NBC Jumps on ViPod Bandwagon
Following the lead of Disney and ABC, NBC Universal is bringing some of its shows to an iPod near you.
Episodes of several current NBC shows -- "Law & Order," "The Office" and "Surface" -- will become available for download on Apple's iTunes service, to play on a video iPod or personal computer. NBC Universal is also offering up episodes of USA's "Monk," Sci Fi's "Battlestar Galactica," segments from "The Tonight Show" and "Late Night" and a handful of shows from its library, including "Dragnet" and "Knight Rider."
"We are committed to helping viewers enjoy the wide breadth of our programs across an equally wide range of devices and distribution models," NBC Universal chairman and CEO Bob Wright says. "Apple has developed a distribution platform that is attractive to consumers while at the same time providing the safeguards against theft that are so important to us and to every content provider."
Episodes of current shows will be available for download the day after they air, for $1.99 each. Older shows are available anytime.
Disney was the first media giant to offer some of its content on iTunes, pairing up with Apple as soon as the video iPod was released in October. Episodes of its hits "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," along with the now-cancelled "Night Stalker" and two Disney Channel shows, are available on the service, along with several thousand music videos and short films.
Apple says iTunes customers have downloaded more than 3 million videos since the service's introduction on Oct. 12.
Spielberg's 'Munich' gets a look
After weeks of secrecy and speculation, Munich, Steven Spielberg's story about the aftermath of the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics, began screening this week for the press and awards voters.
And though the movie doesn't open until Dec. 23, it is gaining steam among some analysts as the film to beat.
"It's long, it's serious, and it's not a typical Spielberg film," says David Poland of moviecitynews.com, which polls more than a dozen film writers for their Oscar picks. "It's more understated than we've come to expect from him, which I think will help it."
Munich is the last of the movies considered best-picture candidates to begin screening.
But Entertainment Weekly's Dave Karger says it's too early to crown any film a favorite. "This is an unusually open race," he says. "If Munich splits voters for not being political enough, it's anyone's race."
Other films considered contenders: Memoirs of a Geisha, Brokeback Mountain, Walk the Line, Capote and Good Night, and Good Luck
Academy Award nominations will be announced Jan. 31. The Oscars will be presented March 5.
Ex-"Idol" Star Busted
Former American Idol contestant Julia DeMato has hit a low note in her post-reality TV existence.
DeMato, who was a top 10 finalist in season two of the talent competition, was arrested early Saturday in Brookfield, Connecticut, and charged with possessing marijuana and cocaine, as well as driving under the influence of alcohol, according to police reports.
Members of the Brookfield police force became suspicious after seeing DeMato's SUV pull into the parking lot of a local Mexican restaurant around 2 a.m., more than an hour after the restaurant had closed.
After approaching the would-be crooner, the officers determined DeMato had been drinking and administered a series of field sobriety tests, which she failed.
DeMato, 26, was subsequently arrested and police went on to search her car, turning up two marijuana pipes, a small quantity of marijuana and a small plastic bag that tested positive for cocaine.
The erstwhile Idol competitor was charged with possession of narcotics, two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of less than 4 ounces of marijuana.
She was released on $10,000 bail and ordered to appear in court on Dec. 16.
Speaking from her home Saturday night, DeMato claimed that her arrest was a mistake and denied that she was a drug user.
"I am not a drug user," DeMato told the News-Times of Danbury, Connecticut. "This was just a misunderstanding. It's going to be taken care of in court and that's that."
DeMato, who worked as a hair stylist before appearing on Idol, gave birth to her first child in July, a baby boy she named James Peter.
She and her fiancé, electrician Jim Polches, were said to be planning to marry next year.
DeMato's arrest adds her to a lengthy list of Idol alumni who have run into problems with the law, including, but not limited to: Bo Bice, Corey Clark, Scott Savol, Jaered Andrews and Trenyce.
The next season of the talent contest kicks off on Fox in January.
'King Kong': The First Reviews
International reviewers scrambled Monday night to post reviews of Peter Jackson's King Kong after it premiered on 38 screens at two Times Square multiplexes. All appeared to agree that the film will pack 'em in. John Hiscock wrote in the London Daily Telegraph: "Hokey and clichéed in parts, thrilling and dramatic at other times, King Kong is reminiscent of both Jurassic Park and Titanic. And like those two record-setting epics, it is certain to be a huge hit." Baz Bamigboye in Britain's Daily Mail described it as "jaw-droppingly brilliant: the most entertaining blockbuster movie this year." Kevin Maher in the London Times commented: "That Jackson's King Kong upgrades the now hammy original with wit, heart and humor is a pleasant surprise. That it does so by reinventing the action blockbuster, in form and emotional impact, is nothing less than an act of cinematic alchemy." But several writers also noted that the film will have to become one of the top-ten box-office earners of all time in order to be considered a success. Geoffrey Macnab of Britain's Independent, who noted that director Peter Jackson poured $32 million of his own money into the film to cover budget overruns, commented, "Even with Jackson opening his check book, King Kong remains a monumental risk." The New York Daily News is running reviews from each of its lead film critics, Jami Bernard and Jack Mathews. Bernard calls it, "the most thrilling, soulful monster picture ever made. At last, it can be said without irony -- I laughed, I cried. ... It's brilliant." Mathews concludes that it "will further Jackson's reputation as the leading visionary among fantasy filmmakers and it restores the Empire State Building to the stately glory of its past."
Cameron seeks agile actress for 'Titanic' follow-up
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - James Cameron is moving forward on his long-awaited follow-up to "Titanic," with a casting call going out for an agile young actress to star in his sci-fi thriller "Battle Angel."
The project is in development at 20th Century Fox, which declined comment. But Mali Finn Casting has placed an online ad seeking women aged 16 to mid-20s who are athletic and agile with graceful movement and have an ear for languages and dialects. Submissions are due December 19, the firm said.
"Battle Angel" is described as a big-budget adaptation of a 12-part Japanese manga series set in the 26th century that centers on 14-year-old female cyborg named Alita. Production is scheduled to begin in February.
Cameron has said publicly that he is planning to direct two movies back-to-back using a virtual-reality production process he refined and developed with visual effects cameraman and second unit director Rob Legato. The process is based on a photo-real version of the performance-capture technology used by filmmaker Robert Zemeckis in "The Polar Express."
"Battle Angel" is the first project to employ the process and is set to come out in summer 2007. The second -- known in Cameron circles as "Project 880" -- is slated for 2009, the director has said.
Early last month, Fox executives visited a Los Angeles stage set up by Cameron's company, Lightstorm Entertainment, to view his proof-of-concept. They reviewed the director's latest digital-production process that includes 3-D high-definition digital-camera systems in a virtual production studio, allowing Cameron to make camera choices, edit, work with computer-generated objects and direct actors on a stage within a virtual environment.
The frame-by-frame production setup allows Cameron to envision the entire film digitally before he shoots actors in live-action, performance-capture material.
Cameron demonstrated a real-world test of the technique on the stage to show the infinite digital production possibilities the system enables. The director had worked to debug and refine the system since early spring to get it to finished quality before demonstrating it to studio executives.
"Titanic," which came out in 1997, grossed $1.8 billion at the worldwide box office, and won 11 Academy Awards, including best picture and director. Since then, he has directed a few maritime documentaries.
Bertinelli Divorcing Rocker Eddie Van Halen
LOS ANGELES - Valerie Bertinelli and her rock star husband, Eddie Van Halen, are divorcing after 24 years of marriage, Bertinelli's publicist confirmed Tuesday.
"Yes, that's true. They have been separated for four years and it's amicable," Bertinelli spokeswoman Heidi Schaeffer told The Associated Press. She said the actress would have no further comment.
A divorce petition that Bertinelli, 45, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday cited irreconcilable differences.
The couple wed on April 11, 1981, and have one son, 14-year-old Wolfgang Van Halen. According to the petition, they separated on Oct. 15, 2001.
Bertinelli shot to fame as the sexy 15-year-old daughter of Bonnie Franklin on the hit television show "One Day at a Time," which aired from 1975 to 1984. She rejoined Franklin and Mackenzie Phillips, who played her sister, for a reunion show earlier this year. She was also a regular on television's "Touched by an Angel" from 2001 to 2003.
Van Halen, 50, is one of the most celebrated lead guitarists in rock music. He rose to fame in the late 1970s, along with his brother, drummer Alex Van Halen, vocalist David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony as members of Van Halen.
