The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 55

BEST AVAILABLE COPT THE KANSAS CITY STARi Thursday November 13 2003 6 wwwkanHNsrltyrom NEWS: KSMO to start planning its newsroom today in kc ON TONIGHT 'FRONTLINE' IS WORIH WAITING FOR I 9 Not that we want you to do your Christmas shopping with holiday auction we do! But we also want you to miss the next installment in eye-opening series about our broken healthcare system KCPT is pre-empting it tonight for the auction but will show it Sunday "Dangerous Prescription" goes inside the drug-safety agency to find out why it is that some drugs go on the market and then kill or injure For all of the people tonight's TV supposed to be highlights helping The rea- see E-7 son: whisked through the drug-approval process without their foil effects being known Watching the overworked and underfunded FDA staff cope with all the new products coming onto the market I help but think of FDA adminis- trator Mark McClellan Last week appearing on McClellan told Ted Koppel that the reason his agency was trying to stop Americans from buying cut-rate Lipi-tor and insulin in Canada was that ensure the safety of these But as see there are disturbing examples of the FDA approving drugs KCPT has moved "Frontline" this week only to 1 1 am Sunday on Channel 19 However if you have a digital cable box you can watch at 8 tonight on Schedule Channel at Channel 1402 on Time Warner Cable and on high definition tier (You need a HDTV set to view Schedule X) It also airs at 9 pm on KTWU available on basic cable in Kansas Also if you missed which was filmed at the annual amateur missilefest in Argonia Kan it reairs from 7 to 10 tonight on Discovery BamhartThe Star PHOENUL- 302 Eighth (816-472-0001) Tim WWtmer md KC Express Birthday Bash 6-10 pm PLAZA 4749 Pennsylvania (816 753-OOO0) Candace Evans A ibdcy Anderson pm HUSK MAROON 6:30 pm Beaumont Club 4050 Pennsylvania (816-931-3330) KU CAMERATA: 8 pm Swarthout Recital Hall University of Kansas Lawrence Free (785-864-3436) POLYPHONIC SPREE: 9 pm Liberty Hall 644 Massachusetts Lawrence (816-9313330) STAGE A Victorian thriller 7 pm closes Nov 23 City Stage Theatre Union Station 30 Pershing (816-460-2020) CHRISTMAS 8 pm closes Dec 28 American Heartland Theatre Crown Center (816-842-9999) FRONT Missouri Reper tory Theatre 8 pm closes Nov 16 UMKC Performing Arts Center 4949 Cherry wwwmfcsourirefMMrg (816-235-2700) GOOSE'S NURSERY HMMXT: Musi cal murder-mystery and holiday vaudeville revue 7:30 pm Metcalf South Shopping Center 95th Metcalf Overland Park $1110-1L99 (913-642-7576) Comedy 6 pm closes Feb 8 New Theatre Restaurant Overland Park (913-649-SHOW) Musical tribute to Noel Coward 8 pm closes Nov 16 Quality Hill Playhouse 303 10th (816-421-1700) HOHAT: Italian folk tale marionette production by Paul Mesner Puppets 10 am and 1 pm closes Nov 16 Charles Fillmore Chapel Unity Temple on the Plaza 47th and Jefferson (816-235-6222) TALE OR HOW T1MO GOT HIS theatre program 10 am closes Nov 16 Metcalf South Shopping Center 95th Metcalf Overland Park $399 (913-642-7576) OF By Theatre for Young America 10 am and 1 pm City Stage Theater Union Station Pershing and Main (816-460-2020) COMEDYCITY: 300 Charlotte Competitive improvised humor 7:30 pm (816-842-2744) STANFORD AND SONS COMEDY CLUB OF OVERLAND PARK: 107th and Metcalf Nick DiPaulo 8 pm (913-385-3866) COMEDY HOUSE: 504 Westport Rich Vos 8:30 pm (816-753-JOKE) Calendar compiled by Cathy IbarraThe Star Submit items for publication to cibarrakcstarcom AIL FOR TOMMY not here man Tommy Chong formerly half of the dope-smoking comedy duo Cheech and Chong is serving a nine-month prison 9 term for selling over the Internet hand-blown glass pipes suitable for marijuana use If anything surprising that it took so long for the au pot-humor poten- dKIAN tate t0 get bUS(e(j McTAVISH Chong famous stoner character known as has been a promarijuana