Category: Television

South Africa’s Sesame Street Gets HIV+ Muppet

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South Africa’s version of “Sesame Street” welcomed a fluffy five-year-old orphan living with HIV on Tuesday in the government’s latest initiative to stem the AIDS pandemic ravaging the country and the continent.
Education Minister Kader Asmal hugged Kami, a lively bear-like Muppet with a passion for nature, after her public debut at Cape Town’s Groote Schuur Hospital, the only one in the country offering drug therapy for children with AIDS.
Guests saw a snippet of the first show in which Kami is invited to join the familiar “Sesame Street” characters at play.
“You’re beautiful,” says Zikwe, the big, blue, gravelly voiced kingpin of the television show.
Asmal said the character would join the local “Takalani Sesame” show on South African television from September 30 to help children infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS to understand the disease.
Takalani means “be happy” in the local Venda language and Kami’s name is derived from the Tswana word for “acceptance.”
“Sesame Street” is a pre-school television show based on the popular Muppets series and designed to help children prepare for school.
“Education is the only socially acceptable vaccine available to our people and represents our only hope to save our nation,” Asmal said in an address to sponsors and partners in the project.
“We can’t continue to have HIV positive children isolated, demonized, victimized. We want to make all of our children feel comfortable,” he said.
Local AIDS activists say President Thabo Mbeki has undermined the campaign against the disease by questioning the link between HIV and AIDS.
The state unsuccessfully fought demands for drugs to limit mother-to-child transmission to the country’s highest court.
Drugs to control the disease are freely available to those with medical insurance, but there is no state-funded anti-retroviral program for adults or children living with HIV-AIDS.
The state-owned Groote Schuur hospital runs a foreign-funded pilot program treating children with AIDS.
MUPPET SPARKS CONTROVERSY
Karen Gruenberg, vice-president for content of the U.S.-based Sesame Workshop told Reuters that reports last year of plans to introduce the character in the United States were exaggerated.
“There are currently no plans to bring Kami to the United States. I am not saying there is no need, but in terms of addressing the community of childcare providers and the department of education we’ve been dealing with other issues there,” she said.
A group of Republican members of the U.S. Congress expressed concern about reports that an HIV positive Muppet was to be introduced to the U.S. show, but USAID director Dirk Dijkerman said they had backed the plan to introduce Kami in South Africa.
“When it crystallized, everybody said this is the right thing to do at this time,” he said, adding that the U.S. aid agency had spent or promised $8.2 million on the South African project.
The United Nations has estimated that 2.3 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses in Africa last year, leaving hundreds of thousands of children orphaned.
The United Nations believes 28.1 million of the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS are in Africa and 4.8 million are in South Africa, where one in nine is infected.
Yvonne Kgame, general manager for education at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), said HIV/AIDS would become part of the environment on the South African show, but not its focus.
Kgame said Kami would explain that she was born with HIV and that she has no parents, but lives with a loving foster mother.

‘The Sopranos’ Draws Record Audience
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Bada-bing! The much-anticipated return episode of mob drama “The Sopranos” to HBO was the most watched program in the history of the cable channel, beating its broadcast network rivals, HBO said on Tuesday.
The premiere of the series’ fourth season averaged a record 13.4 million viewers from 9 to 10 p.m. Sunday, surpassing the No. 1 show for that hour on broadcast television, NBC’s “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” and the most watched program of the night on the Big Four, CBS news magazine “60 Minutes.”
Although both “Law & Order” and “60 Minutes” were repeats, the robust performance of “The Sopranos” was impressive given that the premium cable channel reaches only about a third of the estimated 107 million American homes with TV sets.
A spokeswoman for HBO, controlled by AOL Time Warner Inc. , said the premiere was believed to be the first time that an HBO program topped the viewership for each of the Big Four broadcasters in a single hour.
The previous record-holder for most-watched broadcast on HBO was the 1989 championship boxing match between Mike Tyson and Frank Bruno, the spokeswoman said.
Still, “The Sopranos” is not expected to do quite as well next Sunday night, when it will air opposite the Primetime Emmy Awards show on NBC, or the following week amid the rollout of the major networks’ new fall lineup.
In its third season, “The Sopranos” averaged 13.6 million viewers per episode, but that figure is a cumulative average of the show’s four or five individual airings on HBO each week.
Returning to HBO after a 16-month hiatus, “The Sopranos” picked up where it left off as Tony Soprano ( James Gandolfini) continued efforts to reconcile his roles as a gangster and family man through therapy while coping with a strained marriage and money problems in the family business.

American Idol News, Views And Stuff
BIG SCREEN IDOL: 20th Century Fox and American Idol creator Simon Fuller in talks to make a feature film version of the show starring winner Kelly Clarkson and runner-up Justin Guarini and mixing real-life adventures with scripted hijinks.
HER 15 MINUTES: American Idol semifinalist Ryan Starr booked to perform at a September 24 cocktail party at the Femme fashion show, taking place at New York’s Jacob Javits Center. The event is part of the city’s ballyhooed Fashion Week.
IDOL WORSHIP: Last week’s American Idol finale drawing 22.8 million viewers to finish number one in the Nielsens. The show also powered Fox to a rare weekly ratings victory.

