Who's Going To Hell This Week
Helen A. Handbasket
Weekly Review
from Harper's Magazine
WEEKLY REVIEW - 20 November, 2001
A newspaper review of the ballots cast in Florida's presidential election found that Al
Gore probably received more votes than George W. Bush, who this week signed an executive
order that will permit the government to use military courts to try foreigners accused of terrorism.
Bush's action was widely denounced as dictatorial and un-American, and law professors
speculated that the administration was afraid that the evidence against Osama bin Laden
was too weak to hold up in court.
Vice President Dick Cheney said that suspected terrorists "don't deserve to be treated as
a prisoner of war. They don't deserve the same guarantees and safeguards that would be used
for an American citizen going through the normal judicial process."
Forty-five percent of Americans, according to a new poll, would not object to the use of
torture to obtain information about terrorism.
Three human rights groups charged that Israel has resumed the systematic torture of
Palestinian detainees in violation of an order by the Israeli supreme court.
American Special Forces were roaming the hills of Afghanistan on horseback searching for Osama
bin Laden and Mullah Muhammad Omar, who were on the run after the Taliban lost most of its territory.
Oil prices were dropping. Foreign Taliban fighters in Kunduz executed more than 400 of their
Afghan comrades to keep them from defecting. Refugees reported that they were killing civilians as well.
In areas that have fallen to the Northern Alliance, Red Cross workers found bodies of Taliban
soldiers, mostly foreigners, with bullet holes between their eyes. Northern Alliance forces
entering Kabul were photographed beating and summarily executing a wounded Taliban soldier
as he begged for his life. Reports of other such war crimes were unconfirmed.
Presidents Bush and Putin had a fine time kidding around down on the ranch in Crawford, Texas,
and they agreed to cut American and Russian nuclear arms by two thirds. President Bush announced that
"the United States and Russia are in the midst of a transformationed relationship."
( continued at Weekly Review )
--Roger D. Hodge
Worth Checking Out
''Turtopia''
www.turtopia.org/komix.html
Komix13.html is the newest.
Big Dog Says Plenty Of Blame To Go Around
A Former President Looks Back
Former president Bill Clinton yesterday blamed himself for not building stronger ties with the Muslim world during
the 1990s, and criticized his administration and that of his predecessor, George H. W. Bush, for abandoning Afghanistan
after the Soviet occupation of that country ended in 1989.
In a speech at Harvard University and during a student forum later, Clinton said the US-led coalition now at war
must defeat terrorism, calling it ''a struggle for the foal of this new century.''
But he also said that the US government was no saint in the current conflict. He urged Americans to do more to help
struggling Muslim families, asserting that only ''a higher level of consciousness'' in the United States will help
bring the West and the Islamic world closer together.
''We all have to change,'' Clinton said. ''The world's poor cannot be led by people like Mr. bin Laden who think
they can find their redemption in our destruction. But the world's rich cannot be led by people who play to our
shortsighted selfishness, and pretend that we can forever claim for ourselves what we do not for others.''
US officials, not terrorists, should define America in the eyes of Muslims, Clinton said, by explaining that
Americans fought to defend Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo, and by noting that Muslims also died in the Sept. 11 attacks.
He said he should have worked harder - and fought congressional resistance - to support overseas ''nation-building,''
a strand of activist foreign policy that fell out of favor after American soldiers were killed in Somalia in 1993.
In Afghanistan, he said, there was not enough outreach to political and ethnic groups, though he contended
that his administration's overtures to the Taliban were rebuffed. But he faulted the US government for
abandoning Afghanistan in the late 1980s, when Western diplomats might have played a more influential role in the region.
''We walked away from Afghanistan when the Soviets left,'' he said. ''That was a mistake.''
In response to a student's quuestion about the Camp David talks between Israel and the Palestinians that
broke down in the summer of 2000, Clinton said that he never expected success during those negotiations,
but that he thought that a final deal would be reached in the last weeks of his presidency. He said he
supported the creation of a Palestinian state.
Clinton Says Plenty Of Blame To Go Around
In The Chaos Household
Last Night's TV
Baked more pies...didn't watch that much TV - was more like just the background noise.
