SCTV Network 90 - Volume 2!!
The SCTV - Volume 2 set has been announced by Shout! Factory for release on October 19th!
Here's a list of the special features on the set:
Larger Than Life: The Norman Seeff Photo Sessions
In 1982 SCTV knew it had hit the big time when famed music photographer Norman Seeff arrived for a weeklong photo assignment for Life magazine. A rare look back at SCTV at a time when it was changing the face of television.
SCTV Remembers, Pt. 2
Joe Flaherty and Eugene Levy recently sat down and talked for hours about SCTV, including the origin of some of their most memorable characters.
The SCTV Writers
In the fall of 2003, the Emmy award-winning writers discussed the process of writing for and with the legendary ensemble cast. Hosted by Second City producer Dick Blasucci.
The Juul Haalmeyer Dancers
Juul explains the origins and all the backstage secrets of the famous dance group that bears his name.
A Behind-The-Scenes Photo Gallery
SCTV's hair, makeup and wardrobe achievements are legendary. This gallery of never-before-seen photos is from the collection of SCTV hair designer Judi Cooper Sealy.
SCTV At The 1982 Emmy Awards
SCTV wins for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy program.
A photo-packed 24-page booklet with an essay by Howard Rosenberg, the Pulitzer-Prize winning television critic for the Los Angeles Times from 1973 - 2003
Episodes include:
EPISODE #88 CCCP 1 - Broadcast October 11, 1981
EPISODE #89 I'm Taking My Own Head... - Broadcast October 23, 1981
EPISODE #90 Zontar - Broadcast October 27, 1981
EPISODE #91 Walter Cronkite's Brain - Broadcast November 9, 1981
EPISODE #92 Doorway to Hell - Broadcast November 16, 1981
EPISODE #93 The Godfather - Broadcast December 9, 1981
EPISODE #94 SCTV Staff Christmas Party - Broadcast December 18, 1981
EPISODE #95 Teacher's Pet - Broadcast February 12, 1982
EPISODE #96 Midnight Video Special - Broadcast February 19, 1982
The DVDs have a total running time of around 13 hours, and will carry a suggested retail price of $89.98 US.
We can also expect volume 3 to be released in Feb, 2005!
Springsteen, Pearl Jam rock against Bush
NEW YORK -- In an unprecedented series of concerts in nine swing states, more than 20 musical acts -- including Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and the Dixie Chicks -- will perform fund-raising concerts one month before the Nov. 2 election in an effort to unseat President Bush.
The shows, which will begin Oct. 1 in Pennsylvania, will take an unusual approach: as many as six concerts on a single day in cities across the states expected to decide the November presidential race. Other stops on the tour are North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin and the key state in 2000, Florida.
"We're trying to put forward a group of progressive ideals and change the administration in the White House," Springsteen told The Associated Press in the most overtly political statements of his 30-year career. "That's the success or failure, very clear cut and very simple."
The artists of different generations and genres will tour under the name "Vote For Change," with shows Oct. 1-8. But the money generated will go to America Coming Together, which promises on its Web site to "derail the right-wing Republican agenda by defeating George W. Bush."
The anticipated millions of dollars will be spent in the swing states before the presidential election, said ACT president Ellen Malcolm.
The shows will be presented by MoveOn Pac, the electoral arm of the liberal interest group MoveOn.org, with an official announcement expected Wednesday.
There was no immediate word on prices for tickets, which were going on sale for all shows Aug. 21. The shows will pair artists, such as Springsteen and REM or the Dixie Chicks and James Taylor. There will be 34 shows in 28 cities.
Natalie Maines, of the Dixie Chicks, who memorably told a London audience last year that she was ashamed to share her home state of Texas with Bush, echoed a Springsteen comment that this was the most important election of their lives.
"A change is in order," Maines said. "There's never been a political climate like this, which is so the polar opposite of me as a person and what I believe in."
