PopPolitics Weblog
a weekly roundup of pop culture and
politics in the news

Quote of the Week:
”I’m not registered with any major political party. I’m not a Republican and I
vote." — David Letterman, clarifying a description of his voting
record printed in The
New York Times Magazine. 
source: The Late Show with David Letterman (Sept. 26)

So Many Stories, So Little Ratings
With Big Brother ending tonight, we’d be remiss if we didn’t highlight some of the articles in the
press this week concerning the impact of the show. Here with the convergence
angle — David Kronke of the Los Angeles Daily News says Big Brother "changed
the way reality television and new media can interact," because Internet
viewers influenced story lines and altered the dynamics of the house. He quotes Robert
Thompson, head of Syracuse University’s Center for the Study of Popular
Television, who says Big Brother will ultimately be considered more important than
Survivor. “In the past, someone made it, they showed it to us, we watched. Now
they can create programs that are jumping-off points, that can become a
lifestyle. You watch the show, go to the Internet and follow it some more, and
use the Internet to plot and become part of it. It takes control from out of the
hands of the people making the show and into the hands of who knows who.” 

Caryn James of The New York Times on the
biggest difference between the American version of Big Brother and the versions
in other countries: "bland niceness. "Other
countries’ contestants sniped at one another, had sex, created drama,"
writes James. "The
Americans acted as if they were in some celibate, selfless commune, and just
happened to be wearing body mikes. They are walking, talking symbols of the
sensitive, Oprah-ization of American culture."

And, finally, Bill Wyman of Salon dissects
CBS’s ratings failure with a
thorough look
at what went wrong — from the casting to the noisy cameras to the
"vacuous" Julie Chen. Wyman concludes: "Maybe reality TV is an
oxymoron. Maybe humans aren’t set up, at this point in their development, to be
watched." 

As
Long As It Doesn’t Cost As Much As Whitewater
Despite all the grumbling and posturing, don’t expect much from
Congress’ displeasure with Hollywood, thanks in large part to the First Amendment and campaign donations.
"[W]hat is likely to come out of Congress this year is the same thing it
has produced almost every other time the evils of popular culture have become a
political issue. Whether the entertainment in question was peep shows (turn of
the 20th century) or gangster movies (1930’s) or comic books (1950’s) or disco
(1970’s), the result was always a lot of hot air and no consequential
legislation," David E. Rosenbaum writes in The New York
Times. 

See also: Hollywood
executives testifying in Washington; Parents
think politicians should focus on the economy and healthcare, not what is or
isn’t acceptable viewing for children
Plus: Noel Holston of the Star Tribune replays
a dialogue from the television show Action between a movie mogul and
a Senate panel

Language:
Past
and Present 
Hear anyone exclaim, "That’s so gay!" recently? Writing in Salon,
Nancy Updike charts the resurgence of the word "gay" — back in use on
school playgrounds and in gay pride parades — and gives examples of its
multiple usages, from homophobia to sheer delight. It’s a great piece, sorry we
missed it when it first ran two weeks ago.  

Here’s a preview to make up for it: All the
stories aren’t online yet, but keep checking Entertainment Weekly for
more from their Gay Hollywood 2000 report. The Oct. 6 edition of the mag
features more than half a dozen articles, including "Is Your TV Set Gay?
From Ellen to Will and Grace, How Television Led a Cultural
Revolution" and a list of 101 gay actors, directors, musicians and others.
What you will find online is a piece by EW managing editor Mark Harris
who chides
those who decided to remain in the closet.

Plus: Plato’s musings on homoerotic love
and other naughty language are
no longer kept out of the Loeb Classical Library series on Greek and Roman
literature (The New York Times)

Moms
With Attitude
Ellen Gray of the Philadelphia Daily News
writes that it took 30 years of watching television before she saw a mother
she recognized: Roseanne. "Realism, or her increasing removal from it,
would eventually render Roseanne’s sitcom persona unrecognizable, but nothing
will ever erase the first, delicious shock of seeing a TV character whose
sense of self wasn’t irreparably damaged by childbirth," writes Gray. Her
list of other characters who push TV’s definitions of mothers includes: Marie
Romano of Everybody Loves Raymond, Maxine Gray of Judging Amy,
Lois of Malcolm in the Middle, and Livia and Carmela Soprano of,
naturally, The Sopranos.  