The group was known for wild excess both on and offstage in its early years, and Van Halen, once a heavy smoker, was treated for cancer in 2000 and 2001.
Eminem Says He's Back With Ex-Wife
DETROIT - Rap superstar Eminem told a radio show Tuesday that he is back together with his ex-wife and may remarry. Eminem went through an ugly divorce and custody battle over his young daughter with Kimberly Mathers. They married in 1999, and their divorce was finalized in 2001.
"We have reconciled and are probably going to remarry," Eminem told Detroit radio station WKQI-FM's "Mojo in the Morning" show.
During the interview, he referred to Kimberly Mathers, 30, as "my wife Kim."
Eminem's label Interscope Records said the interview was the only one that Eminem had planned for now. The rapper's greatest-hits album titled "Curtain Call" was released Tuesday.
Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, also discussed his stay earlier this year at a hospital to undergo treatment for sleep medication dependency. Word of the hospitalization came in August after he canceled his European tour.
"When I went into rehab, I kind of went into it ... with the notion of 'I'm gonna get clean, I'm gonna get off this stuff before it gets too out of hand,'" he said.
In July, Eminem denied an impending retirement but hinted at taking a breather. On Tuesday, the 33-year-old, who lives in suburban Detroit, spoke more about his uncertain future.
"I'm at a point in my life right now where I feel like I don't know where my career is going," he said. "This is the reason that we called it 'Curtain Call,' because this could be the final thing. We don't know."
WE WERE ALL THERE ON THE AWFUL NIGHT LENNON WAS SHOT
It was a warmer than usual December day in New York, up in the 50s on Dec. 8, 1980. But the city was buzzing, as usual - "Stir Crazy" stars Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder would hold court at Tavern on the Green. Neil Diamond would host a gala for his film "The Jazz Singer." Paul McCartney's "Rockshow," a Wings tour documentary, was held over for another week at the Ziegfeld.
John Lennon woke up and went to the barber before returning to his home at the Dakota, 72nd and Central Park West, to pose with Yoko Ono in their "morning room" for Rolling Stone photographer Annie Leibovitz. That day they would learn that the album he had released three weeks earlier, "Double Fantasy," had gone gold.
Meanwhile, a misfit from Hawaii, Mark David Chapman, 25, had flown into town a week earlier, camped out in front of Lennon's building and was looking for trouble.
Shortly before 11 p.m. - just a few hours after getting Lennon to autograph a "Double Fantasy" album - Chapman shot John Lennon four times with a .38 caliber pistol, killing him at age 40. Afterward, he said he murdered Lennon because he hated phonies, a hatred he said he absorbed from reading J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye." He had a copy of the book on him when he committed the murder.
On the eve of the 25th anniversary of Lennon's death, the people who were eyewitnesses to his final moments, who tried to save his life, and who were charged with telling the world of his death, recall that day in never-before-revealed detail.
These are John Lennon's final hours:
KARIN SILVERSTEIN, Rolling Stone magazine's picture editor: [Annie Leibovitz's] photo shoot [with Lennon] was the day he died. That morning. It was at the Dakota.
She usually had one assistant and somebody that helped her with lighting. I think they were there for at least a couple of hours.
Annie Leibovitz has recalled arriving at John and Yoko's apartment.
John told her, "Listen, I know they want to run me by myself on the cover, but I really want Yoko to be on the cover with me. It's really important."
He posed lying naked in a full-body embrace of Yoko, who was dressed in black.
DAVE SHOLIN, reporter for RK radio, who interviewed Lennon that afternoon: We spent probably from 1 p.m. to around 4:15 or so together in their apartment at the Dakota. Yoko was on one chair, and John was on a separate chair. He was wearing jeans and a dark sweater.
You walk in [to the apartment] and take your shoes off. There were clouds painted on the ceiling. And I was in this incredible space with, you know, these two amazing people who had a lot to say and wanted to talk that day.
This was the only interview they were giving to radio, and I was producing the special.
He really wanted to talk about the last years, his views on life, love, politics, the world at large - what happened in those years between, and his relationship with Sean.
He was just bubbling over with enthusiasm with everything in his life. He felt like that was it; he had turned the page and was starting another chapter.
He said, "I'm ready to start all over again and get this thing going. Who knows what's going to happen next?"
John was outside when we walked out to load the equipment, the audio stuff. We were standing on the lower steps in front of the Dakota entrance. Our car was around the corner, and then it showed up.
John was out there waiting for a good 10 minutes. I don't know if nobody had called for his car. John asked me, "Where are you heading?"
I said I was going to JFK, and he said, "Can you give us a lift?" Yoko was either there or there within seconds. It was certainly quick.
There were just a couple of people across the street waiting to see John. Then a man came up for an autograph. It had to be Mark David Chapman.
On the way to the studio, John talked about his relationship with all the Beatles and his musical taste. I had a 6 p.m. flight home to San Francisco, which I barely made.
STEVE MARCANTONIO, 46, recording engineer assistant at the Record Plant, who was wrapping up a week of working with John and Yoko on a new single, "Walking on Thin Ice": He and Yoko came in sometime in the early evening to listen to the final mix.
SAM GINSBERG, 50, engineer at the Record Plant: I remember [John and Yoko's producer] David Geffen came over and said, "[Double Fantasy] has gone gold."
["Walking on Thin Ice"] was going to be the next single. And John was happy that it was going to be Yoko's single instead of his single.
We just finished mixing that song, and they left. The one thing that stuck in my mind was John saying, "I'm hungry. Should we stop at Wolf's deli?"
He said - its kind of an English thing - "If I ate, it would go right to my knee," meaning he was starving.
He didn't go to Wolf's.
JIM MORAN, 70, NYPD officer on a 4-to-midnight shift on the Upper West Side that night: When John and Yoko arrived back [at the Dakota], they came with the limousine. But there was a car parked there, so they couldn't pull into the driveway. They pulled up on the street and they got out of the car, double-parked. They went in that way.
STEVE SPIRO, 59, the first NYPD officer on the scene of the shooting: When we got the call, about 5 minutes to 11, something like that, it said, "Shots fired, 1 West 72nd Street." We were on Broadway and 72nd.
The first thing that came to my mind is, oh, they're shooting fireworks off over in Central Park.
When we got to the scene, we pulled up and this guy's standing in the middle of the street, pointing into the archway, saying, "That's the guy doing the shooting."
MORAN: I drove to the Dakota and there were several cars, and a crowd. There was always like five, six, 10 people because they knew they could get signatures from John and Yoko. But they never had any problems; it was a quiet crowd.
SPIRO: We got out of the car and went up against the building and looked into the archway. Here's this guy - I'm sticking my head into the archway - and he's got his hands up. He had dropped the gun; the gun had been kicked away by the doorman and he had his hands up. He had taken off all his outer garments.
I figured there was a robbery going down. I didn't know how many guys were there. I wheeled him around. I saw the holes in the glass vestibule, and then off to my right, Jose, the doorman, who I know for years working there, says, "No, he's the only one."
So I said great, OK. Now I throw him up against the wall. Then Jose yells out, "He shot John Lennon." And I just went, "You what?"
MORAN: There were other radio cars there, and my partner Bill [Gamble] and I went through the archway and up the steps going up, and they said a man was shot. We said we'll take him to the hospital.
I went back to get the car to pull right up. They carried him out, the police officers. There was a crowd there and they were saying it was John Lennon, and I didn't know - I'll be honest with you, you couldn't tell.
SPIRO: I grabbed the guy, Mark David Chapman. I wheeled him around. I'm cuffing him. I had his nose up against the wall so he couldn't see anything.
I turn to my right, and I see John Lennon being carried out of the building. They carried him face-up, shoulder-high. I saw the blood gurgling out of his mouth. I'm just saying, "Oh my God, this guy's drowning in his own blood, he's hit in the lungs."
MORAN: I said, "Are you John Lennon?"
And I think he said, I heard a moan, and he nodded and he said yes, and they laid him across the back seat [of the patrol car].
SPIRO: I wasn't looking for an answer, but Chapman says, "I acted alone."
MORAN: There's like two, three steps to go in the vestibule outside the lobby of the Dakota. Chapman would have got him there, he would have seen his back, that's how he got him, when he went up the stairs. Chapman was on the sidewalk.
They were trying to get Yoko to go in on the other side of my patrol car next to Lennon, but it was too crowded.
They decided to put her in another car, and then we just went off down to Columbus Avenue.
