THE TKTV NEWSLETTER
Season 2, Episode 37 aired November 22, 1999

CONTENTS
1. Intro
2. Letters from the viewing audience
3. Kim's Commercial Comments
4. Don't miss
5. TV Trivia
6. Who Wants to be a Millionaire in the UK
     -by guest writer Chris Harrison
7. Favorite quotes of the week
8. A totally unrelated link

1. Intro

Once again, TKTV has two brand new show sites for your viewing pleasure. The first is for NBC's new Thursday night sitcom, "Stark Raving Mad." I must admit, the previews on NBC didn't make it look all that tempting, and the ratings are never going to tell the true story of the quality of the show since it's stuck between "Frasier" and "ER" on NBC's weakening but still very strong Thursday primetime lineup. When I watched the pilot, I wasn't overly impressed. The characters were more like charicatures: Henry McNealy the anal paranoid hypochrondriac (Neil Patrick Harris, good ol' Doogie Howser), Ian Stark the death-obsessed quirky horror writer (Tony Shalhoub), Jake the dumb-as-rocks assistant (Eddie McClintock), Maddie the cute quick-with-a-comeback bar maid (Heather Paige Kent), and Audrey the materialistic alcoholic unfeeling harsh-tongued boss (brilliantly played by recurring guest star Harriet Sansom Harris).

Since the pilot, I think the show has improved dramatically. All the characters have grown deeper, particularly with the addition of Ian's insecurities and the fabulous Hallowe'en prank that Henry pulled off a few weeks ago. The addition of Dorie Barton as Tess, Henry's tough-as-nails girlfriend, was a great idea, helping to round out Henry's character that much more. I'm not saying this is a great show, and I wouldn't be surprised if it flailed miserably outside of its NBC Thursday night shielding, but I'll admit that I'm enjoying it now, and it doesn't make me want to change the channel. Then again, Fox is bringing "Action" back to Thursday nights next week....

So check out the site. http://starkravingmad.tktv.net

The other new TKTV show site is for CBS's new "Providence" rip-off, "Judging Amy." Okay, so that was kinda harsh, but as I noted in an earlier newsletter, the similarities are just too close to ignore. However, since I already went over that, I'll stick to just telling you about this show.

The likeable Amy Brenneman stars as Amy Grey, a recently separated corporate lawyer from New York who comes with her young daughter to live with her mother (Tyne Daly) in Hartford, CT. She becomes a family court judge, and the storylines are generally divided between her court cases, her mother's social work cases, their lives at home, and a little bit about her writer brother Vincent (Dan Futterman).

The biggest thing I don't understand about this show is its cast. Besides the characters I mentioned above, the regular cast also includes Richard T. Jones (Amy's assistant Bruce Van Exel), Marcus Giamatti (Amy's other brother Peter) and Jessica Tuck (Peter's wife, Gillian). Bruce we at least see in court scenes, but although he's on screen a fair amount, and was a strong presence in the pilot episode, his character has yet to be fleshed out and we have yet to learn anything about him. It seems to me that he would be much better as a recurring character rather than one of the stars of the show.

And Peter and Gillian have not been used at all. They've showed up at the house a few times - for a dinner, to bug Maxine, when Vincent was shot - but they have been completely left out of many episodes, and in my opinion they could be easily written out like Jesse Warner's entire family was on NBC's "Jesse" and they wouldn't be missed at all. It does seem, however, that someone in the production office of the show has noticed this little problem as well. In summaries of upcoming episodes, Peter and Gillian seem to feature a little more prominently, so hopefully this will be changing soon. I gotta say, though, that keeping the focus on Amy, Maxine and Vincent seems just fine. I don't know that the show needs the added complications of more characters.

Meanwhile, Amy's daughter, Lauren (played by young actress Karle Warren), should have just a little less screen time. She's cute, and Warren ain't bad as kid actors go, but she gets annoying really fast. Not as fast as when she was the daughter on "DiResta" on UPN last season, but then again that whole show was much more annoying in general.

It is great to see Tyne Daly on a regular basis. For those of you who don't know who she is, I'll just say that she has been a powerhouse on Broadway for many years. My only problem is that on "Judging Amy," she seems to have only one tone of voice. She's either being harsh or being glib, even in the sentimental moments (of which there are many), and she always sounds exactly the same. Has she always been like this and I haven't noticed, or has she gotten stuck in some character groove that she can't get out of? In any case, I wish someone would remind her that even though her character, Maxine, is supposed to be a tough cookie, she's also a caring mother and grandmother, and should be able to show that on occassion.

