The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 41

WEDNESD) THE NEWS OBSERVER 3 TV 6 Comics 8 Tell Me A Story10 11111111 WEDNESDAY AUGUST 17 1994 By YARDENA ARAR Los ANGELES DAILY NEWS Will NBC jump to WYED? 1 I 1 I 1 i 1 1 Iv 4 4 4 t' i' svo toe gr i c2 wggi i 4- 1) CI 1 lin3r11-I'l 1E5 I I 1 1 -1 10111111-T -li '4 E14111111D ik161 on' i I ir i 1 i I I f- "-t4 4cA'i po I NikatiLkOf itt vcntkic I Los ANGELES Ayoung fan recently asked David Bowie if he would perform his older music on any future concert tours "I hope so" the unidentified questioner added "I'm only 17 so I didn't get to see you in your Ziggy years" "You're breaking my heart!" Bowie replied "You may have heard that I made a a solemn decision to not perform my older songs again after 1990" It may not have been the answer the teenager hoped for but at least he or she got to query the rock star directly in person and in real time if not exactly face to face Typing away at a computer terminal in England i Bowie last month fielded questions from several hundred America Online members gathered in a virtual auditorium for a kind of celebrity encounter that is becoming increasingly common on all the major commercial online services From Al Gore (who attracted 800 people to CompuServe's convention center) and Rosie O'Donnell to Oliver North Billy Graham the Eagles Tom Clancy and Motley Crue prominent figures from all walks of life are using networks to converse with a public that might otherwise never get the opportunity for one-on-one contact "Typically it's a beneficial relation- ship for both parties" i ki' said America Online vI A 4 te spokesman Margaret 9 41 "1-d 4 Ryan "Celebrities get direct feedback from fans promote 't concerts and tours -'1It or maybe they want 1 1 to be a leader in ow i interactive entertain- 01' ment" 4: 0 0 The online services iivie) 4 meanwhile of bee igneg the 1 ciated with household 1 names When It CompuServe offered its members the opportunity to download an audio file containing a previously unreleased Aerosmith song the response was phenomenal CompuServe spokesman Michelle Moran said "We had the most press we ever had" she said adding that fans who didn't act on the free limited-time offer are still asking about it Online contacts with celebrities come in several formats Live conferences such as David Bowie's on America Online are the most demanding requiring an hour or so of the personality's time and the ability to answer questions quickly Typing skill can be an issue in such a format especially for those who are reluctaqt to let a mid- dle person transcribe verbal responses Composer and rock star Danny Elfman who made a brief appearance on the ImagiNation Network from the backstage area at the recent ICROQ Weenie Roast concert in Irvine compared the experience to taking calls from the public on a radio show "It's exactly like that but it was a little more frustrating because I can talk better than I can type" he said Still Elfman who owns four computers said SEE E-MAIL PAGE 4E i glOt --00 4 ir 51): A 1--- 41 1 i i -i 1 Now that Outlet Communications has taken over WYED don't be surprised if it becomes the market's NBC affiliate For a couple of reasons: First Outlet based in Providence RI already has the NBC affiliation in that town and A in Columbus 4 I Ohio I Second 71 NBC would 40 love a new affiliate in 1k' st 4 Raleigh'''k Om Durham Third net-Bob works have been chang- LANGFORD mg affiliates all over the country so they might as well make it one more since the mechanisms are already in place If the move occurs it could be as early as January Not that Channel 17 is ready to make any announcements "Anything is possible" is all new general manager Bud Polacek would say Polacek used to run WLFL until he was replaced six months ago YED has been a sleepy independent on the side of the highway in Clayton since it signed on six years ago Even if it doesn't get a network affiliation YED has plans to move to Raleigh There's also talk of changing the call letters And with the move Polacek promises more local programming The YED sale comes too late for it to gobble up much valuable syndicated property But it will change its prime-time schedule to include a movie at 8 The biggest change in fall programming about all the local changes will start Sept 12 be at WITT Channel 40 will air "Rush Limbaugh" not once but twice a day At 5 and 10 It'll be followed each time by a conservative talk show host from LA named Dennis Prager General manager Gene Bohi knows Limbaugh is a hard show to sell to advertisers especially nationally But he figures the show will bring a lot more viewers to the station and he can run promos during those unsold breaks There will be lots more talk on KIT including something called "Mitchells in the Morning" at 8 am A couple (obviously the Mitchells) sit in their kitchen and take phone calls about the issues of the day And weeknights at 8 pm the station will go with five syndicated first-run series instead of movies One more thing Raleigh Mayor Tom Fetzer will host a show Sunday afternoons at 2 called "Crosstalk" It starts Sept 18 "Monte! Williams" is off and "Ricki Lake" leaves Km' for WRDC at 5 WRDC will also add a new talk show at 10 in the morning hosted by a very tall man named Gordon Elliott "Northern Exposure" will come on at 3 in the afternoon And "The Simpsons" runs at 7:30 The biggest change at WRAL is that it's sticking "Entertainment Tonight" in the dregs of the schedule "Inside Edition" is moving into the old "ET" spot at 7 making way for a new