DAVID GEFFEN, writing in the Jan. 22 issue of Rolling Stone about that night: I went home and turned the phone off. I was sort of hanging around the apartment and I noticed the light on the phone flashing. So I picked it up and this woman said, "I'm a friend of Yoko's. John's just been shot. They're at Roosevelt Hospital. Run right over."
I said, "Sure," and hung up the phone, and thought, gee, what a crank phone call. When I tell Yoko, she'll be real upset.
But then I thought, "Is it possible?" So I called the Record Plant, and they said, no, it's impossible, he just left here ten minutes ago.
DR. STEPHAN LYNN, 58, director of Roosevelt Hospital emergency room, at 58th Street and Ninth Avenue, who was called back to the hospital that night: I had left the hospital at 10:30, and I was watching the commercial before the 11 o'clock news, so it was probably 10:57.
I got a call from the emergency department. The nurses got a call from the police that they were bringing in an individual with a gunshot wound to the chest. I ran out, got a cab, and actually got to the hospital before he did.
And, in fact, one of our cardiovascular surgeons, Richard Marks, he lived near the Dakota and he was parking his car. He saw what was going on across the street, and he simply decided to turn around and come back.
We didn't know who it was. The police were not 100 percent certain who it was. When the victim came in, he had three gunshot wounds in his left upper chest and one through his left arm. He also had no blood pressure, no pulse, no respirations and he was unresponsive.
ALAN WEISS, 54, a producer of ABC's 6 o'clock news with Roger Grimsby and Bill Beutel, who had had a motorcycle accident in Central Park and was in the E.R. when Lennon arrived: The door slammed open and six cops - I think it was four or six - come trotting in with a stretcher between them. And they go into the bay that I am literally lying outside of.
Two of the cops come out and they're standing over my gurney, and one says to the other, "Jesus, can you believe it, John Lennon?"
LYNN: An emergency department clerk took his wallet out of his pocket. There was a John Lennon ID card. And he had a very large amount of cash in his wallet. When Yoko Ono came in, I was 100 percent certain who we had. She was taken down to the other end of the emergency department. She was never brought into the room where he was treated.
WEISS: I hear crying. And I crane my head around, and there's Yoko in a full-length mink coat on the arms of a leather-jacketed police officer, hysterical.
LYNN: To provide any chance for him to survive, we needed to do an emergency thoracotomy. So we made an incision in the left chest and separated the ribs and found a very large amount of blood. We looked for an injury to the heart or to the blood vessels. But what we discovered was that all of the major blood vessels leaving the heart were simply destroyed.
There was no way that we could repair them.
MORAN: Yoko came in. They were going to leave her out in the waiting room, and we decided to put her into one of the rooms that were vacant in the back, and I stayed with her for five, 10 minutes.
I said, "You have the best doctors."
WEISS: There's this guy sweeping the floor. I call him over and say, "Look, do me a favor. Here's my press card, here's 20 bucks. Call this number, ask for Neil, tell him Alan's in the hospital and I believe John Lennon's been shot."
He said sure. Five minutes go by and a voice says, "Mr. Weiss, No personal phone calls are allowed to be made by the staff."
I said, "Sir." He said, "Mr. Weiss, would you just be quiet please. We have a situation here, and you can't ask the staff to do anything."
So I get up and I can't walk, but I sort of hop my way down. There's a pay phone outside the door. I'm opening the door when a vice grip grabs me on my biceps. A security guy asks me, "Where you going?"
I said, "Just to make a phone call."
He said, "You can't."
One of the cops who brought me in miraculously arrives. I ask him, "Do me a favor. Can I just make a phone call?"
He takes the phone off the nursing stand, gives it to me. I get [assignment editor] Neil Goldstein on the phone.
"Neil, I think John Lennon's been shot."
Neil calls ABC Network. ABC News called Howard Cosell [who was on the air doing "Monday Night Football"].
FRANK GIFFORD, 75, co-announcer of the Patriots-Dolphins "Monday Night Football" game that night: We were in Miami. I was doing the play-by-play at the time. I could hear Cosell talking to the producer in the truck.
I knew something big was going on. I could tell by Howard's intensity, and he wasn't paying any attention to the game all of a sudden.
Then we go to a commercial. I said, "Howard, what the hell's going on?"
Then he said, "They just shot John Lennon."
He said, "I'll take it from here, Gifford," and, "We're going to announce this," or something to that effect.
I said, "Bulls--t, we're not, either."
I said, "We're going to get confirmation from New York."
Cosell was really pissed off - and he was right, it had just happened.
BOB GOODRICH, 60, ABC "Monday Night Football" producer, who told Howard Cosell about Lennon: I said, "Howard, it's been confirmed. It's unfortunate, but you need to report it to the country."
VIN SCELSA, 57, WNEW-FM DJ, who was on the air when Lennon was shot: "The bank of telephone lines started lighting up. First one and then 20. I picked one up, and the voice said: "Howard Cosell said John Lennon's been shot."
[Bruce Springsteen's] "Jungleland" was on the turntable. So I faded it out, I read this news bulletin and brought the record back up again.
In "The Operator," late author Tom King revealed that Yoko had a friend waken Geffen and he rushed to her side at the hospital, fighting his way through the throng of camera crews, photographers and reporters that had gathered at Roosevelt's entrance.
WEISS: I'm back on the gurney, and I'm watching in the room, John Lennon stark naked, he's laying on his back, his feet are facing me and there's like 10 people in the room. There's blood on his chest.
The door opens and every security guard comes flying in, "Are you Weiss? Lay down."
They wheel me out of the emergency room, right outside the doors.
LYNN: I literally held his heart in my hand and I pumped. But every time I pumped, most of what I pumped simply came out of all the holes. It was totally ineffective, and after about 20 minutes, he was declared dead.
WEISS: At about 11:05, 11:10, the Muzak that's playing in the hospital plays the Beatles' "All My Loving." It was a very freaky coincidence.
About a minute or two after that, there's a scream: "No, no. Oh, no, no." A woman's voice.
LYNN: I walked in, and I told Yoko what had happened. And she completely refused to accept what I said.
She said, "No, it's not true. You're lying. It can't be true. You're not telling me the truth. He can't be dead, he was just alive. You're lying. No."
After about five minutes, a long time, she finally understood what had happened.
And the first thing that she said was, "Don't make the announcement immediately. Delay the announcement for about 20 minutes, because I want to go home and make certain that my son Sean is not sitting in front of a TV set."
HOWARD COSELL, speaking live on ABC at 11:30 p.m.: "Remember, this is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses. An unspeakable tragedy that came to us from ABC News in New York City: John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous perhaps of all the Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital.
"Dead on arrival."
SCELSA: The news clerk came back in the room, white as a ghost. I said, "What?"
He said, "He's dead, it's him. He's dead."
And I said, "I'm not saying that on the air. Get verification."
I played "Let It Be." I had that cued up.
GEFFEN, in Rolling Stone: Eddie Rosenblatt, my partner and the president of the company, called me up and said, "John was just shot. They just interrupted [Monday Night Football]."
I said, "Meet me downstairs," and we ran out and got in a cab, and rushed to the hospital. It was such a scene. There were cops everywhere, big cops, you know. You feel so intimidated, and all I could think was that I had to get to Yoko.
I kept saying, "I'm David Geffen. I'm expected. Yoko's expecting me." But they wouldn't let me in. I was banging on the door and I just felt so helpless. I kept shouting, "You've got to let me in. You've got to let me in."
Finally, someone opened the door and I ran in.
Yoko was in this little room, hysterical, and I just picked her up in my arms.
LYNN: We made arrangements to allow Yoko to leave the emergency departmen, but when [her car] pulled up to that entrance, all the press and everybody on the scene ran around the corner, and we literally could not push the door open.
MORAN: When Lennon was shot, [he and Yoko had] just came back from the studio, so he had miscellaneous papers. I think he had glasses, a wallet, and then papers, which I had to just voucher.
JOE DEMARIA, New York Post photographer who caught Yoko and Geffen leaving Roosevelt: We were hanging around outside the emergency room. There was rustling going on. There were a lot of police.
I got a tip that Yoko would be coming out a side door. I sort of backed off and slid around to 58th Street. I stopped at the first door. I was about 10, 15 feet away. There was a car sitting there.
I wasn't there 15 minutes; two people came out before her. Then she came out, looking very solemn, didn't say a word. [Geffen] was holding on to her.
