Article: 3437 of alt.zines Path: news.cic.net!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!cs.utexas.edu!convex!news.duke.edu!eff!news.kei.com!ddsw1!not-for-mail From: barnhart@MCS.COM (Aaron Barnhart) Newsgroups: alt.fan.letterman,alt.fan.conan-obrien,alt.tv.talkshows.late,alt.zines,rec.arts.tv Subject: LATE SHOW NEWS 4/26/94 Followup-To: poster Date: 26 Apr 1994 10:03:32 -0500 Organization: The Colorcast Lines: 219 Message-ID: <2pjag4$1o2@Mercury.mcs.com> Reply-To: late-show-news@mcs.net NNTP-Posting-Host: mercury.mcs.com Summary: Send the message "subscribe late-show-news" to listserv@mcs.net to join the LATE SHOW NEWS distribution list! Xref: news.cic.net alt.fan.letterman:20974 alt.fan.conan-obrien:591 alt.tv.talkshows.late:1027 alt.zines:3437 rec.arts.tv:105269 >From Chicago: Hurry, ice fishing season ends Saturday ... it's --------------------------------------------- LATE SHOW NEWS for Tuesday, April 26, 1994 Issue #11 A weekly electronic sheet by Aaron Barnhart --------------------------------------------- 4. A GUIDE TO THE BEWILDERED Last month, on the flimsy pretext that Hugh Rodham, brother of the First Lady and candidate for the U.S. Senate in Florida, was scheduled to appear on the Letterman show, the _New York Times_ published a news analysis of what it called "a bewildering trend": the willingness of politicians to appear on late-night comedy talk shows. It seems that there are those in the media who haven't a clue why any public official would want to appear on a program not hosted by David Brinkley or Bruce Morton. And they keep writing about it -- a bewildering trend indeed -- and dredging up the appearance of Vice President Al Gore on Dave's program last September as Exhibit A. As you may recall, during his guest spot Gore read from his own, self-mocking Top 10 list, smashed an ashtray on Dave's desk, and in a preshow sketch called the host "pinhead." This has not sat well with people like William Kristol, who was Dan Quayle's chief of staff during the Bush Administration. Kristol recently told a reporter that Gore's appearance was "a pretty bad sign," adding, "If you're trying to convince your fellow citizens that you're doing something important and worthwhile, you don't go on TV to make fun of yourself." Not to discount the argument, but it ought to be remembered that Kristol spent four of the best years of his life working under a media incompetent. For Dan Quayle, an appearance on the _Late Show_ would not be beneath him so much as it would be over his head. It's understandable why the former Veep would never entrust himself to late-night t.v. writers and segment producers. To be sure, the current Veep's gig wasn't a ringing success: a number of critics last fall said Al looked "stiff as ever" on Dave's show. But he certainly didn't bomb, and by playing the "pinhead" bit straight, like he was supposed to, Gore was able to tap into a little of that show's peculiar appeal (because *anybody* can do a Top 10 list). Nor did he flop over into total silliness, which would have alarmed the influential White House press corps, who have made scandals out of less. The op-ed windbags (and here we have in mind a certain columnist for the _Christian Science Monitor_) who say that Abraham Lincoln would never have attempted a stunt like Gore's are pompous. Lincoln was a jokester, and in the all-male settings that were common to civic life in his day he was capable of telling a bawdy tale that we could not reprint even now without blushing. Honest Abe could have appeared on _Politically Incorrect_ and given Bob Dornan a run for his money. Maybe "pompous" is too harsh. For as some of us get older, changes in society and culture feel more traumatic than they did in our youth (and anyway, we generated plenty of trauma in our youth without the media's help). In fact, what is happening with the advent of late-night comedy t.v. is no different than 40 years ago, when the most widely renowned journalist of the day created an unexpected and pioneering television program. Edward R. Murrow -- the man whose _See It Now_ was among the avant garde in the campaign to bring down Senator Joe McCarthy -- had another successful show that is not so widely discussed today, possibly because, in light of his other distinguished accomplishments, it seemed a bit of a comedown. The premise of this other show was, simply, Ed Murrow chatting with the rich and famous in their living rooms. If ever a member of the American press took on statesmanlike qualities, it was Murrow, so it's understandable that some of his colleagues were aghast to tune in and see him sitting in his New York broadcast studio, smoking cigarettes and chatting through a _Nightline_-style projection screen with celebrities and even some willing non-celebrities, such as a newly-elected Senator and Mrs. Jack Kennedy. Murrow's colleagues called it a demeaning format for a serious newsman. But the Kennedys surely knew the value of appearing on the Ed Murrow show. And these days we can see that program's influence in every interview show this side of Sunday morning, especially late night. Besides, now that the top broadcasters and journalists of our day are flocking to do schtick with Dave, Jay, and Conan, what's really so strange about a few national political figures getting into the act? 3. MEDIA BITES Dennis Miller's weekly live HBO talker (Fridays at midnight Eastern, through May 27) debuted well. We were a little disoriented when Denny's opening monologue took a hard turn into a dark alley, from topical jokes to a machine-gun-pace rant against the free availability of guns and reduced sentences for violent criminals. The studio audience certainly wasn't expecting it and laughed inappropriately at parts of this sudden sermonette. But at least it brought the evening's topic -- violence in America -- into full view, and