The idea was hatched by several of the acts' managers, and quickly expanded. "Once we started talking to each other, ideas started percolating and other artists started reaching out to us," said Jon Landau, Springsteen's manager.
Other artists participating in the shows include hip-hoppers Jurassic 5, John Mellencamp, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Babyface, Bright Eyes and the Dave Matthews Band. Most have a history of social activism, from Browne's anti-nuclear concerts to Mellencamp's Farm Aid shows. Pearl Jam front man Vedder was a Ralph Nader backer in 2000.
"At some point, you can't sit still," said Vedder, a harsh critic of the Iraq war. "You can't spend your life, when people are getting killed, without asking serious questions about why."
Springsteen said he didn't fear any backlash over going public with his personal politics.
"It's a pretty clear-cut decision in November," said Springsteen, whose songs have provided a backdrop for some Kerry events. "We're chipping in our two cents. That's all we're trying to do."
The Clash Serve "Vanilla"
Lost songs due on "London" reissue
Last March, as Clash guitarist Mick Jones was rummaging through boxes in his home in London, he stumbled upon a set of homemade recording tapes that had been missing for twenty-five years. Known as the "Vanilla Tapes," they contain demo versions of fifteen songs that would end up on the band's classic London Calling, plus six unreleased songs, including a cover of Bob Dylan's "Man in Me."
The Vanilla Tapes have long been legend among fans -- now they will be released for the first time as part of a three-disc package to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of London Calling, due out on September 21st. The package contains the remastered original album and a DVD with interviews and footage of the London Calling sessions.
The Vanilla Tapes were recorded in a studio built into a dingy auto garage. "I remember the dirty brown carpet on the floor, and the ceiling and the walls," says Clash bassist Paul Simonon. It was a troubled time for the Clash: The band had recently parted with manager Bernie Rhodes and had just wrapped up its first U.S. tour, embodied by the photo that would become the cover of London Calling: Simonon thrashing his white Fender bass onstage in New York.
"In Britain, everybody thought we were over," says Simonon. "We felt backed into a corner, so we got quite close with each other, and we just tried to go to work."
The band's spontaneity and invention can be heard on these tapes, especially on early versions of "London Calling" (with alternate lyrics) and "Death or Glory." "It's strange hearing those songs," says Simonon. "It really conjures up another time."
Would You Believe?
After a long search, Warner Bros has finally decided on a name to fill the shoes of Maxwell Smart in its GET SMART movie: Steve Carrell of ANCHORMAN and THE DAILY SHOW.
Maxwell Smart, originally played by Don Adams, was an inept secret agent, code name Agent 86, that worked for the United States' secret agency CONTROL. The forces of CONTROL were always working to thwart the plans of the evil force KAOS. Smart eventually fell in love with and married Agent 99, who he often worked with.
Steve Koren (BRUCE ALMIGHTY) is writing a script specifically centered around Carrell's strengths.
Andrew Lazar, Chuck Roven, Jimmy Miller and Eric Gold are producing.
Book details lives of the 1986 Mets; great team, not-so-nice guys
(AP) - The 1986 New York Mets were larger than life. Literally.
At one point on the West Side of the city, a 25-foot-high mural of pitcher Dwight Gooden stared down from a building, a stunning symbol of the shadow the brash and talented team cast over New York during that dominant season which ended with a World Series win.
To capture the hearts and minds of a city the way the Mets did in 1986, it is necessary for a team to be not just successful, but colourful. There have been countless teams that have won championships, even more that have featured young stars on the rise.
But the Mets - who did win and had more than their share of future Hall of Fame-calibre talent - were not just any other team. They had personality (many would say unabashed arrogance) to spare. And in 1986, with the New York Yankees still years away from their later dominance, the Mets were the best show in town - on and off the field.
This is, after all, a team that had nine players record a rap song inspired by the Super Bowl Shuffle by the Chicago Bears - winners of the 1985 Super Bowl. The only difference was the Mets recorded Get Metsmerized only one game into the 86 season.
