Let us turn now to a television landmark. A series that through its dealing with social issues in the framework of an absurdist, island-bound comedy was able to make us confront our own sense of how we should get along with our fellow man — and woman. Let me further say that your work on this show was not only the fulcrum on top of which the more extreme characters teetered, but a window for America into this experiment in civilization. I am speaking, of course, of "Gilligan's Island." And I thank you, Dawn Wells, for your contribution to it.

I know, it's too easy to parody James Lipton on "Inside the Actors Studio." And Will Ferrell did it better than I do. But the parodies may get a little muted later this year, judging from this announcement today:

Bravo’s longest-running television series debuts on DVD as Shout! Factory and partners NBC Universal Television Distribution and Actors Studio Inc. launch a new home video collection of the 12-time Emmy®-nominated Inside The Actor’s Studio series, beginning on November 7 with two titles – a single disc release of the Dave Chappelle episode, and a three-disc release with four episodes featuring film Icons Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand and Clint Eastwood.  Each release in the series will include new introductions with executive producer and host, James Lipton, as well as important scenes that didn't make the cut until now.

Inside The Actors Studio: Dave Chappelle features the famed comic’s appearance on the show after his dramatic exit from Chappelle’s Show and pilgrimage to Africa.  Chappelle chose the freedom of Inside The Actors Studio to reveal why he was compelled to walk away from TV riches in a hilarious and intriguing, Emmy-nominated episode.  The single disc DVD also includes a new introduction by Lipton, as well as never-before-seen segments from the episode.  The Inside The Actors Studio: Dave Chappelle DVD will be available for the suggested list price of $14.98.

Inside The Actors Studio: Icons is presented as a three-disc set and includes episodes featuring four of Hollywood’s foremost legends: Paul Newman (who appeared on the series’ 1994 premiere), Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, and Barbra Streisand (whose appearance in 2003 broke records for the series, drawing 1.14 million viewers). Icon’s special features include new introductions by Lipton and previously unseen portions of the original interviews. The Inside The Actors Studio: Icons three-disc DVD set will be available for the suggested list price of $39.98. (end announcement excerpt)

The reason I think this will benefit the show's reputation is that back when it started, and when it was interviewing people like Paul Newman, Lipton's probing-plus-flattery approach made sense. I mean, he was interviewing Paul Newman! (And I still remember a bit where Newman talked about how to deliver a line.) Or Shelley Winters, who broke away from years of bad roles and self-parody to show viewers why she had Oscars. (Yeah, more than one.) It was only when Lipton began to apply his technique to people who seemed too new, or too undeserving, that he set himself up for Will Ferrell.

So I'm at least looking forward to the Icons set.

You've probably seen this new survey of "America's Drunkest Cities." (If not, you can link here.) It's obviously a sham.

I've heard "the beer that made Milwaukee famous" enough times in my life (as well as telling that "beer that made Mel Famie walk us" joke) not to argue about the city that is number one. I take issue with Cleveland ranking seventh.

Seventh for my urban neighbor to the north? That doesn't even make it Ohio's drunkest city, since Columbus ranked higher.

While I have no doubt that Ohio State fans helped considerably in getting Columbus ranked, I doubt their ability to keep up with Cleveland. Does no one remember 10-Cent Beer Night in 1974? Or the bottle-throwing Browns fans of 2001, who made newscasts nationwide?

Didn't anyone notice that one of the standing sets on "The Drew Carey Show" was a bar?

Seventh is an insult. And I say that with a clear mind. I don't drink.

The show ends its third season on Tuesday. (A fourth season has already been ordered.) I have seen the season finale, liked parts but didn't like a couple of significant elements. I can't explain why without spoiling some things. So I'll save that for a post after it airs.

For now, the season does end with a cliffhanger; asked why, star Denis Leary said, "Because it's television."

But, he added, "I'm a huge fan of 'The Sopranos' … and my favorite 'Sopranos' seasons have ended with a lot of doubt."