to the host's credit he stopped short of preachiness and seated himself in front of a t.v. monitor where he chatted via satellite with New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley, an intelligent choice I thought. (My viewing partner disagreed, claiming that politicians make lousy talk-show guests, though I think he was really saying that Bob Dole would've been much better.) Miller took one non-fringe phone call, said goodbye to his guest and strode over to another monitor, where he killed us with his "Weekend Update" routine. Denny said he is "drawn inevitably, like a moth to a flame," to this bit and why not, it was the highlight. If this is what a show is like after the host has been on involuntary hiatus for nearly two years, we can't wait to see what another five episodes will do (besides earn the show a renewal). We know you're tired of hearing Tom Snyder updates, but you can blame the CBS-Letterman team for it. It appears they ran Tom's name up the flagpole and waited to see who saluted. Apparently enough people did, and so now, finally, the network is getting serious. Snyder and CBS Broadcast Group President Howard Stringer met last week in New York, for what is being called a "get acquainted" dinner. Don't think the rumor mill will be shutting down anytime soon. If CNBC is unwilling to release Tom from his contract before it expires in January, we can look forward to an equally tedious courtship. 2. F.Y. EYES Helen Kushnick's $30 million suit against the publisher of Bill Carter's _The Late Shift_ could hold up production of the HBO telefilm based on the book, which chronicles the Letterman-Leno affair and casts Kushnick as a manic, if tragic, heavy in the real-life network drama ... _Variety_ reports that Little, Brown has signed journalist Bill Zehme, God's gift to p.r. agencies, to write the biography of Andy Kaufman, God's gift to late-night television, "with cooperation of Kaufman's estate." ... Stephen Pace is assembling for alt.fan.letterman a list of stations that don't carry the Letterman show at its live clearance time. An unusual number are college towns -- Austin, Columbus, South Bend -- where station weasels have apparently decided that their Dave watchers don't mind staying up an extra half-hour so they can air _American Journal_ ... Veteran New York talker Joe Franklin has been getting quite a bit of media publicity this week for his plans to sell all the memorabilia he's collected over the years for somewhere between $2 and $5 million. Isn't this about the twentieth scheme Joe's announced for his production company since it went public seven years ago? Are shares in his company still trading at one-twelfth their public offering price? ... _Advertising Age_ says NBC is planning to make its "Night Shift" theme into "the network's first global programming band" by beaming all three of its late-night programs onto its European NBC Super Channel. There will also be an essay contest for viewers on "why they should work on an NBC late-night program," with winners getting to do just that for a week on one of the shows. 1. THE LINEUPS LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS, 11:35 P.M. EST Tu 4/26 Joan Lunden, Gin Blossoms, Michael Moorer We 4/27 Jerry Seinfeld, Isiah Thomas, Brian Setzer Th 4/28 Sissy Spacek, Bonnie Raitt, 7-year-old collector David Low Fr 4/29 Randy Travis Mo 5/2 Jimmie Walker, Neville Brothers THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO, NBC, 11:35 P.M. EST Tu 4/26 Al Franken, B.B. King and Diane Schur We 4/27 Gerard Depardieu Th 4/28 Dan Aykroyd, Hugh Grant Fr 4/29 Dennis Hopper, Cheap Trick, Jaleel White Mo 5/2 Wynonna, Andie MacDowell, Suzanne Somers LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, NBC, 12:35 A.M. EST Tu 4/26 Golden Palominos, MTV VJ Duff, Peter Fonda We 4/27 William Kunstler, Buffalo Tom, Amy Irving Th 4/28 Junior Brown, Michael Kinsley Fr 4/29 Katey Sagal, Kevin Dillon Mo 5/2 Shelley Duvall LATER WITH GREG KINNEAR, NBC, 1:35 A.M. EST Tu 4/26 Paul Rodriguez We 4/27 Richard Simmons Th 4/28 Lou Gossett Jr. Mo 5/2 TBA -- Thanks to S Trowbridge THE ARSENIO HALL SHOW, Syndicated Tu 4/26 Angela Winbush We 4/27 TBA Th 4/28 Alexandra Powers, Philip Bailey Fr 4/29 Cicely Tyson Mo 5/2 Judith Light, Layla Hathaway, Gerald Albright on sax As always, saxophonist Everette Harp is in the house on Thursdays. Also, don't miss TOM SNYDER on CNBC, airing live Monday-Thursday at 10 p.m. Eastern with a rerun of that evening's show at 1 a.m. Reruns also air at those times Friday through Sunday. The E! entertainment television cable network broadcasts reruns of _Late Night with David Letterman_ "seven Daves a week" at 10 p.m. Eastern time. Monday through Friday, reruns can also be viewed at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern. The following schedule was taken from the E! update line. Mo 4/25 Billy Joel, Kelly Cash, Bro. Theodore (9-17-86) Tu 4/26 Goldie Hawn, Minnie Black (12-21-87) We 4/27 Lori Singer, Richard Lewis, Gene Rath (5-29-84) Th 4/28 Andy Kaufman, Marv Albert (2-23-83) Fr 4/29 Myrtle Young, Ally Sheedy, Crispen Glover (7-28-87) You heard right. Sa 4/30 Liza Minnelli, Marv Albert (7-5-88) Su 5/1 Beatrice Lydecker, Don Hewitt (12-16-85) --------------------------- Entire contents Copyright (C) 1994 by Aaron Barnhart. All rights reserved. Redistribution prohibited without written permission of the author, with the exceptions that a single user (a) may retrieve LATE SHOW NEWS from the archive listed below by anonymous FTP, and (b) may send to another single user by electronic mail where an electronic mailing list such as Majordomo is not employed. LATE SHOW NEWS is available by anonymous ftp from ftp.mcs.net in the directory /mcsnet.users/barnhart/late-show-news. Or get on the LATE SHOW NEWS distribution list. 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