Tonight (Wednesday), CBS has 'The Amazing Race' and a live concert from
the deck of the USS Enterprise with Garth Brooks.
NBC has 'Ed', 'The West Wing' & 'Law & Order'.
ABC rolls out 4 sitcoms ('My Wife & Kids', 'Life According To Jim',
'The Drew Carey Show' & 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?'), followed by '20/20'.
The WB has 'Dawson's Creek' & 'Felicity'. Faux has 'That 70's Show',
'Grounded For Life', 'The Bernie Mac Show' & 'Titus'
UPN's highlight is 'Enterprise', where the crew aids a vessel that has been attacked
by space pirates (aye, matey).
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
The Newest ''Commander Of The British Empire''
Christopher Lee
At an investiture at Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II awarded 79-year-old actor Christopher Lee the
title Commander of the British Empire, or CBE, for his services to entertainment.
``The queen said, 'You've had a long career' - it's 55 years now - and she asked me what I was doing now,''
said Lee, a longtime star for Britain's Hammer horror studio whose many films include ``Horror of Dracula''
and ``The Curse of Frankenstein''
Lee plays 8,000-year-old wizard Saruman the White in ``The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,''
the adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic, which opens in the United States on Dec. 19. Lee also plays
the villainous Count Dooku in the latest ``Star Wars'' prequel, due out in May.
Born in London, Lee was educated at the prestigious Eton and Wellington schools. He joined the Royal
Air Force at 17 and served as an intelligence officer during World War II.
He took up acting after returning to civilian life at the end of the war. His many villainous roles
include the powerful Russian monk Rasputin in ``Rasputin the Mad Monk.''
Christopher Lee, CBE
New! Updated!
(20 Nov, 2001)
The official BartCop Astrologer, Geneva, has provided another eye-opening set of charts!
A brief excerpt: " In January 2002, New York City Mayor, Rudy Giuliani will intimately know an experience and feeling that more and more of us are reluctantly facing: He'll join the ranks of the unemployed. Due to term limits Giuliani has not been able to seek re-election, after 8 years as one of New York's more popular mayors.
"
Very interesting reading!
Astrology Is Not For Everyone
Nicholas Cage
Nicolas Cage was tattooed on his back. A dragon. He got that because, what with Chinese New
Year and all, he figures he's a dragon. Year of the Dragon. Uh-uh! He's born Jan. 7. A month
early. Chinese New Year doesn't kick in until February. Nic's actually in the Year of the Rabbit.
He's gorgeous, talented, terrific and poised to wed Elvis' little girl, so I doubt this matters.
To Lisa Marie, it's the Year of the Bridegroom.
Nicolas Cage & His Dragon
Sad Story Du Jour
Paul & George
Paul McCartney had a tearful six-hour reunion with terminally ill George Harrison on Staten Island last week.
"Paul cried," said a family friend familiar with the visit from McCartney and his fiancée, Heather Mills.
Beatles biographers have written of the creative tension between the two and how Harrison was
blamed for stalling a reunion after John Lennon's death. But love was all there was last week.
"George is in pretty good spirits," says the pal. "Paul was amazed that George was able to sit
up the whole time."
Harrison's pain from an inoperable brain tumor is said to have subsided thanks to radiosurgery
treatment he received from Dr. Gil Lederman at Staten Island University Hospital. But Harrison,
whose cancer is "widespread," according to sources, is aware he's entered the final stage of
his life, even as he embarks on chemotherapy.
"There is no way out," says a source. "The reason to treat him is to extend his life."
Harrison, his wife, Olivia, and his son, Dhani, 23, were spotted at Newark Airport on Thursday,
where they boarded a private jet believed to be headed for the West Coast.
Sad Story From The NY Daily News
Gandalf Gets Political
Sir Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen accused Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labor government of failing to tackle discrimination
against homosexuals.
The British actor, who stars in the upcoming movie ``The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the
Ring,'' said the Labor administration was no better than its Conservative predecessor at addressing gay issues.
The actor and prominent gay rights campaigner also said it was ``appalling'' that gays were still
discriminated against in the workplace in Britain.
The 62-year-old McKellen said Major was ``woefully ignorant about gay people and their problems, as
most politicians at the time.''