Leary said that during today's press conference-by-telephone that also included his frequent collaborator, "Rescue Me" writer-producer Peter Tolan. (Tolan, by the way, makes a memorable appearance in the season finale. He has acted before, but this is his first time on "Rescue Me.")

For starters, the karmic payback Tommy Gavin was supposed to get for his assault of Janet will come around the middle of the fourth season, along with a lot of other events spinning from what happens in the series finale.

Leary and Tolan continue to express surprise at the reaction to what some call "the incident" and I still prefer to think of as "the rape." (Tolan did use the r-word, but in reference to what Sheila did to Tommy.) They also said they heard no reaction to Sheila's rape of Tommy — kind of surprising since I heard from some of you folks about it.

I'm also skeptical of this idea that the payback was held for next season. I think they saw Tommy-Janet and Sheila-Tommy as morally equivalent — even though Tommy's act was more violent — only to discover viewers declined to agree. Of course, they've been wrong from the beginning about Tommy-Janet, and still are.

Leary gave considerable praise to Andrea Roth, who plays Janet, and Callie Thorne, who plays Sheila. Thorne, he said, "will go anywhere. … She's on fire when she comes to work."

Tolan said his attempt to explain the show at Television Without Pity was "the stupidest thing I ever did."

The emergence of the Gavins' unseen and deaf sister Rosemary (played by "Sue Thomas's" Deanne Bray) was, as some viewers suspected, an allusion to the disabled and put-away Kennedy sister Rosemary. Tolan said the script even had a line referring to her being "like that sister the Kennedys had."

Leary is happy with his Emmy nomination but doesn't think he'll win. He's betting on Martin Sheen. Noting that Sheen has already played John and Robert Kennedy (in different TV-movies), Leary said Sheen could also play Ted "if he wanted to start drinking … and put on some weight."

Asked if Tommy's voice-mail message to Johnny was left after Johnny's death — to make Tommy look better to Janet — Leary said he'd prefer to leave the answer until the fourth season.

As for this week's episode, I didn't post after it because, well, that was the same day that this happened. I still have a job, and am glad of it, but I have many colleagues who will not be so lucky. So Tuesday night, I was thinking more about the real world than the TV world.

With a little distance now, I can say the episode worked in some ways but made at least one horrible tactical error. Why on earth, in the middle of a wake no less, would anyone want to throw viewers off stride with a jokey cameo by Bill Belichick?

I found this release provocative, for reasons I'll get to after the excerpt:

Highlighting entertainment industry professionals whose life and work is a force for positive world change, the Tahoe-Reno International Film Festival (T-RIFF) today announced it will honor actor Melissa Joan Hart at this years festival.

Hart will be recognized for her conscious TV and film career during the past three decades. On Saturday, August 26th at 5:30 p.m. in the Alpine Showroom, at the Resort at Squaw Creek, the festival will pay tribute to her career. … Perhaps best known for her starring role on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996-2003), Hart has had a full career in television, film and on the Broadway stage since she began acting at age four.

“I am excited about participating in this year’s festival and appreciate being recognized for my positive, family oriented approach to entertainment,” says Hart, an actress, singer, and Vice President of Hartbreak Films, a production company she runs with her mother. “After being offered many inappropriate film and television roles as a teenager, my mom and I created our own production company. This step helped me to focus on family friendly and socially conscious entertainment projects.” Now a young mother herself, her first child was born in January of this year, Hart is even more aware of the importance to produce television shows and film that teaches or empowers people while entertaining them. …

The Tahoe/Reno International Film Festival (T-RIFF) offers a unique film festival experience that educates, touches hearts, inspires ideas, and connects audiences to the joy deep within their souls for film lovers from around the world. For the official T-RIFF event schedules, film times, and pass or ticket purchases, visit www.t-riff.org.

Now, as you think about Hart in that context, look back to 1999, when she was interviewed and photographed for the not-quite-family-friendly Maxim magazine. You can still find some pictures online here. You can also find an interview here. For those of you who don't feel like linking, here are some of Hart's not-quite-family-friendly comments:

– "I hold my own when I really want to party. Like my 21st birthday. I think I had 12 tequila shots in two hours. I used to love tequila—anytime, anywhere, as much as I wanted. That whole next week was rough, though. A little bit of alcohol poisoning, I think."

