The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 62

2004:07:13:14:56:16 CALENDAR E13 LOSANGELESTIMES TELEVISION RADIO Brigitte Lacombe When two people be more fun begins! Everyone Reads COAST-TO-COAST BESTSELLER Visit the author at www.daniellesteel.com Available on Random House Audio Cassette and CD and in a Random House Large Print Edition new from the author of rescue me NEW IN PAPERBACK! new Hannah, bestselling author of Summer Island Great storytelling just got a new address. www.simonsays.com www.downtownpress.com New from the author of List of Wrongs Just when life get any better, it usually gets a whole lot worse. Also available on CD and cassette from Simon Schuster Audio. finally bitten off more than she can chew. entertaining and women really like that, Martin, author of Shopgirl written, great SexandtheCity a beach book par excellence that the sound of surf nearly accompanies the turning of its New York Times Great storytelling just got a new address.

www.simonsays.com www.downtownpress.com to the level that he is, there are parts of the character that are But he emphasizes that the show is a comedy. that know me they know that a character, but not that clients include actor Mark Wahlberg, who is the inspiration for the lead character in the series and is its executive producer. The Endeavor agency also represents writer-producer Larry Charles and, according to Emanuel, will collect a fee for helping to package the show. Doug Ellin, the creator of which premieres Sunday, said the nattily attired Ari Goldstarted out as a composite of Emanuel and another, more even-keeled agent, Jeff Jacobs of Creative Artists Agency. Jacobs was camp counselor years ago and represents him now.

Emanuel and Jacobs signed releases waiving the right to sue over the on-screen portrayal. But in classic dog-eat-dog fashion, the Emanuel side of the character seems to have devoured the Jacobs side. Still, Ellin insists that the character draws on traits from each man. definitely got more Ari in him than Jeff, but Jeff is in there as well. When you see the good Ellin hesitates.

both of them have good points. I think both of them are great According to Ellin, Emanuel approved the casting of actor Jeremy Piven, a former Endeavor client. called up from aplane in China and said, OK for Jeremy to play me and no one Ellin says. In the frat-house-with-money world of the entourage, Ari Gold is an electrifying presence. A scene in the first episode takes place at Koi, the West Hollywood sushi place.

Gold is dining with entouragemember Eric, who has crossed Gold by talking movie star Vince out of a remunerative project. Gold starts out boasting about a brand of sake that he and his wife discovered in Japan. were visiting Sofia on the set of he says breezily. dunno, that film. really capture the place.

Twice as boring in real Then Gold gets down to business, lambasting Eric, a former pizza joint manager, for interfering with career. have dinner with people like he sneers. do this. Do you think Hugh Jackman calls and says, Ari, love the script. Gotta run it past my pizza been doing this for 15 years! What you Gold resumes the attack when Vince and his entourage come to ameeting in office.

you a communist or a socialist, or they teach you the difference at Pepperoni he demands of Eric. just a lowly Harvard grad with a JD MBA from (Again, fiction; Emanuel went to Macalester College in St.Paul, Minn.) After relentlessly insulting Eric, Gold proposes that they it pretty much dead-on Emanuel, according to former associates. never experienced a says one. he realizes he may have gone overboard, bubbie, bubbie, I love Unlike most people, Piven says, the character has no fear of confrontation. can be wildly inappropriate, this guy.

At the same time, he can be totally Emanuel is known as a particularly confrontational player in a town full of aggressive competitors. Former associates say he could be rudely disparaging even to his own colleagues quick to point out that he was bringing in more commissions than certain others in the company. One says that when challenged, answer was always, the carrying He knows controversial, and he help (Says Emanuel: remember saying that, not a wallflower, for sure. the guy who takes all the For all his fabled combativeness, the 43-year-old agent has taken pains to show himself to be afriend to the environment, joining up last year with Laurie David and Arianna Huffington in a campaign against SUVs. (Given that, he might want to have a chat with Wahlberg about the gas-swilling beasts driven by the entourage.

On the other hand, Emanuel is supposed to have riled some of his partners a few years back by giving Wahlberg a Bentley. Emanuel, who says he traded in his Ferrari for a hybrid, maintains that the story about the Bentley is apocryphal. is one of the rumors that put out. Every six monthsto try to destabilize us, another story has gone The Gold character is by no means a true copy of Emanuel. The fictional Ari proudly shows his clients some home video of his child and then urges them to notice his shot of his attractive posterior.