Responding to his criticism Tuesday, the government said it recognized the ``importance of tackling
discrimination in the workplace.''
In November last year, Blair's government lowered the age of consent for homosexuals from 18 to 16,
bringing Britain in line with most other European Union nations. Homosexual sex between adults
ceased to be a crime in Britain three decades ago.
Blair appointed Britain's first openly gay Cabinet minister after the Labor Party took power
in 1997, making Chris Smith his culture secretary.
Sir Ian Ragging On Tony
Guest Starring On 'Friends'
Brad Pitt
Call the tabloids - Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are on the outs.
At least, the husband and wife play bitter enemies when Pitt guest stars in an episode of
Aniston's NBC sitcom ``Friends'' on Thursday.
Pitt plays a high school friend of Monica (Courteney Cox Arquette) who is invited to
Thanksgiving dinner with the gang. Old grudges reignite when he encounters high school
foe Rachel (Aniston).
In an interview last weekend promoting his new movies ``Spy Game'' and ``Ocean's Eleven,''
Pitt said he and Aniston share some ``gangbuster'' scenes together.
Pitt, a longtime ``Friends'' fan, said he was unsure whether his guest appearance would
be a one-time deal or if he might reprise the role.
``It's a happy show,'' the 37-year-old actor said. ``It comes on and it makes me happy.
It's always been that way since its first incarnation, before I met my wife.''
He and Aniston, 32, were married in summer 2000.
Jen & Brad
New!
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
To check out 'Train Station Chicken', and more (like 'Cranberry Autumn Tea'),
In The Kitchen With BartCop
His First Name Is Really Keith
Rupert & Wendi
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is a new father at age 70, following the birth of daughter Grace
Helen Monday evening, a spokesman said Tuesday.
The baby's mother is the former Wendi Deng, 33, whom Murdoch married two years ago.
The baby, the fifth child for the chairman of News Corp, weighed nine pounds and was born in an
undisclosed private hospital in New York City, said spokesman Howard Rubenstein.
The mother and child are in excellent health, and Murdoch, the head of a global media empire with
newspapers, magazines, book publishing, film and television businesses around the world, is
``delighted,'' Rubenstein said.
Wendi Murdoch, a former News Corp. executive, is the media baron's third wife. The couple married
after Murdoch divorced his second wife, Anna, following 31 years or marriage.
Murdoch has four adult children -- Prudence, Elisabeth, Lachlan and James. The eldest, Prudence, is
from his first marriage, and the others from his marriage to Anna Murdoch.
Both sons are on the board of News Corp. and run various aspects of the businesses, while Elisabeth
runs her own television and film production company.
Murdoch also has a number of grandchildren.
Anna Murdoch was remarried two years ago to a New York financier, William Mann.
Rupert Breeds Another Generation
Liberal Radio !
Erin Hart
Liberal radio online - what a concept! Listen Thursday from noon to 3 pm (pst)
at www.710kiro.com
There's even a chatroom!
We generally have a pretty good time...
Intriguing Link
Here, In Reality
Not Kitty Carlisle
Audio Files From BC
Bonus Page Link
Looking for some 'Garbage'?
Here are some MP3 files from BC
Aw, come one....isn't anyone curious?
At The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino In Las Vegas
Scott Weiland & Stone Temple Pilots
'Stone Temple Pilots' singer Scott Weiland leans out over the crowd during the first of two shows at The Joint inside
the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas November 19, 2001. The rock group is touring in support of the album "Shangri-La Dee Da."
Photo by Ethan Miller/Las Vegas Sun
The Rest Of The Story?
Earlier That Evening
Just when it seemed Scott Weiland had reached his Shangri-La, the singer is back in trouble.
The Stone Temple Pilots frontman, who battled heroin addiction for years, was arrested just before 2 a.m.
Monday in Las Vegas. Police say the 34-year-old rocker roughed up his wife in a hotel room just hours before
an STP concert at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
Mary Weiland told police she and her husband got into an argument over prescription medication. It's not
clear who the medication was intended for, but the argument ended with Weiland's wife blocking the door to their hotel room.
According to the arrest report, Weiland then "physically removed Mary from in front of the door. He did this
by forcefully grabbing her arms and moving her to the right of the door." The singer then allegedly "pushed
Mary against the wall several times" and left the room.
