THE TKTV NEWSLETTER
Season 2, Episode 12 aired March 22, 1999

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CONTENTS
1. Intro
2. Letters from the viewing audience
3. Don't miss
4. Are TV mailing lists all they're cracked up to be?
     -by guest writer Rachel Vagts
5. Favorite quotes of the week
6. A totally unrelated link

1. Intro

Oh wow, there's just so much to say today! First of all, I apologize for the lateness of today's newsletter. I know some of you who actually leave work at a reasonable hour and don't get email at home will not receive this until Tuesday morning, and I apologize. But of course, there's a very good reason for why this episode is so late. Much like millions of other people across the globe, I spent last night watching the Oscars.

The Oscars are just so much fun. You don't have to take much very seriously, and yet occasionally there are still very moving moments. The fashions are eye-poppingly beautiful, and yet occasionally still enormous atrocities. Some of the winners are completely predictable, and yet occasionally there's still that underdog that wins often enough that you still hold your breath as they open the envelope. And then there are acceptance speeches like those of Gwyneth Paltrow (yeah, it was a little much, but it was still touching), Roberto Benigni (one of the reasons I'm so glad he won is that means he gets to present next year), and that sweet Japanese woman in the pretty purple dress with too many roses on the shoulders. Now I just need to go see the four out of five Best Picture nominees that I haven't seen. Okay, maybe I'll skip "The Thin Red Line."

On a completely different note, TKTV has four new sites for your viewing pleasure. The first is for John Larroquette's new show on CBS called "Payne." There isn't much there yet (there have only been two episodes), but I will be adding some quotes and credits soon. Did anyone watch? What did you think? I'm a huge fan of John Larroquette myself. He was wonderful on "Night Court," and his guest spot on "The Practice" was unforgettable.

The next new launch is a site for a little-watched show on UPN (I guess that was repetitive, since just about every show on UPN is little-watched) called "DiResta." It's a sitcom about a New York City Transit cop who lives in Queens. It's sort of Roseanne-like, except that it doesn't have that edge that Roseanne had, and it's not as funny. It's also not currently on the air, and I can't figure out why. UPN is showing some strange new home-video show called "Redhanded" in its timeslot and I can't figure out if DiResta is coming back or not. Has anyone heard?

The next show site doesn't need much hyping. It's for "Futurama," the new cartoon from Matt Groening (the creator of "The Simpsons") premiering this Sunday on Fox. Yay!

Last but not least, Rachel Vagts (who has written a guest article for this newsletter and also co-runs the TKTV "Party of Five" site with me) has started a site for a "Homicide: Life on the Streets" fan fiction mailing list archive. It sounds a little convoluted, but basically it's a really impressive collection of "Homicide" fan fiction. Even a little risque sometimes....

Our loyal columnist, Kim Spears, is under the weather, and was not able to write an article for this week. However, I'm sure she'll have all sorts of interesting things to say next week. I myself could go on and on about some of the ads during the Oscars, but I think I'll leave it to her.... :)

This past Saturday I attended the first "gala" event of a recently founded non-profit organization in New York that throws parties to raise money for youth outreach and education programs. I would like to give my congratulations to my friends (and acquaintances) on the board of Xenium. Around a thousand people showed up at FAO Schwartz in formal attire to get lost in the maze that is the greatest toy store in the world. As the guests wandered through the Legos, Barbies and Furbies, they could partake from numerous open bars placed across the store, nibble from tables full of munchies, listen to a very talented Motown/Prince/funk cover band, or dance under colored lights to the sounds of a DJ. And they could play with the toys! All in all, it was very surreal, very cool, and an incredible way to launch Xenium into New York society. So many many congratulations to everyone involved. For those of you who would like to learn more about Xenium, check out http://www.xenium.org. They'll be planning another party soon....

Last but not least, I would like to wish a very happy birthday to my mother. She turns, um, some age or another today, and she is currently on vacation in Morocco (which is what she wanted for her birthday... go figure). Happy Birthday, Mom!

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2. Letters from the viewing audience

