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Mr. Televisionary, I'm ... | Today's News: Our Take | 2/2/2006
Question: Mr. Televisionary, I'm confused. After seeing the remake, some friends and I rented the original Ocean's Eleven and we got to talking about Dean Martin and his career. Isn't it true that by the time he got his own TV show, he was barely trying? Basically, was he really drunk the whole time? Thanks.
Answer: Well, according to Martin himself, who was backed up by many who knew him at the time, the whole point was to act like he was barely trying — and he managed to fool a lot of people by doing just that. What you reportedly saw on his show much of the time was a glass of apple juice. Of course, the man liked his drink and wasn't shy about social imbibing, but according to those who worked with him closely enough to break through the persona and see the real man, he wasn't nearly the hard-core partier he appeared to be — and he never let it get in the way of read more
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Las Vegas did the time warp and... | Today's News: Our Take | 11/8/2005
Las Vegas did the time warp and treated us all to a retropisode. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give the effort an Ocean's 8. The vibe was chill, the music was cool and our posse looked gooood. The show did a credible job of re-creating early '60s Vegas — gangsters, gambling, racial tensions and all.
The names were all pretty much the same, except that the Montecito wasn't the Montecito, it was the Jubilee. Frank Sinatra was the main draw. And Mike had hair. The hair cracked me up. I think Robert Townsend wore somethin' like it back when he was in The Five Heartbeats. Nothing much really changed. Although this Ed Deline didn't have to hold back like he has to in the present day. Usually he has to turn the criminal element over to the police, but not in this alternate universe: He can actually go medieval on someone's sorry butt and then drop him off in front of his peeps just to se read more
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My wife and I were having ... | Movie News | 9/29/2005
Question: My wife and I were having dinner recently at an Italian restaurant and the background music was Dean Martin singing songs from Guys and Dolls. We agreed that Martin would have been much better than Marlon Brando in the movie — was Martin too new on the Hollywood scene to be considered, or was the studio pushing Brando?
Answer: Producer Sam Goldman wanted Gene Kelly to play Sky Masterson in the movie version of the Broadway hit Guys and Dolls (1955), but Kelly couldn't get released from his MGM contract. (Though MGM stands for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Sam Goldwyn was only part of the studio, which was formed by merging three existing companies, for a couple of years; in 1923, he formed his own Samuel Goldwyn Productions. MGM kept the read more
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Hi. I really hope you can ... | Today's News: Our Take | 8/11/2005
Question: Hi. I really hope you can help me. My mother died very suddenly and my dad has gone through letters she wrote. In one letter, dated November 11, 1963, she tells my dad about a guy who appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and sang a song she called "More." I really hope you can tell me who this was and what the song is so that I might be able to get a copy of it for him. He never heard the song, and now really wants to know what it said. Something about "loving you more" or "love you more." Please help! Thanks.
Answer: After a lot of searching and digging, P., I'm pretty sure I've got enough to help you out.
When you hear it, I'm sure you'll recognize the easy-listening staple "More," which is popular in its vocal and instrumental versions. Written by Riz Ortolani, Nino Oliviero and Norman Newell, it was nominated for a Best Music (Song) Academy read more
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Idol Grad Has "This Love" for Music | Today's News: Our Take | 6/15/2005
After four seasons, American Idol has left scores of heartbroken young pop star wannabes in its wake. Once their TV stints end, most of them simply fade into obscurity without ever delivering those chart-topping albums they tearfully promise us on their way out. A few unforgettable favorites are busily carving out their musical niches, however, proving they still have the fire and the fan base to launch careers.
Take carrot-topped charmer John Stevens, for example. The 17-year-old Frank Sinatra devotee from AI's third season will release a disc of covers on June 28, aptly titled Red. "It's mostly Sinatra standards," he tells TVGuide.com, "but there are a few more-modern surprises. I do a cover of the Maroon 5 hit 'This Love.' It's a rocky, poppy song, but we turned it into a jazz ballad. I'm very pleased with the result. That was actually the idea of Guy Oseary, the head of Maverick Records."
Unlike some misguided Idols read more