"Judging Amy" has been killing its timeslot competition (including ABC's new hit, "Once and Again") in the ratings. We'll see how it fairs when "Once and Again" moves to its new timeslot on Mondays, and ABC powerhouse "NYPD Blue" (incidentally, Amy Brenneman's old show) returns to its Tuesday night home. In the meantime, check out the site.
http://judgingamy.tktv.net

I have to blatantly steal something from TV Guide right now. You know that great Bud Light commercial "Rough Choices?" It premiered during the Super Bowl last year, and it's been seen on the airwaves a fair amount since then. In fact, I'm pretty sure Kim has reviewed it. It's that commercial where the two guys don't have enough money to pay for their groceries, and they're down to Bud Light and toilet paper, so they buy the Bud Light, and make sure to get a paper bag and their paper receipt. Well, TV Guide pointed out in their November 20th issue that if you freeze-frame a certain moment in that commercial, and zoom in on the newspaper that a guy is reading way in the background, you can see the headline, "Big Dump Planned." Go Bud Light! What great attention to detail.

On the other hand, Fox made an attempt at plugging themselves on "King of the Hill" last night, but their attention to detail wasn't so great. Hank Hill commented to his friends that he planned on watching the Cowboys, then eating dinner, and finishing in time for "Home Alone." It would have been much cooler, although not as slick-sounding, if he had said "Home Alone 2," since that is what is showing on Fox on Thanksgiving.

So, enjoy the newsletter, and have a great holiday. Eat turkey, be merry, and watch lots and lots of TV.

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2. Letters from the viewing audience

From Leo, regarding his guest article last week:
Oops - guess I didn't do my homework right. On the show, you have as much time as you want to answer the question (I think). On the online version you only have 20 seonds.

And by the way, I still haven't gotten my phone call. I'm beginning to despair.
From Rob:
What is the deal with these spinoffs? It was mentioned a week or two ago that "The West Wing" is unique in that it is not filled with characters from other successful series. My history question is, just how long has this been happening? I remember thinking it strange that Trapper John, MD was a M*A*S*H* spinoff. Was that the first? Are they, like sequels, done purely as a "safe bet" by networks who are surprised to have found success? And why do they work? I always got the impression that, by the time a series had spun off, it was time to say goodbye to those characters, anyhow.

Note from TK: I don't know much about the history of spin-offs. I didn't know that "Trapper John, MD" was a "MASH" spin-off. But you should notice that seldom do main characters get spun off, so viewers are not yet tired of the characters. In this season's "Time of Your Life," Sarah was the girlfriend of one of the brothers of the Salinger family on "Party of Five." In one of the most successful spin-offs of all time, Frasier was a relatively peripheral character on "Cheers," compared to, say, Sam or Rebecca. I think the most unique spin-off of recent years has got to be "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," which is just a whole new show done in the same style as the original "Law & Order" with occasional crossover characters, but no actual spun off characters.
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 once again. I hope I was sufficiently missed by everyone who read last week's newsletter. I know I missed me when I read it! ;-) Anyway, I'm back this week and I'm writing about two car commercials. Actually I'm writing about one car commercial and one minivan commercial... but who's counting?

What spot has me laughing? Volkswagen: THAT Video

This spot opens with a shot of a car moving down a quiet, suburban street. A man and woman, presumably a husband and wife, are in the car. She appears happy and relaxed. He is gazing out the window, thinking.

"Hmmmm...." he says, halfway under his breath.

"What?" she asks him.

"Do you remember that night we made that little... you know... home video?"

She looks at him mischievously, "Yeah...." She smiles.

"I think we just returned it."

We hear screeching as she slams on the breaks.

The announcer comes up and makes some "witty" remark about anti-lock brakes as the video cuts to the inside of the video store. We hear various "ooh," "aaahs," and moans from their video as we see a store full of people staring up into the blue glow of the video monitor. Through the store window, the couple comes into view as they drive up to the store and jump out of the car. Just then, we hear her (from the vidoe tape) ask, "We're going to erase this later, right?"

This spot is just hilarious! It's simple and just plain funny, as the greatest ones usually are.

You can watch it at http://www.adcritic.com if you haven't seen it yet.

What spot has me cringing? Honda Odyssey (The Ones With The Dogs)

Okay. So I'm pretty sure that "cringing" is not the right word. It's more like "What spot has me staring-at-the-television-with-a-confused-look-on-my-face-while-shrugging-my -shoulders-and-asking-'What?'"

Let me just say, right off the bat, that I so hope I am on the outside of a very funny inside joke. I hope that is the reason I don't get the commercials. Because otherwise, they're just incredibly stupid (conceptually). And yes... I do know that puppies and babies are supposed to be two things you just can't go wrong with in the world of advertising. That may very well be true. And I certainly am not helping matters by reiterating the high points of these commercials in the TKTV Newsletter, but that's a chance I'm willing to take. I'm willing to risk it just because I so desperately want there to be an explanation that will make it all make sense.

For those of you who haven't seen these commercials, let me explain a little. This series of television spots features dogs in Honda's Odyssey minivan. The dogs are not running around looking cute like most dogs in most commercials. No sirreee....these dogs are walking around wearing people clothes and driving (that's right, driving) the minivans. And their bodies are actually human bodies, with human hands and everything. It's just their heads that are dogs. The latest one features a trio of what can only be "teenage" dogs playing with a soccer ball and then being taken for a ride in the minivan.

