Enterprise-Record from Chico, California • 12

A 1 ISA CUco (Calif Enterprise -Record Tuesday No? 25 1982 Merv-Grif fith relives i past as talk show host By KENNETH CLARK UPI TV Reporter come ByGARYKUPP E-Ri I Staff Writer NEW YORK One day back in the bad old days of the Vietnam War a group of militant black demonstrators sud- denly disrupted the Merv Griffin show bringing it to a raucous halt Griffin loved it rose blowing those high African whistles" he said chuckling at the memory was In the middle ofthe Vietnam War the civil rights struggle poverty' fighting 'in the streets It have been a worse time in America We had to stop the show because thinks his wife Alice is seeing another man Ben and goes toa friend Camille for advice What he gets thanks to a mysterious antique Aladdin-type lamp is his wish r- to kill Ben and again and again What the audience sees is Don's replayed over and over again in different forms as Ben and Kathy Warner as Camille: Since each character is dependent on the other in their timing and delivery hard to pick any one outstanding actor or actress But some mention has to be made of Kathy1 Warner This is her second production as an actress her first being in the July comedy always enjoyable to see a person grow on stgge and something she has done in just two roles with the Paradise community theater organization Sound is an essential element of the play and the use of varying speeds of songs like a 33 Vi -speed album played at 45rpm is a good touch and adds much to the sometimes absurd but hilarious antics of the characters they stop blowing the whistles I brought the ringleader down to my dressing room and asked my dressing room and asked There is quite a difference between the local community current comedic offering the last of its 1982 season and its second production in June-July in which it attempted albeit with a first-time director and do you wantr And he said want more black jazz musicians in your I said you mean to tell me your protest in the midst of the you 1 PARADISE buffs pay attention Remember the Abbott aBd classic First on comedy routine and the 'often gut-bursting laughter it provoked? WellJack On First" although having nothing in common with the master comedy routine (except perhaps a touch of thesame mastery has that same effect on an audience It did Saturday night during production of Sharkey 'at wo-act eight-scene comedy (as re-arranged by the local troupe) at its Neil Road playhouse On billed as a is the type of comedy that may not be for everybody If you like your theater serious and thought-provoking then its defir nitely not the show for you But if you like light free-wheeling and often slapstick-like and zany comedy with rapid-fire dialogue presented that way by the four-member veteran Theater-on-the-Ridgecast thqn On is right foryou Theater review five crises ever been you think of a better through cause?" a less experienced cast to pull off Neil Two" As he has for the past 20 years in television 17 of them as one of the me- most durable talk-show hosts Griffin soothed the ruffled Jazz feathers and turned the incident into memorable video fare However all things must come to an end as there is one characteristic of tre-on-the-Ridge productions that is disturbing and this one is no exception Too often the audience is left in the dark too long between scenes And even though the changes were with music letting an audience sit more than one minute is not good for one minute in pitch blackness seems like three or be moving toward extinction he said issues not celebrities are the bread of life now lot of big ones have fallen by the wayside" he said of the vanishing genre -of which he still is a part' bur format there are only two of us left (Johnny) Carson and myself (Phil) Donahue really does a different kind of show' days of just presenting celebri- ties are over I know how many more questions you can ask celebrities been asked everything What is interesting today Are thematic shows -like self improvement or tackling one of the heavydssuei in America where we have maybe four of five very informed do ideas settings locales ev- ery thing we can to keep in the Issues actually are not that new to format He has embroiled him-' self in controversy for years He recalled an interview with a very prominent protester of the Korean War that got him almost as much flak as he would have encountered had hebeenfighting in it Bertrand he said shaking his head in undiminished dismay taped him in England and brought the tape to' America and played it before a studio audience and they had never heard anything like that started shouting at me And my own friend from the Journal American wrote a story the next day and said admire Merv