– (0n the difference between everyday sex and great sex) "The amount of energy that’s put into the act. The enthusiasm behind it. Is it just to get off, or is it to have fun?"

–  "I'm a pretty open person. Like, if I have good sex, then the next day I'm going to tell everyone I know about it."

– (on sexy photos) "If they could promise me it wasn't camera-between-my-knees kind of shots, I would do it. I would do topless. I think it's empowering."

To be fair, that last quote ended with Hart saying "if my mother had a real big problem with it, I'd have to say no right now." But the party girl and the family festival still make an interesting juxtaposition.

Pretty strange to see Dilana apologizing all over the place on Wednesday night's "Rock Star: Supernova" telecast. Everything she said — and apologized for — was just a variation on themes she was hitting in mid-July when she talked to several larger gaggles of reporters visiting the mansion. (See my previous post, Notes from the Dilana Fan Club, "Beacon TV" Division.)

I am sure that every week they have had footage of her "helping," playing mind games and trying to intimidate. If they're just pulling that stuff out now, then she is miles ahead in the voting and the show wants to bring her back into the polling pack by hurting her image.

What they're missing is that her image is that of a fearless, brassy woman who pulls no punches and can play with the boys — so of course she'll talk trash. She wants to scare people. Add that she can sing, and she is the most obvious choice to front this band. And TV isn't dramatic when the result is so obvious.

I still haven't watched last night's show, so an extended recap/rumination will have to wait. (Come on, wasn't that "Sesame Street" dialogue a good alternative?) But I did check out tonight's results — Patrice, Magni and Toby in the bottom three and ……….. Patrice finally bid one and all adieu.

We've seen this coming. In fact, the guys made clear that her repeated appearances in the bottom three were a factor in her elimination. Also, she isn't that good — and she made that even more evident tonight when her please-don't-toss-me song was "Middle of the Road." (Magni went Hendrix, Toby to STP.) Pretenders songs sound great on the radio, but they're not easy to sing; Akron's own Chrissie Hynde remains a unique, hard-to-match vocalist. Patrice just wasn't up to it.

All right, so "Survivor" has already played the race card more than once — presenting people who fit stereotypical images. But in the new tribal arrangement, it sounds as if it's really going to put race on the front burner. Here's the announcement from CBS:

CBS today announced the 20 new castaways who will compete in SURVIVOR: COOK ISLANDS when the 13th installment of the Emmy Award-winning series premieres Thursday, Sept. 14 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

SURVIVOR: COOK ISLANDS will feature the series' most ethnically diverse cast to date.  The castaways will initially be organized into four tribes divided along ethnic lines (African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic and White) before merging in a later episode.

In addition, throughout the series, at least one castaway each episode will be banished to a separate island (Exile Island) miles away from camp.  While being separated from the tribe is not desirable, the castaways will learn that there is a hidden Immunity Idol somewhere on Exile Island.  If found, this Immunity Idol could save an individual from being voted out at a future Tribal Council.

Castaways that will be competing in SURVIVOR:  COOK ISLANDS (in alphabetical order) are:

REBECCA BORMAN

34

Laurelton, N.Y.

Make-Up Artist

ANH-TUAN “CAO BOI” BUI (Pronounced Cowboy)

42

Christianburg, Va.

Nail Salon Manager

SEKOU BUNCH

45

Los Angeles (originally from New York)

Jazz Musician/Recording Artist

J.P. CALDERON

30

Marina Del Rey, Calif.

Professional Volleyball Player

CRISTINA CORIA

35

Los Angeles

Police Officer

STEPHANNIE FAVOR

35

Columbia, S.C.

Nursing Student

BILLY GARCIA

36

New York (originally from Miami)

Heavy Metal Guitarist

ADAM GENTRY

28

San Diego, Calif. (originally from Fredericksburg, Va.)