symbol for three decades In recent years Chong has also played the resident pothead on the "That "See they really arrested his said wife comedian Shelby Chong who will kick off her "Free Tommy Chong at 8 tonight at Stanford Sons Comedy Club 10635 Floyd in Overland Park Tickets cost $12 call (913) 385-3866 "There are a lot of people who smoke pot and there are a lot of people who think she said they think he should be in jail This even about marijuana This was about a Shelby regularly visits her husband at the Taft Correctional Institution in Taft Calif he doing? meditates a lot and handling it really she said writing The Cheech Chong Memoirs so making use of his free time They gave him a job He sits and hands out At least learning a trade Meanwhile Shelby just wants her "Man" back need someone to take out the garbage" she said glad I have a good sense of humor because die only thing that keeps you going Because the injustice of this is unbelievable" Of course not how the law sees it Joining Shelby Chong tonight through Saturday at Stanford Sons in Overland Park will be hometown comic Steve Kramer who can be counted on to do his impression of Cheech and the pre-con Chong For more entertainment events go to kansasdtycom Hie photo Shelby Chong will kick off her Tommy Chong at 8 tonight at Stanford Sons Comedy Club in Overland Park VIII: 6712 NW Tower Platte Woods (816 746-8888) Mike 8-9 pm Open Mk 9 pm-midnight 219 West US 24 Independence (816-461-5882) Sidekicks pm 4536 Main (816-561-6480) KATS on KEYS Benefit for Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors pm JAZZ: 511 SE Melody Lee's Summit (816-525-9459) Dan Bliss pm JAZZHAUS: 926 'h Massachusetts Lawrence (785-749-3320) Big Metal Rooster 1744 Broadway (816-221 4977) Fiat Sal Senor Oz Soundsystem with Salsa Latin Funk and Reggae MAJESTIC: 931 Broadway (816-471-8484) Julie ThmerTommy Ruskin THo MCCOY'S: 4057 Pennsylvania (816-960 0866) Greg Meise THo with MHlie Edwards 7-11 pm WESTSIDER: 1515 Westport (816-931-9417) Lonnie Ray Blues Jam 9 pm 1am NIGHT LIFE 1205 85th (816-822-7427) John Flying Circus Jam Session 8:30 pm-midnight 415 Westport (816 561-3747) Levee Town 9:30 pm-2 am BLUE ROOM: 1600 18th (816-474 2929): Birdsong 7-11 pm BOTTLENECK: 737 New Hampshire Lawrence (785-841-5483) Early November Count the Stars Copeland Hidden In Plain View Starlight Mints La Guardia Ghosty late show Cm CENTRE PLAZA HOTEL: On Mez zanine 1215 Wyandotte (816-471-1333) Laura Chalk Trio 8 pm-midnight DOWNTOWN MARRIOTT 200 12th (816-421-6800) Muehlebach Lobby Ban Marilyn Marlin pm EBT: In UMB Bank Building 1-435 and State Line (816 942-8870) Nod ScottDon Warner Jazz Duo 6 9 pm FAIRMONT KANSAS CITY AT THE PLAZA: Oak Lounge 401 Ward Parkway (816-756-1500) Joe Cartwright 5:30 7:30 pm Best of Kansas City Jazz Fall Series with Joe Cartwright Trio featuring Danny Embtey 8-11 pm ON THE TUBE Continued from E-1 During the hour a news scrolls at the bottom of the screen repeating 15 to 20 headlines plus local weather The ticker is a staple of 24-hour cable news but will be a first for Kansas City TV In between sports and weather the newscast takes a sharp right turn This is Point" in which Hyman attacks animal-rights wackos tax-exempt groups with leftist agendas and government waste Once a week he reads e-rnail from viewers who stand him Wayne Godsey the general manager of KMBC Channel 9 is the only station manager in town who still delivers editorials Next to nightly jolts weekly positions on such topics as the bi-state tax proposal will seem tepid On the other hand editorials seen by anywhere near the 4 million or so viewers who see on dozens of Sinclair stations Unique look Journalistic watchdogs have howled about approach though perhaps surprisingly more upset about the weather than commentaries straight-talking chairman David Smith care less what the pointy-heads think father Julian Sinclair Smith