GERALDO RIVERA, 62, then investigative reporter for ABC news and friend and neighbor of Lennon: I definitely heard the shots that night at 72nd Street [from my apartment at 64th and Central Park West]. I didn't know what it was, but gunshots weren't that uncommon in those days. Or I thought it was a car backfiring.
But it wasn't more than five minutes later that I got a call from the ABC network news desk. They said, Can you come on and do "Nightline?"
I said, "Why?" And they said, "John Lennon's just been shot."
The newsroom is only two blocks away, so I rushed over there and found out he had died.
It was a crushing, crushing moment, and I remember saying at one point to Ted Koppel, "I'm just trying to keep my thoughts organized and coherent and not break down."
We stayed on live for three hours, basically redoing the show for every time zone.
BOB GRUEN, 60, author of "John Lennon: the New York Years" published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang, who was Lennon's personal photographer and one of his closest friends in the city: I was here in my darkroom. I had taken some pictures [at the Record Factory] the last weekend he was alive. I was printing those pictures when the doorman called up and said, "Do you have a radio on? I just heard on the radio that John Lennon was shot."
My first thought was that maybe he'd been mugged, because that's what happened once in a while if you had bad luck. It didn't occur to me that someone would travel across the world to shoot him on purpose. It just didn't. It still doesn't make sense. It will never make sense.
LYNN: We then made arrangements to take John Lennon's body out of the hospital, because this was the type of case that would go to the New York City Medical Examiner.
There was a receiving dock farther down 58th Street, toward the back of the hospital, that had a double entrance where you could close the outer door or the inner door, or both.
They [pulled the car in, closed the outer doors] and then opened the inner door and we put his body in the morgue ambulance. There was actually another body in there at the time. I have no idea [who that was].
Then we closed the inner door and opened the outer door. The police had completely cordoned off 58th Street, and there was no traffic and no people on the street. And the medical examiner's vehicle left.
I made the announcement in what was then the lobby to the hospital. There was a small staircase of about three or four steps that led up to the admissions office.
I stood at the top of the steps, and the first thing that I saw was about 200 or 300 press people with microphones, mostly radio, and some TV cameras, all pointing in my direction.
I put my head down and sort of put my hands out to the side to motion that I had something to say and for them to be quiet.
Annie Leibovitz took a picture of me.
DENNIS ORTIZ-LOPEZ, 56, Rolling Stone magazine typographer: Annie Leibovitz came in the office the next morning the same time I did. I took the elevator up to the 23rd floor with her. I could see she was really messed up over it, so we didn't discuss it.
We had all been called up and told he had died. They said to come in quick because we had an editorial nightmare coming up. We had finished the magazine completely. The cover was going to be Warren Zevon.
Jann wanted that picture [that Liebovitz had taken the morning before he was killed of John naked with Yoko] to run on the cover. We had to completely do the issue over in two days.
We all knew what we had to do.
ANNIE LIEBOVITZ, writing in the Jan. 22 issue of Rolling Stone about the cover shot: I promised John that this would be the cover. It was taken a few hours before he died. I shot some test Polaroids first, and, when I showed them to John and Yoko, John said, "You've captured our relationship exactly."
I looked him in the eye and we shook on it. The next day, Yoko asked to see the prints and she made the final selection.
SHOLIN: When [my plane] landed in San Francisco, I turned on the radio. I don't remember what song, but it was an older Beatles ballad, like "Yesterday."
It was really odd. He played two songs back to back. And then he made the announcement.
I just stopped the car and realized it wasn't a nightmare or bad dream.
The Couch Potato Report - December 6th, 2005
This week The Couch Potato Report features a Cinderella man, and a man who is no longer with us.
It is rare when a film that is as good as CINDERELLA MAN fails to find an audience.
And make no mistake, CINDERELLA MAN is good, and it did fail to find its audience when it was released in theatres in June.
Now that it is available on video and DVD I hope the film finds it's audience, because it is a film that is worth seeing.
In CINDERELLA MAN Russell Crowe from GLADIATOR plays James J. Braddock, a real person who lived and was a boxer in the early 1930's and during The Great Depression.
As the depression takes away his money, and injuries take away his career, almost everyone in his inner circle turns their back on Braddock. Eventually his injuries end his boxing career and he struggles to support his family.
Renee Zellweger from COLD MOUNTAIN plays Braddock's loving and supportive wife.
Unable to fight, Braddock looks for any kind of work he can get, but he also believes that he will box again.
Through a twist of fate, the day does arrive, and he gets a second chance at success.
CINDERELLA MAN is a complex film with great acting from Crowe, Zellweger and Paul Giamatti from SIDEWAYS. The movie also benefits from the experienced direction of Ron Howard.
Be warned though, if you are looking for the type of sentimental melodrama that Howard brought to A BEAUTIFUL MIND, THE MISSING, and some of his other films, you won't find that here.
The desperate struggle of the Depression is on plain view, and the boxing scenes are very realistic and at times they are very violent.
No, CINDERELLA MAN didn't find its audience in theatres, but I hope that people who enjoy well made, quality movies will ensure it finds success on video and DVD, because this is a film that should be seen.
As a side note, CINDERELLA MAN was filmed in Toronto, partially at Maple Leaf Gardens. The theatre where I first saw it in was on the site of where the Montreal Forum used to stand. Thus, for me, in addition to enjoying this boxing film, I was enjoying memories of hockey's greatest rivals as well.
But I digress, and we move on now to a film that has been available on video for years but is now - finally - debuting on DVD.
That film is 1988's IMAGINE: JOHN LENNON.
With the world pausing to remember that it has been 25 years since we lost the man, the time is right for this film to be released again.
The film is part documentary, part biography, and all Lennon and it was put together using nearly 240 hours of film and videotape that Lennon took during his life.
Director Andrew Solt took that material and created a fascinating story of one of the most complex and fascinating people in music history.
If you are fan of John Lennon, or The Beatles, this movie is a must have.
And if you are curious about why people are making such a big deal about this guy twenty-five years after he died, then IMAGINE: JOHN LENNON is a great place to start.
I have worn out my video copy, so I am pleased to now own IMAGINE: JOHN LENNON on DVD.
For the record, I will never own the movie versions of FANTASTIC FOUR or THE DUKES OF HAZZARD on DVD, or video for that matter.
That isn't because the films are horrible, but just because I will never need to see them a second time. Yes, each one does have parts that are worth seeing, just not a second time.
As far as FANTASTIC FOUR is concerned, that is too bad as I remain a huge fan of the comic book to this day. But films based on comic books have to be judged by their source material and this film doesn't hold up.
The source material in the film sees Reed Richards, Victor Von Doom, Ben Grimm, and Sue and Johnny Storm travel into outer-space in order to do research into human DNA.
Things don't go as planned, and the result is superhuman powers. Four of the five use their powers for good, Victor Von Doom does not.
To its credit, FANTASTIC FOUR is a light-hearted and funny adventure that doesn't take itself too seriously, but that also works against it. If the people making the film took it more seriously then a better movie could have been the result.
Since they don't, the character development is only mildly interesting, and there isn't much action in the movie until towards the end.
FANTASTIC FOUR isn't horrible, but it could have been great.
Great like the X-MEN films and THE INCREDIBLES.
The film version of the 1970s and 80s TV show THE DUKES OF HAZZARD isn't horrible either, and it also doesn't take itself too seriously either, but unlike FANTASTIC FOUR, THE DUKES OF HAZZARD is just stupid - and not always in a good way.
The plot of the film, as it is, centers around Cousins Bo and Luke Duke, their sexy cousin Daisy, and their Uncle Jesse's attempts to save the family farm from destruction by the town's corrupt and evil commissioner Boss Hogg.
In order to save the farm the cousins must elude the authorities over and over again in their car "The General Lee."
But as I said, the film is just stupid, and so are many of the characters in it. On occasions when that stupidity involves Deputy Enos, or pop star Jessica Simpson as Daisy, the film is mildly entertaining.
All other times, it isn't.
No, the film version of THE DUKES OF HAZZARD isn't horrible, but it is definitely the last, and least of this week's new releases.
And it is now available at a store near you along with FANTASTIC FOUR, IMAGINE: JOHN LENNON, and the overlooked in theatres CINDERELLA MAN.
Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report
Steve Carell from THE DAILY SHOW is THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN. Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johanson star as clones in THE ISLAND, and there will be new box sets available for MIAMI VICE: SEASON TWO and THE SIMPSONS: THE COMPLETE SEVENTH SEASON.
I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other 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!