Hear
Me Roar
While there’s no shortage of female-athlete ogling occurring at the
Olympics, and female gymnasts are still scary to watch, "[C]onventional
definitions of female athletes have expanded as women excel in traditional
sports while also testing themselves in 23 events added this year," Rachel
Alexander and Liz Clarke write in the Washington Post. With women now
competing in events such as pole vaulting and weight lifting, a new image of the
female athlete has emerged. "[L]ittle girls all across the country are
seeing a body type that usually our culture says they shouldn’t aspire to but
now is being held up as that of a role model," said sports sociologist
Richard Lapchick, director of the Northeastern University Center for the Study
of Sports in Society. (Couldn’t they have found an expert with a different last
name?)

Plus: In his review
of the new film, Girlfight, A.O. Scott of The New York Times
writes: "In recent years, athletes like Venus Williams, Rebecca Lobo and
Marion Jones have given the world a new, intoxicating image of female beauty
rooted in power and confidence as well as grace. Ms. Rodriguez is the first
movie star ” and she is, without question, a movie star ” to embody this new
ideal." 

** The Women’s Museum: An Institute
for the Future opened
this week in Dallas covering everyone from Lucille Ball to Fanny Lou Hamer to Althea Gibson

Sept.
16 - Sept. 22  | Sept.
9 - Sept. 15 |
Sept.
2 - Sept. 8 |
Aug.
27-Sept. 1

PopPolitics Weblog
a weekly roundup of pop culture and
politics in the news

Quote of the Week:
”I’m for any way that isn’t demeaning that gets politics into the popular
culture. I think we can learn more about a candidate in an hour on Oprah
than during an angry press conference.” — Craig Crawford, editor of The
Hotline political newsletter 
source: The
Boston Globe (Sept. 21)

Mind
Over Matter 
Brian Lowry of the Los Angeles Times
takes issue with a survey about objectionable television programming that was
touted by a group of advertisers who support family-friendly programming.
"Without diminishing the findings of the study, having advertisers carry on
about objectionable TV content is rather laughable, given that advertising has
always played an influential role regarding content on broadcast television and
that commercials are often as racy as anything else you’re apt to see in prime
time," Lowry writes, adding that ideas, not racy content, are more likely to scare off advertisers.

"What advertisers fear, rather, are ideas and issues, especially those
likely to stoke the fires of controversy," says Lowry. "Bring up abortion –
even without taking a position on the matter — and advertisers head for the
hills. Religion, in any substantive way, can be equally dicey … The irony is
that TV’s best programs  — The Practice, Law & Order, The
West Wing, etc. — do explore substantive issues, and many advertisers are
more uncomfortable with that than with sexual innuendo in the dopiest sitcoms or
karate kicks on Xena: Warrior Princess and Walker, Texas Ranger."

Plus: Dems
court Hollywood at fundraiser

Couch
Potatoes Introduced To Candidates
George W. Bush kicked off the week on The Oprah Winfrey Show (see story
and picture in The Washington Post) and ended with Regis Philbin, who
shared hosting duties that day with Sue the truck driver of Survivor
fame. Al Gore, who has already done Oprah and Late Show with David
Letterman, sat with Jay Leno. Sen. Joe Lieberman has visited The Daily
Show and crooned ”My Way” on Late Night With Conan O’Brien. Is there
an end in sight?

Coming Up – The cover story of the Sept. 24 edition of New
York Times Magazine judges the impact of Leno and Letterman on the election.
 

Scary
Ad
NBC banned a Nike ad featuring Olympic runner Suzy Favor Hamilton leaving a
chain saw-wielding bad guy in the dust followed by Nike’s Olympic Slogan:
"Why sport? You’ll live longer." The ad, a take-off of Friday the
13th flicks, generated complaints from viewers who objected to "the
scary and violent content" of the commercial, Paul Farhi writes in the Washington
Post. Lisa Schmeiser of teevee.net thinks the ad’s detractors should
be running
toward a sense of humor. "This spot is great," writes
Schmeiser, "chick athletes are being treated as actual jocks, with handy
physical skills." ESPN is running the same ad without controversy.

Plus: View
the banned Nike ad at AdCritic.com

Hollywood
(and U.S.) Still Divided
One year after the NAACP made a fuss over the lack
of representation of minorities on television, little progress has been made. "Hollywood
has a pervasive attitude problem," Bernard Anderson, an assistant secretary
at the U.S. Department of Labor, said during the 30th
annual Congressional Black Caucus
Foundation’s legislative conference. A study
by the Writers Guild of America found that 92 percent of all black writers are
confined to black sitcoms, most of which appear on the WB and UPN Networks.
"NAACP President Kwesi Mfume blamed not only the Hollywood studios for the
lack of minority faces on television and behind the camera, but also advertisers
and talent agencies for promulgating the conventional wisdom that black shows
won’t sell," writes Frank Ahrens of the Washington Post.

