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

E14 CALENDAR LOSANGELESTIMES TELEVISION RADIO The inside scoop on the Academy Awards To subscribe, call 1-800-LATIMES or log on to www.myaccount.latimes.com Only the stagehands have this much access EBB The next time going on forget to donate your newspaper. Just call. Or log on to www.myaccount.latimes.com while a vague North American war rages among Islamists, Chinese rationalists and Musical water snakes glow and hum. Buildings sicken and sometimes die, diagnosed by a doctor who senses their ills. Reality consists of overlapping dimensions, or maybe all loosely connected dream- scapes in which fathers are absent and relationships between mothers and their children are ruptured.

Woe to anyone who seeks to find order within fictional world. Or, for that matter, traditional symbolism and meaning in work that even its creator finds mystifying. try not to figure these things out too says Erickson, 54. think the point where I start psychoanalyzing my own writing, I think that gets Erickson has been writing since, as a 7-year-old, he penned atale about some boys who build aspaceship and fly to meet the man in the moon. was already staking out my literary he jokes.

Erickson teaches creative writing at CalArts, edits the new literary journal Black Clock and writes about movies for Los Angeles magazine. Those jobs help pay the bills novelists tend not to sell many books and none of five previous novels have made it to within shouting distance of a bestseller list. But since Between he has built a reputation among critics as a highly imaginative writer exploring universals love and sex, history, identity, memory and moral redemption set against shifting landscapes of bleak excess. A brothel in Paris. A black- tree swamp.

An island in a river with only one bank. Vienna from which American pornographer escapes with the elderly despot to occupied Mexico the Nazi blitz had defeated England and, after Winston live on-radio suicide, the war moved to North America. Always too Los Angeles, re-imagined in unimaginable ways, and a persistent chaos that defies own orderly existence. I handle chaos well at says Erickson, who lives in Topanga Canyon with his wife, Lori, a painter and director of TV commercials, and their 7-year-old son. the sink is full of dirty dishes, I have to wash them before I can start writing.

I do think chaos in his is part of the times living in, and maybe part of the experience of growing up in a place where the landscape changed almost by the He was raised in the San Fernando Valley around Granada Hills in the and a period of vast and rapid development. was somewhere between what the Valley is now and what the Valley is in lots of orchards and ranches and something bordering on Erickson says. changed completely during my childhood. Igrew up in a house that was built when I was 5 and was gone by the time I was 17 because the Simi Valley Freeway took it. So the neighborhood I grew up in was born, lived and died in the space of my Erickson, a UCLA grad, moved to New York and then Europe between 1975 and 1982, and when he returned the familiar had become strange.

He realized a chaotic and ephemeral place Los Angeles is, both in urban terms and in psychic The of civic he thinks, can fertilize an growth in ways that cities with more defined senses of place, their own cannot. you know what you want to do, L.A. can be a great place to do it because it impose itself on you at all the way a real city like New York or Paris, say, Erickson says. if you know what you want to do, know who you are, because a city that almost insists on reinvention, I think it can make you Erickson draw the parallels himself, but his own disintegrated roots reflect those of many of his characters, who roam imagined world as vagabonds. Elements, even characters, emerge and disappear from book to book.

Banning Jainlight, pornographer, dies at the end of of the Black He appears again in the new novel as a corpse, a bit character whose death draws another bit character, his daughter, from real Los Angeles to real New York only to return to the flooded version of L.A. In a further blurring, personal e-mail address includes the name Jainlight. Ikill off a character named he says. know what about, In the lake has transformed Los landscape. The Hollywood Hills are waterfront property and squatters fill tall buildings whose upper floors remain dry.

The color blue inexplicably seeps from the visible palette, leaving a grayish hole in the color scheme. The plot itself defies summary, or a clear trajectory. Kristin Blumenthal, a survivor from an earlier novel, gives birth to a son, Kierkegaard, whose twin sister Bronte seems to disappear from her womb. Kristin fears the growing lake is seeking out her son so she loads him into a gondola and poles to the source, then dives to the opening, seeking clarity. When she resurfaces, the boy is gone, carried off by owls.