Hotel security reportedly called 911, and after police arrived, they noted that Weiland's wife had "some
bruising on her left bicep, as well as her right bicep." He was then arrested on a misdemeanor count of battery/domestic violence.
ABC News reports that Weiland was released from custody in time for his concert. Wearing a cowboy hat and
priest outfit, Weiland reportedly lifted his hat to show a mohawk hairdo and bruises and scrapes on his head.
"I might be a failure at love," he told the crowd. "But I've written a few good songs in my time."
Weiland and his wife have been married for a year and a half, and the couple welcomed a baby boy late last year.
He's no stranger to criminal trouble. Following the success of STP's sophomore disc Purple in 1995,
the singer developed a nasty drug habit and was arrested in Los Angeles for possession of cocaine
and heroin. The run-in was just the beginning of Weiland's trips in and out of rehab for heroin addiction.
The constant court dates and rehab excursions also cost his band dearly. Prevented from touring
to support albums such as its third disc, Tiny Music...Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop, the group
all but disappeared from the rock spotlight. Following an aborted tour and another rehab stay, the
other STP members formed a new band called Talk Show with singer Dave Coutts.
Meanwhile, Weiland continued battling his demons, and he released his own solo album, 1998's 12
Bar Blues. A year later, the group's fourth disc, No. 4, seemed destined for an early Billboard
burial when Weiland was sentenced to a year in a Los Angeles county jail for violating his
probation stemming from an earlier conviction for heroin possession.
But once out of jail and sobered up, Weiland rejoined STP and the band scored a radio hit with
"Sour Girl." The band's latest disc, Shangri-La Dee Da, was released earlier this summer and
generated only a lukewarm response in record stores. But the band has soldiered on, appearing
rejuvenated during recent shows.
Another Weiland Bust
A Potential Criminal Investigation
Aaliyah
U.S. agents seized business records from the owner of a plane that crashed in the Bahamas in August killing singer
Aaliyah and eight other people, a Miami television station reported Tuesday.
Television station WSVN said the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant said investigators believed the
plane's owner had lied to federal investigators, falsified or concealed facts about the air carrier and obstructed law enforcement.
Neither the FBI nor the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board could be reached for comment late Tuesday.
The television station said the search was conducted on Monday at the home of Gilbert Chacon, the owner of
Blackhawk Aviation, which owned the Cessna 402B that crashed. Federal agents took a computer hard drive
and business records from the home in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Pembroke Pines, WSVN said. Chacon could not be reached for comment.
The report was the first indication of a potential criminal investigation of the Aug. 25 crash. The plane
crashed shortly after taking off from Marsh Harbour Airport in the Bahamas for Opa-locka, Florida.
Killed in the crash were Aaliyah, the 22-year-old R&B vocalist who had been filming a music video in the
Bahamas, seven members of her crew and the Florida pilot, Luis Morales.
The NTSB was assisting Bahamian investigators, who said in a preliminary report that the twin-engine plane
was overloaded and that the load was out of balance with too much weight in the tail area.
The Bahamian civil aviation authorities said in September that there was no sign of mechanical difficulty
with the plane but that they had not been able to review its maintenance records.
The singer, born Aaliyah Dana Haughton in Brooklyn, New York, saw her 1994 debut album, ``Age Ain't
Nothing But A Number,'' sell a million copies. She released her third album, ''Aaliyah,'' the month before she died.
More Grief For Aaliyah's Family
Updated!
BartCop TV!
Visit the site at BC TV
The 'Vidiot' never seems to rest - and doesn't let little things like laundry or
housekeeping get in the way!
Damn near every show on TV must is listed - days & days worth of great reading.
For an amazing variety of information on an awesome array of tv programs check out
BC TV!
Another Bun In The Oven
Lucy Lawless
Lucy Lawless, and her producer husband, Rob Tapert, are expecting another child, Lawless'
publicist, Leah Krantzler, confirmed Tuesday.
Lawless, 33, is due in late April or early May, Krantzler says.
She and Tapert (who produced Xena) already have a two-year-old son named Julius. Lawless also
has a 13-year-old daughter, Daisy, from her first marriage.