It is this irresistible mix of talent, arrogance, personality and general trouble-making that Jeff Pearlman looks back at in his book The Bad Guys Won!
Pearlman, who wrote the Sports Illustrated article in which pitcher John Rocker, then of the Atlanta Braves, disparaged minorities and homosexuals, has crafted an entertaining romp of a book through the successful and turbulent season - albeit one that provides more gossip than insight.
After a brief recounting of how all the principal figures in the Mets organization (general manager Frank Cashen, manager Davey Johnson, the players) came to be with the team in 1986, the focus swings quickly to the championship season.
"The Mets were Satan," Pearlman writes at one point.
The team wasn't quite that bad, but they weren't choirboys either. Still, much of what Pearlman writes is far from a revelation. It has long been known that Gooden and fellow young superstar Darryl Strawberry were out of control, abusing drugs and wasting their talent. It's no secret that Gary Carter's rah-rah style of play irritated many opponents and teammates, and that Lenny Dykstra lived his life off the field as hard as he played baseball on it.
The 86 Mets are one of the more charismatic teams of recent times (for better or for worse) and many of their exploits and downfalls have long since been public knowledge. What Pearlman has done is collect them under one umbrella of a book, and provided salacious details for some of the wilder stories.
The Bad Guys Won! is entertaining, but it would be hard for any book about this team not to be. Where Pearlman has failed is in not getting past the outrageousness of the team to look deeper into the effect its rise - and downfall - had on sports and baseball in general, and New York in particular.
Instead, in the pages of this book, the Mets remain caricatures, punch lines to jokes that never seemed possible back when the team was on top of the world.
The Bad Guys Won!: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball With Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever To Put on a New York Uniform - and Maybe the Best was written by Jeff Pearlman and published by HarperCollins.
CBC joins with TSN to bring big Olympic Games picture into your living room
(CP) - CBC plans to bring the big Olympic picture into your living room during the Athens Games.
From live coverage of the opening ceremonies on Aug. 13 to the extinguishing of the Games flame 16 days later, Canadians will be treated to more than 1,000 hours of Olympic coverage from the combined French and English resources of CBC and TSN. You'll be able to tune in on television, listen on radio or log on via the Net.
"One of the things we're very pleased with is the 24-hour access we're giving viewers in both languages across the country," said Nancy Lee, executive director of CBC Sports.
"Having the CBC on the main channel as well as TSN allows us to do that."
The triumphs and sorrows of Canadian athletes will be highlighted along with the big international stories during the daily 10 hours of live broadcasting.
"Canadians also want to see the big picture," says veteran Brian Williams, who will host CBC's prime-time coverage.
"Our coverage is simply reflective of our country. We tend to be outward looking. We tend to take a global perspective. We will show more than one nation."
While CBC's mandate is to try and give a taste of as many sports as it can each day, TSN will offer a full meal deal, says Rick Chisholm, the network's vice-president of production.
"The Olympics are so large you can't cover a lot of the sports," says Chisholm.
"What really gets missed are a lot of sports like baseball or softball or soccer, where people see only portions. TSN's commitment will be, if we go to a game, we will stay at that game. If we're going to do a baseball game, then we will show the whole game."
In Athens, Terry Leibel will host CBC's morning coverage, with Ron MacLean taking over in the afternoon. Williams will anchor the evening prime time show. Between them, the three have hosted 20 Olympics.
TSN will anchor its Olympic broadcasts from Toronto. Dave Randorf will host the afternoon and primetime shows while Gino Reda will man the overnight broadcast.
Providing commentary and colour during the Games will be CBC Olympic veterans like Steve Armitage, Scott Oake and Don Wittman.
Adding their expert insight and analysis will be former Olympic stars like Donovan Bailey (athletics), Waneek Horn-Miller (water polo), Marnie McBean (rowing), Mark Tewksbury (swimming) and reporter Catriona Le May Doan, a two-time speed skating gold medallist.
