ON A MUCH LIGHTER NOTE

1. . . . That seems to be the transitional phrase TV people use to go from a serious story to one that is much less so. Like from Hollywood star Donald O'Connor's death (78) to some "news" about some soap opera star. That's what Campbell Brown did on her 2-way promo with Mil Arcega and Debbie Jarvis on News4 Sunday.
2. . . . IT'S OFFICIAL. Campbell Brown and Lester Holt are the new anchors of the weekend Today show. They've been subbing a lot lately so it's no surprise. Seems like they'll be good. SIDE NOTE: Campbell likes the color red and wears it a lot. Always has.
3. NERVE. "Would you bring me a toothpick on the way back?" asked a restaurant customer of a waiter at the end of his meal in a northwest D.C. eatery. (Lazy SOB) And the waiter did. He brought two back on top of a napkin.
4. Now the Lay's people are stacking potato chips like the Pringle folks do. Called Lay's Stax. "Betcha Can't Eat Just One!"
5. I know it's fall already but where did the summer go?
6. SUFFERING THROUGH . . . Trista and Ryan. The Bachelorette and her chosen beau (Rehn and Sutter) are on the cover of TV Guide. They're everywhere. And get ready for more of ‘em. ABC will air three specials called Trista and Ryan's Wedding: Two leading up to it and the third a 2-hour finale. Then will we be done with them? Probably not.
7. Mr. Big Stuff asks, "Is that new Derek McGinty news show on WUSA/TV9 called WUSA Tonight or USA Tonight? Legitimate gripe. The logo's got the W in it but it's less prominent than the USA but at first glance it does look like WUSA Tonight. Also, does the show have anything to do with the USA Today newspaper? Both are owned by Gannett.
8. So people fall off and go boom-boom on those Segway scooters when the batteries run low. The company is offering free software to correct the problem. It better fix it. They only cost $4950.00!
9. Michael McDonald never sounded better in that ad he does for MCI. He sings Ain't No Mountain High Enough and the performance of it was filmed at the Birchmere in Alexandria, Va. Terrific.
10. Washington's News7 now identifies TV reporter Sam Ford on the screen as D.C. Bureau Chief.
11. The Practice's Dylan McDermott (Bobby) will show up on an episode of Will & Grace as a romantic interest for Will. It's a one-shot gig but if it goes over well, it might lead to more, says TV Guide.
12. . . . Tonight the new Practice premieres. They say it's gonna be different. James Spader plays a louse and you can tell the other law partners don't like him. He seems to play that role well. LATER: Saw it. Okay. Episode jumped around a lot. Stories seemed a bit trite and at times overacted. Has a brighter look now - not that blue/black-ish way it used to look. Spader: cad, slick, good actually.
13. LOST IN TRANSLATION. Director Sofia Coppola's film starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson (Ghost World, The Man Who Wasn't There) who play two lonely people in Tokyo. You see a lot of the city and that's neat. Murray plays a well-known American actor who's past his prime and is there to do whiskey commercials. Dry wit. He's seen it all. He's funny and in funny situations. She's the wife of a busy rock photographer played by Giovanni Ribisi in a small role. The two meet and hang out. That's about it. Good movie, but a bit slow and vacant at times.
14. . . . IRRITATING. At Bethesda Row, where I saw the movie, the cup holders are, naturally, round. But they sell square-bottled Fuji water. That's smart. There's room to put it in the hole but it tilts and doesn't fit right. So tear down the theater and build a new one.
15. Do they make virgin olive oil anymore? Everything's extra virgin now. Does it make any difference? Whatever happened to Wesson Oil before we became so fancy? And Wesson Oil parties while we're at it.
16. Tattoos are being banned on NBC daytime soaps. For the actors that have them, they're covered with makeup for the show and for personal appearances. Days of Our Lives and Passions don't want to "encourage the practice among its young, impressionable audience," says a media report.
17. CNN's Miles O'Brien was doing a little dance groove to Back in the USSR as his Live From show went to a break one day last week. He takes some things lightly.
18. A logger-on to Washington Post music critic David Segal's online show Pop Talk was commenting about Johnny Cash having died and was upset that "freakin' John Ritter had to steal his death thunder." Cash was upstaged a bit.
19. My Metrocard was demagnetized by my cell phone being near it. If it can do that to a mag card, what's it doing to my brain? (If I have one.)
20. Sen. Joseph Biden pronounces Kofi Anan's last name like the "a" in "and" as opposed to the sound of "ahn" as most people do. So what?
21. Al Roker's doing print ads for the Weatherproof Garment Company. He's wearing a tan shirt jacket-type thing and a floppy hat in the magazines. Those weathermen get some deals.
22. . . . Everytime I see Al, he looks thinner. How far's he gonna go?
23. Rob Lowe's hair's too long for his new show, The Lyon's Den. And he doesn't seem believable to me when he's serious. And he often looks like he just smelled something bad. The nostrils look partially flared much of the time.
24. For Christ's sake, bring on The Passion. We've heard enough about the Mel Gibson film. When's it gonna be ready?
25. "FROM LOOKING DEAD TO A LIVING DOLL" That's what the announcer said about one of those Extreme Makeover gals on ABC.
26. You think Gen. Wesley Clark could dress down once in a while?
27. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ALEXANDRA STEELE? The former weather woman at Washingon's Channel 7 is now with the Weather Channel. She looks a bit different. Longer, lighter, straighter hair and she sits behind an anchor desk mostly. On 7 she stood up most of the time on Good Morning Washington.
28. Why wasn't Hurricane Isabel spelled Isabelle? That's how it's normally spelled. Or was it a foreign extraction spelling?
29. Sometimes it looks like Katie Couric's got fashion commentator Steve Cojocaru's hair. Cojo, as they call him on Entertainment Tonight and where he is now a regular, is right in his element at that show. He does many segments and it's always like, what's he up to now? At times he's totally out of control. It's working now, but he better learn to tone it down. He could be a quick burnout.
30. David Brinkley's final book, Brinkley's Beat: People, Placaes and Events That Shaped My Life, is due out in November.
31. My mother said this about J. Lo. "She's common as dirt."
32. MIXED UP NAMES. Leonardo DiCapitation, er ... DiCaprio. Whitney Spears, Britney Houston.
33. Howard Dean seems to speak Spanish well.
34. Is Walter, the Farting Dog a funny book?
35. Doug McKelway and Del Walters ... Watch out! CNN's Leon Harris is coming to your station (Channel 7) to take up some space. Will there be room for them all?
36. Is it Ben AFLAC?
37. EATING BEFORE DEATH. Everybody talks about the last meal a criminal will have before he/she's executed. Why eat? I guess, to go out on a full stomach. You can sleep better that way.
38. John Kerry got that thick mane of his trimmed and you can see more of his face. Better.
39. Hanalie, dog in the neighborhood, is sad because her best friend and partial look-alike Oliver has moved. But they'll visit each other.
40. Joy Behar (The View) doing commercials for Jenny Craig. I never thought I'd see the day.
41. MATCHSTICK MEN. Nicholas Cage is great and so is his con partner Sam Rockwell as well as Alison Lohman who plays Cage's daughter. Cage is an obsessive-compulsive grifter and the movie is a cool look at a low-key con artist who meets some problems along the way. It works. Cage seems to get good roles lately.
42. UH . . . Pictures of Matchstick Men - The Status Quo on the Cadet Concept label. 1968.

rocci@roccifisch.com

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