Letterman's antics unpredictable
Have you seen Late Show With David Letterman lately? It's like Dave has taken a time machine back to the Twilight Zone. Some recent examples:
- Suddenly, in the middle of a show, Letterman is interrupted by a weatherman. "Hey everybody, is rain gonna put a damper on your morning commute? I'll have that and my five-day forecast coming up in the weather."
"Huh?" Letterman asks bandleader Paul Shaffer. "Who was that?"
Shaffer just shrugs.
- A camera shot suddenly droops to the floor. What gives, Letterman asks. "Oh, sorry," says cameraman Dave Dorsett. "It was so quiet in here I assumed the show was over."
- Letterman is interrupted with a knock. "Housekeeping!" says a hotel housekeeper pushing a cart. She gets half-way to Letterman's desk when the host asks if she could come back in an hour.
Bizarre interruptions have become the norm. A woman (costume designer Susan Hum) approaches the desk and offers "freshly baked turkey pot pie." It's cold, complains Letterman. "You make me want to puke!" she rants.
Another night, Letterman seems trapped in a satellite cross-feed between PBS commentator Charlie Rose and Bob Woodward. It is wacky, unpredictable, unsettling -- and fabulous. This was the Live and Dangerous Dave we all knew and loved 20 years ago. It is great to have him back.
"He has been on a little zany streak lately," agrees Letterman pal Regis Philbin, who spoke to The Toronto Sun on Monday. Philbin mentions that "World's Oldest Page" guy Johnny Dark who keeps interrupting the monologue.
"I kind of admire that about Dave," says Philbin of all the new risks. "It's still the most imaginative show on TV."
Even Letterman's hair has gone retro. Long the butt of his own jokes, he has raked what's left of his greying locks forward. At 59, he looks, well, 49.
What's behind the return to form? In September, Letterman signed a new contract with CBS extending his late night antics through 2010 -- a year after rival Jay Leno's planned Tonight Show exit.
That will also put Letterman's combined NBC/CBS late-night run right behind the 30-year reign of his idol, Johnny Carson.
The new energy has goosed the ratings. Letterman has seen double-digit year-to-year percent increases in total viewers and key demographics. The show now averages 4.02 million U.S. viewers a night.
After a winter and spring where Letterman often seemed listless, bored and out of gas (that free pass he gave Tom Cruise, for example), he's shaken himself out of it by shaking up his show. The approach is not entirely new; people were randomly dangling and shouting from the Ed Sullivan Theater balcony last season, for example. Contrived interruptions have always been part of the mix -- just not to this extent.
Now, besides the nightly Top 10 List, shots at George Bush (those lethal "Great Moments In Presidential Speeches"), Larry King ("Creepier In Slow Motion") and Kim Jong Il (cut to footage of fright-haired "Hello Dere" comic Marty Allen), there is an added nightly bonus of improv theatre.
Opening guests who are clearly not who they claim to be are given the same face time as Alec Baldwin, Robin Williams or Amanda Peet. A guy introduced as "the Turtle Whisperer" stuck little hats onto a box turtle before flipping out and fleeing the stage. Another phony guest, introduced as a former KGB instructor known as "The Dog Wizard," did lame tricks with a Lab. Letterman just played along.
NFL commentator John Madden is introduced, except it is clearly not John Madden, it is some guy (comedian Frank Caliendo) in a white wig pretending to be Madden. Letterman just lets him pretend, getting his Super Bowl picks.
Besides creating an unpredictable comedy environment -- one you want to check out every night in case you miss something -- Letterman is also shredding this whole obsession with celebrity. Celebrity is pointless, Letterman is saying. Be silly. Make everything up. Works for me.
Gordie Howe's comeback at 44 set for big screen
Gordie Howe's comeback at age 44 to the upstart World Hockey Association will be the subject of a new movie.
Producers Howard Baldwin and Karen Baldwin announced the project on Monday at a Los Angeles Kings game against the Detroit Red Wings, Howe's former team. Monday was also the 60th anniversary of Howe's first National Hockey League goal.