Copier Sales

NATHAN GONZALEZ

26

Los Angeles

Retail Sales

JENNY GUZON-BAE

36

Lake Forest, Ill. (originally from Melrose Park, Ill.)

Real Estate Agent

YUL KWON

31

San Mateo, Calif. (originally from Flushing, N.Y.)

Management Consultant

BECKY LEE

28

Washington, D.C. (originally from Pittsburgh)

Attorney

OSCAR “OZZY” LUSTH

25

Venice, Calif.

Waiter

CECILIA MANSILLA

29

Oakland, Calif. (originally from Arequipa, Peru)

Technology Risk Consultant

SUNDRA OAKLEY

31

Los Angeles (originally from New York)

Actress

JONATHAN PENNER

44

Los Angeles (originally from New York)

Writer/Producer

PARVATI SHALLOW

23

Los Angeles (originally from Atlanta)

Boxer/Waitress

JESSICA SMITH

27

Chico, Calif.

Performance Artist/Rollergirl

BRAD VIRATA

29

Los Angeles (originally from Seattle)

Fashion Director

CANDICE WOODCOCK

23

Fayetteville, N.C.

Pre-Med Student

The following was in today's mail, and it made me smile. (I especially liked Cookie Monster's blaming the media.) I even read it aloud — although I don't think my Cookie Monster impression is podcast-worthy. Anyway, from the folks at "Sesame Street" …

Below is an excerpt of Matt Lauer’s “breaking news” interview with Cookie Monster premiering on Sesame Street on Thursday, August 24 on PBS Kids (check your local listings).

Matt Lauer: Cookie Monster, the world wants to know—why have you stopped eating cookies? Isn’t it true that only moments ago you decided to eat a fruit salad instead of a cookie? So will you have to change your name now? Should we be calling you “Fruit Monster”?

Cookie Monster: Well, dat got nice ring to it, but…

Matt Lauer: Cookie Monster, the question on everyone’s lips is…

Cookie Monster: That a lot of lips!

Matt Lauer: Why?

Cookie Monster: Me like fruit.

Matt Lauer: And there you have it. Cookie Monster likes fruit, and not cookies.

Cookie Monster: No! You members of the media blow story way out of proportion! Me still like cookies!

Matt Lauer: Then why fruit?

Cookie Monster: Why not fruit? It delicious! And healthy. Me still eat cookies, like me world-famous for doing, but now me eat other things too.

Matt Lauer: So what you’re saying is, if I were to offer you this cookie, you would eat it right now?

Cookie Monster: No. Me eat fruit salad…and then me eat cookie for dessert!

Matt Lauer: Well, you heard it here first! Cookie Monster has not given up cookies. From the looks of it, he eats just about everything.

Cookie Monster: You got dat right.

I watched "Rescue Me" but wasn't inclined to post last night. Maybe later today. "Rock Star" is still waiting in the DVR, so ditto. But "The 4400" is one of those shows I get asked about a lot when it's on hiatus. ("Wildfire," often mentioned in my Q&A at www.ohio.com, is another.) So here's some news for fans, from yesterday's e-mail:

USA Network has ordered 13 one-hour episodes of the Emmy(R)-nominated and critically-acclaimed hit series THE 4400, it was announced today by Jeff Wachtel, USA's executive vice president, original programming.  The series, which has garnered an Emmy nomination, will return to USA Network in summer 2007 with production scheduled to begin in Vancouver in early 2007. … "This show continues to thrive creatively from year to year," said Wachtel.  "We're looking forward to another season filled with intriguing characters, unique twists and incredibly suspenseful storylines."

We will be doing more podcasts as the TV season develops.

