THE TKTV NEWSLETTER
Season 3, Episode 36 aired December 18, 2000

CONTENTS
1. Intro
2. Don't Miss
3. Media Junkie
     -by guest writer Jason Friedman
4. TV Trivia
5. Favorite quotes of the week
6. A totally unrelated link
1. Intro

ABC cancelled "Madigan Men." Their new Friday night line-up has been an unmitigated disaster, having already created three new cancellations from a four-sitcom line-up. I kind of enjoyed "Madigan Men," which starred three of the more likeable actors in any new sitcom: Gabriel Byrne, Roy Dotrice and John Hensley. However, the combination of it being an unremarkable show on one of the worst nights of television made it deserve its cancellation.

FOX finally gave up on "Normal, Ohio." Entertainment Weekly had a great article this week in their TV section on good sitcom stars trapped in bad sitcoms. The article covered John Goodman in "Normal, Ohio," Steve Weber in "Cursed" (recently renamed "The Weber Show" but still just as bad) and Michael Richards in "The Michael Richards Show" (this one is debatable in my book, he was good as Kramer, but that doesn't make him a good sitcom star). FOX is, however, giving "Freakylinks" another chance! Look for it to return on January 5th at 9pm.

That's about it for me this week. Due to the holidays, there likely won't be another newsletter until January 8th. So, happy holidays and have a very happy New Year!

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2. Don't Miss

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

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3. Media Junkie by Jason Friedman

First off, I feel I should comment on NBC and big cheese Garth Ancier parting ways. The spinmeisters are saying that he didn't fit in at the network. I have previously pointed out the pathetic new season of NBC's shows. Only "Ed" has been a moderate success, and even that show has been moved from its original timeslot due to less-than-hoped-for ratings. The simple truth is, you can't fire the whole team, so the big cheese gets axed. The replacement choice is an interesting one: Jeff Zucker, executive producer of "The Today Show." The positive is that he knows how to put on a successful show. Let's be honest, "Today" is much more entertainment than news. The negative is that he doesn't have the L.A. entertainment relationships, but I'm sure he will soon.

My new favorite guilty pleasure is VH1's "The List." It brings together four diverse people to debate and construct a "best of" list. The topics change every day, as do the guests. Topics can be anything from Best Pop Album to Best Madonna song. I know VH1 does seem obsessed with lists, but this show is always interesting. I don't know much about the music of Sister Hazel, but the lead singer sure is entertaining. And the fun thing is you see people you often won't see on any other celebrity-driven show.

If you have never seen it, check out the reruns of "Soap" on Comedy Central. In New York, it airs from 7am to 8am (VCR time if there ever was). It was truly a ground breaking sitcom and one of the funniest shows of all time. To over-simplify, it tells the story of the families of two sisters. Brilliant characters include the first gay character on a mainstream sitcom (played by Billy Crystal), a husband that believes he can make himself invisible and was abducted by aliens (played by Richard Mulligan), and Chuck and Bob. Chuck and Bob is a guy and his dummy that are just too funny to even try to do justice to here. The first few years were and still are really superior television.

HBO is preparing a male version of "Sex in the City." It will be called "The Mind of a Married Man" and is based around three male reporters working at a Chicago newspaper. It doesn't sound that interesting, but at least it is a different spin.

I have to mention one of the top shows on television: "Primetime" on ESPN. It is basically an hour of football highlights every Sunday. It only has two people on the show: Chris Berman and Tom Jackson. The show is extremely well produced and consistently entertaining. How many shows can you say that about every week? Tom Jackson is, in my opinion, the best studio commentator in the business.

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. TV Trivia

Last week's question was: in what movie did Richard Schiff co-star with the son of one of his current co-stars in "The West Wing?" (To word it differently, in case that made no sense: Richard Schiff, who is on "The West Wing," once co-starred in a film with the son of someone else who is on "The West Wing." What was the name of the film?)

Well, every now and then I shoot myself in the foot with these questions. The movie I was looking for was "The Arrival," in which Richard Schiff co-starred with Charlie Sheen (Martin Sheen's son). However, as many people pointed out, two other movies were also correct answers: "Major League 2" (also with Charlie Sheen) and "Young Guns II" with Emilio Estevez (Martin Sheen's other son).

First prize goes to Aliconehd. Congratulations!

Honorable mentions go to Amy S. and Jarett G.

This week's question is: Adam Goldberg, one of the stars of the recently cancelled "The $treet," guest-starred in a few episodes of "Friends" as who? Bonus if you remember what his pet was.

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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5. Favorite quotes of the week

From DAG
Dag: You want to apologize, don't you?
Judith: After all, it's Christmas.
Dag: This means he gets away with everything?
Judith: Oh, hell no. That's what the other 364 days are for.

From Yes, Dear
Kim: When you guys have kids you'll see. The first year is just a blur of screaming, staying up all night and trying not to step in throw-up.
Greg: Just like college without the sex.

From The Weber Show
Jack: Ice Cube is in the next box.
Katie: That's not Ice Cube, that's Ice-T.
Jack: I get all the refreshing rappers mixed up.

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6. A totally unrelated link

disinformation

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"Half our life is spent trying to find something to do
with the time we have rushed through life trying to save."
-Will Rogers