DVD-Only Prequel Fills in '24' Gaps
The DVD set of season four of "24" will include at least one nifty little extra: a 10-minute mini-episode that helps bridge the time gap between the end of Jack Bauer's fourth really long day as a counter-terrorism agent and the coming season, which premieres in January.
For the pleasure of knowing where Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) went after faking his own death, fans of the show can expect to pay a retail price of about $70. Which is about $70 more than the gap-bridging extra cost the show's producers to make.
That's because Toyota picked up the tab for the cost of shooting via a product-placement/sponsorship deal -- commonplace on TV but novel for DVD content. The prequel segment ends with a high-speed chase that will doubtless feature the automaker's vehicles tearing through the streets of Los Angeles, or wherever it is that Bauer's hiding out.
"The prequel was a great opportunity to address some unanswered questions from the end of last season," executive producer and Howard Gordon says, "and to give fans some clues from the season ahead -- and to deliver a really exciting car chase."
The preview takes place four months before the opening of season five and features Jack meeting covertly with CTU operative Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub), one of the few people inside CTU who knows Bauer is still alive. FOX says the prequel will also give clues about the coming season's bad guys and how Jack has been keeping his real identity a secret.
The "24" season four DVD set hits stores Tuesday (Dec. 6). Season five premieres Sunday, Jan. 15.
Your 2005 Film Quiz
Some movie buffs say this year has been one to forget. Agree or disagree? Here's a test to see how much you truly remember (And yes, the answers are all below)
By JOE LEYDON - The New York Daily News
Name Games
1. In "Batman Returns," Christian Bale became the fifth actor to play the Caped Crusader in a feature film. Name the other four.
2. Name three actors who played Dakota Fanning's father in 2005.
3. Who played the title roles in "Four Brothers"?
4. People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive 2005" starred in two '05 films. Name them.
5. Name two John Carpenter movies that were remade in 2005.
Whereabouts
6. "Hustle & Flow" takes place in what Southern city? (A) New Orleans (B) Nashville (C) Memphis (D) Mobile
7. In what city do the vengeful "Four Brothers" seek their mother's killer? (A) Detroit (B) Boston (C) Chicago (D) Newark
8. "The Skeleton Key" was set in the dark backwoods just outside what city? (A) Atlanta (B) Charlotte (C) New Orleans (D) Savannah
9. Just where is Ice Cube taking those two troublesome kids in "Are We There Yet?" (A) San Francisco (B) Seattle (C) Portland (D) Vancouver
10. Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette co-starred in "In Her Shoes" as estranged sisters in what city? (A) Boston (B) Philadelphia (C) Seattle (D) Chicago
Catch a falling star
11. What native Texan played a Texas Ranger in the little-seen "Man of the House"? (A) Dennis Quaid (B) Tommy Lee Jones (C) Matthew McConaughey (D) Steve Martin
12. What star of a 2005 blockbuster also voiced the title toon character in the underwhelming "Valiant"? (A) Christian Bale (B) Johnny Depp (C) Tom Cruise (D) Ewan McGregor
13. What former "Law & Order" star fought the good fight in a long-delayed World War II drama last summer? (A) Jerry Orbach (B) Benjamin Bratt (C) Chris Noth (D) Michael Moriarty
14. She was hyped as a hottie and was notorious for nude scenes in the 1980s. In "Flightplan," however, she cameoed as a drab and bespectacled psychologist. Who is she? (A) Greta Scacchi (B) Kim Basinger (C) Kathleen Turner (D) Sean Young
15. What actor best known for his New York-based movies stumbled badly while time-tripping through Chicago in "A Sound of Thunder"? (A) Edward Burns (B) Woody Allen (C) Robert De Niro (D) John Turturro
Real characters
16. Who is Johnny Storm? (A) The pimp-turned-hip-hopper in "Hustle & Flow" (B) "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" (C) The flaming superhero in "Fantastic Four" (D) The vengeful hulk in "Sin City"
17. What were the first names of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith"? (A) John and Mary(B) Paul and Paula (C) John and Jane (D) Dick and Jane
18.Who is Gracie Hart? (A) The crusading coal miner of "North Country" (B) The plucky FBI agent of "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous" (C) The mother-in-law from hell in "Monster-in-Law" (D) The curvy stripper of "Sin City"
19. Tyler Perry donned drag to play what character in his "Diary of a Mad Black Woman"? (A) Madea (B) Medea (C) Madonna (D) Medusa
20. Who is Ray Ferrier? (A) The heavyweight rival of the "Cinderella Man" (B) The divorced dad fleeing alien invaders in "War of the Worlds"(C) A "Wedding Crasher" (D) "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"
Snappy patter
Who said it?
21. "Does it come in black?" (A) Johnny Depp in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (B) Bruno Ganz in "Downfall" (C) Christian Bale in "Batman Begins" (D) Morgan Freeman in "March of the Penguins"
22. "For the past year, I ain't had nothing twixt my nethers that didn't run on batteries." (A) Jessica Simpson in "The Dukes of Hazzard" (B) Keira Knightley in "Domino" (C) Jewell Staite in "Serenity" (D) Drea de Matteo in "Assault on Precinct 13"
23. "A thong would look ridiculous on me." (A) Michelle Monaghan in "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" (B) Val Kilmer in "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" (C) Toni Collette in "In Her Shoes" (D) Shirley MacLaine in "In Her Shoes"
24. "Trust me: Everyone is less mysterious than they think they are."(A) Kirsten Dunst in "Elizabethtown"(B) Claire Danes in "Shopgirl" (C) Steve Carell in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"(D) Jessica Alba in "Fantastic Four"
25. "God loves you just the way you are, but too much to let you stay that way." (A) Michael Caine in "Batman Begins" (B) Cameron Diaz in "In Her Shoes" (C) Amy Adams in "Junebug" (D) Reese Witherspoon in "Walk the Line"
26. "You're not stalking me, are you?" (A) Cillian Murphy in "Red Eye" (B) Orlando Bloom in "Elizabethtown" (C) Rob Schneider in "Deuce Bigalow, European Gigolo" (D) Brad Pitt in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith"
27. "There are two types of people: Those that talk the talk and those that walk the walk. People who walk the walk sometimes talk the talk but most times they don't talk at all, 'cause they walkin'. Now, people who talk the talk, when it comes time for them to walk the walk, you know what they do? They talk people like me into walkin' for them." (A) Terrence Howard in "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" (B) Joaquin Phoenix in "Walk the Line" (C) Toni Collette in "In Her Shoes" (D) Anthony Anderson in "Hustle & Flow"
28. "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in." (A) Joe Pantoliano in "Racing Stripes" (B) Tim Curry in "Valiant" (C) Robin Williams in "Robots" (D) Cedric the Entertainer in "Madagascar"
29. "Know how I knew you were gay? You like Coldplay." (A) Terrence Howard in "Hustle & Flow" (B) Paul Rudd in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" (C) Mark Wahlberg in "Four Brothers" (D) Mickey Rourke in "Sin City"
30. "Tattoo on the lower back? Might as well be a bull's-eye." (A) Angelina Jolie in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" (B) Chris Rock in "The Longest Yard" (C) Vince Vaughn in "Wedding Crashers"(D) Jennifer Garner in "Elektra"
Answers
NAME GAMES
1. Adam West ("Batman," 1966), Michael Keaton ("Batman," 1989; "Batman Returns," 1992), Val Kilmer ("Batman Forever," 1995) and George Clooney ("Batman & Robin," 1997).
2. Robert De Niro ("Hide and Seek"), Tom Cruise ("War of the Worlds") and Kurt Russell ("Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story").
3. Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin and Garrett Hedlund.
4. Matthew McConaughey appeared in "Sahara" and "Two for the Money."
5. "Assault on Precinct 13" and "The Fog."
WHEREABOUTS
6. (C) Memphis
7. (A) Detroit
8. (C) New Orleans
9. (D) Vancouver
10. (B) Philadelphia
CATCH A FALLING STAR
11. (B) Tommy Lee Jones
12. (D) Ewan McGregor
13. (B) Benjamin Bratt (in "The Great Raid")
14. (A) Greta Scacchi
15. (A) Edward Burns
REAL CHARACTERS
16. (C) Superhero in "Fantastic Four"
17. (C) John and Jane
18. (B) FBI agent in "Miss Congeniality 2"
19. (A) Madea
20. (B) Divorced dad in "War of the Worlds"
SNAPPY PATTER
21. (C) Christian Bale
22. (C) Jewell Staite
23. (C) Toni Collette
24. (A) Kirsten Dunst
25. (C) Amy Adams
26. (A) Cillian Murphy
27. (D) Anthony Anderson
28. (A) Joe Pantoliano
29. (B) Paul Rudd
30. (C) Vince Vaughn
Same old song, but with a different package
Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi was brand-new on April 12. It got newer on Nov. 15.