David Letterman has decided to do a new show on Sept. 11 after all.
After much debate and consideration, the “Late Show with David Letterman” staff will be working during the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks, according to NY Daily News. Had they decided not to go on with the show, CBS was considering a rebroadcast of the Sept. 17, 2001 show — Letterman’s first broadcast after the attacks.
The new “Late Show” will follow 13 hours of special Sept. 11 coverage on the network, starting with the “Early Show” broadcasting from Ground Zero. Coverage will continue through the afternoon, leading up to expanded editions of the “CBS Evening News” and a half-hour special anchored by Rather following the newscast. In primetime, “60 Minutes II”will feature an exclusive interview with President Bush by correspondent Scott Pelley. CBS will also re-air the documentary “9/11.”

I Admit I Watch The Show, But I Really Don’t Care Who Wins. Do you?
On Wednesday, Justin Guarini or Kelly Clarkson will be anointed an “American Idol” by television viewers.

Way To Go Jerry!

Lewis Telethon Posts New Record
The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association received a record $58.3 million in nationwide pledges through Monday, a telethon spokesman said.
The 76-year-old Lewis, his face and body bloated and puffy due to steroid medication he takes for pulmonary fibrosis, was assisted during the 21-hour fund-raiser by co-hosts that included Ed McMahon, comedians Wayne Brady and Norm Crosby, and performers Charo and Andy Williams.
“I asked for their talent and energy, and they brought it all out on that stage for me and my kids,” Lewis said. “This was the most successful show we’ve ever done, and I couldn’t have done any of this without them.”
Originating from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, the telethon broke a record set a year ago of $56.8 million, said telethon spokesman Bob Mackle. The 37th annual broadcast was shown on about 200 television stations.
Lewis sat in a chair during his periods as host.
Afterward, he praised the “generosity and compassion” of contributors.
“That’s America’s real gift to people with neuromuscular diseases ó the knowledge that they’re not alone in the fight, that their friends and neighbors are behind us in the drive to beat these devastating diseases.”
The money raised included $17 million from the International Association of Fire Fighters, in memory of fallen firefighters. IAFF general president Harold Schaitberger said in the opening hour of the show that some of the firefighters who lost their lives Sept. 11 at the World Trade Center in New York were active volunteers for the MDA.
The privately funded MDA works to combat more than 40 neuromuscular diseases through research, services to those afflicted, and professional and public health education.
In the past few years, Lewis has been plagued by devastating physical ills, including spinal meningitis. chronic back pain and diabetes. Pulmonary fibrosis is an increase of fibrous tissue in the lungs.

If You Just Can’t Wait
Time.com has unveiled a sneak peek at The Sopranos, which resumes Sept. 15 in America, September 17th in Canada.
Also included: more articles, photos from the new season and related links.

RECONSIDERING?
West Wing costar Rob Lowe telling Los Angeles’ Fox affiliate he still planned to leave NBC’s political drama when his contract expires in March, but he left the door open for another term if a deal could be reached with producers to keep him on the show. “Nothing would make me happier,” said Lowe.

Senator Previews His TV Character

During his eight years on Capitol Hill, retiring Sen. Fred Thompson has rarely been one to mince words. The character he plays this fall on “Law & Order” may be an even tougher talker.
In a clip from the NBC legal drama, Thompson’s character, Arthur Branch, says:
“With all the money we spend on the so-called war on drugs, we could buy all the poppy fields in the world and burn them to a crisp. But do we do it? No. And why? Because without a war on something, people in Washington wouldn’t get elected.”
After the clip was aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Thompson joked: “And you thought I wouldn’t find work.”
The Tennessee Republican announced unexpectedly in March that he was leaving the Senate for personal reasons. NBC announced last week that he would be joining the “Law & Order” cast as a politically conservative district attorney.
“Meet the Press” host Tim Russert asked, “What is the difference between politics and movies or TV?”
“The pay,” Thompson said.
“I’ve always thought there was an affinity between Washington and Hollywood because neither really understood what the other did, and I’m still convinced of that,” he said.
“But I think most of us have a creative side. This is going to allow me to do that.”

Jerry Lewis Opens Telethon with Firefighter Tribute
Comedian Jerry Lewis, hosting his 37th national telethon to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), began Sunday night’s show with a tribute to the International Association of Fire Fighters.
“We do it tonight because it is absolutely necessary,” Lewis, 76, told an audience in a Hollywood studio, referring to the heavy losses on Sept. 11 at the World Trade Center.
Lewis has battled health problems in recent years and was swollen from the effects of steroid-based medication for pulmonary fibrosis, a lung condition.
“They’ve brought me $200 million …,” Lewis said, referring to the union representing the nation’s firefighters, many of whom were lined up in their dress uniforms on stage.
Harold Schaitberger, the president of the firefighters union, appeared with Lewis to discuss the fund-raising efforts his group undertook on behalf of firefighters killed in the Sept. 11 attacks.
“One of the very first calls I received that day from outside the fire service was from Jerry Lewis,” Schaitberger said, pledging to raise more money for the telethon than the union did last year.
“It was MDA stuff in community after community that put aside their own vital mission to help us in our critical effort,” Schaitberger said. “We’re committed to make this year’s pledge from the IAFF the largest ever.”
After a performance by singer Patti LaBelle and an introduction by co-host Ed McMahon of some of the performers scheduled to appear in the 21-plus hour telethon, Lewis came out on stage and denounced the perpetrators of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.
Calling the hijackers “filthy Mideastern cowards,” Lewis called on viewers to exceed 2001’s fund-raising total of $56.8 million.