Fun_People Archive
14 Oct
Excerpted: 10/14/99 -- ShopTalk

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Date: Thu, 14 Oct 99 11:09:07 -0700
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Subject: Excerpted: 10/14/99 -- ShopTalk

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A Texas statewide television network accused of falsely using the Texas
Department of Public Safety's name to elicit information from registered
sex offenders could face federal mail fraud and other charges, the DPS
said Tuesday. The News of Texas, a San Antonio-based TV network with 26
affiliates around the state, sent out thousands of postcards last week
asking offenders to confirm their addresses. The network hoped to reveal
that many of the state's 18,000 registered sex offenders have given
authorities fake or outdated addresses. DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said
the postcards were deceptive because they bore no mark showing they were
from a news organization and they used the agency's name in the return
address. She also said the postcards exposed offenders to potential
embarrassment and harassment and eroded the agency's credibility. The
news agency faces possible federal charges of mail fraud and state
charges of impersonating a government official and tampering with
government records, Mange said. A spokesman for San Antonio's federal
prosecutor said the case would be considered if the postal inspector
found any wrongdoing. The network's president, Bob Rogers, said reporter
Brian Collister, who used "Texas Department of Public Safety" in the
postcards' return address without his editors' permission, was put on
probation. "It was a complete surprise," Rogers said. "He made an error
in judgment." However, he defended the project, saying it "was for the
greater good." "The public is better informed than before the story," he
said. (San Antonio Express-News)

Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has sold the rights to
his book, "Faith of My Fathers," to Barry Diller's USA Films.  The
financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.  (SF Chronicle)

TNT dropped pigtail-wearin', body-glitter-sportin' wrestler 'Lenny' and
his "gay wrestling partner" 'Lodi' from World Championship Wrestling this
week following receipt of a letter from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation (GLAAD), which accused the characters of inciting "the
crowd to the most base homophobic behavior."  5 "Ultimately, TNT deserves
applause for making the right decision, but it's unfortunate they didn't
think this through before those characters made it to air," said GLAAD's
Scott Seomin.  "Never in 15 years have we seen a more literal
encouragement of gay bashing in entertainment." (USA Today)

If you're a regular television viewer, you may have noticed some subtle-
and some not so subtle- challenges to the "Seven Dirty Words You Can't
Say on TV" rule in recent years.  It comes as no surprise then, that CBS
will tackle the taboo during an episode of its medical drama "Chicago
Hope" Thursday night when a character utters the forbidden phrase "shit
happens".  According to experts, the network's decision not to eliminate
the phrase, until now relegated to bumper stickers and t-shirts, may be
unprecedented.  According to "Hope's" executive producer Michael
Pressman, who fought to keep the line as written, the phrase "embodies
the feeling of the whole hour (and) there's no other way to express it."
Says CBS: "The producers felt strongly that the line was important for
artistic truthfulness, we wanted to support their creative vision, but
clearly, this is not something that will happen on a weekly basis."  (LA
Times)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
20,000 and Counting: When asked by reporters for a comment on NBA legend
Wilt Chamberlain's passing, President Clinton said, "He was one of the
greatest athlete's of all time. And on a personal note, he was my biggest
role model." (The Unknown Director)

In his 1991 autobiography, 'A View From Above,' Wilt Chamberlain made his
famous claim: 'If had to count my sexual encounters, I would be closing
in on 20 thousand ladies.' Said Esquire Magazine:  "Let's see, that comes
to 2,168 cases of Riunite, 381 crates of Trojan Magnums and one very-well
worn Barry White album."

© 1999 Peter Langston