ABC to woo Leno, move Kimmel to 12:30?
Bloomberg News (via the Chicago Tribune) has a story that, according to a media analyst, ABC is poised to go after Jay Leno and sign him to a contract after his NBC contract expires in 2009.
The analyst, David Miller from the Sanders Morris Harris Group, writes in a report that ABC would put Leno at 11:30, cancelling Nightline in the process. They will then push Jimmy Kimmel Live to 12:30. Both ABC and NBC spokespeople denied that there is any merit to this report, but you never know what’s going on in the background.
If I’m Jimmy Kimmel, I’d be pretty pissed about being pushed to 12:30 after what would be six years of dutiful service at midnight, especially for the comedy black hole that Leno has become. But Leno gets the ratings, doesn’t he? For ABC, it might be worth pissing people off.
Could Leno replace Larry King?
Now that we’re past the rumors of Ryan Seacrest replacing Larry King as host of King’s CNN show, Bill Zwecker has another rumor to report: it’s Jay Leno who might replace the veteran talk show host.
It’s no secret that several networks are interested in Leno after he leaves his NBC show in 2009. Both ABC and FOX have shown interest in offering him a late night spot, and there’s even been talk of NBC keeping him in-house to do some sort of new show with them. But Zwecker is reporting that CNN might actually want to grab Leno, give him a show on the network (perhaps even late night), and then when King finally does retire in a few years Leno will be already on the network and ready to take over in the 9pm slot.
Sometimes I wonder if Leno is sitting at home, laughing at all of the rumors and speculation because he really has no intention of doing anything but stand-up and working on his collection of cars.
Pediatricians unhappy with Eli Stone
Eli Stone, the new ABC legal drama, is already in trouble. This is interesting news since the first show hasn’t even premiered yet. The trouble is stemming from the American Academy of Pediatrics, who want the first episode of the series canceled because it feeds into the myth that vaccines can cause autism.
In the series premiere, which airs after Lost this Thursday, lawyer-turned-reluctant-prophet Eli Stone argues in court that a flu vaccine made a child autistic. Dr. Renee R. Jenkins, president of the AAP, said that both ABC and its parent company, Walt Disney, are being irresponsible by airing the show because it will be perpetuating the vaccine=autism belief. Dr. Jenkins added that the network would share in the responsibility for the suffering and deaths if parents who watched the program chose to deny their children immunizations. Dr. Jenkins also mentioned that many viewers trust the health information presented on fictional television shows.
Greg Berlanti, co-creator of Stone said that the show’s producers had no connection with advocates involved in the autism debate. Creator Marc Guggenheim added to this statement by saying that the first episode is more about the downside of the corporatization of America rather than a platform to debate the pros and cons of child immunizations.
If I can get on my soapbox for a moment, I feel Dr. Jenkins is so out of line here that the line is a dot to her. The doctor’s statements make us all seem like lemmings who take everything that appears on scripted television as rote. Come on! We may have short attention spans, but we’re a pretty smart group of people here, especially when it comes to the care of our children, and we can tell what’s real and what’s not.
In addition, it seems to me that she believes that the entire adult population of the United States will be watching the first episode of Eli Stone. I know that’s what Berlanti and Guggenheim probably wish, and I know Lost is a popular show, but his claims are a bit lofty. If Stone retains half of the Lost audience for its series premiere then it is doing a good job.
Catherine Bach Biography
This curvaceous brunette is best-known for her role as the feisty sister of “good ol’ boys” John Schneider and Tom Wopat on the popular CBS comedy-drama “The Dukes of Hazzard” (1979-85). Bach moved to California at 16 to study acting (at USC, and with coaches Milton Katselas and Anna Strasberg). She first came to the notice of TV viewers in the telefilms “Strange New World” and the “Matt Helm” pilot (both ABC, 1975). Her roles were small, and even smaller was her next billed part in “Murder in Peyton Place” (NBC, 1977).
But “The Dukes of Hazzard” came to her rescue, and from 1979-1985, Bach cavorted in cutoffs and tank-tops, the idol of male viewers in this mindless and popular rural comedy. The athletic and outgoing Bach also graced such ongoing TV specials as “The Battle of the Network Stars”, “Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes”, “Circus of the Stars” and “World’s Greatest Stunts”, as well as one-time shots on “The Nashville Palace” (ABC, 1980), “The Magic of David Copperfield” (CBS, 1981), and “Willie Nelson’s Picnic” (syndicated, 1987). She also provided the voice of Daisy in an animated version of the series, “The Dukes” (CBS, 1983).
Buoyed by her popularity but tied to the backwoods image, Bach appeared in two TV-movies: as a photojournalist up against “White Water Rebels” (CBS, 1983), and as “the other woman” in the PBS comedy “Drive, She Said” (1987). From 1992-1994, Bach returned to series TV as a businesswoman who moves to Africa with her teenaged son in “African Skies” (Family Channel). She agreed to reprise Daisy in “Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion” (CBS, 1997).
Bach’s forays into theatrical releases have not been as high-profile. She had small roles in Michael Cimino’s action comedy “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” and the drama “The Midnight Man” (both 1974) as well as Robert Aldrich’s thriller “Hustle” (1975), co-starring Burt Reynolds. She reteamed with Reynolds for “Cannonball Run II” (1983) and had her first starring role in the low-budget actioner “Driving Force” (1989). Since then it’s been large roles in small films: another actioner, “Street Justice” and the horror flick “Criminal Act” (both 1989); the biker road comedy “Masters of Menace” (1991); and the martial arts film “Rage & Honor” (1992). Former co-star Burt Reynolds gave Bach a theatrical showcase in the drama “Extremities” (1986), at his Florida dinner theater.
- Also Credited As:
Catherine Bachman - Born:
on 03/01/54 in Faith, South Dakota - Job Titles:
Actor
Family
- Brother: Phillip Bachman. born 1955
- Daughter: Sophia Isa-Bella Lopez. born c. January 1996
- Father: Bernard Bachman. divorced from Bach’s mother in 1960
- Mother: Norma Kucera. divorced from Bach’s father in 1960
Significant Others
- Husband: David Shaw. steps-n of Angela Lansbury; divorced 1982
- Husband: Peter Lopez. married in 1990
Milestones
- 1970 Moved to California to take drama courses
- 1974 Feature acting debut, “The Midnight Man”
- 1975 TV-movie acting debut, “Matt Helm”
- 1979 Starred as Daisy Duke on the popular CBS action series, “The Dukes of Hazzard”
- 1983 Provided voice of Daisy in the animated series “The Dukes”
- 1986 Starred onstage in “Extremities” (Jupiter, FL)
- 1989 First starring film role, in “Driving Force”
- 1994 Testified before Congress on behalf of the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act
- 1997 Reprised role of Daisy Duke in “Dukes of Hazard: Reunion”
- Raised in South Dakota
- Starred in series “African Skies” (Family Channel)