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The Simpsons Turns 400: We Name the Greatest Guests! | Today's News: Our Take | 5/18/2007
After 18 seasons and 400 episodes, Fox's The Simpsons (Sundays at 8 pm/ET) has attracted more than 350 celebrities to offer their voices to animated doppelgangers. Some have played themselves (Steve Buscemi, anyone?), some new characters (Reese Witherspoon as Rainier Wolfcastle's daughter, for instance), some old characters (Kiefer Sutherland and Mary Lynn Rajskub, who reprise their roles from 24 on May 20) — and in one instance, a mix (Elizabeth Taylor played herself and voiced Maggie's first word). Throughout, producers have attract read more
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When It Comes to Ratings, Wildfire Isn't Horsing Around | Today's News: Our Take | 1/29/2007
It's not just the little show that could. ABC Family's Wildfire (Mondays at 8 pm/ET) is the little show that changed an entire cable network. Despite a premise that sounds sappy — troubled girl befriends horse and starts a new life — this series doesn't shy away from the hard topics (drugs, sex, suicide) and has pulled strong ratings, especially with teens and young women, since its 2005 debut. It proved that the channel could be more than just a repository for sugary repeats, and soon ABC Family was launching more original programs with edge (Kyle XY, Fallen, the new Lincoln Heights). Wildfire, which kicked off its third season this month, has already been renewed for a fourth.
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In the mid-1960s, I think, ... | Today's News: Our Take | 2/16/2006
Question: In the mid-1960s, I think, Dennis Weaver starred in a show where he had an adopted Korean son, lived on a ranch and drove a convertible Mustang. What was the name of it? Thanks.
Answer: That would be the short-lived comedy-drama Kentucky Jones, which ran on NBC for a year beginning in September 1964. Weaver, coming off his nine-year stint as Chester Goode on the classic Gunsmoke, starred as veterinarian Kenneth Yarborough "Kentucky" Jones (he signed his name "K.Y."), who lived on a ranch in Southern Cal.
And the 9-year-old boy of whom you speak, Dwight Eisenhower "Ike" Wong (played by Ricky Der — apparently nifty nicknames were plentiful on this show), was Chinese, not Korean. Kentucky's wife had arranged to adopt the lad and then promptly died, leaving the widower vet to raise him alone.
Har read more
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Who were the stars of Gentle ... | Today's News: Our Take | 11/15/2005
Question: Who were the stars of Gentle Ben?
Answer: Now, there's a question, Trina. You see, ostensibly Dennis Weaver, Beth Brickell, Clint Howard and Rance Howard were the stars of the CBS series, which ran from September 1967 to August 1969 and focused on the adventures of an Everglades family and their bear pal, Ben. But since it was an Ivan Tors production (Flipper, Daktari), it meant the bear was the real star. In fact, Tors reportedly used to greet the bear before the actors whenever he visited the set because, he said, he had known read more
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I was a fan of Lost in Space, ... | Today's News: Our Take | 10/25/2005
Question: I was a fan of Lost in Space, but was an even bigger fan of Zorro, who was played by LiS's Guy Williams. One thing I always wondered, though. Since he had a mask on, was that really him with the sword?
Answer: That it was, Jeff. Matter of fact, the only reason Williams, whose acting résumé was pretty much nonexistent up to that point, got the role was that he was mighty handy with a blade. It seems Williams, born Armando Catalano in New York City, was the only one to audition who could actually fence. His father, a skilled fencer in his native Italy, taught his son to handle a sword, but neither of them dreamed how valuable a skill it would prove to be after Williams became a contract player at Universal in the early '50s.
"I used to play anonymous men leaning in doorways with cigarettes dangling fr read more
