Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 17

Minneapolis Star and Tribune Aug. 24, 1982 3B 5 Chess Continued from page IB business as "brute force," the of 0 Terry Gilliam, left, was Mao Tae Tung in this sketch from "Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl." Others were Michael Palin, Eric Idle, John Cleese and Terry Jones. Pythons' only Yank finally speaks sort of analysis almost 30 million positions In the three minutes available for an average move. Thej other approach in computer chess, which has not dose so well, is more selective and examines fewer positions with more sophisticatipn. The programs also include instantaneous responses in certain familiar positions.

Belle's library has 350,000 positions memorized with. automatic responses. Sometimes the computer is programed to choose at random, between two or more equally good moves, so that an opponent cannot study past games' and know exactly how Belle will react to a certain position. i Even so, Belle and other computers' --main fairly predictable, and a Jd player who studies past games will learn how to play to the computer's weaknesses and avoid Iff What the computers are superb at is looking ahead in unorthodox ways and finding ramifications of possible moves, Belle's intelligence so charmed the U.S. Customs Service that agents impounded the computer In early May as it was on its way to Moscow! for an exhibition.

They said it could! be of military use to the Soviets ana did not release it for a month. Hans Berliner, the researcher, said of Belle, "It has made some moves which maybe na human could have made. No could have seen to the end of it and' followed it" 1 For example, a king and a rook always have been considered easy prey for a king and a queen, but Belle found a good, though not perfect defense for the king and a rook. Now Berliner is using a computer to analyze king-and-pawn! end-games. "I hope that in a year we'll play this as well as anyone in the world," he said.

1 1 In an average middle game. Belle looks ahead eight half-moves, four by each player. But in unusual situations, where there are few pieces left or few possible moves, computers can look ahead much further. Cray Blitz, the Mississippi 1 champion, once found a forced checkmate 42 half-moves away. are translated to the stage through the use of gargantuan stage props.

I saw the "Monty Python Live" Aim in a theater packed with lively and vocal fans who were familiar with many of the sketches; it was a crowd loaded for fun, and hair-triggered to start the applause and guffaws almost before the gags were completed. By the end of the show It was apparent that The New Gilliam had picked up some fans of a kind he never had before. You Just knew that, if anybody In that crowd were choosing up sides for a food fight, they'd pick Gilliam first As the only American In the Monty Python troupe, Minnesota-born Terry Gilliam usually has occupied a public position roughly akin to that of the family idiot kept locked in the attic except for ceremonial occasions. True, he Is 'the creator of all the cartoons and animated graphics that have been an element of the Python movies and TV series. And he has been active in the writing and direction of the Python movies, as well as of a couple of Pythonesque, If not precisely Python, feature films, including the hit Bandits." But you have to know that ahead of time to understand fully what contribution he makes to the Pythons, because in the most familiar of the Python sketches, he simply doesn't appear.

In those few sketches in which Gil-Ham has been visible, the 100 percent Britishness of the Pythons has been preserved through the simple device of never letting the American expose his American accent to the public by speaking. He has been routinely relegated to the role of a grotesque dress extra whenever an idiot or buffoon type or some other sort of nonspeaking misfit is required. Until Monty Python gave a one-night in-person performance in the Holly-' wood Bowl that was recorded for movie theaters via videotape and film. It might have been assumed that Gilliam was destined to be an An afterthought concerning "An Officer and a Here Is a movie that is mostly about two naval air cadets in training in Seattle, and their romances with a pair of local factory girls who hang out at the naval base trolling for husbands. Both of the navy buddies have lots of fun with the young women during long motel weekends, but neither one wants to get married.

Ultimately, after much protracted squirming and evasive action, one of the men breaks down and proposes. The other one simply clears up the 'difficulties in his tangled romantic life by committing suicide. Ms. Jones now demands to know, "Which is the officer, and which is the gentleman?" Will Jones after last night ever-silent figure, the Harpo Marx of the group. But now, his silence has been broken.