The Baldwins will produce the film alongside David E. Kelley, the producer behind television shows Ally McBeal and Boston Public. The three producers previously delved into the world of sticks and pucks with the Russell Crowe film Mystery, Alaska.
"The World Hockey Association was part of my life growing up," Kelley said in a statement released Tuesday. "Gordie Howe has always been an idol, so this project has special meaning for me."
The man known as Mr. Hockey led Detroit to four Stanley Cup championships and scored 1,071 goals during his pro career. He finished his career playing for the Hartford Whalers, which Howard Baldwin owned for 17 years. Kelley's father Jack was also GM and coach of the Whalers.
The Whalers left Hartford in 1997 and became the Carolina Hurricanes.
The WHA was the main rival of the NHL from 1972 until it merged with the league in 1979. Like the American Basketball Association did with the National Basketball Association, the WHA — co-founded by ABA promoter Gary Davidson — pitted league against league in a bidding war for the best players, which led to the general escalation of salaries for professional athletes.
Bobby Hull became the biggest name NHL player to bolt to the WHA when he joined the Winnipeg Jets in 1972 after they offered him a contract that included an unprecedented $1-million signing bonus.
The improbable arrival and success of Howe for the 1973 season in the new league is the focus of the new film.
Coming out of a two-year retirement, Howe played alongside his sons Mark and Marty in the 1973-74 season, led the Houston Aeros to the championship and was named league MVP. Howe's wife Colleen served as agent-manager for both her husband and two sons that year.
"I am really excited that this film has come to fruition," Howe said. "The thrill of playing with my two sons that first year in Houston could only be surpassed by telling the story on the big screen."
Studio 60 Producing Mommy Material
Show producers have confirmed that Amanda Peet's pregnancy will be written into the story line of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip this season.
The newlywed actress plays the very single Jordan McDeere, president of the fictional NBS network.
"I think it's a good idea," costar Matthew Perry told E! News' on the set of the NBC series. "It's always smarter to incorporate real life stuff instead of trying to hide it. It'll be fun to see Jordan pregnant."
While after five episodes there's no indication of a love interest for Peet's character (although executive producer Danny Tripp, played by Bradley Whitford, is available and oh-so eligible), this is television after all and baby-makin' chemistry can spark in a matter of minutes.
"I'm biologically capable of being a father," Whitford said. "I am in fact a father. I've done all the research that one would need to do to create a child. I'll leave it at that."
Whether anybody is around to see what develops (or gestates) is another story. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip has been a ratings disappointment for NBC so far.
The series pulled in a mere 8.7 million viewers last week, ranking it 51st in the Nielsens. (Yes, the CW would kill for that number, but this is arguably the most-hyped new show of the year we're talking about.)
Peet confirmed last month that she was expecting her first child with her then-fiancé, screenwriter David Benioff. The two have since taken the plunge, swapping vows Sept. 30 in New York.
Apple says shipped iPods carrying computer virus
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some of Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod digital music players shipped in the past month carry a computer virus, according to a posting on Apple's technical support Web site.
Apple said since September 12, less than 1 percent of Video iPods -- the pocket-sized devices that can play music files and video clips -- left the company's contract manufacturer carrying the virus RavMonE.exe. The virus affects computers running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system.
"So far we have seen less than 25 reports concerning this problem. The iPod nano, iPod shuffle and Mac OS X are not affected, and all Video iPods now shipping are virus free," the company said on the site.
An Apple spokesman declined to name the contract manufacturer or specify how many iPods were affected.
Apple said the virus can be detected and removed using many popular anti-virus software programs. It said that Microsoft and Apple shared the blame for shipping the virus.
"As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it," Apple said on its Web site.
Microsoft fired back in a statement, saying the virus does not appear to take advantage of a Windows vulnerability.
"We encourage all third party vendors to follow best practices and help protect their users regardless of platform through careful scanning of the software they ship, so that they do not expose their customers to unnecessary risk from malicious software," the company said.