Plus: Eric Deggans, a TV critic for the St. Petersburg Times, compares
the majority of black-centered television shows with shopping in his old
neighborhood supermarket - in both cases, the options are terrible, but there
are few alternatives. "Who in their
right mind would sit through a drama as awkward as City of Angels or a
comedy as stale as The Parkers if they weren’t starved for the sight of
black folks on television?" 

A new
federal study released Thursday shows racism is still at large in the U.S.,
and it is visible in the differences between blacks and whites in income,
incarceration rates and access to education and healthcare — AP report in Salon.
Read
the report published by the State Department and the Department of Justice

"Mutual
Admiration Society"
One can only guess what Lieberman thinks of Frank Zappa’s "Catholic
Girls," but Chris Mooney of The American Prospect
writes that Zappa’s widow is a "fervent Gore supporter and a top
Democratic Party donor," despite the fact that Zappa labeled Tipper Gore a
"cultural terrorist" in the mid-1980s during the brouhaha over music
lyrics. In fact, Gail Zappa, who describes her relationship with the Gores as a
"mutual admiration society," says any antagonism has been overstated. 

Don’t
Ask, Don’t Laugh
Although NBC’s Will
and Grace, one of the few shows on network television to feature gay
characters in major roles, won an Emmy on Sunday for "outstanding comedy
series," the military still doesn’t find much humor in homosexuality –
though there are signs it’s lightening up. An Army panel ruled earlier this week that
Arizona State Rep. Steve May (R), an Army reservist who commented on the floor
of the Arizona Legislature on a bill that would have prohibited government
benefits for employees’ gay partners, should be given an honorable discharge for
revealing that he is gay. Many other members of the military who have been
investigated for violating the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy have
received dishonorable discharges. May, however, plans on appealing the decision;
he wants the Army to allow him to be retained, according to Reuters. The
military’s findings on May’s case can be viewed here.

Plus: The York Daily Record (Pa.) published a wedding announcement
last week for a male homosexual couple. Not surprisingly, it received numerous
letters and phone calls in protest. An
e-mail exchange between one irate reader and the newspaper’s
publisher/editor was posted on the paper’s site. 

Counting
For Your Supper
Advertising has penetrated children’s books in the form of familiar looking
characters — Cheerios, Froot Loops and M & M’s. Counting books featuring
brand name snacks are a big hit with toddlers, and with some teachers and
parents who think it’s a great way to get kids interested in, um, words. "We
love them. You hate to always use food, but it is such a hit with the kids
because they can count them and then it is so rewarding for them to eat
them." Judy Kelley, a kindergarten teacher, tells
The New York Times‘ David D. Kirkpatrick. 

Not surprisingly, Kellogg officials think it’s a brilliant match. "It
is a great way to get the Froot Loops brand equity into a different place, where
normally you don’t get exposure ” taking it from the cereal aisle and into
another area like learning," said Meghan Parkhurst, a spokeswoman for
Kellogg. The teacher who came up with the
idea is more blunt: "They (candy and cereal makers) can’t usually get to
the books parents read their kids and they can’t get to advertise in schools.
You can’t come in and blast the kids with advertising in those places, and these
books are actually getting the exact target age group."

There are, of  course, some critics who think the idea smacks of, well,
Sugar Smacks. "Some parents, educators and pediatricians object that the
books will engrave snack-food brands in toddlers impressionable minds, hook them
on junk food, and lead to eating problems later in life," Kirkpatrick
writes. 

- Christine Cupaiuolo

PopPolitics Weblog
a weekly roundup of pop culture and
politics in the news

Quote of the Week:
"Entertainment is just that - entertainment. Politics should be about the
issues." 
– Rock the Vote’s Mario Velasquez
source: Wired
News Entertainment Empire Fights Back (Sept. 13)

Washington
Doesn’t Care for "Kids"
The big news this week was the release of the Federal Trade Commission report
which found that the entertainment industry has been marketing violent
entertainment to children, even though the material is deemed inappropriate for
a young audience. The FTC isn’t in favor of legislation, however, but would like
the entertainment industry to regulate itself. David Stout of The
New York Times writes that Jack Valenti, head of the Motion Picture
Association, questioned the validity of the findings. "If we are causing
moral decay in this country, we ought to have an explosion of crime. The exact
opposite is happening," says Valenti. (The full report can be read on the FTC
Web site. Additional comments by Valenti can be viewed here.) 

