THE TKTV NEWSLETTER
Season 2, Episode 29 aired September 20, 1999

For subscription requests, simply email me personally at tk@tktv.net.

CONTENTS
1. Intro
2. Letters from the viewing audience
3. Kim's Commercial Comments
4. Don't miss
5. TV Trivia
6. Shane Get Real
7. Favorite quotes of the week
8. A totally unrelated link

1. Intro

Well, I was going to write about Fox's new show, "Get Real," today, but my friend Shane, who works at a Northeast boarding school, luckily had dorm duty on a Wednesday and immediately called me saying that she wanted to write about it. So read below for Shane's take on Fox's latest attempt at an hour-long dramedy. Unfortunately, the ratings for this cute new show have been so low that Fox cancelled the re-airing of the episode that Shane discusses, which was supposed to be on tonight, but you can catch another new episode next Wednesday at 9pm after "Beverly Hills 90210."

So instead of "Get Real," I'm going to talk about "Action," which may be Fox's first successful half-hour UN-animated show since "Married... with Children." "Action" has been getting very mixed reviews, but I must say, I think the negative ones are simply the scared people, the people who aren't ready to see something like this on network TV.

In fact, the show was first pitched to HBO, where the bleeps might have been real words, but when HBO dragged their feet, Fox dove in and grabbed it. And what a move that was. Jay Mohr is fabulous as Peter Dragon, an incredibly successful movie producer who is getting his first taste of failure when his latest action movie tanks at the box office.

Folks at Fox were originally worried that the show was too full of Hollywood inside jokes, and that everyday people might not get it. On the contrary, I think this filthy side of Hollywood is just what everyday people want to see. Somehow it's comforting to see that Hollywood favor really is as fickle as we'd like to believe it is. You're only as good as your last movie. Today Peter Dragon gets to sit at table 7 at the best restaurant in L.A., but tomorrow Joel Silver gets it because "The Matrix" did so well (a particularly fabulous inside joke since Joel Silver is one of the producers of "Action").

Dragon is ruthless, rude, and wants to do only one thing: make successful movies. He'll walk over anyone and anything to do it. But at the same time, deep down he's a good guy. He employs his hapless Uncle Lonnie (yay Buddy Hackett!) as his head of security, even though the man falls asleep on the couch. And he has a vulnerable side: his movie flails, he is snubbed by Hollywood society, he gets drunk, and suddenly he realizes he has no real friends. He turns to a whore he met a week earlier, and she is his saviour, both emotionally and in the office.

Illeana Douglas was the perfect choice to play Wendy, the child actor turned coke fiend turned prostitute turned movie development executive turned vice-president of production at Dragonfire Films. She's not ridiculously young, so you can believe that she's been around the block a few times and earned her strong opinions, and she is sexy without being that plastic kind of beautiful you so often see on TV.

The so far solid and often surprising writing, along with the superstar cameos and neat film-type editing, make "Action" easily one of the best new shows of the fall season. Don't miss it, Thursdays on Fox at 9:30pm ET.

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2. Letters from the viewing audience

From Daphne:
I don't know if anyone else has spotted this in all those old navy ads (probably nobody else is as fascinated by frivolous fashion as I am), but doesn't it seem odd that Carrie Donovan NEVER wears the clothes?! I think the ads are an absolute HOOT, but that's because I read Vogue and Bazaar and I remember when she and Polly Mellen and Diana Vreeland were America's arbiters of elegance. I'm not sure that the Old Navy target customer and the haute couture customer are one and the same. There's Carrie Donovan -- the archetypal fashionista -- flogging inexpensive sweatpants on television, and she's wearing Chanel bracelets! Custom-made for her by Karl Lagerfeld himself! You can see the big Cs plain as day! It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me... and I work in advertising.
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. Kim's Commercial Comments

Hello to all my fellow television-addicts. I hope none of you were in the path of last week's hurricane. I almost felt guilty soaking up all the fabulous fall temps we've had here in Alabama. You know, August in Alabama is unbearable, but we certainly are rewarded when fall gets here.

As I write this I am on the edge of my seat... brimming with excitement. I love the start of the new fall television season. There are so many new shows to check out. I try so hard not to judge them on just one or two episodes, but too often that's all I get anyway. These days, competition is so fierce if the numbers for the pilot aren't astronomical, the show will crash and burn. The beginning of the season has so many possibilities, so many new shows to watch, my biggest concern is deciding which ones to watch and which ones to record to watch later. As you may know, this is a very tricky decision to make. Choose wisely and you'll be an active participant in the following day's water-cooler conversation, choose poorly and you'll be totally left out-- even worse, you could become privy to information about the shows you didn't watch, which of course, will ruin the entire first-viewing experience.... What's my point? Who knows... my brain is probably fried from too much TV.

And now, these commercial messages:

What spot has me laughing? Nike: Brandy Chastain wins at Foosball

She's a new kind of idol for little girls. She's not a Julia Roberts or a Sarah Michelle Gellar. She's an athlete... and a darn good one, at that. When the U.S. Women's Soccer team won the World Championship a few weeks ago, Brandy Chastain was center-stage, so-to-speak. She's a bit controversial, too. She showed the world her Nike Sports Bra when the final goal was scored. The appropriateness of the move has been the subject of much debate... whether or not this new "idol" should have behaved this way. I have a feeling Ms. Chastain is totally unconcerned with what anyone thinks about her. And she may be even smarter than we think she is. I think, perhaps, that she knew what she was doing all along.... The first time I saw the clip, I said (and I'm sure I'm not alone) I wondered how long it would take for her to get a Nike endorsement. Well, it didn't take long...

