Remember the songs, Ahab, the A-Rab, and the Streak?
Well, Nashville's king of the novelty record has returned, and fans of Ray Stevens are
saying that his new target is a solid bullseye.
The latest single from Ray Stevens is being rushed into record stores this week in order
to capitalize on a subject that's been in the news a lot lately.
Would he wear a pinky ring?
Would he drive a fancy car?
Would his wife wear furs and dimes?
Would his dressing room have a star?
Called Would Jesus Wear a Rolex on His Television Show, the country singer pokes fun at the
electronic pulpit.
Would Jesus wear a Rolex on His Television Show?
Well, this song really is not pointing any fingers specifically.
It's just a generalization, and I think it'll be accepted, hopefully rather well.
Stevens had planned to record the song earlier after concert crowds had voiced their approval.
I started doing it on the road in my show.
The reaction from the audience was just tremendous, and it let me know that I should get in here
and record this now.
It happened all before any of the big news breaks came about the subject, and I just
think it was a real timely thing to happen.
Would Jesus Wear a Rolex on His Television Show was actually written by Chet Atkins and
Margaret Archer?
Beatles fans are in for a treat this weekend, and one of the top groups of the 60s, 70s,
and 80s has earned a place in the record books.
Nina Blackwood is in New York with those stories and more in our music report.
Thank you.
England's Fab Four is the subject of a silver anniversary tribute this weekend on the VH1
Music Video Channel.
The special program is called The Beatles from A to Z, and features interviews with
David Bowie, Cynthia Lennon, George Martin, and Tina Turner, among others.
Oh, please let me fall!
What good do you think this would do?
I can show them I love them!
The show begins tonight at 6pm.
Pink Floyd's album, Dark Side of the Moon, first made the record charts in March 1973.
Since then, the album has been in the top 200 for 672 weeks, a feat which earned the
group a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
The group, which also produced the controversial album The Wall, has split up because of creative
differences, according to Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters.
Waters has sued the other band members.
He wants to retire the name.
They want to continue recording as Pink Floyd.
The suit is expected to be resolved sometime in 1988.
After a two and a half year layoff, Billy Idol is back on the road.
His tour kicks off tonight in New Haven, Connecticut, and I'll have an exclusive backstage look
on Monday.
And back to you in Los Angeles.
Okay, good.
Thanks, Nina.
That's us.
The great gosh almighty, the pompadour and mascara are gone, but Little Richard is back
and he's ready to rock up a storm again.
But as he tells John Tesch, this time it's with a message.
For two astonishing years from 1956 to 58, Little Richard scored an uninterrupted run
of hits.
Good golly, Miss Molly, Tootie Fruity, Blue Seal.
The list goes on and on.
By 1968, he had sold over 32 million records.
And although he's made a number of comeback attempts, it was his show-stopping performance
in Down and Out in Beverly Hills that brought Richard back to national attention.
That's the first time I've been to the piano in years.
And I felt so good about it.
And I'm glad that I did that song.
I want to make a lot of movies.
I want to do a lot of commercials.
I want to make a lot of records.
And I want my music to rock.
The success of the film led to a deal with Warner Brothers Records and Little Richard's
first album in 15 years.
So what's it like being back in the studio again?
It was different because the technology is so different.
You know, they didn't have the synthesizers and all these drum machines and all these
different things when I was in the studio.
You've got to remember when I recorded my first album, it was only three tracks.
And people have more than that in their bedroom today.
I didn't mean it like that.
I'm in the living room.
Although the technology is advanced, the music is still that good old rock and roll.
But this time, it's with a message.
I've been talking to Michael.
I want to talk to Prince, James Brown.
I talk to George Benson.
I talk to Sugary Leonard.
I talk to, you know, Ron DMC and the different artists to let them know that it's time for
all of us to clean up our lyrics and make the music a message.
Do you think the kids will listen?
Oh, yes, they do.
And I think that it's very important for them to have a positive message to give them in
this generation and the time that we're living in is important.
And that's what I've been talking to them about, to clean the lyrics up.
And I'm sure most of them, and I can see that they're listening.
And Michael is very message conscious.
And Prince is getting that way too.
And I'm glad to see it.
I'm glad to see it.
On entertainment this week, Smokey Robinson.
He's written 1500 songs but hasn't had a hit in five years until now.
And we'll meet the masters of the 32nd Diddy, the commercial jingle writers.
Monday on Entertainment Tonight, Angela Lansbury solves a 38 year old crime.
It's a murder she wrote sequel to a classic 40s mystery movie.
And it's wholly rerun, Batman, as we look back at the caped crusader in 25 years of television.
Here's a question for you.
That show premiered in 1955 and knocked I Love Lucy out of the number one spot in the
ratings, give up the $64,000 question.
Carl Reiner examines this classic from the golden age of game shows in 25 years of television.
Today we return to the isolation booth for another look.
And so I give you the man with the $64 question.
It began as a radio program and became the most popular television show of 1955.
What was it?
That's the $64,000 question.
At a time when some of the hottest programs on television were quiz shows, the $64,000
question had all the answers.
Last week our mountain climbing expert, Lord Malcolm Douglas Hamilton answered a $2,000
question on men in mountains.
Tonight he'll tell us whether he'll take his two or leave it and try for four.
And our truck driver geography expert, Mr. Alfred Einfrank, will tell us whether he'll
take the $32,000 he won last week or leave it and try the $64,000 question.