The report sparked a Senate committee hearing on the
matter, during which Eminem’s lyrics and the movie "Kids" came under
fire. In an interview with The New York Times, Vice President Al Gore and
his running mate Sen. Joe Lieberman said they
would give the entertainment industry six months to clean up its act, and
then they would propose legislation allowing the federal government to sanction
the industry, writes Kevin Sack. 

Plus: Read the text of
a speech Gore delivered this week on violence in entertainment during a campaign stop in Belleville, Ill. 

When
Harry & Sally Met Reservoir Dogs
Some film directors agree that the movie rating system does a poor job of
identifying films that are not suitable for young audiences. The Washington
Post’s Sharon Waxman wrote that eight members
of a Directors Guild of America task force on violence have "advocated a single, uniform rating
system for all forms of popular entertainment." "I’ve made R-rated films"–
including
"When Harry Met Sally" and "A Few Good Men" — "and I’d
submit that there’s a difference between the R-rating for those and for movies
with more violence and sex," said director Rob Reiner. "This should be
made more clear in the system." 

You
Gotta’ Fight - For Your Right - To Party
Meanwhile, Gore was the toast of the town in New York Thursday, as he raised
more than $6 million during a fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall that drew the likes
of Julia Roberts, Matt Damon and Harrison Ford, and featured musical performances by Jon
Bon Jovi, Lenny Kravitz and others. According to Molly Knight of Fashion Wire
Daily, Julia Roberts made her political debut by noting "that word
"Republican" falls between "Reptile" and
"Repugnant" in the dictionary." Earlier in the evening, Gore
appeared on the "Late Show with David Letterman." From the Top 10
Rejected Gore-Lieberman Campaign Slogans: "Remember, America: I gave you
the Internet and I can take it away." Read more about Gore’s
appearance with Letterman in The Washington Post. 

Plus: Ty Burr of EW.com writes
about the presidential candidates showing up on "Oprah" and
"Late Show." 

They’re Playing Our Song 
Music on the campaign trail isn’t sounding so sweet to some musicians. Jake
Tapper reports in Salon that  Fatboy Slim might be OK with Gore’s
use of the techno song "Praise You" during campaign stops, but
musicians including Sting and John Mellencamp have asked George W. Bush’s
campaign to stop spinning their tunes. "It doesn’t take a genius to figure
out why Sting wouldn’t want his music associated with the Bush Republican
presidential campaign," a source close to Sting tells Tapper. The article
also features a look back at the political mis-steps some campaigns have made
with regard to music choices. 

PopPolitics Weblog
a weekly roundup of pop culture and
politics in the news

Quote of the Week:
"The fact is, hip hop promotes all the social and political issues of the
underclass — it brings all the social and political issues of the economic
underclass to the forefront." — Def Jam Records co-founder and "hip
hop mogul" Russell Simmons
source: online
chat on ABC’s Nightline (Sept. 7)

Follow
the Money (Or the Man)
Vice Presidential candidate Sen. Joe Lieberman may find fault with the
entertainment industry, but the Democrats must be happy with the industry’s fund
raising efforts. The television, music and movie industries combined are one of
the top contributors to the Dems, according to the Center for Responsive
Politics, and the Republicans are taking in millions as well. Brad King of Wired News
breaks down who’s giving what this election year, and discusses how companies like Napster
are left out in the cold, forced to spend money on legal battles instead. King also looks at recent legislation that favors the industry over
the artists, and highlights the top
50 individual contributors to the Democratic and Republican parties from the
entertainment industry. A sweet package.  

You’ve
Come A Long Way, Babe
In what may be the most creatively titled piece of the week, Judith Shulevitz of
Slate asks, "How relevant is feminism, really, when you’re talking
about Sex and the City?" The article, "Sex and the Single
Fart," notes that the HBO series has become a pop culture phenom, sparking
articles like Time magazine’s recent cover story on women
and marriage and soul-searching conversations about What Women Want.
Although Sex and the City combines pre-feminist and post-feminist
thought, Shulevitz writes, "The show has as much to do with the actual
women’s movement or real women’s lives as Helen Gurley Brown’s Sex and the
Single Girl did, which is to say, very little." As for the title, well,
you’ll just have to read the article. 