Adopting the DVD formula of following an initial release with a coveted "director's cut," the music industry has taken to revamping hit CDs months after release to reboot sales. It's gravy for artists and labels and a bargain for consumers who didn't get the original.
But fans who already have the album can feel resentful and shortchanged. They're either stuck with the minor version or forced to buy the same title again to get the extras.
Carey's Mimi was closing in on 4 million copies when the enhanced "Ultra Platinum Edition," with four new tracks, replaced it 32 weeks later to pad sales by 185,000 copies and bump it 11 notches to No. 4 in Billboard.
She's not the first to repackage a big seller. A special edition of Usher's Confessions, 2004's top seller, came 6½ months after the slimmer original. The Killers' Hot Fuss, released in mid-2004, returned Aug. 16 in limited-edition form with three added tracks. 50 Cent's The Massacre, already on course as this year's best seller, got a second wind in September as a reissue with videos for all 21 tracks. And Elton John's Peachtree Road, released a year ago, is back as a collector's edition with bonus tracks and a DVD.
Artists cite various creative impulses as reasons for the follow-ups. But the consensus, particularly in a year of declining CD sales, points to a profit boost achieved by prolonging an album's life span.
"The record companies are trying to go to the same well again and again," says George Varga, pop music critic for the San Diego Union-Tribune. "The obvious question in my mind is: If the newly added material is so great, why wasn't it on the album in the first place? If the artist really had a surge of inspiration after the album came out, they have plenty of ways to make that music available, be it on their website or an EP.
"You don't need to be a trial lawyer to be a little suspicious of the motives. Yet, whatever the record industry can do to motivate people to buy anything is in their best interest."
Carey fanatic Alex Kaplan of Chino Hills, Calif., wants to add the Mimi upgrade to her collection, though she believes the altered disc benefits latecomers and punishes devotees who shop early.
"If I want the new songs, I have to buy an album I already have," says Kaplan, 30. "I'd rather see the new stuff sold separately, like a mini-album with a different cover.
"I'll probably end up buying it again, but I'm not too happy about it."
The Christmas classic that almost wasn't
When CBS bigwigs saw a rough cut of A Charlie Brown Christmas in November 1965, they hated it.
"They said it was slow," executive producer Lee Mendelson remembers with a laugh. There were concerns that the show was almost defiantly different: There was no laugh track, real children provided the voices, and there was a swinging score by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi.
Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez fretted about the insistence by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz that his first-ever TV spinoff end with a reading of the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke by a lisping little boy named Linus.
"We told Schulz, 'Look, you can't read from the Bible on network television,' " Mendelson says. "When we finished the show and watched it, Melendez and I looked at each other and I said, 'We've ruined Charlie Brown.' "
Good grief, were they wrong. The first broadcast was watched by almost 50% of the nation's viewers. "When I started reading the reviews, I was absolutely shocked," says Melendez, 89. "They actually liked it!"
And when the program airs Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, it will mark its 40th anniversary — a run that has made it a staple of family holiday traditions and an icon of American pop culture. The show won an Emmy and a Peabody award and began a string of more than two dozen Peanuts specials.
Last year, 13.6 million people watched it, making it the 18th-most-popular show on television the week it aired; CSI was first. One advertiser on the show, financial services giant MetLife, has contracted to use Peanuts characters in its advertising since 1985 and will continue through at least 2012.
Schulz, who died in 2000, never doubted the power of his tale of Charlie Brown's quest for the true meaning of Christmas amid the garish trappings of a commercialized holiday. "It comes across in the voice of a child," says Jeannie Schulz, the wife of the cartoonist, whose friends called him Sparky. "Sparky used to say there will always be a market for innocence."
Peter Robbins, now 49, was the voice of Charlie Brown. "This show poses a question that I don't think had been asked before on television: Does anybody know the meaning of Christmas?"
Parents like Molly Kremidas, 39, who grew up adoring A Charlie Brown Christmas, watch it with their kids. "It's the values in the story," says Kremidas, of Winston-Salem, N.C. She'll watch tonight with daughter Sofia, 6. "Would there be any programs for children on today that could get away with talking about the real meaning of Christmas? I don't think so."
Erin Kane, 36, is eager for her 3-year-old son Tommy to watch the program for the first time tonight in their Boston home. "The Christmas season doesn't start," Kane says, "until Charlie Brown is on."
Hip but wholesome
On paper, the show's bare-bones script would seem to offer few clues to its enduring popularity. Mendelson says the show was written in several weeks, after Coca-Cola called him just six months before the program aired to ask if Schulz could come up with a Peanuts Christmas special.
Charlie Brown, depressed as always, can't seem to get into the Christmas spirit. His friend and nemesis Lucy suggests that he direct the gang's Christmas play. But the Peanuts crew is focused on how many presents they're going to get, not on putting on a show.
"Just send money. How about tens and twenties?" says Charlie's sister Sally as she dictates a letter to Santa Claus.
Charlie goes to find a Christmas tree to set the mood. He returns with a scrawny specimen that prompts his cohorts to mock him as a blockhead. In desperation, Charlie asks if anyone can explain to him what Christmas is all about.
"Sure, I can," says his friend Linus, who proceeds to recite the story of the birth of Jesus from the book of Luke in the King James Version of the Bible. "And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, and goodwill toward men,' " Linus says. "And that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."
Scholars of pop culture say that shining through the program's skeletal plot is the quirky and sophisticated genius that fueled the phenomenal popularity of Schulz's work, still carried by 2,400 newspapers worldwide even though it's repeating old comic strips.
The Christmas special epitomizes the nostalgic appeal of holiday television classics for baby boomers raised as that medium gained prominence, says Robert Thompson, a professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University.
Thompson notes that other Christmas specials made during the same era — such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty The Snowman - also air each year to strong ratings.
"This is the only time in the year when TV programs from the LBJ years play on network television and do very, very well," he says. "For millions of baby boomers, these things became as much a holiday tradition as hanging a stocking or putting up a tree."
What makes A Charlie Brown Christmas the "gold standard" in Thompson's view is that it somehow manages to convey an old-fashioned, overtly religious holiday theme that's coupled with Schulz's trademark sardonic, even hip, sense of humor.
While Schulz centers the piece on verses from the Bible, laced throughout are biting references to the modern materialism of the Christmas season. Lucy complains to Charlie that she never gets wants she really wants. "What is it you want?" Charlie asks. "Real estate," she answers.
"A key element in all of Schulz's work is his sense of man's place in the scheme of things in a theological sense as well as a psychological sense," says Thomas Inge, an English and humanities professor at Randolph-Macon College who edited a series of interviews with Schulz released in 2000. "Then there's this slightly cynical attitude that makes everything work."
Parents say the combination of humor and bedrock values is what draws them and their children to the show. "It does provide a balance, but it's a balance that we as a society have forgotten about," says Patrick Lemp, 43, of West Hartford, Conn. He'll watch tonight with son Brendan, 13.
"This is one of the last shows that actually comes out and talks about the meaning of Christmas. As a society, we're taking religion out of a lot of the trappings of the holiday. This one is different."
A cultural footprint
Much about A Charlie Brown Christmas was revolutionary for network TV, even beyond its religious themes.
The voices of children had not been used before in animation, a technique Mendelson, Melendez and Schulz all wanted to try.
"Lee didn't want to use Hollywood kids. He wanted the sound of kids who didn't have training," says Sally Dryer, 48, who did the voice of Violet — the little girl who mocks Charlie Brown for not getting any Christmas cards. In later specials, she was Lucy's voice.
Mendelson sent tape recorders home with all his employees in Burlingame, Calif. Dryer, then 8, was chosen because her sister worked for the Mendelson crew. Robbins and Christopher Shea, the voice of Linus, were the only children with professional acting experience in the cast.
The show was also novel in that it used no laugh track, an omnipresent device in animated and live-action comedies of the era. Schulz strongly believed that his audience could figure out when to laugh.
Perhaps the most enduring aspect of the show has been its score — a piano-driven jazz suite that was absolutely unheard-of for children's programming in 1965.
Guaraldi, the composer and pianist, was best known for a 1962 hit called Cast Your Fate To the Wind. Mendelson liked it so much that he hired Guaraldi to score a documentary about Schulz that never aired. When the Christmas program was sold, parts of that music were incorporated.