nighttime version of "The vu 11 1:: 4::::::::: l' ::4:: vL :::1 :::::1:: I 1 4 1416r 111:11 4V -0' 4L Illt l' i 1 -ii4 le I Big names you can schmooze with on the net clockwise from left: Billy Graham Jamie Lee Curtis David Alan Grier Oliver North David Bowie Rosie O'Donnell Jodie Foster and Al Gore About face: Outlaw beard is in is in Growing legions of goatee's devotees bum out bohemians BY JOHN MARSHALL SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER Chris Cornell of Soundgarden left and movie director Spike Lee were part of the renegade image before goatees became trendy it 4 rk -z 7 )--1 '1 0 Tv I 1 117 i Chris Cornell of Soundgarden Jo ad 0 left and movie director Spike "'S' Lee were part of the renegade 'Ir image before ft goatees became 1 4 trendy self-respecting goatee-wearer reach for his razor Goateed Jason Coffe lt a 22-year-old car-wash worker admits "It's kind of a bummer when everyone else has a goatee" As Steve Frey a 34-year-old software company manager says "A goatee still tells people that you're probably not a banker" A 22-year-old 1 Seattle bike messenger who gives his name only as "Eddie" is far more blunt "A goatee gives you a bad edge" he empha- sizes "It says I make less than $30000 a year and I have a lot 1 less to lose than you do so you better back 1 tee-wearer reach ed Jason Coffelt a 3h worker admits Tier when everyone 34-year-old software says 1 r''' 1 414 1 1 i gi ke '4 I cot 1 lu ack i etal fringe poets revolutionaries jazzmen beatniks fencers and folk singers (Peter Paul minus Mary) But suddenly this summer goatees have surfaced on the faces of so many twentysomethings thirtysomethings and oldersomethings that the goatee of all things seems precariously close to becoming mainstream It's almost as if half of the guys in America are suddenly caught up in looking like those wild-and-crazy Dutch Masters In resplendent goateedom it's now Chris Cornell of Soundgarden actor Bruce Willis director Spike Lee Cy Young Award-winning pitcher "Black Jack" McDowell of the Chicago White Sox And it's also bossman Bruce Springsteen actor Brad Pitt rocker John Mellencamp and writer Tom Robbins So popular has this long-unpopular beard style become that its renegade image may be going the way of outright trendy It's almost enough to make any SEATTLE Suddenly they're everywhere on rock stars on MTV on baseball stars on ESPN on film stars on talk shows and even on real men in real life This has become believe it or not the Summer of the Goatee perhaps the high-water mark of goatee popularity in all of goatee history That outlaw form of facial hair is growing out on male faces all over America For centuries these weird beardlets have been favored by those on the soci SEE LANGFORD PAGE 4E 5 EE GOATEE PAGE 4E ilyl cross between Jerry Falwell and Gloria Steinem Finally near Topeka we become apoplectic Friday: Files" Resulting nightmare: None We can never get to sleep after watching this show Saturday: "Baywatch" Resulting nightmare: We awake dizzy and nauseated in the middle of the night from unrelenting bouncing effect Sunday: "The Simpsons" Resulting nightmare: We're a doughnut trapped in the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant FROM STAFF AND WIRE PORTS watch before going to bed This Child magazine survey finding comes as little surprise because: a) What kid doesn't watch TV within an hour of going to bed? and b) Have 4" you ever seen what's on 4 TV just before most kids call it a day? 4 4 of Assuming the aver- A 0- 14 ses age bedtime is 9:30 pm (like it was back in in our day) we con- 41'---- ducted a little il experiment N-1 -t 'si I :4 I For one week JI i I 1 i we watched 1 tir TV between 8 you ever se i ''-k TV just 17 li''--e) coil it a 4 '4444 4 Assul ---e40 age be 1li Act pm (lit in our JPNt7---- 1 o'l I I os l' 1 I I i tlir: evening) we suddenly learn we're the love child Roseanne was forced to give up in high school and she wants us back Also we discover what a loose meat sandwich is Wednesday: "Unsolved Mysteries" Resulting nightmare: We're damned to a life narrated in the numbing monotone of Robert Stack Thursday: "Martin" Resulting nightmare: On a cross-country trip our car radio becomes stuck on Martin's station Which wouldn't be so bad except in our dream we're a TODAY IS: Be Glad You're Not a Raccoon Day commemorating the 208th anniversary of Davy Crockett's birth (We've always wondered whether Davy was really a good shot or whether he just drove a lot at night) YESTERDAY WAS: The 17th anniversary of Elvis's non-death not the 14th anniversary as FYI reported yesterday Thanks to the many many many readers who called to point this out (especially the wto5miaon who) called ON THIS DAY: II In 1978 the first successful trans-Atlantic balloon flight ended as Maxie Anderson Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman landed their Double Eagle II outside Paris UNSOLVED NIGHTMARES Here's a statistic that fits neatly into the "No dull!" category: 70 4 percent of kids who tat i suffer nightmars 1 as ES fits 1 (etc" I i I i arid 9:30 then recorded our dreams Monday: "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" Resulting nightmare: As an entering freshman we discover we've drawn Will and Canton as roommates Seeking relief from an endless barrage of lame put-downs and preppy jokes we apply for work study only to be assigned to work in the school cafeteria Tuesday: "Roseanne" Resulting nightmare: After growing up thinking we were Opie Taylor (an Andy Griffith rerun was ln earlier in the :4 4 4- ilk -11-r d'1- ter 4.