Saturday, April 14, 2007

Trust

Reader Peter Avellino informs me that the name of the new game show pilot hosted by Tucker Carlson is actually Do You Trust Me?, not Who Do You Trust? The online article to which I linked had it wrong, which means the show has no connection to Johnny Carson's old program.

• Posted at 3:35 PM · LINK

A Cautionary Note

'Tis an awesome responsibility having a weblog like this. A reader named Marc just tipped me off that a site I linked to a few months ago has apparently been hacked. When I linked you to it, it had beautiful imagery of Earth's scenery on it. Now, it holds some pretty awful porn...the kind that no one could find erotic, only disgusting.

I've deleted the whole item but I just wanted to remind you, my fellow surfers of the Internet: It's a jungle out there. Old links often don't work at all...and when they do, they occasionally don't go where they used to. If you see any such thing on my site, please let me know. But don't be surprised.

• Posted at 2:55 PM · LINK

Today's Bonus Video Link

Another example of why we like Jon Stewart so much...

• Posted at 12:21 PM · LINK

Quizmaster Carlson

Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, who seems to go from one failed enterprise to another, is hosting a game show pilot for CBS called Who Do You Trust? This article tells about the show but doesn't mention if it's a revival of the show by the same name once hosted by Johnny Carson. From the description, I'm guessing someone acquired whatever rights there are to the earlier program but is changing it so much that a comparison seems inappropriate.

I'm a little surprised that they picked Carlson. I (sorta) understand his value to a station like CNN or MSNBC of even PBS. He has solid Conservative credentials so that group can't wail and scream "Liberal media." But he's also good-natured and rarely shrill with his viewpoints so Liberals don't mind him as much as they mind, say, a Glenn Beck or Michael Savage. He's kind of the right-wing version of Alan Colmes, tolerated and perhaps even welcomed by the opposition because he's never going to win an argument.

So programmers overlook his unbroken string of flop shows and they also overlook his wretched track record at predictions. (You know, Hillary Clinton's never going to come close to winning that New York Senate seat she's talking about.) He's especially useful if you're dumb enough to think you can program in a way to attract both rabid Liberals and strident Conservatives to your news channel, which is why MSNBC's ratings for everything but Olbermann are where they are. And besides, in the media today, we never hold always being wrong against a guy who's supposed to tell us what's going to happen.

But...game show host? Well, maybe. He can't predict and he can't dance. Maybe he can do that.

• Posted at 12:16 PM · LINK

That's Not Our Hitler!

As you all know, David Hasselhoff has been appearing in the streamlined Las Vegas production of The Producers. Though he plays Roger Elizabeth DeBris, the cross-dressing director, Hasselhoff is being billed as the star and his is the only name or image on most of the billboards. To the surprise of many, he's leaving the play in early May, earlier than expected, because of the demands of his "day job," the America's Got Talent TV show. He'll be replaced on May 7 by Lee Roy Reams, who's been playing the role in the Broadway production, which conveniently closes on April 22.

This bit about America's Got Talent probably sounds a little suspicious to some. I mean, Hasselhoff signed for the The Producers knowing full well that his series would need him around this time. How did that schedule not get properly coordinated? I have no inside info here but the obvious (perhaps erroneous) assumption is that it's a cover story to get him out of the show because...well, maybe its producers no longer want him because they don't think its grosses justify his superstar salary. Or maybe he's not happy in the job for some reason.

Or maybe the schedules just weren't as easy to juggle as someone once thought. You never know. Sometimes, someone in show business actually quits a great job "to spend more time with the family" because they want to spend more time with the family.

Right now, the question is what this will mean for The Producers. I have no idea how good Mr. Hasselhoff is in the part but I doubt those who buy tickets will have any less of a time. Reams is a wonderful performer. He was in the first Broadway show I ever saw on Broadway and I saw him do The Producers with Jason Alexander and Martin Short, and he was splendid in both.

The question is how many people are buying tickets. Unlike shows in New York where the grosses are a matter of public record, no one on the outside seems too sure how The Producers is faring at the Paris hotel in Vegas. Anecdotal evidence does not suggest a huge hit but in Vegas, with all the comps and discounts and freebees, it's sometimes hard to tell. Certainly though, the substitution won't help ticket sales. Reams is a great performer but he's not a "name" the way Hasselhoff is a "name." The producers of The Producers obviously thought they needed a star in the show in order to sell tickets and now they ain't got one.

(Or have they? Tony Danza, who recently played Max Bialystock in New York for a while, recently visited the Vegas production. That certainly fuels the rumor mill. Danza is a "name" and while he apparently didn't boost sales in Manhattan, the folks behind The Producers might figure he would in Vegas. And he might be a lot cheaper than David Hasselhoff.)

Why all this matters is that a few years ago, there was a very real belief out there that Las Vegas would become a serious venue for theater, possibly even to the point of challenging Broadway for that honor. Given the finances and facilities of the town, it seemed plausible if — and it's a Big If — Vegas audiences were interested in seeing book musicals there. Then a couple of shows flopped — most notably, Avenue Q, which should never have been booked there in the first place — and lately, theater in that town is kind of on probation. It's too early to tell if the current productions of The Producers, Phantom and Spamalot will prove that musicals can make a go of it amidst the casinos...but a failure by any of the three would not bode well for the future. In fact, if all three fail, it'll probably be a long time before Vegas sees another musical. I mean, if those shows can't attract an audience, what could?

• Posted at 1:40 AM · LINK

Today's Video Link

Mel Torme was my favorite singer. The following is not his finest hour...

• Posted at 1:32 AM · LINK