Lawless most recently appeared on the two-part season premiere of The X-Files as a genetically
altered super soldier. Although show producers initially said the role could be a recurring
one--and the plot definitely left open the possibility of a return--her publicist says the
actress won't be back.
Of course, the Australian-born Lawless will forever be known as Xena--Warrior Princess. The
syndicated hit went out in a bloody blaze of glory after six seasons. In a finale still being
debated by irate fans, Lawless' femme-hero was shot with arrows and beheaded--instead of riding
off into the sunset with galpal Gabrielle, as some had hoped.
It's been something of a baby boom in the ancient kingdom. Xena's former battle buddy Hercules
celebrated a birth of his own earlier this year. In August, Kevin Sorbo's wife, Sam, delivered
their first child, a little he-man named Braeden.
Xena To Breed Again
Fun Link
Interesting Method For Dealing With Spam
Lesson In Anti-Spamology
Vile Little Boys & Their Games
Quoting ''Who Cares What You Think''
CNN president Walter Isaacson has come to the defense of his thin-skinned correspondent Christiane
Amanpour with a letter to the Wall Street Journal denying she is a "second-rate . . . diva of parachute journalism."
Those were just some of the words Tunku Varadarajan used in a Nov. 12 piece on the Journal's op-ed
page critiquing today's female war correspondents.
Amanpour's "faint foreign accent is misinterpreted as erudition by Americans," wrote Varadarajan, an
Indian educated in Britain. "Equally puzzlingly, her alluring dark looks are thought to convey an
anti-Barbie seriousness of mind.
"War is a time for instant expertise from the likes of Ms. Amanpour, who parachutes into benighted
places, kitted out in flak-jackets and other kinds of tough girl raiment . . . in lieu of
informing us better, she sells us a lifestyle."
"As CNN's chief correspondent, Christiane Amanpour has earned her title through tenacity and
old-fashioned grit, dodging bullets . . .
"Tunku Varadarajan may not care for Ms. Amanpour's style; that is his prerogative. But . . . for
20 years she has shown an unswerving commitment to covering international affairs with a depth of
knowledge, subtle understanding and bravery. Her ability, attention to detail, intellect and perseverance
have been very much on display in her reports from Pakistan."
Varadarajan prefers MSNBC's Ashleigh Banfield, "the perfect anti-Amanpour," who cut off her blond
hair and dyed it brown to blend in better in Pakistan - "most gratifying has been her unwillingness
to pose as The Omniscent One."
Topping Varadarajan's list is the BBC's Lyse Doucet - "a clear-headed, clever and self-effacing
correspondent" - who called back from Islamabad on a satellite phone to explain why she won't wear
a safari jacket: "I'm not going to give a false impression of danger by wearing one. There isn't
a war going on here on the roof of the Marriott."
The column rankled feminists. John Doyle of the Canadian Globe & Mail wrote: "This sort
of sexist, ranting commentary is unnerving, and women journalists across the print and
broadcast media are furious."
Mischievous Varadarajan loves the backlash. "I'm baffled and tickled by all the fuss, and
the noses out of joint," he told us. "It was a light, perky piece, rather like the sort
of sorbet that cleanses the palate. I'm happy to share the recipe."
No Such Thing As Bad Publicity
J.K. Rowling's Pet Cause
Single Parent Families
``Harry Potter'' author J.K. Rowling is calling on the British government to improve the
plight of more than one million single-parent families living in poverty.
The best-selling author told a conference in London on Monday it was a scandal so many single
parents and their children lived in poverty.
``Lone parents and their children are the poorest groups in our society. We are a wealthy nation, yet
we have one of the worst records of child poverty in the industrialized world. It is a scandal,'' Rowling
told the National Council for One Parent Families conference.
Rowling, herself a single mother, has spoken in the past of the difficulties of caring for her daughter, before
literary fame and fortune brought her immense wealth.
Jk Rowling & Single Parents
A Self-Proclaimed Potential Lesbian/Slut
And A Troll Marry
ABC news analyst George Stephanopoulos, 41, wed actress Alexandra Wentworth, 35, tonight at the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Manhattan. Several ABC colleagues
were expected to attend.