started the company in 1971 and his family still owns a controlling stake in Sinclair news look like everybody he said setting ourselves up for failure" Smith makes no bones that in this for the money Three out of every 10 dollars spent on local TV advertising he points out are earmarked for news Stations like KSMO that have a newscast can't stick their hand in that cookie jar With his lower-cost newscasts Smith thinks his stations eventually will turn a higher profit during that hour than they do now with syndicated fare such as Shoot and KSMO has been given the go-ahead to start planning its newsroom Joe DeFeo the longtime Sinclair news director who runs the "News Central" operation is guarded about when exactly Kansas City will be given the green light But Smith has told investors his plan is to have rolled out by the end of 2004 One media watchdog sold on Central" literally is Carl Gottlieb A veteran news producer in New York and Washington DC his last job was rating local newscasts for the well-regarded Project for Excellence in Journalism at Columbia University Today Gottlieb is the managing editor and second in command at To hear him tell it Sinclair not only represents the future of local news but a bright future indeed are getting local relevance back into the news" Gottlieb said try to avoid everyday murders chalk line call it what you will and get into the Anti media-bias While other stations are laying off employees Sinclair's are hiring Nearly 300 jobs have been created by Central" and its nine affiliates nationwide since August 2002 In St Louis 47 staffers lost their jobs two years ago after Sinclair-owned KDNL-TV stopped doing news The station will soon hire back 25 to 30 people and launch Central" there Smith said But Smith is more than a bottom-line man He has strong opinions about media bias and sees the issue-driven style of "News as a tonic to a profession that has lost its way tired of watching biased distorted sometimes made-up news on Smith said time for some of us to do the right thing which is to tell people what the facts are and let them make up their minds" Smith praises Fox News Channel and says Central" is an unapologetic attempt to do with local TV what Fox has done with cable news meaning the critics like us any more than they like what Fax Smith said Based on looks at Central" newscasts in other cities it appears that the national parts are more politically charged The local parts stick to bread-and-butter stories: schools government and the like A recent newscast on Sinclair's Flint Mich station led with local a story about a suburban fire department dispute and followed with taped pieces on health care costs for dty employees rising prices at the pump and a school janitors' strike EVENING TELEVISION MOVIES SPORTS TALK NEWS KIDS SPECIALS 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 AREA CHANNELS REGIONAL CHANNELS Sunflower travels 3333 New This Old 30684 H5232 Business Frontline (N) (CC) 23348 Survivor-Pearl 78868 Without a Trace (N) 67752 (CC) (:35) Lte Show 71456416 Tanlgte Show 50B96 hT CSI: Crime Sen 80416 1451153058 Scrub( The OC TVPG 72684 News CTUbWHW 9960787 (8:59) ER TV14 681 64597 Becker Drew 98077 Friends (N) (:32) Friends Tru Calling 'TVPG 63936 Blind Date I Paid 77917 MASH 68394 Dating King-Hill Seinfeld Seinfetd Primetime Thursday 81 936 Threat Matrix (N) 85752 Extreroe Makeover 94400 CABLEPREMIUM CHANNELS 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 The Baltimore-based segments had a Fox flavor to them Last month national anchor Morris Jones introduced an upbeat story about the US occupation of Iraq by asking rhetorically whether Americans were getting real about that turnaround "Frankly centralcasting is not a new said Jones who has been anchoring local TV news since the 1970s different is that free of the built-in political correctness and bias that viewers see from the