Tucson Citizen from Tucson, Arizona • 19

fH i People Tucson Citizen Wednesday October 18 1989 FEATURES EDITOR BRUCE JOHNSTON 573-4332 Cosby exhorts kids to study achieve AMARILLO Texas Entertainer Bill Cosby told an audience of children that they should return the favor of his showing up at their school by and become what I did tonight for Cosby told about 50 Carver Elementary Academy second-graders before his performance Monday looking at a grown-up who could be home with his wife sitting there watching Night Football The benefit show brought in $175000 for the school which opened this fall in an predominantly minority Amarillo neighborhood and stresses the use of computers to help youngsters learn Cosby had been enlisted to help by oilman Boone Pickens whose company Mesa Limited Partnership last March contributed more to the school district and agreed to seek other donors Cosby said he believes private financing of public education will become more common gave this up to come here and save your Cosby told the pupils in mock seriousness least you could study and become something I come out here so that you guys could become Two men and a babe REVIEWS Pfeiffer just pfabulous as torrid torch singer By JOHN JENNINGS Citizen Film Critic KPOL closes fulfills TV prophecy By DAN SORENSON Citizen TV-Radio Writer When KPOL-TV Channel 40 signed off for the last time just after 12 am today it fulfilled a prophecy among local broadcasters that Tucson has more stations than it can support and that one or more would fail Local competitors and other experts on the Tucson TV industry had speculated that KPOL would go out of business even before its closest competitor KDTU-TV Channel 18 (now KTTU) got into financial trouble and came close to closing last year That station formerly owned by the Catholic Diocese of Tucson was sold to a small Texas TV chain as a deadline for going off the air was only hours away Tucson is said by almost everyone in the local television business to be oversaturated with TV stations There are three major network affiliates (4 9 13) a PBS station (6) pne independent station connected with the Fox network (11) two unaffiliated independents (18 40) and a new Spanish-language station (KHR-TV Channel 14) which is part of the Telemundo network more stations than most TV markets twice the size of Tucson (Tucson is rated the 81st or 83rd largest TV market in the country by the two major ratings services) Principal shareholder and station manager David Polan said the 25 employees when told about the decision yesterday morning worse for than for themselves When asked about severance pay Polan said worked that out Polan said a skeleton crew would be kept on briefly to shut down the equipment and close its business affairs Efforts to sell the station will continue through Kalil and Company a local media brokerage firm Because there is still a chance the station will sell before Polan loses rights to the license he said he did not want to comment on asking price or specific bids for the station He also declined to comment if any specific incident led to the decision to close the station just comes a time when you say is all we can do said Polan Polan said the Federal Communications Commission allows a station to stay off the air 30 days without permission while retaining its license After that he said the station must either take legal action and get special permission to remain off the air or the license is revoked Polan a lawyer who specialized in personal injury and criminal defense in Chicago before coming to Tucson several years ago said he blame the failure on one factor He said cable TV companies treated the station well Jones Intercable even moved KPOL to a choice spot on the dial Channel 5 And Polan said the station which mostly carried reruns and movies probably have been helped much by the new syndicated exclusivity rule The forces cable companies to black out shows on so-called cable superstations if a local broadcast station has the rights to the same show That rule is supposed to go into effect Jan 1 1990 Polan said Pima Community College officials were upset when they heard rumors yesterday that the station was closing KPOL carried PCC classes for credit starting at 6 am every morning It took the telecourses over from KDTU-TV Channel 18 (now KTTU) after that station had financial problems Polan said no arrangements had yet been made by PCC to move the classes but he said it should not be much of a scheduling problem for other stations because they could run it in the very early morning since most students tape classes for later viewing KPOL first signed on Jan 1 1985 It was originally owned by Polan and other members of his family but is now owned almost entirely by Polan Jones Intercable will replace KPOL in its lineup (it was Channel 5) with Cable Ad Channel indefinitely Jones spokesperson Kenna Smith said Cooke Cable Vision will wait 30 days to decide what to replace it with in its lineup said spokesperson Cathy Hollingsworth Blacks shortchanged by TV Uggams says ATLANTIC CITY NJ Singer-actress Leslie Uggams says the portrayal of blacks on television has changed little since she starred in her own 1 variety show in 1970 Uggams said she would love to be in a series such as Goes On" which stars Patti Lupone as the mother of a family that includes a child with syndrome But dramatic series about black families are not being made said Uggams hard to get a black tele: vision show said Uggans who is in town to perform at a casino we are talking about this here in 1990 They want us to make them laugh all the time the brainwashing that nobody wants to see a serious show about is in its own special old-fashioned she said rare that say this