The driving tune that the Peanuts children keep dancing to in the special, called Linus and Lucy, has become a pop staple that's been recorded countless time in the intervening decades.
A new version of the soundtrack was released last month for the 40th anniversary. It features Vanessa Williams, Christian McBride, David Benoit and others.
The song that opens the program, Christmas Time is Here, was written only for piano by Guaraldi, but Mendelson decided to add words to appease other network concerns. When he found his songwriter friends in California were all tied up, Mendelson wrote the words himself on the back of an envelope.
"So now it's a standard," says Mendelson, now 72. "Who knew? I tell people that I'm old and I'm lucky."
Jazz pianist George Winston, recorded a 1996 tribute album to Guaraldi, who died in 1976. He says that when he plays Guaraldi tunes at concerts, young children come up later and say, "Hey, that's the Peanuts music!"
Says Winston: "Vince made a stamp on our popular culture that will never go away. For an artist, that's the ultimate tribute."
A sweet memory
The Christmas special has become a key part of the Peanuts marketing empire, which racks up $1.2 billion in annual retail sales, $350 million of which come in the USA. Millions of VCR tapes and DVDs of the program are in circulation worldwide.
The 40th anniversary has spawned a long list of spinoff products, including a "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" at Urban Outfitters and a paperback version of a book Mendelson wrote, The Making of a Tradition: A Charlie Brown Christmas. And the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, Calif., where Schulz lived, plans a special commemoration on Dec. 17 with Mendelson and several cast members. The museum also has an exhibit on the Christmas show that runs through Jan. 9.
"It's a tradition, along with White Christmas, A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life," says Marion Hull, 77, who toured the exhibit on Friday. "It's simple, it tells a simple story, and it's something that both adults and children can get something out of."
For those who worked to make the program — as well as fans who watch it — its material success seems ancillary. The word that keeps coming up is "sweet."
Robbins, who is single, has no children and manages an apartment building in Encino, Calif., loves that kids of friends squeal with delight each Christmas that "Uncle Pete used to be Charlie Brown."
Jeannie Schulz, who was the artist's second wife when they married in 1973, says their five children, 25 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren see the show as a holiday tradition as well.
"The reason it's endured is because of its simplicity and its very basic honesty to real life," she says. "Who would have thought this would last 40 years? How did that happen?"
For many viewers, it is the speech by Linus from Luke near the end that packs the biggest emotional wallop.
Christopher Shea was just 7 when he did the part and credits Melendez's coaching and his mom's doctorate in 17th-century British literature for Linus' lilting eloquence with a Biblical text.
Shea, who now lives in Eureka, Calif., with two daughters, 11 and 16, answers quickly when asked why the special has proved so enduring. "It's the words," he says.
Shea says that for years, in his teens and 20s, he didn't quite understand his soliloquy's impact.
"People kept coming up to me and saying, 'Every time I watch that, I cry,' " he says. "But as I got older, I understood the words more, and I understood the power of what was going on. Now I cry, too."
NEW CD RELEASES FOR DECEMBER 6, 2005
Alkaline Trio Crimson - Deluxe Edition (Vagrant)
Tori Amos The Original Bootlegs (box set of previously online-only concerts from 2005; includes one previously unreleased concert disc) (Epic)
Paul Armfield Evermine (Sat-On)
Ashanti Collectables by (remixes w/four new tracks) (Def Jam)
Bang Sugar Bang Thwak Thwak Go Crazy (SOS)
Chris Botti To Love Again (Columbia)
Bow Wow Wanted Reloaded (DualDisc) (Columbia)
Foxy Brown Black Roses (guests Jay-Z and Sizzla) (Def Jam)
Eddie Cane Presents (CD/DVD combo) (Thump)
Carl Craig Fabric 25 (mix CD) (Fabric)
Howie Day Live (Epic)
Faun Renaissance (Dancing Ferret)
Michael Franti & Spearhead Live in Sydney (DualDisc) (Music Video Distributors)
Funkmaster Flex Car Show Tour (CD/DVD combo) (Koch)
J.T. Gray It's About Time (Station Inn)
The Gunshy Souls (Latest Flame)
Bill Harley Blah Blah Blah: Stories About Clams, Swamp Monsters and Pirates (Empyrean)
Jackie-O Motherfucker Flags of the Sacred Harp (Touch and Go)
KoRn See You on the Other Side (Virgin)
Michel Lambert Le Passant (Jazz from Rant)
Ray LaMontagne Live from Bonnaroo 2005 EP (limited edition; includes previously unreleased song) (RCA)
John Legend Get Lifted - Special Edition (CD/DVD combo) (Columbia)
Lil' Wayne Tha Carter 2 (deluxe two-CD edition available same day) (Universal Motown)
Lindsay Lohan A Little More Personal (Raw) (Casablanca/Universal)
M.O.P. Salutes the St. Marxmen (Koch)
Milman-Brignall Enigma Bafflemania (Florence/Light in the Attic)
Mississippi Heat One Eye Open - Live at Rosa's Lounge, Chicago (CD/DVD combo) (Delmark)
Mt. Eerie 11 Old Songs by (Secretly Canadian)
David Murray 4Tet with Strings Waltz Again (JustinTime)
Don Omar Da Hit Man Presents Reggaetón Latino (Universal)
Patrick Phelan Pills (Jagjaguwar)
Shooting at Unarmed Men Soon There Will Be EP (Too Pure)
Sonic Youth SYR 6: Koncertas Stan Brakhage Prisiminimui (2003 concert w/percussionist Tim Barnes) (Smells Like Records)
Tail Dragger My Head Is Bald - Live at Vern's Friendly Lounge, Chicago (CD/DVD combo) (Delmark)
Tender Forever The Soft and the Hardcore (K Records)
White Stripes Walking with a Ghost EP (includes cover ot Tegan and Sara's title track, plus live songs) (V2)
Zora Young Tore Up from the Floor Up (Delmark)
VA Our New Orleans (hurricane benefit album) (Nonesuch)
OST Born Into Brothels (score by John McDowell, featuring members of Brazilian Girls and Krishna Das; includes previously unreleased tracks) (Koch)
OST Boss'n Up (CD/DVD combo; action-adventure film w/Snoop Dogg) (CodeBlack Entertainment)
OST Inside Deep Throat (documentary about controversial '70s adult film; w/dialogue clips, original movie score excerpts, songs by Kool & the Gang, Alice Cooper, Supertramp and more) (Koch)
OST Jarhead (Jake Gyllenhaal/Jamie Foxx war drama; score by Thomas Newman) (Decca)
OST The Aristocrats (all-star comedy documentary w/George Carlin, Robin Williams, Chris Rock and many more) (V2)
OST Water (score by Mychael Danna) (Varèse Sarabande)
DVD The Happy Elf (animated Christmas special w/narration, two new songs and original score by Harry Connick, Jr.) (Anchor Bay Entertainment)
DVD Paul Anka Rock Swings: Live at the Montreal Jazz Festival (Verve)
DVD Ben Folds and WASO Live in Perth (live March 2005 performance w/the Western Australia Symphony Orchestra) (Epic)
DVD Gordon Haskell The Road to Harry's Bar (Music Video Distributors)
DVD Kraftwerk Minimum-Maximum (two DVDs; Special Edition two-DVD/two-CD box set w/hardcover book available same day; live sets from 2003-2005 world tour) (Astralwerks)
DVD John Legend Live at House of Blues (includes interview and behind-the-scenes footage) (Columbia)
A "Fantastic Four" Follow-Up
It's clobbering time...again.
Fox has green-lighted a sequel to Fantastic Four that will bring back the quartet of squabbling superheroes on July 4, 2007.
Ioan Gruffudd (Mr. Fantastic), Jessica Alba (Invisible Woman), Chris Evans (Human Torch) and Michael Chiklis (the Thing) are all expected to return for the second go-round, having signed initial three-picture deals.
Not coming back, however, is their nemesis, Julian McMahon, aka the magnetically charged, steely-eyed Dr. Victor Von Doom. Per trade reports, he's already signed to star in the thriller Premonition with Sandra Bullock.
And every comic book flick needs a good story; hence, Fox is bringing back director Tim Story, who guided the film to $320 million in worldwide ticket sales. Story, whose previous credits included the comedies Barbershop and Taxi, reportedly was wooed back with a seven-figure deal.
No word on the plot, but Story promises to deliver the mutant goods, and then some.