For Gilliam fans, the big blurb line for "Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl" could well be "Terry Gilliam speaks!" In a sketch about a TV panel show featuring the great Communist leaders of history, there he sits alongside Marx and Lenin and Che Guevara as a grotesquely grinning Chairman Mao, and he utters one line in a Chinese accent that Is somewhere between grotesque and burlesque. Once again he plays an oaf. Once again no American tones have been allowed to intrude. But speak he does. Besides becoming briefly audible, al trK For first-timers, Erma Bombeck though in a manner calculated not to threaten the all-English integrity of the Python troupe and thus possibly interfere with the brisk sale of miniature Union Jacks by souvenir vendors at the Bowl, Gilliam is just generally more visible as a performer than be ever has been before.

His assignments continue to be those of the gross-out kind. In a sketch in which a pair of Lon-. don policemen Investigate a confectioner who has been putting frogs and insects into his candies, Gilliam Is the bobby who grows sicker and sicker as his partner conducts the interrogation. Ultimately he vomits into his helmet. In a sketch which pretends to be a scholarly dissertation on the various forms of physical humor, it falls to someone to produce a needed illustrative banana peel, and then dispose of the unnecessary banana that remains.

That's Gilliam, and he dispatches the banana in one gulp. A fairly sickening gulp, need it be added? Gilliam even flies over the stage, Peter Pan-style. Only to have the stuffings shot out of him by a fellow Python with a bird gun. And he provides a grinning, demented presence in any number of other physical gags which often involve cartoon-like violence. It might be assumed that this en- larged performing role for Gilliam might have been created to make up for the fact that there's not much 'is A lfiisi -1 'r v.

prising that director Lewis Whitlock, an excellent dancer and choreographer, hasn't come up with very incisive movement and even, as in the Rape Ballet, poor movement. On the other hand, he's dealt with it with some restraint the damnable mime that runs through It is, for once, page IB when the station scheduled "MASH" reruns at 10:30 p.m. weeknights, pushing the network's "Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" back to 11 p.m. The Gannett Broadcasting Group, which reportedly will buy Channel 11, owns television stations KPNX- TV, Phoenix, KARK-TV, Little Rock, KBTV, Denver, WXIA-TV, Atlanta, WPTA-TV, Fort Wavne. WLKY-TV, Louisville, and KOCO-TV, Oklahoma City.

It also owns 13 radio stations. The Gannett broadcast stations are a division of Gannett Co. which publishes the nation's largest chain of newspapers. Arbltron's May ratings for Twin Cities television showed big gains for KSTP-TV's newscasts, prompting WCCO-TV executives to question the accuracy of the Arbltron numbers; The July rating figures from Arbitron and the A.C Nielsen Co. y' If-, 1 Terry Gilliam In one of his Monty Python roles.

else for a cartoon specialist to offer to a live audience in the Hollywood bowl. But that's not quite true, either. Til Python concert was a multi-media presentation, with several large screens on the stage, and so some of Gilliam's nightmarish filmed graphic fantasies were featured as part of the live show. Beyond that, a couple of bis wilder trademark cartoon -ideas, In which large, heaven-sent manifestations drop from the sky to remind mere mortals of their true status on earth, fanciful unobtrusive which Is better than the cutesy-poo sorts of movement we usually get It could also be that the direction and the music plays into the sort of gooey nostalgia of the piece rather than against it There's little snap to It all and the music moves slowly, to the point where the love ballads cross over the sappy and come very near the indulgent On the bright side, however, there are no bad performances, a few excellent ones and, in a bit of surprise, one exceptional one. Bart Tin-app's virile, well-sung, slightly ironic El Gallo, Molly Sue McDonald's coquettish, earnest unprecious rendition of The Girl and Christopher Bloch's funny, obtuse Mortimer are all excellent.