"What we're looking for Catriona to do is provide us stories that are directly linked and related to the athletes," said Terry Ludwick, executive producer for CBC's Sports Athens coverage.
"The athletes that are speaking to her have a better feeling that she understands where they are mentally."
The Athens Olympics have been stalked by construction delays, security concerns and fears of travel chaos. Temperatures are expected to each 40 degrees and the Games could be shrouded under a blanket of pollution.
Ludwick said any hardships on the ground won't affect the pictures being sent home.
"I don't want behind-the-scenes problems to affect viewers," he said.
"The Summer Olympics are always unwieldy to deal with because of the amount of sports. It's likely to be a challenge."
CBC is sending a crew of 380 to cover the Games, including 12 TSN employees. There will also be staff from French and English services, plus Newsworld, radio and on-line.
Chisholm said TSN will send an additional 10 people, including reporters Farhan Laliji and Ryan Rishaug.
CBC TV will broadcast 294.5 hours of Olympic coverage, 84 in prime time. CBC Newsworld will show 115 hours and TSN 150 hours.
The network plans to broadcast live overnight during the first weekend of the Games to show the rowing finals and on the second weekend for the canoe-kayak. Canadians expect to be medal contenders both weekends.
Ludwick said over 1,000 cameras will be deployed at the Olympics, compared to the 30 used at a Super Bowl.
The one new technological innovation expected at the Games is a camera mounted on the hurdles, which will give viewers a new perspective of Perdita Felicien's attempt for gold in 100-metre hurdles.
CBC and TSN have combined resources in three previous Games, the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and the 1998 Pan Ams in Winnipeg.
Williams said the "partnership has worked extremely well."
"The more that's there, the bigger the variety, the better it is for the viewer."
Chisholm said joining the two rivals has made for "a strange relationship."
"We look at CBC as our competition, we certainly don't think of working in cahoots with them," he said.
"This event is different since it's so massive you really do need two carriers. In a lot of cases you have to put the ego away. You have to keep asking yourself what is best for the viewer."
Lee said CBC expects to reach its sales expectations for the Games but won't speculate on whether the network will turn a profit.
"We'll do all right," she said.
A look at CBC-TSN's television coverage for the Athens Summer Olympic Games:
Hours of Broadcasting: CBC 294.5; CBC Newsworld 115; Radio-Canada 223; TSN 150.
Staff: 380.
CBC: Will broadcast opening and closing ceremonies live, provide daily coverage of events, highlights and interviews.
TSN: Will provide live broadcast of team sports and extended coverage of events like boxing, swimming and rowing.
CBC Anchors (in Athens): Terry Leibel morning, Ron MacLean afternoon, Brian Williams evening prime time show.
TSN Anchors (in Toronto): Dave Randorf, afternoon and primetime show. Gino Reda overnight.
Olympic Analysts: Donovan Bailey (athletics), Waneek Horn-Miller (water polo), Marnie McBean (rowing), Mark Tewksbury (swimming) and Catriona Le May Doan (reporter).
Quote: "It's our goal and objective to connect people to Athens and make them feel part of something that connects the world," Terry Ludwick, executive producer for CBC's Sports Athens coverage.
Clinton Promotes Book on 'Late Show'
NEW YORK - Bill Clinton came to sell his book on "Late Show with David Letterman" Tuesday night but left a copy as a gift for Letterman's son.
Reading aloud the inscription in his hefty 957-page memoir, the former president wished Harry Letterman (born to Dave and his girlfriend, Regina Lasko, Nov. 3) a happy 9-month birthday.
"With luck," Clinton went on, "you will finish this by your 21st birthday. Meanwhile, carry it around and build more muscles than your dad has."
Looking natty in a blue suit and pink tie, Clinton shared the bill with only musical guest Natalie Merchant. During his extended interview, he quickly moved from promoting "My Life" (which since its June 22 release has sold more than 1.5 million copies) to politics and global affairs.
Still, he managed to do a little more selling, putting in a few good words for Sen. John Kerry, the newly anointed Democratic presidential candidate.