Wentworth, who wore a Vera Wang gown, has had several small movie roles. She flirted with Tom
Cruise in Jerry Maguire and appeared in last year's American Virgin.
Stephanopoulos, a key adviser to Bill Clinton during his presidential campaign, became the
White House communications chief, then resigned in 1996. The Clintons won't be attending the
wedding; they parted company with Stephanopoulos after his 1999 memoir, All Too Human, and
his criticisms of the president during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Muffy Brandon,
Wentworth's mother, was a social secretary to Nancy Reagan.
Stephanopoulos, who was one of Washington's most eligible bachelors during his White House years, previously dated actress Jennifer Grey. This is his first marriage.
The Potential Lesbian/Slut & The Troll Wed
BC Entertainment Favorite Link
Moose & Squirrel Information One-Stop
http://geocities.com/mooseandsquirrel1
What a great site! Information and reference materials of the first order!
Between 'Moose & Squirrel' and 'Google', who needs 'refdesk'!
Monday, In Hollywood
Martin Lawrence
Actor Martin Lawrence, who stars in the upcoming movie 'Black Knight,' places his hands in wet
cement November 19, 2001, joining a spate of Hollywood luminaries honored with a hand and footprint
ceremony, at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles.
Photo by Jim Ruymen
Victoria's Secret & Pushing The Envelope
Disney Turns Libertarian...
ABC says critics of its racy Victoria's Secret fashion special should see what hit the cutting-room floor.
The network, which is taking heat for devoting a prime-time hour to supermodels strutting in underwear,
said it edited out camera shots that showed more skin.
``There has certainly been racier things on television than this,'' said Andrea Wong, the ABC executive
in charge of alternative programming.
Groups like the National Organization for Women and the Parents Television Council criticized ABC for
airing the special, and a Federal Communications Commission member asked for an investigation into
whether it violated indecency regulations.
The special drew 12.3 million viewers Thursday, finishing third in its time slot and doing marginally
better than the show it replaced. ``Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,'' which normally airs at that time,
has an average audience of just under 11 million.
Michael Copps, an FCC commissioner, said he received dozens of complaints about the show and
promotions for it that ran in advance.
ABC pointed out that the program was clearly identified as being for mature viewers and that
parents had the opportunity to tune it out.
ABC has pushed the standards envelope twice this month in different directions. Besides the
Victoria's Secret show, it aired an uncut version of the movie, ``Saving Private Ryan,'' with
its violent opening scene of the D-Day invasion.
Broadcast standards in general have been in upheaval. The biggest broadcasters debate internally
how far they can go in depicting violence, sexual content and strong language at a time cable
networks have much more freedom.
At the same time as the fashion show, CBS was airing an episode of ``CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation'' that depicted a murder in a sadomasochistic sex club, and Fox was
showing ``Temptation Island,'' its titillating reality series about couples tested by swinging singles.
Victoria's Bigger Secret
NBC Lining Up Spring Replacements
'Leap Of Faith'
NBC has greenlit production on a midseason comedy about a group of friends in their early 30s whose
lives aren't what they might have hoped. Sarah Paulson (''Jack and Jill,'' ''What Women Want'') will
star as a woman named Faith who declines to make the ``Leap'' into married life.
The project, from Emmy-winning ``Sex and the City'' scribe-producer Jenny Bicks, was originally
developed for fall 2001 with Gretchen Egolf (''Martial Law'') in the lead role; when NBC ordered
the series as a midseason backup last spring, it did so contingent on producers finding a new lead.
``Leap'' will revolve around the relationship between Faith, her ex-fiance and her new blue-collar boyfriend.
The show will bow in March, right after NBC's broadcast of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. ``Leap''
joins the upcoming Julia Louis-Dreyfus series on the network's roster of midseason comedies. Also
on the NBC winter/spring bench: new episodes of reality series ``Fear Factor'' and ``Spy TV.''
''Leap Of Faith''
More Disney News
Dharma Sends SOS
Jenna Elfman is spelling it out for the Alphabet network: S-A-V-E U-S.
Faced with sinking ratings on an ultra-competitive Tuesday night, Dharma & Greg is limping
through November sweeps with viewership down 30 percent compared to last year. Now, the show's
yoga-loving lead wants some extra promotional nudging from the ABC honchos.