Henry Gardner's old actor, ail sweetness, understatement and twinkling self-assuredness with a minimum of hamminess, is exceptional, quite the best rendition of the part in the score or more renditions I've seen, proving there are no small parts. Tom Butsch's setting is the usual, backyard stage with hand-painted curtain, though he decorates it all nicely with hanging fabric upstage and Jeff Bartlett lights it sensitively. Alice Title at the piano supports the singers So there it Is. If you want a "Fantasticks," this one will do nicely. If the idea of a damp September happy ending hasn't gotten to you before, this one doesn't make any special case.

Each to his own whimsies. indicate a more even distribution of viewers between the area's two leading stations. Following are the audience shares for several key time slots. The shares represent average percentages of households in which a TV set is turned on during a particular time slot The Arbitron figures are listed first; the Nielsen shares are in parentheses. 5 p.m.: "Little House on the Prairie," KMSP-TV (Channel 9), 39 (33); "5 P.M.

Report" WCCO-TV, 27 (33); "Eyewitness News," KSTP-TV, 21 (18): "Laverne Shirley," WTCN-TV, 11 (12). 5:30 p.m.: "CBS Evening News," WCCO-TV, 33 (39); "What's Happening." KMSP-TV, 27 (24); "ABC World News Tonight," KSTP-TV, 25 (22); "KBC Nightly News," WTCN-TV, 8 (8). 6 p.m.: "6 P.M. Report" WCCO-TV, 35 (35); "Eyewitness News," KSTP-TV, 29 (28); "Barney Miller," KMSP-TV 24 (22); "NewsCenter 11," From left: Molly Sue McDonald, Woody Woodward and Eric Lueck In the Chanhassen production of "The Fantasticks." A review By Mike Steele Staff Writer There was a season which, for want of a better word, let's call Whimsy-time. You remember it You were there.

It occurred, oh, 50, 100 years ago when we were kids hauling our volumes of Kahil Gibran about And we met for the first time, "The Fantasticks." Such sweet Such theatrical imagination. Such romance. The tears streaked our Clearasll as we embraced our backyard fantasies and nodded, yes, things are good even though the world is bad. Since "The Fantasticks" is now in its 100th, or 150th (I forget) year Off-Broadway, just shy of London's "The Mousetrap" but a bit longer. Heaven help us, than Chanhassen's "I Do! I one assumes there's a new generation that is still discovering it.

And the fact that Chanhassen itself, eager to turn a quick buck in a bad economy, has revived it indicates that while some of us, grizzled and gray, now find it just a bit precious and sentimentally out of step, there are those who think it still has drawing power. Of course, we must wonder. Try to remember a September when life was slow and mellow. Was there such a time? Perhaps, as we sat in the apple tree reading verses and mooning over the rosy-cheeked girl next store who had recently turned into a woman. Did we ever fantasize over that? Perhaps.

Did girls dream of Spanish bandits carrying them away to see "the world?" Perhaps. Was rape ever cute? Well, It doesn't matter. We're dealing with fancy here, with charm, with whimsy, good grief, loads of whimsy. And for those who haven't seen it is there anybody under 10 left? Chanhassen's production is a good introduction. It's straightforward, well sung, workmanlike, very professional.

If It's your first time, you can feel confident this is the real thing. If it struck me as just a bit on the dull side, that can perhaps be explained by admitting that my whimsy threshold has been crossed in the Gliders plan reunion Veteran glider pilots from all 50 states and Great Britain will gather in Repo, Sept 9-12 for the 12th annual reunion of the National World War II Glider Pilots pregnant moth in a fur storage. Every year when I had my hair cut I'd thumb through the high-fashiqn magazines to see if this was the year of MY suit Oh, occasionally I saw gray coveralls being worn by an Or-kin Man spraying bugs on television or a gray fur coat for $9,000, but ja gray fashion glut never happened. Until this year. I walked through a shopping center the other day and every window was splashed with gray.

Gray suits, gray shoes, gray accessories, gray coats. Gray dresses. Gray slacks. Gray Every fashion horoscope is touting gray as the color whose time has come. Little children are wearing lit with white starched collars.

Airliife attendants are switching to gray. Cars, furniture and accessories a(e gray. This fall, you will not be able to wak down the street without a gray person crossing your path. Gray dogs will become chic. Gray hair will be In.

