Question: Hello! My girlfriends and I were chatting and one stated that Joan, the character in Girlfriends, is Diana Ross's daughter. Is this true?
Televisionary: Sure you don't want to ask if she's Patrick Macnee's daughter? Okay, Tracee Ellis Ross is the famous Supreme's kid, though she goes to great lengths to downplay it. The actress, the second of five Ross children, insists in interviews that she's determined to make it on her own (though not determined enough to drop the name, apparently).
Frankly, skeptical as I am, I have to admit she's in a no-win situation pleading that case. If she honestly believes it makes no difference, she comes off as naive, and if she embraces her lineage, no one will give her credit for any achievements.
Consider her résumé to date. After graduating from Brown University, she was offered a contributing editor spot at Mirabella. After nine months there, she moved to New York
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Question: I was wondering what the name of the ER-type show that was on NBC (I think) in the early to mid-'80s was. I believe it starred someone like Lou Ferrigno. Any ideas? My wife and I have been trying to think of the name for a week and a half now. Thank you. — Jacob
Televisionary: I'm betting poor James Naughton, the "real" star of NBC's Trauma Center, would be crushed to hear that, Jacob.
You see, Naughton (TV's Planet of the Apes, Faraday and Company, The Cosby Mysteries) was billed as the lead in the drama, which ran for a couple of months beginning in September 1983. He played Dr. Michael "Cutter" Royce (I don't know about you, but that particular handle would keep me moving down the preferred provider list), who worked at McKee Hospital Trauma Center.
Joining the good doctor in the nifty monicker department were Dr. Nate "Skate" Baylor (Dorian Harewood) and Dr. "Beaver" Bouvier (Bill Randolph
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Question: Did anyone besides Diana Rigg ever play Mrs. Peel in The Avengers? My uncle says "No" and I say "Yes." Also, is there anywhere I can buy old episodes as a gift? Right or wrong, I love him and want to get him something special for his birthday. Thanks. — Beth K.
Televisionary: Sorry, Beth, but your uncle's right on this one. Mrs. Emma Peel (named for her male or "M" appeal), the beauteous and capable partner to Patrick Macnee's dashing John Steed, was played only by Dame Diana. Coming off a stint with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the actress took what was seen as a step down to work in the TV biz, but what do the cultural elite know? The role of the intelligent, catsuit-complementing, karate-chopping babe, her male partner's equal in every way, launched her into the realm of TV legend. And Rigg herself doesn't mind that a bit — she once told reporters that in her line of work, it's important to be known, provided you're not ashamed of
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Question: Who played Bat Masterson in the old TV series of the same name? Was it Patrick Macnee? Thanks. — Neil M.
Televisionary: Okay, so I've written countless columns without one question about Mr. Macnee, and now you guys are going to bury me with him? (In my world of exaggeration and knee-jerk freakouts, two questions in a row is a deluge, you see.)
'Twas actually the rugged Gene Barry who played lawman Masterson on the series, which ran on NBC from October 1958 to September 1961. He did, however, wear a bowler (or derby) hat in the series, just as Steed did in The Avengers. You may also remember Barry from Burke's Law, in which he portrayed a millionaire chief of detectives in L.A. That series ran on ABC from September 1963 to January 1966 and returned on CBS's schedule in the mid-'90s.
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He has cheated death as a most excellent teen named Ted, saved Sandra Bullock's bacon from a jerry-rigged bus, kicked slow-motion butt in a mind-bending future world, and, most recently, terrorized women as an abusive redneck. Therefore, it makes sense that what Keanu Reeves really was craving to do was a big-screen love affair. Specifically, a sweet one — as in Sweet November (opening today).
"I was looking for a romance," Reeves says of the road that led to Sweet November, a remake of the 1968 tearjerker starring Sandy Dennis and Anthony Newley. "I hadn't done one in a while, not since A Walk in the Clouds. So I had a feeling that was what I wanted to do."
Besides, Reeves' latest film offering would reteam him with Charlize Theron, the blonde beauty who played his wife in 1997's The Devil's Advocate. "She's fantastic in this film," the actor raves, explaining that his and Theron's on-screen chemist
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Yeah, yeah, we know the truth is out there — but will we actually get any of it on Feb. 25 when The X-Files picks up the story of Agent Mulder's apparent abduction? After all, the character, played by David Duchovny, disappeared last spring, and viewers have been led to suspect he's being held hostage aboard an alien spaceship.
"We will figure out what's happened to Mulder — to an extent," X-Files creator Chris Carter tells TV Guide magazine, on sale now. "There will be a most shocking discovery, one we think cannot be happening — but it is." The installment also boasts revelations about Agent Doggett (Robert Patrick) and the arrival of a new FBI sleuth, Monica Reyes, played by Annabeth Gish, who may become a regular next season. That is, if there is a next season.
The Lone Gunmen, a spin-off about Mulder's three technonerd pals, takes the X-Files ti
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Comic Chris Rock, 35, may be known for his foul-mouthed TV stand-up specials, but he decided not to rely on his trademark comedy style for his starring role in Down to Earth — a remake of the 1978 Warren Beatty film Heaven Can Wait — which opened Friday.
"I think movies are too nasty right now as it is," Rock tells TV Guide Online. "It's a romantic comedy! What romantic comedy is rated R?
"A movie with me, I guess you kind of expect an R," he continues, but suggests that's an unfair assumption to make about his work. "My stand-up act, yeah, there's a lot of cursing in it. My TV show [HBO's The Chris Rock Show], not really that much cursing. We could pretty much show any of that stuff on regular TV."
Actually, Rock insists he'd originally aimed for a PG rating for the film, which ended up with a PG-13. "[Paramount] thought I was crazy... but it's Heaven Can Wait," he says. "Why should it be an R? I don't even know ho
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He has cheated death as a most excellent teen named Ted, saved Sandra Bullock's bacon from a jerry-rigged bus, kicked slow-motion butt in a mind-bending future world, and, most recently, terrorized women as an abusive redneck. Therefore, it makes sense that what Keanu Reeves really was craving to do was a big-screen love affair. Specifically, a sweet one — as in Sweet November (opening today).
"I was looking for a romance," Reeves says of the road that led to Sweet November, a remake of the 1968 tearjerker starring Sandy Dennis and Anthony Newley. "I hadn't done one in a while, not since A Walk in the Clouds. So I had a feeling that was what I wanted to do."
Besides, Reeves' latest film offering would reteam him with Charlize Theron, the blonde beauty who played his wife in 1997's The Devil's Advocate. "She's fantastic in this film," the actor raves, explaining that his and Theron's on-screen chemist
read more
It looks like former Star Trek star William Shatner, 69 — who will host the Miss USA 2001 pageant from Gary, Ind., on March 2 — has already crowned his queen. On Tuesday, the actor wed native Hoosier Elizabeth J. Martin, 42, The Indianapolis Star reports. "It's absolutely true," said the bride's sister, Gayle Anderson. "That's all we're saying." These latest nups mark Shatner's fourth marriage. His third wife, model Nerine Kidd, drowned in the couple's swimming pool, and his first two unions ended in divorce.
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Emmy-nominated Will & Grace star Debra Messing has landed a role in Woody Allen's next as-yet untitled comedy, Variety reports. Messing — who will play the girlfriend of Allen's character — joins a cast that includes Téa Leoni and Treat Williams.
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