his 27 years anti-apartheid imprisonment at Robben Island in South Africa.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pleads Guilty
Jack White
White Stripes lead singer Jack White pleaded guilty to assault and battery Tuesday for a fight with the lead singer of another band.
White was accused of repeatedly punching Von Bondies lead singer Jason Stollsteimer and originally was charged with misdemeanor aggravated assault. He could have faced up to a year in jail, but will avoid jail time under the plea deal.
White must pay a $500 fine, plus $250 in court fees, and Judge Paula G. Humphries ordered him to attend anger management classes. She also told him not to contact Stollsteimer.
Jack White
R-Rating Sought
Smoking
If Nicolas Cage lights a cigarette in a movie, Hollywood's ratings board should respond as if he used a profanity, according to authors of a new study that criticizes glamorous images of smoking in movies rated for children under 17.
Nearly 80 percent of movies rated PG-13 feature some form of tobacco use, while 50 percent of G and PG rated films depict smoking, said Stanton Glantz, co-author of the study, which examined 775 U.S. movies over the past five years.
He'd like to see more PG-13 movies that feature smoking — like "Matchstick Men," "Seabiscuit" and the Oscar-winning "Chicago" — get slapped with an R rating.
Smoking
The front and back of a fake $1 million dollar bill is shown in this undated Covington Police Department handout photo. Alice Regina Pike, 35, was arrested when she tried to use the bill to purchase $1,,675 worth of merchandise at Wal-Mart in Covington, Ga., Friday, March 5, 2004. She faces forgery charges. The U.S. Treasury does not make $1 million bills, but similar-looking currency is sold in some souvenir shops.
Photo courtesy Covington Police Department
Faults Coverage of WMD
Media Study
A new study of how the media has covered the issue of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), released today, concludes, "Many stories stenographically reported the incumbent administration's perspectives on WMD, giving too little critical examination of the way officials framed the events, issues, threats and policy options."
The other three main conclusions of the study conducted by the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) and the University of Maryland: Too few stories offered alternative perspectives to the "official line" on WMD surrounding the Iraq conflict; most journalists accepted the Bush administration linking the "war on terror" inextricably to the issue of WMD; and most media outlets represented WMD as a "monolithic menace" without distinguishing between types of weapons and between possible weapons programs and the existence of actual weapons.
The complete study, directed by Susan Moeller and titled "Media Coverage of Weapons of Mass Destruction," is available at the CISSM Web site.
In a foreword to the study, John Steinbruner, director of the center, writes: "The American political system is in the early stages of contending with an unwelcome but ultimately unavoidable problem. The United States initiated war against Iraq on the basis of an inaccurate representation of the scope and immediacy of the threat posed, and it did so without international authority. That has prejudiced the legitimacy of the occupation, thereby undermining the single most important ingredient of successful reconstruction."
For more, Media Study
In Memory
Robert Pastorelli
Robert Pastorelli, who played the screwball housepainter Eldin on "Murphy Brown," was found dead in his Hollywood Hills home in what the coroner's office said may have been a drug overdose. He was 49.
Coroner's office Lt. Ed Winter said Pastorelli's body was found by his assistant Monday in a bathroom. An autopsy was planned.
On CBS' "Murphy Brown," he played Eldin Bernecky, an oddball housepainter for TV newswoman Murphy Brown, played by Candice Bergen. Eldin's work never seems to get done because of his high artistic standards. He spends much of his time meddling in Murphy's life, often dispensing sage advice.
Pastorelli finished work with John Travolta last month on the movie "Be Cool," the sequel to the comedy "Get Shorty." He played a hit man.
Pastorelli, born in New Brunswick, N.J., was an aspiring boxer in his youth. But a near-fatal car crash on his 19th birthday ended his dreams of a pro sports career.
He had roles in such movies as "Outrageous Fortune" (1987), "Beverly Hills Cop II" (1987), and "Dances With Wolves" (1990).
Pastorelli stayed with "Murphy Brown" from 1988 to 1994, dropping out when the sitcom's creator, Diane English, left.
Pastorelli had a brief run as a drama series star: He played a police psychologist in the ABC series "Cracker" in 1997-98.
In 1999, his girlfriend, Charemon Jonovich, 25, was found fatally shot and her death was investigated by police as an accident. The couple had a daughter.
Robert Pastorelli
Pike, a 21-year-old polar bear, buries her head on a pile of ice cubes as she seeks relief from the warm weather at the San Francisco Zoo in San Francisco, Tuesday, March 9, 2004.
Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 5
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