Gray TV and gray skies will prevail. i Trust me. This is gray's year. Ydu want to know how I know? Foor weeks ago, I gave my gray suit to the Army. 354,000 households.

On Oct 4, Mark Rosen will replace Ralph-Jon Fritz as the sportscaster on Channel 4's "10 P.M. Report" Fritz, who'll keep his spot on the anchor desk at 5 and 6 p.m., is expected to produce more outdoor-i sports features for the newscasts KTCA-TV (Channel 2) will celebrate its 25th anniversary on Sept 25 KTWN-FM (107.9) will broadcast Sunday's Chuck Mangione concert at Orchestra Hall live from 8 to 10 p.rr). Channel 4 has allotted 90 minutes to Its next local documentary, on Sept. 12. It's called "On the Edge," chronicling the summer of four black teen-agers In St.

Paul's Inner city. I love gray. It's a hangover from my college days when I did a month's laundry in one load. (Sometimes when I sat on my bed to dress, I blended so well I had to smile so people would know I was there.) About six years ago, I picked up a magazine that had a fashion horoscope in it Now I don't usually put too much stock in natal signs because everyone else gets the neat ones. Scorpios always get the "Flutter kicks In your pool will change your life," and the Aquarius people are told, "Shop now for pearls (hat will enhance your naturally sensuous looks." Mine said, "Extra sleep is beneficial.

Prop up your feet whenever you can. Invest in something gray. You wilt be years ahead of your time." If I had known how many years ahead of my time I would be, I'd never have Invested $154 in a gray wool suit quite that early. So forget that I couldn't find a pair of shoes to match it or a purse or hose or scarf. Just forget that wherever I wore it someone said, "That's gray, isn't it? I wish it would come back." The point is, that gray suit hung in my closet for six solid years and generated all the excitement of a WTCN-TV, 6 (7).

6:30 p.m.: "PM Magazine," WCCO-TV, 29 (30); "Entertainment Tonight" KSTP-TV, 28 (25); "Family Feud," WTCN-TV, 20 (19); "All in the Family," KMSP-TV, 15 (15). 10 p.m.: "10 P.M. Report" WCCO-TV, 38 (37); "Eyewitness News," KSTP-TV, 37 (37); "Odd Couple," KMSP-TV. 11 (13); "NewsCenter 11," WTCN-TV, 11 (10). "Good Company," the new afternoon show on Channel 5, finished third at 3 to 4 p.m.

But it made its ratings debut with a respectable 23-percent share of the audience, and was the time slot's most popular program among women. Perhaps the most notable success in the July ratings was "Gorilla at Large," the 3-D movie broadcast by Channel 9 on July 29. Arbitron accorded it a 26 rating and 54 share, translating Into 323,000 households and 760,000 viewers. Nielsen gave it a 28 rating and a 56 share, meaning that It was seen by 810,000 people In intervening decades since I first saw it and what may have struck me as fanciful at one time now seems closer to preciosity. On the other hand, it could be that the Chanhassen production, while solid, is also routine.

It's a little sur Carman Continued from Chicago, Detroit and Boston. Metromedia bought WTCN-TV in 1972 from Chris-Craft Industries, for $19.7 million. Channel 11 showed a steady profit as an independent station, but began to encounter difficulties when it became an affiliate of the low-rated NBC network in 1979. Metromedia spent heavily to build a newscast to compete with WCCO-TV (Channel 4) and KSTP-TV (Channel 5), but was unable to win many viewers over from the rival stations. In recent months, Metromedia appears to have cut back on Its Twin Cities commitment.

For example, first-string weathercaster Glenn Burns quit in January and never has been replaced. Channel 11 's efforts to increase its earnings also have put It at odds occasionally with NBC Throughout the 1981-82 season, Channel 1 1 preempted NBC programing on Friday nights in favor of locally acquired movies. More recently, WTCN-TV won a stand-off with NBC 1.