The Couch Potato Report - June 8th, 2004
This week in The Couch Potato Report SCTV is on the air...well, it's now on DVD anyway. So is a two time Oscar winner and two Emmy winners.
When it comes to the entertainment industry, Canadians are the best in the world!
Granted, Canadians are the best in the world at many things, but since my specialty is the entertainment industry, so I’m just going to stay within my field of expertise.
In the silent film era no woman experienced the popularity or power of Mary Pickford. She was known as “America’s Sweetheart.” Guess what, Mary Pickford was a Canadian!
In the mid-1960’s the show BONANZA was the number one program on television. Lorne Greene, a Canadian, was the head of the Cartwright clan on that seminal show.
Another 1960’s show that would eventually become even more popular than BONANZA was STAR TREK. Both Captain Kirk and Mr. Scott, the head engineer on that show are from The Great White North!
So is Mike Myers, Dan Aykroyd, Raymond Burr, Jim Carrey, Phil Hartman, Alex Trebeck, Monty Hall, Tommy Chong, Bryan Adams, Rush, Robert Goulet, Matthew Perry, Donald Sutherland and all of The Kids In The Hall, just name a few.
But the definitive example that Canadians are the best in the world can be summed up in four letters: S. C. T. V!
And now, finally, SCTV, the greatest comedy show of all time, is debuting on DVD!
The Canadian cast of SCTV reads like comedic royalty: John Candy, Dave Thomas, Andrea Martin, Martin Short, Rick Moranis, Catherine O’Hara, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy and Harold Ramis.
Speak any of those names to people who know comedy and you are sure to get a laugh.
SCTV was produced right here in Western Canada and TV Guide recently named SCTV “One of the 50 best television shows of all time."
I’ll do them one better. Plain and simple, SCTV is the best TV Show of all time!
SEINFELD, I LOVE LUCY, THE SIMPSONS, MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS, MAGNUM, P.I., or any other show you could name might deserve honourable mentions, but SCTV was, and is the best TV show ever!
The recently released five-disc box set includes such SCTV benchmarks as "The Great White North" segments; "Play It Again, Bob," starring Rick Moranis as Woody Allen and Dave Thomas as Bob Hope; the ill-fated made-for-SCTV "Polynesiantown" starring Johnny LaRue, who also turns up in “Street Beef.” There is also "The Sammy Maudlin Show", “Money Talks with Brian Johns”, “Mel’s Rock Pile,” with Rockin Mel Slurrip, and many, many more!
Also included are new interviews with the cast, a tribute to the late John Candy, the 1999 SCTV reunion event at the Aspen Comedy Arts Festival, plus commentaries and a 24-page photo booklet.
And I’m happy to report that this is only the first of four planned box sets of SCTV material. The next one is due in September.
Even 18 years after SCTV last aired these episodes continue to prove that Canadians are the best in the world.
This set is the comedy release of the year. Period, end of story!
But maybe you’re not in the mood to laugh. Maybe you’d like to see a serious drama, an Oscar winning serious drama at that.
Well you’re in luck as Clint Eastwood’s MYSTIC RIVER is a very serious drama and it features the Academy Award winning performances of Sean Penn and Tim Robbins.
MYSTIC RIVER is a mystery that revolves around three boyhood friends in working-class Boston. The friends are played as adults by Tim Robbins, Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon, and they are drawn together by a crime from the past and a murder in the present.
It is a great premise, based on a wonderful book by Dennis Lehane, but sorry, MYSTIC RIVER is another one of those films I just didn’t get.
Not at all!
Yet when it was over, I told my friend Chris that critics were going to love it and it would do very well at the Oscars.
They did, and it did.
For the record, Chris didn’t like it either.
MYSTIC RIVER was praised for it’s superior acting, writing, and direction and it was called “…one of the finest films of 2003.”
Sorry, I just didn’t get it.
My advice is to watch it for yourself, then make up your own mind.
Good luck!
The final new release to tell you about this week is ALONG CAME POLLY.
Ben Stiller from ZOOLANDER stars with TV FRIEND Jennifer Aniston.
Stiller basically plays the exact same hapless schmuck romantic types that he’s played in MEET THE PARENTS and several other films. In ALONG CAME POLLY he has to start over when his wife has an affair on their honeymoon.
Then Aniston comes along and comedic situations occur.
If I had been expecting more from ALONG CAME POLLY I probably would of found it to be horrible, predictable and not funny.
But, because my expectations were low, I actually found it very funny.
The laughs come often, there was enough toilet humour to appeal to my immature side, and Stiller and Aniston make a cute couple.
ALONG CAME POLLY isn’t the comedy release of the year, but if you have very low expectations I think you’ll enjoy it.
SCTV, MYSTIC RIVER and ALONG CAME POLLY are available now at your favourite local video store.
COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT
Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore were so great in THE WEDDING SINGER that they teamed up again for 50 FIRST DATES. Sandler is a man falls in love with a woman with no short-term memory. The second time wasn’t the charm with this otherwise engaging duo.