Griffin but he should be taken off television for what he has done while America is at fired back at him and said never heard anybody call this a war it a police Then the fight really -started" 1 Another fight again with a studio audience erupted in 1966 when Griffin resurrected World War II in the person of Mitsuo Fuchida the Japanese samurai who planned and led the attack on Pearl Harbor audience was furious" he said started hissing and muttering things like Jap bastard but within 10 minutes they did a 360-degree turn because I said to him are you now and he said end I said business hre you and he said Tm preaching the Word of the whole eudience went i more Comedy is perhaps one of the harder of the dramatic arts forms to stage for the lines are more often than not written to come right after another rapid-fire and if the players are not able to attain that kind of delivery the show will suffer or fail what happened in the summer production But it happen with this show thanks to the well-paced direction of Georgia Carpenter of Paradise and her veteran cast husband and wife team Michael and Judy Clemens as Don and Alice Richard Lauson a talk-show you survive incidents like that you use them" he said can be bad Oh a dull interview can be bad but you can always -go to a commercial' it funny that all these incidents that I talk about all happened in New York? Could that kind of excitement bap-) pen in an A On continues at 8 pm Thursday through Saturday at the ridge playhouse 3735 Neil Road and Dec 2-4 There are no performances Thanksgiving weekend On First" had its world premiere on Sept 171975 at the Country Club Comedy Theatre in Mount Prospect 111 1 about a jealous husband Don who" Kirk best: his four sons Such incidents along with a host of now-familiar faces that made first appearances on show are chrohi-' cled with gusto in latest book Where I Sit: Merv Book of People" and with his list he can drop names like a gossip columnist at all the kids who started on this he said Allen Rich-: ard Pryor Dick Cavett John' Denver Lily Tomlin Bette Midler Tiny Tini 1 Burt Reynolds Susan Anton David Soul most of those people did 20 to 25 ap- pearances with me before they ever went anywhere else HOLLYWOOD (UPI) Kirk best productions his long string of hit movies notwithstanding are his four sons who have followed him into show business The three eldest Michael Peter and Joel have their own production companies Young Eric 23 is a successful actor who may be making his own pictures in the future Douglas he of the dimpled chin and hawklike eyes looked around his office at Bryna Productions (named for his mother) and spoke with pride of his sons all of whom company at one time or other Griffin goes right on looking for new rorld of changing tastes in but in a won I faces which the television talk show seems to and Macon's He will be seen Dec 6 in of an NBC-TV movie Eric who makes his home in New York plays his father as a younger man in membrance of Peter recently produced the 20 million Wicked This Way at Disney Eric was the only one to complain about how difficult it was to succeed because of the burden of his name you change your name like I his father asked Eric never broached the subject again Douglas is unsure whether his boys' predilection for creative production is in the Douglas genes or simply a matter of environment was inspired by a need to succeed" Douglas said told my sons they have my advantage of being born poor I had no way to go but up were born and reared in affluence I remember when I have enough to eat I succeeded out of necessity I think it's to their credit that they are as strongly motivated as I was are three things I like best about my sms Each has a good sense of humor blessed with initiative and they are hard workers" putting them to work would illustrate howdif- ficult the movie business is worked in the production department as gofers helping the electricians and stage hands to earn a few bucks and to keep' out of mischief Evidently they picked up more than I thought through all that expo- Michael who studied law at the Univer- sity of California at Santa Barbara was the -first to turn to show business One day he asked his father to see his acting debut in a bit part in a college play Douglas told Michael he was terrible in the role: always tell my sons the he said I saw him in another play and told him he was very good By the time he graduated he was winning prizes in the drama department the boys grew up they learned production right here at Bryna They were sensitive about nepotism and wera'anxious to set out on their own projects wish they were all with me now so I could make pictures with them I tell them now that if known they'd become so good