In another scene, Gold invites Ericto guess, in the crudest terms, whomhe had been bedding. Eric asks sweetly. The correct answer is a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model. Even harshest critics say this aspect of the portrayal is fictitious, and that whatever his faults, Emanuel is a devoted husband and father. married my highschool Emanuel says.

been faithful for every single moment of which is not the Emanuel says his wife seen the show, but he described it to her. said, comedy. I get Anumber of agents and managers say their curiosity is piqued by the portrayal of Emanuel. want to see it myself now because of says veteran Bernie Brillstein, who has fallen out of touch with the agent in recent years. knew the young Ari.

We were very close. like to see what the new Ari looks Brendan Smialowski Getty Images HOT TOPIC: Ari Emanuel, center, speaks with Harvey Weinstein, right, at the premiere of Michael in Washington, D.C. Emanuel is a partner in the Endeavor agency. A role model for abrasive behavior from Page E1 continued its summer ratings dominance last weekas the Thursday night juggernaut easily topped the list of most-watched shows. It was followed by its Monday night spin- off, Both were repeat episodes, which continue to be the most- watched shows this summer, despite several efforts to emphasize original episodes.

Still, two originals did make the most ratings noise in the week ending Sunday, according to results released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. fifth installment of Amazing returned to Tuesdays and attracted more than 10.2 million viewers, good enough for 10th place. Perhaps even more notable is the 7.4 million who tuned in to Part 1of sci-fi miniseries That wasthe largest audience for an original cable series this yearand would have put it in 27th place on list of total viewers except Nielsen ranks onlybroadcast network shows. By comparison, the highest- rated original scripted series on broadcast TV was which had upward of 5.8 million viewers and finished in 47th place. also reentered the top 10 sixth place, to be exact with first TV joint interview with putative Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates John Kerry and John Edwards.

Life continues to attract viewers, finishing 11th among viewers overall and second to among viewers 18 to 49, those coveted by advertisers and most networks. finished fourth in that demographic category. finished in 12th place in its Tuesday night slotand 13th in its Thursday spot, dating show Love or Money came in 16th and Comic Standing landed in 19thplace. Taylor Prime-Time TV Rankings Repeats of draw viewers Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (July 5-11) as compiled by Nielsen Media Research. They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish.