What she realize is that she has emerged in a parallel Los Angeles, where she eventually becomes a dominatrix-seer to rich and powerful men including aChinese war hero who faced down the tanks in Tiananmen Square. She agesand becomes stranded at a remote desert hotel with her daughter, who has somehow emerged full-grown from the lake to join her as a dominatrix understudy. Eventually, they return to L.A. Through the last two-thirds of the book, Kristin the through-the-looking-glass version is a constant presence in an uninterrupted stream-of-consciousness sentence threaded through the text that rejoins the main story in the last few pages, closing the circles of time, reality and human connections with a jolt that, if not encompassing understanding, at least brings the sprawling chaos to an end. There are no object lessons or deeper meanings to the work, at least none that Erickson can define as he sits on a Victorian- styled sofa here in the Chateau Marmont, itself the scene of countless alternative realities of the Hollywood type.

A hammer falls with annoying repetitiveness, unseen and unexplained. Outside, fragrant plants weave in the morning breeze near the bungalow where John Belushi died, and somewhere upstairs is the room where Jean Harlow and Clark Gable began an infamous affair. Time overlaps here, as it does in novels, where the minor keys take over the song and the discordant becomes music and the dreamscape reality. just a big believer in the role of the subconscious in writing fiction and just a big believer in listening to what the story tells Erickson says. of my books begin with a story.

They begin with a theme. They begin with a concept. They begin with a story about a young single mother with a kid and a lake appears in the middle of L.A. and she sees it as evil coming to take her up to the reader to try to make sense of it. Where: Barnes Noble, the Grove, 189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles When: 7:30 p.m.

Thursday Contact: (323) 525-0270 Steve Erickson book signing Robert Gauthier Los Angeles Times MYSTIFYING: In Steve Ecstatic L.A. is re-imagined in unimaginable ways. In novel, confusion rules L.A. Erickson, from Page E1 By Susan King Times Staff Writer Najai Turpin, a 23-year-old middleweight boxer from Philadelphia and a contestant on upcoming reality series has committed suicide, Philadelphia police said Tuesday. Turpin died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at 4a.m.

Mondaymorning while sitting in his Chevy Lumina, parked around the corner fromhis house in West Philadelphia, said police Sgt. Ron McClane.He allegedly had had a fight with his girlfriend, who, an NBC spokeswoman said, was with him when he shot himself. true showbiz fashion, will go on. Scheduled to premiere on March7, features 16 boxers vying for $1 million. Mark Burnett, an accomplished producer in reality television with such hits as and is the executive producer.

Actor Sylvester Stallone and former boxing champ Sugar Ray Leonard will serve as hosts and boxing mentors. Turpin, who had a record of 13-1, including nine knockouts, worked at a restaurantcleaning seafood. According to website, he would work his day shift, train for two hoursand then report for another shift at the restaurant until midnight. NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks said the network did not anticipate editing the show to remove Turpin. not only features the boxers in the ring, it also spotlights their personal lives.

girlfriend and their 2-year-old daughter, also featured. are deeply saddened to learn of his death and our thoughts and prayers are with his friends and Marks said Tuesday. Burnett will honor his memory by dedicating an episode of the series to All of the episodes for the boxing reality series have already been filmed except for the live finale, set for May. Because each episode focuses on two of the boxers who are set to fight each other, Turpin will be featured on at least one episode and will appear in others, but NBC say how many episodes because it would give away the story line. website describes Turpin as soft-spoken, polite and a very motivated and focused After mother died five years ago, he began taking care of his younger brother, sister, niece and nephew.

the first time television has found itself grappling with true reality. In the Swedish version of the first member of the cast committed suicide after he was the first person voted off the island. That reality show, called was not produced by Burnett. Since then, Burnett has conducted psychological tests on the participants in all of his shows. All the boxers in had undergone extensive psychological testing.

has been fraught with problems since the series was announced last year. Burnett and Stallone were embroiled in a legal battle with rival unscripted series, Next Great after NBC unveiled their plans for Burnett, Stallone and Dream- Works cited alleged theft of concept and violations of California boxing laws and went to court to block the premiere of Next Great But the judge nixed their attempts to stop the Fox series. Despite the publicity surrounding the Fox series, Next Great was pulled from the schedule due to poor viewership soon after premiering in early September. which was initially set for November, was pushed back to this year. boxer shoots self to death, police say NBC says it will likely keep Najai Turpin in the reality show, dedicating an episode to him.

Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (Feb. 7-13) 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 277.93 million potential viewers in the U.S. age 2 and older.

Viewership is listed in millions. Program Network View- ersProgram Network Viewers 1 American Idol 2 CSICBS27.85 3 American Idol 4 Desperate HousewivesABC22.30 5 Without a TraceCBS19.63 --------------------------------------------6 LostABC19.48 7 CSI: MiamiCBS18.82 8 9 Everybody Loves Raymond CBS17.49 10 ERNBC17.07 --------------------------------------------11 Two and a Half MenCBS16.75 12 CSI (8 p.m.)CBS16.67 13 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ABC16.55 14 Apprentice 3NBC15.13 15 HouseFOX14.97 --------------------------------------------16 Law Order: SVUNBC14.18 17 MediumNBC13.97 18 Law Order: Criminal Intent 9 p.m.) NBC13.53 19 Law OrderNBC13.16 20 CSI: NYCBS13.08 --------------------------------------------21 Boston LegalABC12.89 22 60 MinutesCBS12.76 23 NCISCBS12.74 24 Amazing Racing: 6CBS12.61 25 Crossing JordanNBC12.20 --------------------------------------------26 Las VegasNBC11.84 27 Will GraceNBC11.49 28 JoeyNBC11.40 29 SupernannyABC11.39 30 24FOX11.10 --------------------------------------------31 Fear FactorNBC10.91 32 AliasABC10.80 33 Numb3rsCBS10.68 34 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (7 p.m.) ABC10.51 35 Still StandingCBS10.19 --------------------------------------------36 Law Order: SVU 37 60 Minutes WednesdayCBS9.96 38 According to HimABC9.81 39 NYPD BlueABC9.73 Dateline: NBC --------------------------------------------41 The West WingNBC9.62 42 43 The BacheloretteABC9.38 44 45 JAGCBS9.25 --------------------------------------------46 Listen UpCBS9.23 47 Third WatchNBC9.09 48 RodneyABC9.01 49 Wife SwapABC8.93 50 That ShowFOX8.87 --------------------------------------------King of QueensCBS8.87 52 Primetime LiveABC8.77 Law Order: Criminal Intent 8 p.m.) NBC8.77 54 Simple Life 3FOX8.61 55 King of Queens (9:30 p.m.) CBS8.40 --------------------------------------------56 Hope FaithABC8.36 57 Law Order: Criminal Intent (Sat.) NBC8.33 58 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: They Do That? ABC8.31 59 Law Order 60 O.C.FOX8.15 --------------------------------------------61 Trading SpousesFOX8.13 62 The SimpsonsFOX8.01 63 Extreme MakeoverABC7.83 64 Medical InvestigationNBC7.78 65 8 Simple Rules (8:30 p.m.) ABC7.67 66 Less Than PerfectABC7.63 67 Crimetime SaturdayCBS7.57 68 8 Simple RulesABC7.54 69 Joan of ArcadiaCBS7.25 70 48 Hours MysteryCBS7.07 --------------------------------------------71 7th HeavenWB6.91 72 ScrubsNBC6.72 73 Dateline: NBC 74 Gilmore GirlsWB6.33 75 My Wife and KidsABC6.25 --------------------------------------------76 Brown ABC6.17 77 George LopezABC6.05 78 Most Outrageous Moments on Live TV NBC6.02 79 CommittedNBC5.77 80 the Pooh, A ABC5.67 --------------------------------------------81 Days 30th Anniversary ABC5.66 82 Arrested DevelopmentFOX5.61 83 Malcolm in the MiddleFOX5.43 84 The Simpsons (9:30 p.m.) FOX5.37 Bernie MacFOX5.37 --------------------------------------------86 Sports Illustrated; Model Search NBC5.36 87 Bernie Mac (8:30 p.m.)FOX5.35 88 RebaWB5.31 89 WWE 90 Family GuyFOX5.10 --------------------------------------------91 SmallvilleWB4.91 92 EverwoodWB4.70 93 King of the HillFOX4.68 94 Wickedly PerfectCBS4.65 95 One Tree HillWB4.47 --------------------------------------------96 JonnyZeroFOX4.18 97 Point PleasantFOX4.09 98 GirlfriendsUPN4.02 99 Blue Collar TVWB3.79 100 One on One (8:30 p.m.)UPN3.53 --------------------------------------------101 Half and HalfUPN3.48 102 One on OneUPN3.31 103 Doo 104 What I Like About YouWB3.18 105 EnterpriseUPN3.17 --------------------------------------------106 Veronica MarsUPN2.97 107 CharmedWB2.95 108 Road to StardomUPN2.93 109 Jack BobbyWB2.23 110 EveUPN2.15 --------------------------------------------111 All of UsUPN2.12 112 Steve Big TimeWB2.01 113 Kevin HillUPN1.97 114 and 115 Road to Stardom --------------------------------------------116 SummerlandWB1.08 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 CBS13.4812.94 FOX10.439.85 NBC10.4210.07 ABC10.1410.37 WB3.613.48 UPN3.213.38 From Associated Press Not only is dominating prime time again, it may help determine the fates of programs lucky or unlucky enough to be in its path. The talent show took two of the three top spots in Nielsen Media top 10 last week, with only Crime Scene in its league. Another Fox series, has the good fortune to follow right after on Tuesdays.