This spot centers around a foosball table. Chastain is on one side, wearing her soccer uniform. The other side of the table is manned by two guys. I'm sure I'll be made painfully aware of who they are once this article hits the inboxes... Anyway, they're all playing hard. But suddenly, it's obvious that Chastain is winning... and then, that she has won. She jumps up and down. She shouts. "Yes! Yes!" She celebrates. Then she notices that the guys are staring at her.

"What?" Chastain asks.

"What's up with the shirt?"

And that's the end of it. It's a very subtle reference. As a matter of fact, a friend at work brought this spot up to me at work on Friday. He said he didn't get it all until the second time he saw it and noticed her name on the back of her shirt. Which tells me that's exactly the reason they put her in full uniform. I think it's a very smart commercial. It's hip. It's hot. It definitely made me laugh.

And, as a footnote, I'd just like to throw out kudos to FOX for their "Jungle Boogie" promo for That 70's Show. The tagline is "Sometimes you've just gotta move." It brings to mind thoe Gap ads I wrote about last week, only much, much less refined. Keep you eyes (and ears) open for these two highly-entertaining pieces of commercial.

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4. Don't miss

Well, it's premiere week, so you really should look at the Don't miss page on the site for details, but here's some special ones to look out for:
For details and lots more fun TV to look forward to, see
http://www.tktv.net/index.html?/upcoming.html

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5. TV Trivia

Last week's question was: From "The X-Files," which FBI agent ended up working in a pizza place?

Wow. Nobody answered this at all. Must have been the tricky wording. Richard Ruccolo guest starred as Agent Peyton Ritter on "The X-Files" episode "Tithonius." Ruccolo is now much better known as one of the two guys from "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" (which will jettison the pizza place and be known as simply, "Two Guys and a Girl" from this season forward).

This week's question comes from Rachel. What indie film queen made her start as Tess Shelby on "As the World Turns?"

Send answers to TK at tk@tktv.net with the subject of tvtrivia.

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6. Shane Gets Real

So Wednesday night I rushed home from dorm duty to call TK and tell her I saw this great new program. The name of the show was Get Real. There were reruns on the two other channels the dorm TV had and I just couldn't deal so I thought I'd give this Wonder Years/My So Called Life looking show a chance.

It took ONE scene. The opening sequence was the daughter talking about her dream lying in bed and then she suddenly opens her eyes turns and looks right at the camera and nails me. Literally, the shot took my breath away. It was unexpected, it was different, I even went so far as to say out loud to the empty room, "Great shot," which I have only uttered one other time this year. (Sidebar: see "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and tell me that the shot that happens when they are telling the audience how good a card player this anti-hero is is not an outstanding piece of footage! I even went and asked the theater teacher on campus what the name of this was. Did you non-theater types know this is called breaking the fourth wall? There is actually an even bigger name which I won't file into your trivia-you-never-needed-to-know that describes this effect.)

So forgive me for not agreeing with the rest of the sheep in the flock. Yes, I too watched 90210 and found it simply boring compared to this fresh new blood. I was interested in the story-line. I was concerned about the characters. I was excited to find a show that surprised me. Sports Night surprises me but after watching that show all I can think about is how much I want to have sex with the character Dan. The way the man talks, rapid fire honesty. Ugh, yet again the voices. I digress.

I am three paragraphs into this and I still haven't even told you what the show is about. Family - Mom, Dad, Oldest Daughter, Middle Son, Youngest Son, Mom's Mother. (Yes there is a dog, but you think I remember the dog's name? I can't remember the characters' names. Not realizing I would be seized with the desire to write about the show I didn't take notes. Forgive me. Again, I was too busy watching.) Mom and Dad have intimacy problems, Daughter wants to bag college yet bag college boys, Middle Son is an endearing slacker who worries that he's not enough, Youngest Son is being pulled between a best friend needing him and the new girl next door who so far seem to like him for him. Scenes of the grandmother are spliced in from the waiting room of her doctor. She is waiting for test results and keeps bolting. The answering machine could almost be a character because they show that sometimes "the machine" is the only glue that holds a family together. How can one not identify with these characters?

Okay I just had to stop and defend this show to two of my co-workers. One hates that they talk to themselves (hello, Wonder Years). And the other doesn't care for the whole show but adores the youngest son. Who wouldn't? He got arrested for being a peeping tom. LOVE it.

Bottom line - it is worth a shot! Watch, dig in, admire. (Wednesday nights at 9:00pm ET on Fox.) Someone actually took the time to fit this show together, scene to scene, in a seamless fashion that makes you cheer for more. Best laugh of the whole show was when the Daughter climbs into sporty convertible with sporty older guy, kisses him, and then looks back at her mother. The mother's internal dialogue says, "I know that look," and right behind her comes her own mother who glances out the door and sums it up with, "I know that look." Delicious.

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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7. Favorite Quotes of the Week

From "7th Heaven"
"Do you like Deena?" -Jordan
"Very much." -Simon
"Then my advice to you is simple. Think less, kiss more." -Jordan
"Really?" -Simon
"Hey, one billion teenagers can't be wrong." -Jordan

From "Family Guy"
"Aren't you coming?" -Peter
"Ah, thanks, but no thanks. I've been to New York. It's like Prague sans the whimsy." -Brian

From "Action"
"It is nice to be important. But it is more important to be nice." -Asher

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8. A totally unrelated link

Red Meat - Meat Locker

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"I'm not into working out. My philosophy: No pain, no pain." -Carol Leifer