I'd have been nicer to them Douglas is doing splendidly without the help of his kids He recently completed a pair of new movies Man From Snowy Festivo Chico auditions set Michael probably is the most visible of his offspring He produced Flew Over the Cuckoo's and China in which he also starred for his Big Stick Productions Peter is head man at Vincent Productions Joel runs The Douglas Co and is an executive in Blanc Productions Vocal auditions for the March performance of Fes-l tivo Evening With Gilbert and Sullivan" are scheduled for 7 pm Nov 29 in room 502 of Bidwell Junior High School 2376 North Ave 1 I Vocalists should bring their own music preferably two copies Festivo Chico which will present selections from Gilbert and Sullivan-composed musicals is a community-sponsored summer music school for Chico rea children Papa Kirk had no intention of siring a quartet of filmmakers Indeed he discouraged his sons advising them there is no tougher profession than show biz goes to show how much I influenced Douglas said all worked with me at one time or other I thought taking them on locations and Evening (1980 Comedy) Gary Busey Annette O'Toole (CHN) READER'S DIGEST LIFETIME Holden June Allyson -CD MOVIE "You Can't Cheat An Honest Man" (1939 Comedy) WC Fields Edgar Bergen (CHN) CABLE HEALTH WORLD REPORT (ESN) THIS WEEK THE NBA (R) CD HAWAII FIVE-0 (CBN) LIFE OF RILEY (HBO) MOVIE Wild (1978 Adventure) Richard Burton Roger Moore (CHN) HUMAN SEXUALITY (ESN) SPORTSCENTER (SHO) MOVIE "So Fine" (1981 Comedy) Ryan O'Neal Jack Warden NOVA (B HAPPY DAYS SWAPORTEE MOVE A "Bruce Lee: TIm Man Tha Myth" (1077 Adventure) Bruce LI CD MOVIE "Man In The Wiktemeaa" (1971 Adventure) Richard Harris John Huston (HBO) MOVIE "The Howling" (1981 Horror) Dee Wallace Patrick Macnee (CHN) HUMAN SEXUALITY (ESN) 8PORTSCENTER (SHO) MOVIE "The Postman Always Rings -(1981 Drama) Jack Nicholson Jessica Lange 12:40 89 MCMILLAN WIFE 10:00 CD NEWS ST EL8EWHERE BODY QUESTION IB HART TO HART IRELAND: A TELEVISION HUTORY RAWEST (S TWLIGHT ZONE (CBN) I MARRIED JOAN (USA) 8PORTS PROBE (CHN) REGIS PHILBIN'S HEALTH STYLES (SHO) A NEW DAY EDEN 6:00 THREE'S COMPANY NBC NEWS 0 NEWS OUCKCAVETT 069 ABC NEWS GROWING YEARS 09 IB CBS NEWS DA CABLE JEWELRY HOUSE-CALL CD ANGELS (D CUPS PATROL (CBN) TOQCLUB (USA) NHL HOCKEY (HBO) BUSHMEN OP THE KALAHARI (CHN) REGIS PHHBIN'8 HEALTH STYLE 12:00 BIG VALLEY OB THE LAST WORD CD COMEDY CLAS8ICS (CBN) 700 CLUB (CHN) CRISIS COUNSELOR 12:30 LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN CD MOVE "Executive Suite'' (1954 Drama) William IDO LUCY SHOW 89 ALL THE FAIflLY (MTV) VDEO (X8C JOCKEYS (CHN) SPECAL PRESENTATIONS (ESN) CFL FOOTBALL IDS (SHO) MOVE "Ghost Story" (1981 Horror) Fred Astaire John Houseman people like '8B0 IB LAVERNE A SHMLEY REVIVAL FIRES (CBN) ANOTHER UFE (CHN) NATURE OF THINGS 10:30 WESTBROOK HOSPITAL CD IN SEARCH OF (CBN) MY LITTLE MARGE (USA) NHL HOCKEY (SHO) ROMANCE: TEST OF LOVE 6:18 COMING ATTRACTIONS 6(i30 LA VERNE SHIRLEY 6 COMPANY a a (dp is news MACNEIL LEHRER REPORT 9 OUTFRONT (B YOU ASKED FOR IT (SHO) ERNIE KOVAC8: ORIGINAL GENIUS 11 DO BM'A'S'H OOBODOBB kcun DICK CAVETT CD MADAME'S PLACE CD SATURDAY NIGHT (CBN) BACHELOR FATHER (MTV) VDEO DISC JOCKEYS (CHN) CHARLE ROSE (SHO) BIZARRE 9-00 OOGAVLAN a (D (B MOVE "Country (Premiers Drama) Loni Anderson Earl Hoi liman OOMYSTERY IB THREE'S COMPANY JIMMY 8WAQGART (CBN) BURNS AND ALLEN (USA) HOT 8POT8 (MTV) VIDEO DISC JOCKEYS (CHN) CABLE HEALTH WORLD REPORT (ESN) COLLEGE FOOTBALL And great news in this gift giving season Can Frank itop a icxy anas iln from sttaOnf ams Ifm BRING BACK ALIVE LOVE AMERICAN STYLE 00 THE BEST OF CARSON ID 89 QUINCY -O PBS LATENK3HT IB ABC NEWS NIGHTLINE SOUL'S HARBOR 9:30 OQDBT05 BOB JONES (CBN) JACK BENNY (H80) MOVE "Footur TOO QCBMASH OWEEKMGHT YOU ASKED FOR IT CBS NEWS a NATURE ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT BUSINESS REPORT 09 (Iff MERV GRFFIN (B BARNEY MILLER (B FAMILY FEUD CD SANFORD AND SON (MTV) VIDEO DISC JOCKEYS (HBO) HBO MAGAZINE (CHN) CRISIS COUNSELOR 7:30 MOVIE "For A Few hollars More" (1967 Western) Clint Eastwood Lee Van Cipii ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT evening magazine f) ABH MACNEIL LEHRER REPORT (B FAMLY FEUD (B P-M MAGAZINE CD BARNEY MILLER CD ALICE (CBN) STAR TIME (CHN) SPECML PRESENTATIONS 800 FATHER MURPHY 09 (B BRING 'EM BACK ALIVE HIGH PERFORMANCE TELUTE TELEVISION SYSTEM Call us with an ad to sell your iln household THI CM TUESDAY I6GHT MOVES used goods THE FINAL WORD IN NORTH STATE NEWS WEEKNIGHTS AT 11 Brands a TV the 5th and Mangrove Shopping Center la proud to announce the arrival ot Paraclipse the original and unsurpassed satellite antenna 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