From Storm:
I don't know if you get the BCAT channel, Brooklyn Community Access TV, but I'd like to nominate it for the most annoying advertisement. They selected the producer of the quarter, Jose Francis, and they put his picture up on the screen for like ten minutes at a time. It's such a goofy picture of him and they just change the background of the photo like every ten seconds during those ten minutes. Well, at least the quarter ends on March 31st.
From Tanya:
I have to agree with Paul -- that dancing chicken commercial is hilarious. Why? I don't know. Maybe because it's just so absurd, so random, so... disturbing. But no more so than a Mighty Ducks movie, and I love those...
From Caralyn:
I just had to write to express my sadness surrounding this weekend's FOX tragedy -- "That 70s Show" aired its quasi-season finale Sunday night. The news of no new episodes until this summer is not any I can accept all that readily (considering I just experienced the great Northeast-6 inches of snowfall in mid-March phenomenon, summer seems REALLY far away). I must admit though, the fact that this past episode was so funny softens the sting of facing the addition of yet another animated series to FOX's lineup -- and a space-themed one to boot! I can't think of a way I'd like less to spend my "Simpsons" to "X Files" 1/2 hour. I don't want to condemn this show without seeing it (after all something by Matt Groenig can't be all that horrible), but FOX couldn't find another victim for its infamous mid-season replacement? I'm sure the world could do without "America's Deadliest Car Crashes Involving Animal Attacks on Cops" for a few weeks, couldn't it?
From Jeff:
They have interracial couples on "Change of Heart" ALL the time. It's funny though, if it's a white guy/black girl couple, for example, they always set the white guy up with another black girl, and the black girl up with another white guy.
From Rob:
The voice of Marge Simpson will be appearing on NYC's stage for the next two months, in dual roles in Paula Vogel's "Minneaola Twins." The speaking roles are all played by women, approximately half of which are "pants" roles - drag roles. Swoozie Kurtz will remain in the show - the new actress (whose name, to my shame, I have completely blanked on) will play the Good Twin (Myrna)'s beau in act one, and the Bad Twin (Myra)'s girlfriend in act 2. You can probably find details on the show at the Roundabout's website (http://www.roundabouttheatre.org/). In all, it's a pretty smart show, with some good investigation into female gender/identity issues over the last 40 years. It was conceived as a comedic companion to "How I Learned to Drive," also by Vogel, which had a very successful downtown run this last year.
From Amara:
When is NYPD Blue coming back?? I am so mad at ABC for pulling this stunt!!
Letters from the viewing audience are always welcome. Please email any opinions, questions, comments, or random thoughts to TK at tk@tktv.net with the subject of "letters." Letters may be edited for length or content.

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3. Don't miss

For details and lots more fun TV to look forward to, see
http://www.tktv.net/index.html?/upcoming.html

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4. Are TV mailing lists all they're cracked up to be? by Rachel Vagts

I am a self-described TV/Internet junkie. I wouldn't say I'm obsessive on either count, but I enjoy them greatly, especially together. I've never read any newsgroup with regularity, so my main electronic interaction with other fans has been in the discussion list format. For the shows that I really enjoy I have subscribed to mailing lists, and I've had mixed experiences on these lists.

My tastes range pretty widely, but the lists to which I've belonged have been for Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Party of Five, Homicide: Life on the Street, and The X-Files. The first time I ever subscribed to a list it was DQMW. I had started watching the show when it went into syndication and I was obsessed. As a history major, I found it extremely interesting that the show was so historically accurate. I also liked the characters and the relationships portrayed on the show. However, this began to change after I joined the list. It was during the last season and the writing was sadly on the wall. This show was going to be canceled. There was trouble on the set with some of the actors. Fans were dedicated, but they were angry, and that was what they talked about. I started to worry each week when I sat down to watch one of my favorite shows. What were the ladies going to think on Monday? Who would hate it? Who would love it? I started to not enjoy watching as much. Finally, I quit the list.

My next foray was into the Party of Five world. This list was manually maintained which made it a different kind of list. There weren't birthday wishes to other list members, not a lot of discussion of the actors' private lives. I've found this venue to be really quite rewarding. The discussion is healthy and has actually enhanced my enthusiasm for the show. I have belonged to that list for over a year and routinely contribute material. Belonging to the list has been important to my ability to run a Party of Five web site since much of my material is gleaned from other members' contributions.

Building on my Party of Five success, I moved onto other lists. Fan fiction lists were my next big foray. The X-Files fan fiction world is vast and filled with all kinds of material, so it was hard to find the right list to subscribe to. After fits and starts I finally have settled into three lists that I like. A few things are cross-posted, but it's a good cross-section of the material being produced.

But the fanfic lists weren't for discussion of the show and I wanted more of that so I added another subscription, this time to an X-Files discussion list.

Although it was a completely different type of show, I found that same atmosphere that existed on the Dr. Quinn list. People complained more than they congratulated. The discussion was hard to follow, it seemed like a group of established folks conversing and the rest of us listening in. I was five years late to the party and everybody knew it. I lasted about three weeks, never posting anything to the list.

The thing that I have noticed about this world is the short shelf life. Web sites come and go, list members seem to change. The people that regularly posted to the Party of Five list now rarely do. Even my own posting behavior has changed. I used to weigh in with my thoughts every week, now I write a review for my own web site and leave it at that. I usually only post when I've developed strong feelings about the topic.

So, where am I now? Still getting a lot of mail. I belong to David Tamkin's Po5 list hosted right here at TKTV, and I run fan fic lists for Po5 and Homicide. I'm still trying to keep up with those three X-Files fic lists and a spoiler list for the X-Files. My sister asked me again this morning to please get a second phone line since I was online so much. I responded that I couldn't afford it; I had just ordered HBO.

TKTV is always looking for new guest writers. Do you have an idea for an article? Write to TK at tk@tktv.net with the subject of "guestwriter."

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5. Favorite Quotes of the Week

From "7th Heaven"
"Your clients are in the living-room, honey." -Annie
"Clients?" -Matt
"What would you call them?" -Annie
"Mentally disturbed parishoners. Church nuts!" -Matt

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6. A totally unrelated link

Tom the Dancing Bug

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Congrats to "Shakespeare in Love" for cleaning up!