Fox kicked off its fall-season lineup tonight. You can find my thoughts about it here.  Now that you've had a chance to see tonight's two shows, hat about your feelings? "Prison Break" off to a good start? Anything surprise you? Is "Vanished" a good companion? Is it a good show? The comments section awaits…

Just about as long as there has been television, there have been questions about the diversity of characters on the air — whether, in fact, we can find people like ourselves to watch. Here's an announcement from today's mail about how TV handles one form of diversity:

After a landmark year of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) representation in films such as Brokeback Mountain, Capote and Transamerica, the broadcast television networks continue to underrepresent their LGBT audience, according to an analysis conducted by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the nation's LGBT media advocacy group. The number of LGBT scripted representations on the six major broadcast networks will comprise only 1.3% of all series regular characters on the networks' 2006-07 schedule.

"In the last year, we've seen a tremendous amount of visibility on the big screen, reaching a large audience anxious to see our stories," says GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano. "The networks, though, are not tapping into this audience and are failing to represent the reality and diversity of their viewers and the world around them."

GLAAD analyzed the 95 announced primetime comedies and dramas on the broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, The CW and MyNetworkTV. Out of a total 679 series regular lead or supporting characters, GLAAD counts only nine (9) gay or lesbian characters — 1.3% — appearing on eight (8) different scripted network programs. There are an additional five (5) semi-regular recurring characters announced for this year. There are currently no bisexual or transgender representations on the broadcast networks.

One year ago, at the launch of the 2005-06 season, GLAAD counted 10 series regulars (representing 1.4% of all characters) with an additional six recurring characters. While the year-to-year numbers are relatively consistent, the profile of the roles has been greatly reduced. The exit of shows like NBC's Will & Grace, CBS'Out of Practice and ABC's Crumbs leaves many of the characterizations of gays and lesbians as minor or supporting players. In addition, there is a lack of diversity among this season's characters, with seven out of nine representing gay white men.

Meanwhile, cable and unscripted programming continue to raise the bar by exploring LGBT lives and families in multi-dimensional ways. On the mainstream cable networks, GLAAD counts 25 LGBT series regular characters that will appear during the 2006-07 season, the same number as last year. Cable networks here! and Logo provide additional programming specifically for an LGBT audience.

For 11 years, GLAAD has reported on the state of LGBT characters on television. For the second year in a row, GLAAD has examined the race and gender, in addition to the sexual orientation, of all 679 series regulars scheduled to appear on the broadcast networks during the 2006-07 season, based on information the networks provided by Aug. 18, 2006. The findings show that the ABC Network ranks highest in overall diversity while Fox ranks lowest. For a complete breakdown by network click here: http://www.glaad.org/eye/ontv/06-07/diversity.php.

GLAAD's analysis finds that male characters outweigh females 387 (57%) to 292 (43%) and that the faces on scripted network programs continue to be predominantly white at 513 (75%). African Americans make up 81 (12%) of the characterizations, down 2% from the previous season. Latina/o representation rose one percent for a total of 49 (7%). There are 18 (3%) Asian-Pacific Islander characters, 11 (2%) multi-racial characters, four (1%) of Middle Eastern origin, and three non-human characters.

"When you look at primetime's dismal lack of LGBT characters — combined with the continuing underrepresentation of people of color, gay and straight alike — it's clear that the broadcast networks have a long way to go before they accurately reflect the diversity of their audience and our society," Giuliano says.

I get a healthy amount of reader mail, not least because I write a nationally distributed column answering TV questions. But I also get letters about things I write, especially when people are ticked off. After I wrote a column for Sunday's Beacon Journal about a new show on Oxygen, this note arrived:

"Oxygen ??  Never heard of it.  Furthermore, there is nothing listed as such in the TV Schedule. Can't you be more explicit? What/Where is Oxygen?  Stop confusing people."

After an e-mail and a phone call, I managed to persuade that reader that Oxygen has been around for about six years, and that it is indeed in the Beacon Journal's TV grid. But beyond that, the call was a reminder of how scattered people's viewing can be. It's not simply shows that fall off the radar (as I mentioned about my own regarding "Laguna Beach"). Entire TV operations may go unnoticed — and not just cable ones — because their programming doesn't aim at a broader audience, or just because there are so many channels to keep track of. So people longing for "Summerland" reruns may not know to look on The N, and fans of the still-not-on-DVD "China Beach" have to seek out AmericanLife TV for regular replays. (WE has run a couple of episodes tied to its "Vietnam Nurses" special.)

