VIDEO : FILM'S BIG PICTURE OF THE SMALL SCREEN.Byline: Robert Bianco Special to the Daily News The movies' attitude toward TV has always been, ``If you can't beat 'em, beat 'em up.'' It hasn't worked, of course. Despite the studios' best efforts, TV has replaced film as America's top audience draw. But the movies keep trying, pounding away at the small screen in countless comedies meant to prove that television is the real planet of the apes. Certainly that's the attitude adopted by ``The Late Shift'' (1996, Warner; priced for rental), a cinema-smart-aleck docudrama about the battle between Jay Leno Jay Leno (born April 28, 1950) is an Emmy-winning American comedian, writer who is best known as the current host of NBC television's long-running variety and talk program The Tonight Show. Biography Leno was born in New Rochelle, New York. and David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947, in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.) is an award-winning American comedian, late night talk show host, television producer, philanthropist, and IRL IndyCar Series car owner. to succeed Johnny Carson
A form of oxygen therapy in which the patient breathes oxygen in a pressurized chamber. Mentioned in: Ozone Therapy , a company whose executives look upon broadcast television with so much disdain and condescension con·de·scen·sion n. 1. The act of condescending or an instance of it. 2. Patronizingly superior behavior or attitude. [Late Latin cond , you'd think they were charter members of the Royal Shakespeare Company Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), a British repertory theater. The company, established in 1960, was based on the earlier Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-on-Avon. It is a national theater supported by government funds. . Unfortunately, what they've made here is a comedy so dated, Shakespeare might have read the first draft. I'm not convinced most of America ever did care much about the late-show wars, but surely anyone who did care stopped caring a long time ago. Still, if you can get past that considerable drawback, ``The Late Shift'' can be fairly entertaining. Its best asset by far is Kathy Bates Bates , Katherine Lee 1859-1929. American educator and writer best known for her poem "America the Beautiful," written in 1893 and revised in 1904 and 1911. , whose wicked-witch performance as Leno's manager Helen Kushnick Helen Kushnick (born Helen Gorman circa 1945 in NYC and died August 28 1996) was the agent of comedian Jay Leno for much of his early career. Leno had been performing stand-up comedy in a variety of venues when she found him, and afterwards, Kushnick was with him all the way is villainously funny - unless, that is, you happen to be Kushnick. Something tells me she found it less than completely amusing. Whatever one may think of the motives behind some of these TV satires, there's no denying that the medium is worth skewering. If ``Late Shift'' puts you in the mood for a skewer, consider one of these earlier efforts: Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?: (1957, FoxVideo; $19.98) Finally available on video, this broad comedy made a star out of Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933—29 June 1967) was an American actress working both on Broadway and in Hollywood. One of the leading blonde sex symbols of the 1950s,[1] and gave Tony Randall Tony Randall (February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American comic actor. Early life He was born as Arthur Leonard Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Mogscha Rosenberg, an art and antiques dealer, and his wife, Julia Finston. one of his best screen roles. He's an ad man pushing Stay-Put lipstick; she's a movie star with ``oh-so-kissable'' lips. Curiously enough, the original Broadway play actually spoofed movies; it took the movies to turn it into a satire on television. Either way, it's still very funny, and moments are priceless - including a very drunk Randall trying to keep a cigar lit while muttering about ``Stay-Put-Put.'' Scrooged: (1988, Paramount; $14.99) This snide modern-day ``Christmas Carol'' goes so far over the top, it makes Dickens look subtle (no easy trick). Though off-target, it does have some great bits, many provided by Bill Murray
William James "Bill" Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy-winning and Golden Globe-winning American comedian and actor. as the take-no-prisoners TV executive determined to turn ``A Christmas Carol'' into ``event TV.'' If you ever meet a network head, you'll find Murray's performance isn't as exaggerated as you might hope. My Favorite Year: (1982, MGM/UA; $14.95) Out of all the TV satires, ``My Favorite Year'' may be the only one that actually seems to like the medium. Future TV star Mark Linn-Baker plays a comedy writer on ``The King Kaiser Show'' (an obvious salute to Sid Caesar's ``Your Show of Shows'') who is left in charge of a drunken former movie star, amusingly played in his best dissolute-Errol Flynn fashion by Peter O'Toole. Not a great movie - it wanders too much - but an incredibly charming one. Network: (1976, MGM/UA; $19.98) This is Paddy Chayefsky's infamous and brilliant dark futuristic comedy about a TV world gone mad. Just because much of it came true doesn't mean it wasn't paranoid. Broadcast News: (1987, FoxVideo; $19.98) While ``Network'' cuts deeper, the more amiable ``Broadcast News'' is actually a more accurate view of the way TV news operates today. If that doesn't scare you, nothing will. MEMO: Robert Bianco's column appears on Fridays. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Mark Linn-Baker, right, is a TV comedy writer assign ed to keep Peter O'Toole's fading movie hero out of trouble in ``My Favorite Year.'' |
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