will work with black unless the part is written for a black actor or actress" At age 17 Uggams became a television pioneer when she starred in bandleader Mitch Along With in 1960 She iso has appeared in the role of Kizzy in the hit miniseries and at the Soon the trio is on the road together and is the hit of the Seattle area Despite warnings from his brother Jack takes a tumble for Susie and things start getting complicated She wants Jack to realize his potential so she pressures him to make Frank crank a little more life into the act: I have to sing one more time gonna throw Her sizzling-hot rendition of while slithering around atop piano in a sexy red evening gown is not to be missed If her acting career ever fizzles (and no chance of that as long as she keeps turning in such fine performances) Pfeiffer can still make bundles as a singer Beau Bridges is delightful as Frank He captures the heart of this character wonderfully and has a nice low-key comedic touch Jeff Bridges is OK as Jack but show much flash Pretty much all he does is light one cigarette after another If there is a weak spot in Fabulous Baker it is that the conclusion is left a little bit muddled There is a hint of how each of the three will proceed with life but not quite enough for you to feel comfortable about it Fabulous Baker is well worth seeing Not only can Michelle Pfeiffer carry a tune she can carry a movie as well In Fabulous Baker Pfeiffer as a sultry ex-hooker who teams up with a pair of piano-playing brothers makes the film shine Beau and Jeff Bridges play the key-tinklers character Frank is a serious-minded business-first type of guy who covers his bald spot with special paint and handles the chitchat with the audience that is typical of such a lounge act Real-life brother Jeff plays Jack a frustrated musician who longs to dump the croony old standards and enliven their act He relieves his frustration by playing in a jazz bar on his nights off When their bookings begin to melt away even Frank realizes something is wrong so they audition singers One of the funniest scenes in the movie is the string of bad singers who apply highlighted by Jennifer Tilly as a waitresswould be singer named Monica Moran The last to audi is Susie Diamond (Pfeiffer) a tough talking ex-hooker with a great voice grade Rating: brief nudity profanity explicit sex Playing at El Dorado and Century Park 1 2 theaters Gannett News Service 'Coming on the heels of the wildly different Liaisons" 'Tequila Sunrise" and "Married to the Mob' "The Fabulous Baker Boys" establishes Michelle Pfeiffer as the actress for the 1 990s' No thrill in this chase By JOHN JENNINGS Citizen Film Critic Quotable created this situation for herself with her celebrated mouth She made her bed and she can lie in it and at Sybil Brand (a Los Angeles District Attorney Ira Reiner dn Zsa Zsa Gabor The Los Angeles Times 'How wonderfully sly James Spader is and what pleasure he takes in acting! Here he's like every superficially polished obnoxious star fraternity man you ever met the kind whose unshakable confidence is based on the firm conviction he's another Robert Redford Spader's role is small but crucial and he's a delight Citizen file photo Compiled from wire-service reports by Paul Schwalbach James Spader Rachel starts out like a poor remake of Day and then falls apart Dexter Fletcher a young British actor who looks like an anorexic Mick Jagger plays a young Don Juan named Charles Highway He catalogues his techniques and conquests on his computer (as if there are too many to keep track of in his mind) Enter lone Skye as Rachel the beautiful American girl who is next target for romance Trouble is already attached As her boyfriend DeForest James Spader plays the same smug handsome self-centered character he has been in and in Only in lies and has he managed to break into something different Charles pursues Rachel I i' Charles fears commitment You get the idea of what is bound to happen as this overblown soap opera heads toward the credits Fletcher is not exactly Mr Good-Looking For this film to really work he would need to project art interesting winning personality NO contmued68 DeForest embarrasses and demeans Charles Charles still pursues Rachel Rachel finds Charles interesting Charles puts on the charm Rachel wavers Charles persists Rachel kisses Charles DeForest interv enes and takes Rachel away Charles mourns Rachel Rachel and Charles meet again This time there is electricity Rachel and Charles are in love Autumnal gold seen across state In Citizen: Gold has taken over much of Arizona the gold of aspens turning color as the cool of autumn hits the higher reaches of the state MNTtt tV Cliburn International Piano Channel 6 9 pm That toddlin' town The University of Arizona Theater Department opens its Mamstage Series with the musical When: Tomorrow through Sunday 8 pm and at 2 pm Oct 21 and Oct 29 WTiere: Centennial Hall Admission: Tickets ere $9 $7 for UA faculty students and staff available at the UA Fine Arts and Centennial Hall box offices and at all Dillard's and Tucson Convention Center outlets 1 1 iien i iMniLieil! Dudley Moore himself an accomplished pianist is the host of a special culled from the grueling 16-day piano competition which 19-year-old Soviet Alexsei Sultanov won on June 1 1 in Fort Worth Texas prizes estimated at more than $200000 included a cash grant of $1 5000 a Carnegie Hall recital and two years of concert touring managed by the competition The program follows Sultanov and his 37 fellow competitors throughout the process Cliburn who won Moscow's Tchaikovsky competition in 1 958 appears on the show to present Sultanov with his medal TV listings 53 ABC ends stmt atop ratings 33 "TaBSSSBHBHISSSiBHHHBHHBSES.