matter how bad, over and over. So, when
they're ready to graduate from Barney
the Dinosaur reruns ad nauseam, be sure
to pick films that will stand the test of
time.
Babe - The story of a gallant pig who
wants to be a sheep dog. A real charmer
and a must for your child's video collec-
tion. Don't confuse this with the other pig
movie, Gordy.
The Brady Bunch Movie - this film de-
livers what it promises: more self-irony
than a whole slew of Hugh Grant inter-
views, like shooting gefilte fish in a barrel
of lox.
Casper - see it for the opening uncred-
ited cameos and the adorable Casper the
Ghost FX.

Stale and Day-Old Bagels — Been
There, Done That
Apollo 13 — Go rent the real thing —
letterboxed on laser disk — The Right
Stuff directed by Phillip Kaufman, star-
ring Ed Harris, Barbara Hershey and Sam
Shepard.
The Bridges of Madison County - I was
prepared to dislike this film but found it
down to earth and believable. Clint East-
wood, as a National Geographic photog-
rapher on assignment to shoot the titled
bridges, encounters Meryl Streep.

Designer Bagels — Best High Con-
cepts Gone A-Rye
Waterworld — Some great stunts and
sets swallowed up by a murky plot.
Disclosure — This cutting-edge popu-
lar entertainment about office politics and
sexual harassment contained the best and
most fitting use of virtual reality technol-
ogy to date in the computer break-in se-
quence. Great role reversals (Michael
Douglas and Demi Moore) and plot twists.
Strange Days — Director Kathleen
Bigelow captures the seedy ambiance of
the near future with riots ready to break
out at any moment. Great concept and ter-
rific performances by Angela Bassett
(Mace) and Ralph Fiennes, but the most
laughable and preposterous ending since
Exorcist Part Two: The Heretic.
Showgirls — This movie, starring
Farmington Hills' Elizabeth Berkley, nev-
er took off at the box office, although the
cast did on screen. My explanation for its
poor showing: audiences had already been
treated to as much flesh as they could
stand in Species, which got a jump-start
on Showgirls.
Congo - Mr. Ed, the talking horse, and
Francis the Talking Mule emoted better
than this turkey, I mean, gorilla.

Mixed Bagels — What Are We Buying
Here?
Gender Benders — To Wong Foo,
Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
Gender Offenders — Showgirls
Sex Offenders — Powder

Most Redundant Films of '95
Free Willy 2 - Excuse me, but when did
he get captured again? What's the re-
cidivism rate for whales?
Batman Forever - Yes, but with Adam
West.
Die Hard: With a Vengeance - At least
they could have changed the ending, like
Demi Moore's in Scarlet Letter.

Best Re Releases
Belle de Jour — featuring Catherine
Deneuve.
The Wild Bunch — featuring Sam Peck-
inpaw.

-

Worst Films of '95 I Love Paris in the
Springtime, not in movies.
French Kiss — Meg Ryan, Kevin Kline,
directed by Lawrence Kasdan.
Jefferson in Paris — Nick Nolte, Mer-
chant Ivory Productions slip up.
Forget Paris — starring Billy Crystal
and Debra Winger.

-

Most Disturbing Films of '95
Kids — I wanted to take their skate-
boards and knock some sense into them.
"Why Can't They Be Like We Were, Per-
fect in Every Way?"
Seven — Would anyone have the ap-
petite to sit through the sequel Eight?

Good Intentions
White Man's Burden — John Travolta's
career back on the skids with this one.

Most Overrated Actors
Sandra Bullock — While You Were
Sleeping, a description of what I was do-
ing while this film was playing.
David Caruso — Was Kiss of Death, his
debut film's title or a fitting description for
his film career? Excuse me for being a bit
"jaded."

(WJBK), which lost all its daytime pro-
gramming last summer as a result of the
biggest switch of network affiliates ever.
WJBK dumped CBS for Fox, while Chan-
nel 50 (WKBD), the former Fox affiliate,
picked up one of the two new TV networks
launched in 1995, United Paramount
(UPN). (The other new network, 'The WB,"
went to Channel 20 Channel 20-WXON
here.)
Meanwhile, CBS was cornered into buy-
ing low-power, black-owned Channel 62
(now WWJ) to keep its programs on the air
in Detroit. Alas, none of CBS' new prime-
time shows had the high expectations or
massive hype ofABC's "Murder One," from
TV super-producer Steven Bochco.
However, Bochco, whose "NYPD Blue"
won the 1995 Emmy as Best Drama Se-
ries, saw his "Murder One" get killed in the
ratings on Thursdays against NBC's pow-
erhouse "ER." (It's being moved to Mon-
days next month.)
At year's end, the highest-rated new
prime-time series was
NBC's "The Single Guy,"
an unassuming situation
comedy starring Brighton
Beach Memoir's
Jonathan Silverman,
nestled between the gi-
gantic hits "Friends" and
"Seinfeld" on Thursday
nights.
Congress, trying once
again to legislate moral-

Westinghouse bought flagging CBS for
$5 billion, while Disney made final plans
to purchase Capital Cities/ABC for more
than three times as much. Jay began beat-
ing Dave. And entertainment mega-moguls
Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and
David Geffen created the first new Holly-
wood-studio in decades, Dreamworks SKG,
giving HBO exclusive TV rights to all its
movies through 2006 and signing a huge
10-year joint production deal with ABC.

Spotlight on
Plays in '95

MICHAEL H. MARGOLIN
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

he year-end reproaches us: look for-
ward. Yet, can we go on without just
one last peep at the past?
It's been one of
some modest changes
in the theater scene
— "rites of passage";
this was the first full
year since the closure
of the Birmingham
Theatre; Geoffrey
Sherman came to
Meadow Brook and
picked up the reins,
hoping to infuse the
war-horse with some
coltish energy; the
Gem continued as a
viable venue.
Plays with Jewish
themes or characters
did less well at the
box office than musi-
cals with soap opera
stories such as West

YEAR-END page 54

Above: Peter Birkenhead
(seated) portrays Louis
Ironson, the neurotic
Jewish lover of Prior
Walter (Robert Sella) in
the Pulitzer Prize- and
Tony Award-winning play

Angels in America.

Right: Masonic's Donny:
The Technicolor King.

Above: Jonathan Silverman's "The Single Guy"

was the highest-rated new TV series in 1995.

Tops In 111 in '95

JIM McFARLIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

T

he Juice was on the loose across our
TV sets in 1995, emblematic of a re-
markable, pivotal year in television
history.
The O.J. Simpson case dominated our
screens from January to September, mak-
ing household names out of Robert Shapiro
and Marcia Clark while mushrooming the
popularity of Steven Brill's Court-TV cable
network.
Gavel-go-gavel trial coverage couldn't
have come at a better time for Channel 2

ity, took aim at the "cultural rot" of daytime
TV talk shows. But, despite verbal attacks
from Washington, trash-talker Jerry
Springer enjoyed the largest audience in-
crease of any daytime host — particular-
ly among young adult women — while
Ricki Lake spawned a flood of fresh-faced,
youth-oriented new TV gab stars led by
Carnie Wilson and Mark Walberg (see pro-
file story).
Meanwhile, on Channel 7 (WXYZ),
"Company" closed down after 17 years as
Detroit's preeminent local talk show, host-
ed at the end by Marilyn Turner and Nik-
ki Grandberry.

Jim McFarlin has written about television
for more than a decade. He can be heard
on WCHB-AM,(1200) from noon-3 p.m.
Saturdays.

53