You can view these commercials at Honda's website at http://www.honda2000.com/models/odyssey/visuals/index2.html?visual=photo&count=1

If you've seen these spots and have some brilliant explanation, please let me know. I'm dying to be clued in here. If you haven't seen them, why not surf on over, give them the old once over, and let me know what you think.

Seriously. I'm begging.

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4. 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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5. TV Trivia

Last week's question was: what is the nationality of Anthony Ruivivar's character Carlos Nieto on "Third Watch?"

So only one person guessed, and they were wrong. Carlos Nieto, much like his portrayer, Anthony Ruivivar, is Filipino.

This week's question is from Monique: on "Dawson's Creek," the actor who plays Dawson's father used to be a super hero. Which one?

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

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6. Who Wants to be a Millionaire in the UK by Chris Harrison

It seems that the US is in the first flush of young love, whereas the cynical Brits have settled down into the world-weary pattern of routine cohabitation. The show we spawned and fell in love with is rapidly becoming the dreary, same old same old. The things we found ground breaking and revolutionary are becoming dull, predictable and, as yesterday's front page is today's fish and chap wrapper, we're growing tired of the show that's now be sold around the world.

"Or you could ask the audience... who are nearly always right."

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire was the biggest thing to hit British screens in years, but you don't need to be told that, you're going through it yourself. At its height WWTBAM was getting 55% of all viewers in its slot, equating to about a third of the population, these numbers are universally unstandably as astonishing. The reasons are clear: greed. Five years ago the UK created it's National Lottery with people winning millions every Saturday evening. The TV companies who for decades had had their prize funds capped to ludicrously small amounts suddenly needed to compete and boy did they ever. Before this programme wandered up, the largest cash prize won on British TV had been about ten thousand pounds. We were hooked.

You know the way it works - you have the exact same programme as we do. The same life-lines (the web-site is even called www.phone-a-friend.com) and the two milestones, the same music, the same phone-ins and selections. Regis, so the story goes, even has the same line in *ties*. Our host is Chris Tarrant, who was previously best known for being a cute and cuddly breakfast radio DJ and for hosting TV shows with compilations of clips from foreign TV so us Brits could laugh at wacky and odd Johnny Foreigner. Well, Chris was a revelation. We never knew he had it in him. He could be cruel and heartless and, yes, mindf?ck is the word.

"...but we don't want to give you that!"

It's front page news. When a wrong answer went out or when it turned out that a few of the winners, contrary to the disclaimers they'd signed before appearing, had criminal records and so their prizes were withheld, the media lapped it up.

Problems are on the horizon though. The trouble with the programme is that it's just too darned difficult to win really big. Sure, anyone with half a brain can get to that second milestone, but from then on the numbers are just too large to cope with - are you seriously going to gamble your quarter-million up to a half-million if you're not absolutely sure? No. Of course you're not. Bear in mind, that our prize numbers are exactly the same so our prizes are in pounds, not dollars, so top whack is about $1.7m - not that that makes a huge difference to the concepts, I wouldn't refuse either!

"Is that your final answer?"

The stats are blinding. Earlier this week the fifth series finished its run and, by the end of that series, the five had combined to receive over 15million entries, given away nearly 4 million pounds (as well as generating about 6 million for the telco running the phones). The most significant stat, though, is that the top prize won has only been a quarter million. Let the million be, no-one's even answered question 14 correct.

They can't load the contestants with winners of other highbrow quiz shows because you'd have a scandal in the Quiz Show mould. You can't make the questions easier or the answers less tricky for the same reasons. You could try deft sleights of hand by asking the potential contestants a wide range of questions to try and probe for their strengths without actually asking them - but one whiff of chicanery and the media would be all over you like a pack of wolves.

Herein the paradox. As soon as you get the big winner, the show's edge is lost. But you need that winner. You need that Millionaire that we all want to be. Without that person the programme will wither and die. You might as well rename the show "Who Wants to be a Quarter-Millionaire", but that's not going to work either.

- Chris Harrison, a cynical Brit who's had his fair share of TV quiz show appearances, including being a winner of the British versions of College Bowl and Win Ben Stein's Money, but would trade them all for a shot at the big pot.

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 "Judging Amy"
"Why does God allow children to be smarter than their parents? What kind of a trick is that?" -Maxine

From "Angel"
"You were kids, it's only natural." -Angel
"To sneeze and sprout demon face? That's decidedly unnatural." -Doyle

From "The X-Files"
"I'm sorry, but this is like good cop, insane cop." -Rob Roberts to Mulder and Scully

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8. A totally unrelated link

KIMBLE rulez!

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"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." -Matt Groening, Life in Hell