That has helped the freshman medical drama gain a solid footing; its 15 million viewers last week ranked it the 15th most popular prime-time show in figures released Tuesday. The ABC comedies and Wife and have the misfortune of being scheduled directly opposite on Tuesdays, and are suffering for it. They both had barely 6 million viewers last week, ranking Nos. 75 and 77 for the week. Meanwhile, only an estimated 18.8million people watched Ray swan song clean up at the Grammys onSunday night, a startling drop from the 2004 Grammys.

After two years on an upswing, Grammy ratings sank to their lowest level since 1995, according to Nielsen. That showing continues a trend of less-than-stellar ratings for awards shows. The Emmys last fall had its smallest audience ever. The Golden Globes last month had its fewest viewers since returning to broadcast television in 1996, down a whopping 10million people from 2004. The 12.9million people who watched the American Music Awards in November was a distant echo of the 48mil- lion who tuned in two decades ago.

CBS won the week with an average of nearly 13.5million viewers per hour of prime time. Prime-Time TV Rankings Viewers judge worthy of writers wasphenomenaland the production deal setup a way to use farm tap- pingthe talent for shows. The first-look deal for Comedy Central solidifies the relationship with Stewart, who is under contract there until 2008. On Tuesday, Doug Herzog, president of the Stewart preeminent voice in comedy been a good week for won a Grammy on Sunday for best comedy recording for the audio companion to the book, (The Book): A Guide to Democracy The irrev- erent text from Warner Books was a sensation as a holiday gift; it has sold almost 1.5 million copies and was named book of the year by Weekly. The book was co-written with executive producer Ben Karlin, Busboy development chief David Javerbaum and the writers from Daily Stewart declined tocomment Tuesday, which is in keeping with his post-election mode of trying to tamp down his huge pop-culture presence.Stewart became a star who outshinedhis own show in the political season: He famously jousted with Tucker Carlson on CNN, and was profiled on The presidential debate special in late September got 2.4 million viewers, a record for the franchise and a potent showing in cable.

In one poll, the show was cited as the preferred election news source by one-fifth of surveyed Americans ages 18 to 29. The funny guy was even name-checked by non-funny guy Bill Moyers: simply understand American politics in the new millennium without Daily The show has put five Emmys on the mantelduring tenure, and its coverage of the 2000 presidential race won a Peabody Award. Stewart, Comedy Central make deal Stewart, from Page E1.