THE SIMPSONS – THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON is also coming out next week. Season 4 is when the show really began to take off. Some of the episodes on this 4-disc set are “Mr. Plow”, “Marge Vs. The Monorail”, “Kamp Krusty” “Brother from the Same Planet”, “Last Exit to Springfield” and “Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie.” This box set is great from start to finish.
In THE STATION AGENT three unlikely people forge a friendship in their despair.
And two mountain climbing friends face tragedy in the reportedly superb TOUCHING THE VOID.
I’ll have more on those releases, in seven days.
For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next week on The Couch!
Coming Now On A CD Near You!
Even though none of these discs can hold a candle to the two HUGE releases coming out next week (from The Beastie Boys and Patti Scialfa) I thought I'd list them anyway as not everyone likes what I like.
For the record, I like The BEastie Boys and Patti Sciafa (Mrs. Bruce Springsteen)!
Anyway, here are the new music releases for Tuesday, June 8, 2004:
311 Greatest Hits '93 - '03 (Zomba)
AL STEWART Greatest Hits (Rhino)
ANGIE STONE 8 Ball (J Records)
BAD RELIGION The Empire Strikes First (Epitaph)
BROOKS BUFORD Straight Outta Rehab (Arista)
BUDDY GUY TBA Buddy Guy DVD (Zomba)
COWBOY JUNKIES One Soul Now (Maple Music)
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND Live At the Gorge (DVD) (RCA)
ELVIS PRESLEY Sun Recordings (RCA)
MOBB DEEP Americaz Nightmare (Zomba)
R. KELLY TBA R. Kelly (Zomba)
SILVERTIDE Show & Tell (J Records)
THE CALLING Two (RCA)
VARIOUS ARTISTS Punk-O-Rama 9 (Epitaph)
VELVET REVOLVER Contraband (RCA)
WEIRD AL YANKOVIC Best Of (Zomba)
WILCO A Ghost Is Born (Nonesuch/Warner)
YOUSSOU N'DOUR Egypt (Nonesuch/Warner)
Last Tour For Simon & Garfunkel?
On Thursday (June 10), Simon & Garfunkel will kick off the second leg of their Old Friends tour in Albany, N.Y. But according to Paul Simon, this may be the final opportunity for fans to see the famed duo.
"If it was an ongoing act where there was new material being recorded and you were working that into the repertoire, maybe there would be some justification," he said. "But I think this is a good example of the music that we made and I don't really see any powerful reason to do it again, because we did it. It's not a Sherman-esque declaration. It's just how I feel."
The boyhood chums have been famously estranged for years, the classic example of a duo that made sweet music onstage and hit sour notes when the lights went down. Now, however, "my friendship with Artie is back to where it was when we were 12 years old," Simon said. "We're laughing and kidding around all the time. It's a lot of fun." Garfunkel agreed: "We are remarkably like brothers in our musical calling and our senses of humor."
They may be friends again, but that doesn't mean they always see eye to eye. In the course of two interviews, they disagreed on whether Simon & Garfunkel has a recording future, a touring future beyond this summer and whether a change in their show for Europe was politically motivated.
Last fall, during the song "America," a video montage ran on screens behind the two singers, showing images of the nation during the past 40 years. That will be either changed or eliminated when the tour moves to Europe July 14 in Manchester, England.
"It's what an artist does when he feels the name of his country speaks too loudly and too provocatively [that] it pushes the music aside," Garfunkel said, somewhat cryptically. He wouldn't comment further. Simon said it will be altered to be more appropriate to Europeans. "It's not a political statement," he said. "It's a geographic reality."
Seeing the duo isn't a cheap date, with the average ticket price for an S&G show last fall selling for more than $135. "It's a hard subject," Garfunkel said. "It puts me on the defensive. I didn't make the ticket price. I'm involved in it, my profit is related to it. Am I squeezing the American people? Well, if they show up and say we're happy to buy your ticket and come see the show, who am I to say you shouldn't be happy?"
Garfunkel said he's had great fun with the reunion, which he called "an open-ended experience." The idea of new recordings from Simon & Garfunkel is "a very interesting and feasible possibility," he said.
That may be wishful thinking. Although they're preparing a CD and DVD recording of their fall shows at New York's Madison Square Garden, Simon doesn't expect any new music from the duo.
"I think we're about what we were," not what we could be in the future, he said. In the meantime, Simon is halfway through a new solo album, an intriguing partnership with producer Brian Eno. As previously reported, the artist's solo albums will be released in a nine-disc boxed set on June 29 by Warner Bros., and individually in two batches on July 13 and July 27.
Metallica Preps 'Monster' of an EP
NEW YORK (Billboard) - In conjunction with the July 9 opening of the Metallica documentary "Some Kind of Monster," the band will issue an eight-track EP of the same name.
The Elektra package, set for a July 13 release, will feature two versions of the song from which the film takes its moniker: one drawn from the 2003 album "St. Anger" and an edit by producer Bob Rock.