"Of all the people I dealt with in Congress," Clinton said in part, "he cared the most about trying to find programs that would keep young, inner-city minority kids out of trouble and out of jail and in school.
"There were no votes in this for John Kerry ... He just did it cause he thought it was right."
When asked whether the economy or the war in Iraq would be the deciding issue in the presidential election, Clinton replied, "I think the security question is a threshold question.
"I believe if the voters can get it fixed in their mind that they can trust Sen. Kerry to fight the war against terror and keep us safe at home, that it's more likely than not he will win, because after 9-11 the Bush administration went way to the right on domestic policy."
Mostly serious while interviewing Clinton, Letterman posed a mischievous question as their session neared an end.
"Tell me what you know about Sandy Berger sticking documents in his pants and walking out of the National Archives," Letterman asked.
Clinton chuckled, then praised his former national security adviser, who is facing allegations of mishandling highly classified terrorism documents.
"Anybody that ever saw Sandy Berger's office at the White House would not be surprised that he gets the papers mixed up or takes the wrong ones away," Clinton grinned. "He's got a well-organized mind and a disorganized desk."
Clinton last appeared on Letterman's CBS late-night show on Sept. 11, 2002, the first anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. He is now mulling an offer from NBC's "Saturday Night Live" to be a guest host in the coming season, according to anonymous sources quoted by TV Guide Online. A decision is expected this week.
Cuban 'Fahrenheit' Telecast Raises Oscar Questions
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. distributors of Michael Moore's controversial "Fahrenheit 9/11" said on Tuesday that an unauthorized broadcast of the film on Cuban television will not disqualify the movie from Oscar competition in the feature documentary category.
"The film that was illegally shown on Cuban state-run TV was from an unauthorized, pirated copy," said a statement issued by Lions Gate Films, IFC Entertainment and the Fellowship Adventure Group, founded by Miramax Films co-chairs Bob and Harvey Weinstein.
Under Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rules, documentaries are ineligible for Oscar consideration if displayed on TV or on the Internet within nine months of their theatrical release.
However, an unauthorized or pirated display of a film would not render the movie ineligible, academy spokesman John Pavlik said on Tuesday.
"If somebody steals your movie and puts it on TV, we're not going to penalize you for it," he told Reuters.
Lions Gate, IFC and Fellowship Adventure Group said they had informed the academy that the Cuban telecast was not sanctioned by the distributors, adding the academy "has confirmed that the distributors did not violate the rules and had nothing to do with the illegal screening of the movie."
Questions about the Oscar eligibility of "Fahrenheit 9/11" surfaced after Moore's blistering critique of the President Bush and his conduct of the war in Iraq was aired last Thursday in prime time on state-run Cuban television.
Copies of the film projected from rough DVD copies also played to packed houses in about 120 theaters across the communist-ruled island for a week.
"Fahrenheit 9/11" could also qualify for nomination as best picture, best director or best original screenplay.
The distributors had no comment on what Oscar categories producers of the film might seek to enter.
Producers of Moore's film have another month to decide how they want the film to be entered in Oscar competition. The deadline for submission of documentary candidates is Sept. 1. Pavlik said the academy typically receives about 60 submissions for that category.
Last year's Academy Award for best documentary feature went to the Errol Morris film "Fog of War," about the difficult lessons of military conflict learned by former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. Moore won the year before for his study of gun violence in America, "Bowling for Columbine."
"Fahrenheit 9/11," which won top honors at the Cannes film festival in May, has grossed more than $100 million, making it an unprecedented commercial success for a political documentary.
The Couch Potato Report - August 3rd/7th, 2004
This week in The Couch Potato Report, there's expectations.
Sometimes its better to have no expectations when you sit down to watch a movie.
Inevitably, if a there is a movie that you are excited to see because you like the premise, the director or the actor, you can't help but have expectations.
But every now and then the opportunity exists for us to have no expectations when watching a film.
Such was the case for me with the new video and DVD release HIDALGO.
