THE TKTV NEWSLETTER
Season 3, Episode 25 aired September 18, 2000

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

1. Intro

Didja miss me? Yeah, I kinda took the second half of the summer off. But now the newsletter is back with the beginning of the fall season. Now that "Survivor" fever is over, we can concentrate on what we've gained from the summer and what's about to come with the new fall season. And if that's not enough, there's always "Survivor II" premiering in January.

First of all, I'm already lamenting the loss of Fox's "Opposite Sex," which had a quiet summer premiere and has already died a silent death in the doldrums of ninety degree heat, beach weekends and "Ally McBeal" reruns.

The previews for this show once again proved to me that Fox can take anything and make it look trashy. The premise for the show didn't help: three boys are the first male students at an all girls school. The show itself turned out to be thoughtful, well written, and fairly well acted, particularly by the star of the mostly ensemble cast, Milo Ventimiglia. I thought that "Opposite Sex" had the potential to become Fox's new 90210, which Fox is sorely needing, but with the show's final cancellation already a done deal, I guess they'll just have to keep looking.

Thankfully, summer reruns are coming to an end. With the cooler weather, we have the early premieres of "Popular," "Grosse Pointe" and the recently-relocated-from-ABC "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" on the WB's new Friday. I've been looking forward to the return of "Popular" all summer. This show is fresh, funny, and not afraid to make fun of itself. It's like two of my favorite movies, "Heathers" and "Clueless," all rolled into one. Give this show a try if you haven't already.

Paired with the hour-long "Popular" on the WB's new Fridays are two half-hour comedies, "Sabrina" and "Grosse Pointe." Sabrina has spent the last few years on ABC, and now with the move to the WB, Sabrina goes to college. You'll see some familiar faces attending college with Sabrina as well, with new co-stars Elisa Donovan (Amber from "Clueless") and Soleil Moon Frye (how do you know that name? Punky!). I kinda wish they'd left the annoying animatronic cat on ABC, though.

If you haven't heard about "Grosse Pointe" yet, let me be the first to tell you all about it. Basically, it's a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a television drama series. Now before you say, "Ick, another reality show," the beauty of this show is that it's not real at all. The drama series is completely made-up as well. The show is being produced by Darren Star, as in "Aaron Spelling and Darren Star," and apparently Star has already gotten a few phone calls from his mentor, Spelling, due to a certain character who gets a role on the drama just because her daddy is a producer. I am SO looking forward to this show. I think Star will do a great job of spoofing himself, his mentor, and everything 90210.

It seems that with the Olympics, just about all the other networks are delaying their premieres, but next week the WB packs even more of an early premiere punch with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," and CBS tries to get in on a little bit of the action with a new show called "That's Life." More next week! Until then, feel free to write in with what shows you're looking forward to and why.

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2. Letters from the viewing audience

From Dana:
Regarding Kim's mention of Mark McGwire's appearance in the Century 21 ad, I think this part of the spot must be different in different parts of the country, because here in the DC area, it's Cal Ripkin, Jr. who enters the kitchen. Thought you might be interested to know that, if you didn't already!
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

A few nights ago I found myself watching a very appropriate hour of television. For me, the commercial critic at TKTV, what could be more right than "The Funniest Commercials You've Never Seen (And Some You Have)"? It made writing this column exceptionally easy as it was filled with 30 second masterpieces that could only be better if I could take credit for them myself. But choosing my favorite was easy. Let me tell you all about it.

What spot has me laughing? NYSC: The Pill

I don't know what the actual title of this commercial is, so I just made one up. But I think, by the time you read to the end of this review, you'll agree that it's aptly named.

The spot opens with an older man and woman getting into bed; let's call them Romeo and Juliet. And when I say older, I mean older in that creaking bones and sagging skin kind of way. Next we see Romeo gulping down a glass of water. At this point, the spot could be one of those Saturday Night Life spoofs of Depends commercials. I just know it's for adult diapers. My suspicions are confirmed, or so I think, when Romeo raises up the covers and looks underneath. He gets a very strange look on his face and calls Juliet over to look as well. She peers beneath the blanket and grins like a teenager. The next thing we know, Romeo has pulled the covers up over them both and they are going at it!

The announcer's voice comes up and proclaims, over a NYSC (New York Sports Club) logo, "Don't you wish there was a pill that could make the rest of your body hard?"

I was cracking up! Now, I must admit (and you all may be thinking the same thing) that I should have known Romeo was supposed to be taking Viagra. In fact, when I recounted the spot to some girlfriends at work the next day, they said they saw it coming a mile away. So maybe their minds are more in the gutter than mine is, right? Or maybe I was a little bit slow the night I saw it. Or maybe I gave more away in telling it than the spot itself. I'm going to go with the latter because it makes the spot (not to mention me) sound much better.

The bad news is that unless you live in the New York area, you probably won't get a chance to see this spot. If I find it online anywhere, I'll be sure to let you guys know. But for now, I guess you'll just have to trust me. That shouldn't be too hard, should it? I've never steered you wrong before, have I?

Until next time...

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

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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 other motherly role has Jane Kaczmarek played on TV in the last year other than her Emmy-nominated role on "Malcolm in the Middle?"

First prize goes to Lindsay. Congratulations!

Honorable mentions (sorry, without prizes, but keep trying) go to Brandy T. and Jennifer L.

The correct answer was, of course, Julie's birth mother on "Felicity." Yes, Kaczmarek was also Justin's mother on "Party of Five," but she didn't play that role in the last year.

This week's question is: in which movie did Heather Locklear and Charlie Sheen (now co-starring on ABC's "Spin City") co-star in the 1990s?

Don't forget, this trivia quiz is sponsored by myTVshop, where you can get all your favorite TV merchandise.
http://www.mytvshop.com

Send answers to TK at tk@tktv.net with the subject of tvtrivia. Winners will be chosen at random from all the correct answers.

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6. Favorite quotes of the week

From a recent rerun of Dharma & Greg
Dharma: "Guess who's going to have sex?"
Greg: "If it's not me, I don't need to know."

From Opposite Sex
Jed: "I think we should go."
Miranda: "I want to stay."
Jed: "But things are just getting really weird."
Miranda: "Jed, if you can't get through weird you can't get through high school."

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7. A totally unrelated link

New Macs for Mac "Lovers"

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Just when you think life is a bitch, it goes and has puppies.