"I think that our show, Drew Carey's show and Spin City are the anchors of the comedy mantle of
ABC," Elfman told the New York Daily News. "We have the responsibility of making a great show.
The studio has to support us in helping us make the show, and it's the network's responsibility
to promote us. If everybody does their job, you have success."
Unfortunately, that's not what you have from ABC's Tuesday comedies. Dharma & Greg began its fifth
season by moving from 9 p.m. to 8 p.m., anchoring what became a night rife with ratings clunkers
such as the now-defunct What About Joan and Bob Patterson. NYPD Blue has since shown up to boost
ABC during sweeps, but it's getting little help from Dharma and Spin City, which are averaging
less than 10 million viewers apiece.
Although Elfman embarked on New York media rounds this week to trumpet her sitcom, the actress
isn't the only one wondering what's up with the Mickey Mouse network. TV analysts are scratching
their heads over the downward spiral of ABC, which has gone from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? to
"Who cares?" in just three seasons.
Once the top-rated network in 1999 and champion of all things Regis, ABC is now a lowly fourth
place behind CBS, NBC and Fox. Millionaire's multiple weekly airings caused the show to tire out
quickly, and the Regis quizzer has seen its audience drop from 17 million viewers last season to
10.7 million this year.
On the bright side, ABC does have a couple semi-promising performers in its fall lineup: The Wednesday
Jim Belushi comedy According to Jim and Sunday spy thriller Alias, which got off to a strong start earlier
this season before getting overshadowed in its timeslot by NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
Dharma Needs Help
Today's Odd Story
Death By Duck
A man test-driving a water bike was killed when a duck apparently flew into his face and knocked him into the water, investigators said Monday.
Leon Resnick, 31, of Hollywood, was going about 55 mph on a lake near Deerfield Beach when a 10- to 15-pound
Muscovy duck struck him, the Broward Sheriff's Office said.
``Our theory is that the bird was airborne and clocked him right in the head,'' said David Bamdas, an owner
of Riva Yamaha Honda in Pompano Beach, where Resnick worked.
With Resnick traveling at such a high speed, the duck ``might as well have been a cinder block,'' he said.
The Broward Medical Examiner's Office ruled drowning and blunt trauma to the head as the cause of death.
The bizarre accident took a couple of hours to piece together, Bamdas said.
It happened at about 10:45 a.m. Thursday on Crystal Lake, near Sample Road and Military Trail, where Riva Yamaha
Honda has a test center. Resnick was testing the water bike while a co-worker watched. He geared up for a final
pass as his co-worker turned around to get a radar gun to clock his speed.
When the co-worker turned back to the lake, Resnick was gone, BSO spokesman Hugh Graf said.
The co-worker drove around to the side of the lake where Resnick had been. The watercraft had floated to shore empty.
The co-worker got on and searched for Resnick, finding him face down in the water minutes later, Bamdas said.
The co-worker pulled Resnick to shore, tried to revive him and then called for help.
Broward County Fire Rescue took Resnick to North Broward Medical Center, where he was declared dead.
Neither BSO nor Bamdas would identify the co-worker because he was so distraught over the accident.
Resnick was wearing a flotation device.
He tested watercraft almost every day on the lake, Bamdas said. ``He was very safety-conscious.''
The watercraft was not damaged, which initially puzzled investigators.
Graf said they finally concluded that a duck was the cause of the accident after someone
found the damaged carcass on the shore and feathers on the water bike's handlebars.
Investigators planned to contact a bird expert to try to positively identify the feathers.
``No one saw this happen, but it's a matter of putting two and two together and getting
four,'' Graf said.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Radames Lamenza said, ``I've never heard of a case like that.''
Resnick, recently married with two step-children, had worked for the company for more than four
years, Bamdas said, adding that he was a perfectionist who loved his job.
Funeral services were held Sunday and Monday.
Resnick's family declined to comment.
Bamdas said co-workers were stunned that such a bizarre accident took Resnick's life.
``We're all just sick over it.''
Death By Duck
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Still Really Like This One....
"Boondocks" (9 Oct 01)
Gonna let it ride for awhile.
Still MISSING
Marc Chagall's "Study for 'Over Vitebsk'"