HIDALGO stars Viggo Mortensen from THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY and the legendary Omar Sharif from DR. ZHIVAGO.
It is a film based-on-the-true-story of a horse named Hidalgo and Frank T. Hopkins, a long-distance horse racer.
Hopkins and Hidalgo are invited to participate in a 3,000 mile race across the Arabian deserts, known as the Ocean of Fire.
Before pressing play on the DVD that is what I knew and I had no expectations whatsoever. I knew who was in it and I knew what it was about but I wasn't expecting anything from it.
Had I any expectations going in, I might have said that this 2-plus hour film is a bit slow, has too many secondary characters and doesn't come close to showing the power and majesty of the horses running in the race.
Since I had no expectations, I saw HIDALGO as pure old fashioned Hollywood escapism.
There's no bad language, no sex and no exceptional violence.
Its just a movie you can watch and enjoy, with no expectations.
So you see, sometimes it pays to have no expectations.
Especially when there's a film that has both a premise and a star that you're excited about seeing.
That was the case with 13 GOING ON 30.
The talented and lovely Jennifer Garner from the TV show ALIAS stars in this film as a 13 year-old girl who wants to be a member of the very popular in-crowd. She doesn't want to be big or gown-up, necessarily, she just wants to be popular.
Through movie magic she gets sprayed with wishing dust on her birthday and wakes up 17 years later as someone who is very popular.
Time shifting films like this have endless ways to be interesting and comical. After all, how comfortable would you be waking up in a different era or time, or in a different body.
That premise has been often used in films over the years. Some, like VICE VERSA, LIKE FATHER LIKE SON, VICE VERSA and 18 AGAIN were mildly successful and FREAKY FRIDAY, both the original and the sequel, and Tom Hanks film BIG were very popular.
13 GOING ON 30 falls somewhere between all of those movies. Sadly, it just came across as a film that really, really wanted to be a female version of BIG. They even recycle the hand-raising joke, but they can't recycle the charm.
No, 13 GOING ON 30 is no BIG, which is what star Jennifer Garner and the filmmakers and the studio who released it have said it is.
What's worse is the fact that 13 GOING ON 30 is just no fun.
This movie should have been a blast!
As an actress, and what I know of her as a person, Jennifer Garner is perky, fun, and even epervescent.
But 13 GOING ON 30 isn't any of those things.
It is a standard romantic comedy that has no surprises and is predictable in every way.
Now, before you think I'm being too harsh on a film that is basically a very light, time shifting, body switching, light romantic comedy that no one should ever take seriously, let me admit to one thing.
I may have been disappointed in the film because of my own expectations.
Yes, I thought going in it would be a fun, modern day play on a great movie the premise.
Thus, the fact that it wasn't what I expected disappointed me.
I didn't, and don't hate the movie, but I was disappointed in it, because it wasn't what I expected.
Well, having admitted that, while I'm sure my high expectations are part of the reason I didn't care for 13 GOING ON 30, the film itself deserves more than half of the blame.
You might enjoy 13 GOING ON 30 more than I did, as long as you're NOT expecting it to be a female version of the film BIG.
Just think of 13 GOING ON 30 as a mildly comedic, predictable time shifting film and you won't be let down.
Either by your expectations or the movie itself.
One thing is for sure, you can expect 13 GOING ON 30 and HIDALGO to both be available now at your favourite local video store.
COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT
KILL BILL: VOLUME 2 is the second half of Quentin Tarantino's film Kill Bill. Uma Thurman, Daryl Hannah and David Carradine star.
And
ALF - SEASON ONE is about the arrogant, furry alien from the planet Melmac who crashed into the Tanner family's garage. They agreed that he could live with them if he stayed hidden from the rest of planet Earth. They named him Alf, an acronym for "Alien Life Form" and the Tanners constantly had to bail him out of trouble.
ALF is one of my Mom's favourite television shows and I'll have more on it and KILL BILL VOLUME 2 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!