And I'm often reminded of what happened a couple of years ago when I wrote about "Blue Collar TV's" debut on The WB.

Fans of host Jeff Foxworthy called with a question. What was The WB, and where could they find it?

The WB was 9 years old at the time.

Regular blog readers may remember my rumination on Dave Chappelle and Bob Hope. Asked to write about Chappelle before his appearance in Cleveland on Sunday, I went back to some of those notes and expanded on them for the print Beacon Journal. (Chappelle was not available for an interview.) You can find the result here.

Writing the story was more difficult than I at first expected, since I had the general idea already. But that's one of the things I've learned in the back-and-forth of blogging and regular newspaper writing; one doesn't always transfer directly into the other. But the blog is affecting the print stuff; the casual and conversational tone online has made my writing for print a bit more relaxed. 

In July, I saw  couple of clips from the Lifetime movie "The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale," which premieres Saturday night at 9 on Lifetime, with prime-time replays on Sunday and Monday. Based on those clips — including a wrenching scene of Fantasia, playing herself, in church — I thought she had the goods to be a real actress. Since then, I have seen the entire movie. I still think she has the goods, just not as many as I thought before, and the movie itself is not as good as I hoped.

Fantasia is still very good in that church scene, and in the latter parts of the movie, where she seems more comfortable as herself. Earlier scenes, when she had to re-enact a number of painful moments from her life, are less surehanded. There is also the problem that she's not the same person physically that she was in those days, or even during "American Idol." She has a healthy heft now, where — as her print memoir says — she was thinner and frailer in the past. There's even a scene where her father, played by Kadeem Hardison, comments on her looking weak during her pregnancy, while the Fantasia onscreen doesn't remotely look that way.

The movie has also generated some controversy over an early scene where it appears the "Idol" producers are giving her the option of leaving the show (in other words, gently urging her to leave), because of audience hostility toward her being a young, single mother. The show's producers have denied having any such conversation. In her book, Fantasia does recall the producers telling her, "The choice is up to you." She wrote that she decided to "put it in God's hands." The movie, though it repeatedly acknowledges Fantasia's faith, is less direct about her faith getting her through that crisis — making it more of a matter of her drawing on the strength and wisdom she gained in her hard life.

But that scene is a fairly small part of the movie. In fact, her "American Idol" experience makes up only about a third of the production as a whole, most of that near the end and somewhat sketchily told. Instead, it focuses on the road Fantasia took to "Idol," a slow and arduous and, in this telling, often undramatic one.

There are things director Debbie Allen did that I like a great deal. In no way does she glam up people, preferring a grubbiness that fits with lower-income people who are often just getting by. She's also good at showing how people interact, in a card-playing scene, for instance, or in a church, although sometimes she gets too fancy — with a camera spinning dizzily around a table, for one thing. The casting is also good in many cases, including Loretta Devine as Fantasia's grandmother, and Viola Davis as her mother, although I felt Davis was somewhat underused.

Still, the movie still feels slow, in large measure because it spends so little time on "Idol." After all, that's the accomplishment viewers see her life heading toward. We see the lessons Fantasia learns on her way to the show, but we don't really see how those lessons fit with her progress through the show itself, the backstage maneuvers implied in that scene with the producers. There's considerably more of that in her book, but the book doesn't have to pay "Idol" for clips and tie up music rights. To do that backstage story would also have required more cooperation from the makers of "Idol," and they have jealously guarded what goes on at the program.

I'm getting a little off track, though, because I'm talking too much about the movie I think they should have made, instead of focusing on the one they did. But I wanted this movie to be better than it was. I wanted Fantasia to bring the same strength and charm to the movie overall that she does to some scenes. I wanted the story to be richer. I didn't want to sit and feel restless, watching the seconds tick by on the DVD timer.