Nielsen estimates there are 272.04 million potential viewers in the U.S. age 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions. Program Network View- ersProgram Network Viewers 1 CSICBS14.83 2 CSI: MiamiCBS14.00 3 Two and a Half MenCBS12.45 4 Without a TraceCBS12.34 5 Everybody Loves Raymond CBS12.23 --------------------------------------------6 60 MinutesCBS12.00 7 Cold CaseCBS10.81 8 Law Order: SVUNBC10.66 9 Law OrderNBC10.56 10 Amazing Race: 5CBS10.30 --------------------------------------------11 Simple Life 2FOX9.57 12 Big Brother 5 13 Big Brother 5 14 48 Hours MysteryCBS8.95 15 Law Order: Criminal Intent NBC8.92 --------------------------------------------16 For Love or Money 3NBC8.80 17 60 Minutes IICBS8.69 18 Law Order (9 p.m.)NBC8.57 19 Last Comic Standing 2NBC8.39 20 a Falling --------------------------------------------21 Yes, DearCBS8.16 22 Las Vegas 23 My Wife Kids 8:30 p.m.) ABC7.83 24 Primetime ThursdayABC7.75 25 Fear FactorNBC7.58 --------------------------------------------26 Friends (8:30 p.m.)NBC7.50 27 Still Standing 28 Dateline: NBC 29 Who Wants to Marry My Dad NBC7.28 30 My Wife and Kids 8 p.m.) ABC7.21 --------------------------------------------31 32 Will GraceNBC6.76 33 King of QueensCBS6.61 Still Standing 35 --------------------------------------------36 Most WantedFOX6.52 37 NYPD 38 FriendsNBC6.38 39 Las Vegas 40 48 Hours Investigates (Sat.) CBS6.20 --------------------------------------------41 Funniest Home Videos ABC6.15 42 That ShowFOX6.08 43 My Wife Kids Cops (8:30 p.m.)FOX6.00 45 8 Simple RulesABC5.96 --------------------------------------------46 Las Vegas 47 QuintupletsFOX5.86 48 According to JimABC5.84 The SimpsonsFOX5.84 George LopezABC5.84 --------------------------------------------Last Comic Standing 2 (8 p.m.) NBC5.84 52 Method and Red 9:30 p.m.) FOX5.71 53 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ABC5.55 54 55 George Lopez --------------------------------------------56 48 Hours InvestigatesCBS5.17 57 The Drew Carey ShowABC5.14 58 JAGCBS5.11 59 With HerABC5.07 60 Less Than PerfectABC4.97 --------------------------------------------61 Simple Life 2 62 According to Jim 63 WWE 64 Hope FaithABC4.81 65 The Drew Carey Show (9 p.m.) ABC4.78 --------------------------------------------66 CopsFOX4.71 67 Joan of ArcadiaCBS4.67 68 50th Anniversary ABC4.64 Whose Line Is It 70 WeddingsABC4.60 --------------------------------------------71 Married to the KellysABC4.52 72 North ShoreFOX4.51 73 Las Vegas 74 Whose Line Is It Anyway? (8:30 p.m.) ABC4.47 75 --------------------------------------------76 CasinoFOX4.32 77 Bernie Mac 8 p.m.)FOX4.31 Life With BonnieABC4.31 79 Domestic ABC4.30 80 Wonderful World of Disney ABC4.26 --------------------------------------------81 Quintuplets 82 Next Action StarNBC4.16 83 Bernie Mac 9 p.m.)FOX4.14 84 Hope Faith 85 Method and Red 8:30 p.m.) FOX3.89 --------------------------------------------86 Arrested DevelopmentFOX3.84 87 Bernie Mac 8:30 p.m.) FOX3.71 Method and Red 9:30 p.m.) FOX3.71 89 The Ultimate Love TestABC3.61 90 Malcolm in the MiddleFOX3.38 --------------------------------------------91 Bernie Mac 8 p.m.)FOX3.37 92 Amazing Race: 5 93 King of the HillFOX3.25 94 SummerlandWB3.21 95 Crime and Punishment 3NBC3.11 --------------------------------------------96 North Shore 97 The JuryFOX2.87 RebaWB2.87 99 7th HeavenWB2.83 100 Tru CallingFOX2.49 --------------------------------------------101 Smallville (9 p.m.)WB2.45 102 Stephen Kingdom Hospital ABC2.40 103 Half and Half (8:30 p.m.)UPN2.27 104 All of UsUPN2.25 105 Half and Half (9:30 p.m.)UPN2.16 --------------------------------------------106 One on OneUPN2.13 107 GirlfriendsUPN2.12 108 Grounded for LifeWB2.10 109 SmallvilleWB2.08 110 Gilmore GirlsWB2.06 --------------------------------------------111 EveUPN2.03 112 Charmed (9 p.m.)WB2.01 113 Steve Big TimeWB1.99 114 EnterpriseUPN1.96 115 CharmedWB1.84 --------------------------------------------116 SummerlandWB1.79 117 What I Like About YouWB1.77 118 Next Top Model UPN1.74 119 Jamie Kennedy (9:30 p.m.) WB1.68 --------------------------------------------121 Jamie KennedyWB1.45 Steve Big TimeWB1.45 123 EnterpriseUPN1.35 124 Pepsi SmashWB1.16 Network averages Here is the number of viewers (in millions) that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season. Network Last week Season to date CBS8.7812.35 NBC6.9410.40 ABC5.148.50 FOX4.468.98 UPN2.463.25 WB2.123.43 From Associated Press NEW YORK Al radio show, is changing its name to Al Franken The new, more typical, show name was chosen over candidates such as and Bush Franken said in a statement.

daily three-hour show on the liberal talk radio network Air America Radio was dubbed in a jab at the conservative Fox News Channel host Bill The 53-year-old comedian said changing the name because matter how hard we tried, Bill sue had no comment. Last year, a judge threw out request to ban Franken from using the slogan and on the cover of his book, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Bal- anced Look at the The ruling turned into a bonanza of publicity for Franken. Air America Radio is betting that a menu of left-leaning political commentary, current affairs talk and satire will resonate with those opposed to the Bush administration. The network, which debuted March 31, is heard in 15 markets but not in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago or San Francisco. It can be heard on the Web at www.airamericaradio.com Franken no longer a.