Speaking of Cosmo editor Helen Gurley Brown (which is likely to be a rare
occurrence from here on), in a Washington Post story on Gloria
Steinem’s recent marriage, Brown had this to say about Steinem: "She’s
a very good-looking babe, and she was so awesomely brilliant, and that may have
terrified a few men." The WP’s Jennifer Frey quotes several of
Steiman’s friends and foes about Steinem’s decision to tie the knot at age 66 to
David Bale. 

The
Sounds of Silence
Although they’ve been living together for two
months, the contestants on Big Brother aren’t talking — about anything
important, that is. The housemates are avoiding discussions about race
and other issues to keep from offending anyone in the house, or the public,
which has the power to vote them out. But the silence
speaks volumes, writes Marc D. Allan in the The Indianapolis Star.
"Cassandra, who’s demonstrated herself to be brighter and
more thoughtful than anyone else in the house with the possible exception of
Curtis, essentially told the country straight out that the only way for a black
person to thrive in society is to avoid making waves," writes Allan. "But
what does it say when a generally likable, intelligent person doesn’t feel free
to express herself? For starters, it tells us we have a long way to go toward
bridging our racial divide."

Pushing the Envelope ” Or the Slipper
Just a few years after the fashion industry came under fire for promoting
"heroin chic" in its ads, Valli Herman-Cohen of the L.A. Times
writes that this year’s crop of advertising "takes fashion’s sexual imagery
into the cheesy world of soft porn." Fashion ads have long been known for
homoerotic imagery and provocative poses, but attention is now being paid to the
number of ads featuring lesbian sex and sadomasochism. And it’s not just upscale
designers; Lane Bryant and Reebok are also featuring models who show a
lot more skin. Some of the ads are campy, but Perry Ellis recently pulled one ad
that drew numerous complaints because it featured a naked man hovering over a
woman who appeared drugged. Allusions to the date-rape drug, Rohypnol, were
unintentional, says a Perry Ellis senior executive. In a separate incident, Wick Allison, publisher of D,
a Dallas city magazine, dumped 70,000 copies of the September issue after
discovering two inappropriate ads. "I did not mean to become the Joe
Lieberman of the fashion industry, but now that I’m there, I am a little abashed
about some of the things we have printed … in ads and editorials," says
Allison. 
     


Yeah, But Can You Still Buy Guns?
KMart announced it will refuse to sell M-rated (mature) video games to anyone
under age 17 unaccompanied by a parent or guardian. Wal-Mart is expected to
implement a similar policy, reports Charlie Myerson in the Chicago Tribune.
Illinois Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan has been pressuring retail stores to stop selling
violent video games to children. So far, Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Montgomery
Ward have announced total bans.  

"Funny
is Funny"
Lynn Hirschberg had an interesting piece in The New York Times Magazine
about two black comedians, Chris Tucker and Chris Rock. Not only are they
changing the world of entertainment, but they’re doing it in very different
ways. Rock is conscious about maintaining the support of the black community,
while Tucker — who cites Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks as his role
models — seems oblivious to issues of race. "He approaches life, or his
life as a star, anyway, as if race had nothing to do with it," writes
Hirschberg. ‘There is no racism,’ he repeats. ‘Funny is funny.’" 

My favorite
line: "And, to ensure balance, our Survivor package included a jump
page story by Steve Rubenstein reporting on people who had absolutely no
interest whatsoever in watching the show."

- Christine Cupaiuolo 

C O N T E X T

PopPolitics Weblog
a weekly roundup of pop culture and
politics in the news

Week of Aug. 27 - Sept. 1, 2000

Quote of the Week: "We as a nation
can not afford to make Barney Rubble investments in a George Jefferson
world"  — Vice Presidential candidate Sen. Joe Lieberman
source: The Hotline (Aug. 30)

Mixed
Messages from the Media
Forget the warning labels. According to the Federal
Trade Commission, movie studios, record companies and video game producers
are marketing violent entertainment products to children. Following a yearlong
investigation, the FTC released a draft report last week that said violent R-rated
movies and video games designed for "mature audiences" are advertised during television shows
and in magazines with a large teenage following.
"The FTC report, slated to be released next month, is likely to reignite
the debate between Hollywood and Washington over the influence of media on the
violent behavior of the nation’s youth," writes Christopher Stern in the
Washington Post.