East Coast networks" editorial feature was originally scheduled to air weekly That changed after 5000 e-mails a month started pouring in were surprised at the response of said Hyman who estimated that viewer mail runs about in support of him A Baltimore weekly recently named Hyman Local TV calling him a and Gordon whose editorials nonetheless were lot of fun to Tom Rosenstiel who heads up the Project for Excellence and was former boss said he likes the idea of nightly editorials like it a lot better though if each station aired its own editorials instead of relying on Hyman to deliver what would appear to be the company line doesn't have much to do with community journalism" he said Unlike other critics however Rosenstiel is willing to withhold judgment on the rest of Central" until seen it Flq thinks Gottlieb have signed up for something that betrayed his ideals Still the idea of centralizing weather which is often the main reason people watch strikes many observers as juflf wrong All the weathercasters are in Marylandj each one assigned to do forecasts for up to three cities TWo former news directors con-! tacted said they had not seen Central" but their impression of it was negative based on reports that played up the weath-er-from-Baltimore angle This irks Gottlieb who com-plains that almost no critic Central" has actually seen it Central may not be foij everyone" he said not supposed to be but if tired til news as it exists try us" Reach Aaron Barnhart at (8 1 fa 234-4790 and TVBamcom TALK SHOWS Early Show (7 am on 5): Hugh Grant Bobby Flay screen test 74481 (CC) Good Morning America (7 am on 9): Britney Spears medical report Paul Bettany 14023 (CC) Tbday (7 am on 41): Jessica Lynch Tom Cruise Spencer Bres-lin style 326905 (CC) Montel (9 am on 4): Police crack baffling cases 84619 (N) Regis and Kdty (9 am on 5) Laurence Fishbume 19329 (N) John Walsh (9 am on 9): High profile court cases 68619 (N) RkkJ (9 am on 29) Betrayed women get revenge 80435 (CC) Maury (10 am on 4): Opposites 28232 (CC) Springer (10 am on 29): Love sick liars 22481 (CC) View (11 am on 9): Marg He) genberger Josh Groban 13394 (N) Wayne Brady (11 am on 41): Actor Bryan Cranston 406868 (N) Good Day Live (1 pm on 4): "Knock-Knock Makeover" 11597 (N) John Edward (1 pm on 29): Skepticism 19961 (N) (CC) Sharon Osbourne (2 pm on 38): Sarah Chalke 82329 (N) EHen DeGeneres (3 pm on 5): Steve Harvey 46787 (N) (CC) Dr Phil (3 pm on 9): Girl struggles with being a new mother 95077 (N) Springer (3 pm on 29): former mistress 52413 (N) Isaac Mizrahi (3 pm on OXY): Tie shopping 2626058 Oprah (4 pm on 9): Extreme makeovers 73464 (N)(CC) RlckJ (4 pm on 29): Sexually confused singles 16110 (CC) Larry King Live (8 pm on CNN): Kobe Bryant hearing 625771 (CC) DaRy Show (10 pm on COMD): Brendan Fraser 8720955 (N) Elen DeGeneres (10 pm on OXY): Bob Newhart 2959110 Late Show (10:35 pm on 5): Russell Crowe Pink 81083690 (N) (CC) Tonight Show (10:35 pm on 41): Halle Berry: Dave Mordal OutKast 16076042 (N) (CC) Lite MgM (1137 pm on 4Q: DoRy Part on Steve Irwin 5956972 (N)(CC) Jbnmy Kkmmei (12:36 am on 9): Britney Spears Clay Aiken 1130917 (N) (CC) Lest Cal (12:36 am on 41): Will Ferrell 9008207 (N) (CC) Late Late Show (12:37 am on 5 Jon Favreau Godsmack 6718578 (N) (CC) The Three Urn ol Karen Golden Girls Mad 922269 1997) TVPG' 516684 Golden Girls Unsolved Myst 609348 LIFE EjccL Hot Pursuit Countdown 1733110 Countdown 8252771 Scartwrough 1739394 (CC) 1732481 MSNBC Abrams Report 1822058 RoomRdr Real World Real World RoomRdr True Life iN) 510400 la 11a Spantan TRL(iTV) (CC) 694416 Dangerous Jobs 4411077 Sabrina Extreme Planet 4400961 Otter Treasures Deep 4324597 Assrgnmnt Dangerous Jobs 4040136 MTV NGEO NICK OXY FLEX Full House Fut House Cosby Show Cosby Show 130757917 I he Cosby Show itmiZ Bte SUrwood 11963 Dramai Meryl Slreep Kurt Russel Cher 6096400 aaa The Hotter 1042329 I Town 81566619.