"We tried to do something different than the brooding, dark setting you usually get in superhero films," Story tells Daily Variety. "The key to that movie was how to play with a comedic tone and the action and have it feel respectable to the genre and the franchise and still be fun.
"By the end [of the first movie], we'd found the right note and then you want to put the band back together," he continues. "The universe of villains is vast, and now that everyone's been introduced, you can just get right to it. That's why so many superhero sequels improve on the original."
While Story wouldn't divulge details on the new nemesis, Fantastic Four 2's biggest foe could be Spider-Man 3, which is opening two months earlier, in May 2007, and is projected to be one of the juggernauts of the year.
This is the second time the superhero foursome has staked out a July 4 debut. The film was supposed to open last Independence Day weekend, but Fox pushed the film back to July 8 to avoid facing off against Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds remake for Paramount.
Story is currently working on two small-screen pilots for 20th Century Fox TV. The first, The 12th Man, is a half-hour comedy inspired by NBA scrub Paul Shirley, who keeps a blog about his experiences keeping the bench warm on the Phoenix Suns. He's also helming Primary, an hourlong drama focusing on a couple who also happen to be hostage negotiators.
If all goes well with the script, Story expects to roll cameras on Fantastic Four 2 early next year. And for those jonesing for more of the quartet, the DVD of the original drops Tuesday.
Comedy Central to Show Chappelle Sketches
NEW YORK - Dave Chappelle is back on Comedy Central — well, kind of. The wildly popular comedian, who last spring walked off his show just weeks before its season premiere, will be on view in four episodes' worth of sketches he filmed before his startling exit, the cable channel announced Monday.
The four half-hours of "Chappelle's Show" will premiere in weekly showings next April, May or June, the network said.
A 2 1/2-minute preview of this never-before-seen footage will be included in "Comedy Central's Last Laugh '05" special, which premieres Sunday, 9 p.m. EST.
Still to be determined is how the sketches will be packaged, since Chappelle's on-stage introductions were never produced. A full season would have been between 10 and 13 episodes.
"It's great material, and we think our audience is hungry for it," said Comedy Central President Doug Herzog, noting that the last original episode of "Chappelle's Show" aired in May 2004. "Chappelle's Show," a raw, satirical comedy show that was both a critical and popular hit, was one of the network's most valuable properties.
The announcement resolves — well, kind of — Chappelle's dangling status at Comedy Central, with whom he signed a deal in August 2004 reportedly worth $50 million for a third and fourth season. But last May, with the premiere date looming for that third season, Chappelle stunned his fans by ditching the show in mid-production.
His disappearance — announced by Comedy Central on May 4 — spurred reports that he had mental or drug problems, but Chappelle later said he was unhappy with the show's creative direction.
"I'm definitely stressed out," he told Time magazine a few days after Comedy Central announced the show was indefinitely postponed. "I'm not crazy, I'm not smoking crack."
He spent two weeks in South Africa before returning home to his farm near Yellow Springs, about 75 miles northeast of Cincinnati. Chappelle, now 32, has since resumed performing live standup.
In the meantime, "Chappelle's Show" has hung in limbo.
"We had reached out several times to Dave's camp and asked, `What would you like to do?'" Herzog said. "But we never received a definitive response. ... We thought it was time to start unearthing the material we had." He laughed. "It's kind of like Bob Dylan's 'Basement Tapes.'"
ABC Names 'World News Tonight' Anchors
NEW YORK - In choosing the anchor team of Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff to replace the late Peter Jennings at "World News Tonight," ABC News President David Westin concluded the job was too big for one person in an age when news is available instantly.
ABC also said Monday that "World News Tonight" would be the first network evening newscast to broadcast live for three different time zones — Eastern, Mountain and Pacific. Its anchors will travel frequently to the site of major news and update stories during the day on the Internet and for cell-phone users.
"You need more than one anchor," Westin said. "One person can't do all of this."
Left out of the mix was veteran ABC newsman Charles Gibson, co-host of "Good Morning America." Gibson, Vargas and Woodruff have been the main substitutes since Jennings announced in April that he had lung cancer. Jennings died on Aug. 7.
Vargas, 43, and Woodruff, 44, give ABC News the opportunity to establish an anchor team with the potential to match Jennings — sole anchor for nearly 22 years — in longevity. Gibson is 64. The new team could also attract younger viewers to a format that has one of the oldest audiences in television.
"This is the right team to take us forward," Westin said. "My clear goal is to make sure we have the strategy for the future and not just the past."
Their official start date will be Jan. 3.
Although declining in viewers and influence, the evening newscasts are still considered the flagships of the broadcast networks with their anchors the most visible faces. It's the first time since the brief mid-1990s pairing of Dan Rather and Connie Chung on CBS that a network has used an anchor team.
Vargas, a self-described Army brat who is married to singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, will keep her job as co-anchor of the ABC newsmagazine "20/20." She will be the first chief network anchor with Hispanic heritage. Her father is from Puerto Rico and her mother is Irish.
"I am so proud," she said. "I know what this means to Hispanics in this country ... to have people who look like you and talk like you in positions of importance."
Woodruff, from outside of Detroit, is a father of four and lawyer who turned to journalism after working in Beijing during the Tiananmen Square uprising. His first evening news experience came on CBS — a seven-second evening news sound bite as an interview subject. He's covered the Justice Department for ABC and was the weekend "World News Tonight" anchor.
"I am ecstatic at having been given this opportunity," he said.
The selection enabled ABC to leave Gibson at "Good Morning America" and not disrupt a broadcast that has become more competitive with NBC's "Today," which this week marked 10 years on top of the ratings. The morning shows are the most lucrative and chief area of growth for broadcast networks.
"I think ABC decided to take one risk instead of two," said Bob Zelnick, former ABC newsman and now dean of Boston University's journalism school.
Westin said his anchor decision was made solely with "World News Tonight," not other broadcasts, in mind. Although Gibson was interested in the evening job, he told Westin that "`I have a great job now and I will be perfectly happy whichever way this goes,'" the news chief said. "He's been steadfast about that."
Gibson did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
Westin wouldn't discuss the factors that went into his decision, which he said was communicated last Thursday to the new anchors, or whether Gibson was ever considered part of the mix. "I looked hard at all of these issues and felt like this was the way to go," he said.
"World News Tonight" has been second in the ratings to NBC's "Nightly News" with Brian Williams, 47, who just completed his first year since replacing Tom Brokaw.
"Bob and Elizabeth are very familiar competitors," Williams said. "I'm looking forward to many years of friendship while we chase each other around the globe."
ABC kept its ratings strong while Jennings was sick and in the immediate aftermath of his death, but has recently fallen further behind NBC. Despite Jennings' illness, Westin said he refused to consider the question of a successor until after his death and, even then, said he wanted to leave a proper time for mourning. He called Jennings' widow Sunday to tell her of his decision.
It leaves only CBS undecided on its direction for the anchor era following Jennings, Brokaw and Dan Rather. Rather has been replaced by Bob Schieffer since leaving in March, and CBS is wooing NBC's Katie Couric as its permanent evening anchor.
Even though they will be a team, Vargas and Woodruff frequently won't be in the same studio. Westin said ABC News intends to be more aggressive in sending an anchor to the site of major stories.
"When a big story breaks, one person will take the (anchor) seat and the other will head to the airport," Woodruff said.
With its plans to remake "World News Tonight" for separate time zones, ABC is making an aggressive effort to seek West Coast viewers. ABC occasionally updates "World News Tonight" for later time zones when there are changes to a major story, but generally cities like Los Angeles see a broadcast that is three hours old.
Woodruff and Vargas will anchor separate broadcasts at 6:30, 8:30 and 9:30 in the Eastern time zone. ABC will also be able to tailor the newscasts, for example airing a story with particular West Coast interest that might not be on the eastern newscast, said Jon Banner, "World News Tonight" executive producer.
"Our audience on the West Coast has had to put up with decades of stale news," he said, "and we intend to change that."
Woodruff and Vargas will also anchor a daily Webcast with top stories and a preview of "World News Tonight" that will be offered to wireless phone users. They'll contribute to "The Blue Sheet," a daily blog produced by the evening news team.
ABC is part of entertainment and media company The Walt Disney Co. CBS is part of Viacom Inc., while NBC is owned by General Electric Co. Westin said Disney chief Robert Iger, a former ABC executive, and Anne Sweeney, head of ABC, both offered their ideas on the transition but that the decision was his.