Earth
to GOP
The GOP has "gone Hollywood" in its effort to find a candidate
to challenge Democratic incumbent Rep. Brad Sherman, whose district includes the
San Fernando Valley, writes Jonas Blank in Congressional Quarterly. After former
Steely Dan guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter declined to run, Republicans
turned to Jerry Doyle, a former star of the sci-fi television show "Babylon
5," to challenge Sherman. Doyle says he considers himself "a
fiscal conservative and social moderate." Sherman, who according to CQ is
expected to hold onto his seat, doesn’t seem worried: "I’m not sure that ‘Babylon
5′ aficionados are an overwhelming percentage of the electorate," he said. 

Millions
in India tune in to "Who Wants to be a Millionaire"
It would take the average person in India 2,325 years to become a
millionaire, which may explain why more than 100 million viewers are tuning in
to watch India’s version of the get-rich-quick show. A pushcart peddler tells
Barry Bearak of The New York Times: "Everyone understands the
language of money."

Spike
Lee No Comedian
Spike Lee’s comment that some television shows "could be considered
minstrel shows except that the actors aren’t performing in blackface” drew the
ire of Jamie Foxx, who produced his own sitcom "The Jamie Foxx Show"
and who is now creating a variety series called "These Nuts." Foxx told

EW.com: ”With the most respect I can give him, I think he needs to back off a
little bit. He’s not a comedian, and he doesn’t know what we do.” Foxx says Lee
comes across as "the angry black man" with his constant discussion of
racial issues. Lee’s upcoming movie "Bamboozled" is about a
black television writer who creates a smash hit with an updated version of the
minstrel shows of the early 20th century. 

Grrrl
Power?
Rick Bentley of The Fresno Bee writes that the success of "Xena:
Warrior Princess" "has given rise to a new crop of lean, mean fighting
female machines." Look for women to show off their muscles in "Dark
Angel," "Queen of Swords," "Switchblade" and "Sheena." Titanic
director James Cameron, who is behind "Dark Angel," tells The Fresno
Bee: "I
think that women respond to characters who appear strong, that appear capable.
But you always have to balance that with a vulnerability so that they’re real. I
also find that men are not put off by strong women in films. They want to see
girls kick ass, too." Some characters, however, will be fighting to keep
their skimpy outfits on as they fend off evil forces. Clark Kent never had that
struggle.

"A
dam to hold back the tidal wave of feminization …"
Over at "The Man Show," which kicked off its second season on
Comedy Central this week, the hosts are battling the most evil of evil forces … Oprah,
who has poisoned the minds of women by telling them what to read, eat and think.
"We’re the ones that are supposed to be telling them what do, right?"
says co-host Jimmy Kimmel. Dana Brown of The National Post writes that
"The
Man Show" is really aimed at "boys." Antonia Zerbisias, "a card-carrying
feminist," writes
in The Toronto Star that the boys should have their fun. "The joke is
that, while it purports to mock women, it does so by making asses of men. Sure
it objectifies women. But what weak fools men must be to be riveted by Lolita-types
bouncing in and out of the frame?" 

Those
Were the Days
Hal Boedeker of The Orlando Sentinel discusses the two-hour documentary
"All in the Family: The E! True Hollywood Story," which offers a
close-up of the sitcom’s history, its characters and the controversial issues it
confronted. "’All in the Family’ would go where other sitcoms didn’t dare,
by looking at racism, homosexuality, drug use, anti-Semitism, wife-swapping, the
Vietnam War and the Ku Klux Klan," writes Boedeker. "No comedy since
has worked on so many levels, and no sitcom had better acting than that of
O’Connor and Stapleton."

Take
that, candidates!
The "Smackdown Your Vote" campaign registered more than 40,000 voters
in its first month, according to its organizers. The campaign is a joint
initiative involving the World Wrestling Federation, MTV’s Choose or Lose, Youth
Vote 2000 and Project Vote Smart. Online registration for the program is
provided by Rock
the Vote. Wrestlers including The Rock and Chyna made appearances at the
Republican and Democratic conventions to promote the campaign.
Also: The WWF
has invited presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush to appear on
the wrestling program "Smackdown." The candidates would each be given five minutes
to address the show’s core constituency — 12- to 34-year-old men. Gore
has already agreed to appear on the "Late
Show" with David Letterman Sept. 14. Last time the two joined up, Letterman
watched Gore smash ashtrays. No word yet on whether Bush will join
Gore on stage.

Nightline
plans series on rap industry
ABC hopes to lure younger viewers, says Robert Krulwich, an ABC News
correspondent. Yo, Koppel …

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