The key of course was more than just the fact that we were giving away $64,000.
I guess the key was what we always call the paradox principle.
We took what appeared to be an ordinary man and because of that people watched us and
talked about us and identified with all of these folk heroes.
Some of those ordinary people went on to extraordinary recognition in defeating the tension of the
isolation booth.
Dr. Joyce Brothers won the top prize for her knowledge of boxing while this young lady
decided to stay in front of the cameras.
Actress Barbara Felden.
Oh, all right.
Then it's King Henry the fourth part two.
This is Prince Hal speaking who's just been made King Henry the fifth.
But the real star of the $64,000 question was the program's host, Hal March.
You know that if you get married this year you can save $28,000 in taxes?
I don't think it's time for me to get married.
Take another year or two.
You've got plenty of time.
He was absolutely perfect.
He had a kind of tender macho quality about him, you know?
Everything was ad lib.
He was just perfect in the way he related to people.
The perfect pose for the $64,000 question.
Nap Lajui.
Nap Lajui is five.
One more.
Powell Weiner.
You're right.
I'm right.
Despite its initial good fortune, the $64,000 question was tainted by the game show scandal
of the 50s.
Though other programs took the real heat, the $64,000 question still couldn't win back
the audiences.
The isolation booth was closed September 1958.
On Monday, Batman swoops up the 1966 ratings as we take another look at 25 years of TV.
I'm Carl Reiner.
Well it's springtime and you know what that means.
Time to go out and enjoy the wonders of nature?
No.
Time to sit in front of the television set and watch people knock various little white
balls around.
CBS begins Saturday with third round coverage of the Masters and the other Great American
Pastime strikes out on a new season.
NBC gets into the swing of things, returning with a baseball game of the week.
And Saturday night, CBS repeats Stagecoach, not the 1939 John Ford classic, but last year's
TV remake featuring a passel of country western music stars.
And NBC's Saturday night live hosting duties go to actor John Lithgow.
He'll be joined by special musical guest Anita Baker.
And if none of that appeals to you, HBO will be showing the Leonard Hagler fight.
And I won't ruin it for you by saying that Leonard wins.
Lisa.
Thanks Rob.
Sunday features final round play in this year's Masters tournament with all the tradition
and beauty of the Augusta National Golf Club.
Sunday night, the Fox Broadcasting Network debuts 21 Jump Street with a special two hour
version of the action adventure cop show about young officers who go back to school undercover.
Kate Capshaw plays a former spy forced to return to her profession in ABC's made for
TV movie, Her Secret Life.
CBS hosts a three hour docudrama Escape from Sobibor with Alan Arkin, Joanna Pakula and
Rutger Hauer starring in the true story of the largest concentration camp revolt in World
War II Europe.
And in honor of the Easter season, NBC begins airing Jesus of Nazareth, the award winning
eight hour epic directed by Franco Zeffirelli.
Celebrating birthdays today, sportscaster Don Merritt at this 49, sportscaster John
Madden, 51, actor Omar Sharif turns 55, actor Max Vonsito, 58, actor Chuck Connors is 66
and also actor Harry Morgan is 72.
Well couples had our people post scripts today.
Valerie Harper and producer Tony Cacciotti tied the knot Wednesday night on the beach
in Malibu after eight years of togetherness.
And a couple of scene togethers were on the town this week.
Elizabeth McGovern and Rob Reiner have been seen in Hollywood.
And first names only, Cher and Dweezil were seen lunching in New York.
She is 40.
Zappa is 17.
Six months younger than Cher's daughter Chastity.
Larry Hagman's nasty JR Ewing has made him a superstar around the world.
But well before he made his mark as an actor, the son of actress Mary Martin saw a far different
side of the Hollywood high life.
Here's Hagman with a Hollywood memory.
Yes I remember when I first came to Hollywood.
I came out here with my mother in a yellow Plymouth convertible and she had a secretary
who was just a friend.
She called her a secretary because neither one of them had any money.
And mother was trying to break in and I remember that she started singing at the Trocadero,
or at Ciro's.
And one night she came into my bedroom and I had a piggy bank, a real piggy bank like
that and she says, can I break this open?
I got to get out of town.
I'm going crazy here and we can go to Palm Springs.
How much money you got?
And I got a hammer and we broke it open and it was six dollars and change.
And in those days, that was in the 30s, it could buy two or three tanks of gas and maybe
a couple hamburgers or something.
So we broke that and went down to Palm Springs and we spent, I think we spent three or four
days there.
I don't know, I was about six years old.
And that was my first introduction to what Hollywood could really be about, breaking
the bank.
Well just for your information Larry, my piggy bank's made out of titanium so stay away from
it.
Alright, be sure and join us this weekend on Entertainment This Week and on Monday when
Murder, She Wrote's Angela Lansbury solves a 38 year old movie mystery and holy smokes
Carl Reiner looks back at Batman on 25 years of television.
You know, little Richard Penniman has inspired generations of fans and musicians.
His new song, as we heard, is Operator.
Here it is, we hope it inspires you to go out and have yourselves a terrific weekend.
Bye bye.
Johnny Cash stars in the story of a man who battles illiteracy in tonight's After Hours
feature The Pride of Jesse Hallow starting at 12.30 here on Channel 10.
Check this out, check it out, check it out.
Operator
I've been calling him the time
He left the same and the number
To the phone on high
Operator operator
Operator