Six live tracks recorded June 11, 2003, in Paris, are also featured: "The Four Horsemen," "Damage, Inc.," "Leper Messiah," "Motorbreath," "Ride the Lightning" and "Hit the Lights." Limited editions of the EP will bundled with a compressed T-shirt in large and extra-large sizes, emblazoned with the film's poster art.
Directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, "Some Kind of Monster" offers an unvarnished behind-the-scenes look at Metallica's recent past, including the departure of longtime bassist Jason Newsted and vocalist James Hetfield's stint in rehab.
Metallica is in the midst of a European tour that ran into a snag Sunday night at the U.K.'s Download Festival, when drummer Lars Ulrich was unable to perform due to an undisclosed medical emergency. According to the group's official Web site, Ulrich was ably replaced during the 11-song set by Slipknot's Joey Jordison, Slayer's Dave Lombardo and Ulrich's own drum tech.
Metallica will shift from Elektra to Warner Bros. Records for its next studio album, which Ulrich told Billboard won't begin taking shape until next year.
Actor David Hasselhoff Arrested for Drunk Driving
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor David Hasselhoff, who played the frequently bare-chested chief lifeguard on the international hit TV series "Baywatch," was arrested over the weekend on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, police officials said on Monday.
A Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman said Hasselhoff was arrested late Saturday evening on a DUI charge in the Encino area. She did not have any details on the circumstances of the arrest.
Hasselhoff entered an alcohol rehabilitation program in the summer of 2002 and admitted in subsequent interviews that he had hit "rock bottom."
A spokeswoman for the 51-year-old actor was not immediately available to comment on his arrest.
"Baywatch" debuted on NBC in 1989 and was canceled after one season. But Hasselhoff and his partners acquired rights to the show and brought it back as a syndicated series in 1991 based on its popularity overseas. The show went off the air in 2001.
The show also made household names of actresses like Pamela Anderson, Carmen Electra and Yasmine Bleeth.
Hasselhoff won early fame starring in the 1980s talking car TV series "Knight Rider" and has also enjoyed success as a singer, especially in Germany. He appears in the film comedy "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" due for U.S. release later this month.
'Harry Potter' Box Office Tally Raised
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Harry Potter worked some more box office magic and had Hollywood wondering on Monday if new trends of global debuts and strong sequels were developing at movie houses.
Box office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. raised the final weekend U.S. and Canadian ticket sales for "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" by $1 million to $93.7 million.
The "Potter" opening marks the second straight sequel to get off to a strong start this summer season along with May movie "Shrek 2," following several high-profile disappointments last year like "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle."
Computer-animated "Shrek 2" became the quickest new release to surpass the $300 million mark with a total $314.5 million. It took 18 days to cross that threshold compared to 22 days for "Spider-Man," said DreamWorks distribution chief Jim Tharpe.
But it was the third "Potter," estimated to cost Warner Bros $150 million, that had Hollywood wondering if other of this year's sequels can beat their predecessors -- as did "Potter" -- and how many more movies will get global debuts.
Internationally, the British boy wizard conjured $114 million, including a week of sales in the United Kingdom. It played in 24 overseas markets, overall.
Producer David Heyman attributed its success to several factors including older kids turning up in droves. They grew up reading the books and continue to follow the movies. Teens are a core group that repeats trips to theaters for popular films.
"Our audience base is expanding. We're bringing in the newer audiences and retaining the teenagers," he told Reuters.
Good reviews and the direction from Mexico's Alfonso Cuaron, whose previous hit "Y Tu Mama Tambien" had adult themes, brought in older audiences, too, Heyman said.
NEW TRENDS?
The "Azkaban" start has some Hollywood watchers wondering if it can beat "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" in total box office. Doing so would not be unprecedented, but would be outside normal box office patterns for sequels.
Wall Street analyst Michael Gallant of CIBC World Markets sees a mixed outlook due to the competitive summer season.
Gallant sees "Azkaban" on track to post $875 million in global ticket sales, down from $969 million for "Sorcerer's Stone" but ahead of $866 million for "Chamber of Secrets."
Movie executives say "Shrek 2" and "Potter" are playing well because they earned solid reviews and strong endorsements from friend to friend. "Full Throttle" failed that test.
The experts await "Spider-Man 2" (June 30) and "The Bourne Supremacy" (July 23) to see if the trend holds.
Meanwhile, more summer releases are slated for same-day global debuts as was "Troy," "Van Helsing," and "The Day After Tomorrow" to counteract piracy and use global media coverage.
The experts said certain elements are needed to launch movies worldwide: a big star like Brad Pitt in "Troy," a brand like "Potter" or an issue like global warming in "Tomorrow."
"If you have something that has scale and relevance, you want to take advantage of that opportunity," said Stephen Moore, head of Twentieth Century Fox International. Fox, a unit of News Corp. Ltd., distributed "Day After Tomorrow."