Use a fake lighter to ignite Josephine's fire will Ralph macho's karate moves come in handy in his new movie
Entertainment tonight proves that blondes do have more fun for Friday December 4th
1987
I've said that many times short
Hello everyone John test is off today sitting in I'm Rob Weller, and I'm Mary Hart
New York was the setting for one of the music world's hottest nights as the first Grammy lifetime
Achievement awards were presented for outstanding creative contributions to the art of recorded music
You don't often get the chance to watch Sting singing Gershwin
Or listen to that domino tickle those ivories
On the same stage as virtuoso Isaac Stern
The show which honors Ray Charles Roy a cup BB King Isaac Stern
Benny Carter and Fats Domino is hosted by Beverly Sills and Dionne Warwick
Music has no boundaries. It's all the same and it's up to the listening ear to decide that
These people to me was the greatest in their fields and to be able to stand with them
The special also features performances by artists who have been touched by the music of the honorees
The Academy hopes the lifetime achievement award special will become an annual TV event or as they say
There are many more American musical legends to honor
The Grammy lifetime achievement award show will air on CBS next Wednesday evening
Placido Domingo and Ricardo Montalban were honored for their steadfast efforts in helping the less fortunate and had a benefit for children in Los Angeles last night
Linda Ronstadt provided the musical entertainment as the Hispanic community paid tribute to the many humanitarian efforts by opera star Placido Domingo and actor Ricardo Montalban
Both men have been involved in major fundraising efforts for earthquake victims in Mexico and disabled children in Los Angeles
They have been able to help the most vulnerable children in the world
It's a great honor. I think it's out of proportion. It has been a privilege for me to be able to do the little I've done in my life trying to help those less fortunate than I
We should be grateful and we should be able to help other people and we have to find a time doesn't matter how busy how busy we are
Domingo suffered from a heart attack in the middle of the night and he was in a coma
He was in a coma for a long time and he was in a coma for a long time and he was in a coma for a long time
And we have to find a time doesn't matter how busy how busy we are Domingo suffered personal tragedy when four relatives died in the Mexico City earthquake of 1985
Last night's benefit hopes to raise $500,000 for the International Children's Program of the Los Angeles Orthopedic Hospital and Children's Bright Horizons Program which works with disabled children
Fleetwood Mac continued its hot 49 city tour with a sellout stop in Phoenix, Arizona and a homecoming welcome for lead singer Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks went home last night and with friends, fans and her parents looking on Nicks and the Mac rocked Phoenix
This town has always been very loyal so you know if I probably ever try hard or try harder this is where I try the hardest
It's wonderful, they're talented, Stevie Nicks has a great voice and it's worth getting an ice cold nose for tonight
It's been six years since Fleetwood Mac has toured and this is their first without Lindsay Buckingham
But Nicks and the band say their fans now two generations worth are as loyal as ever
It's been wonderful just to get back out on the road which is traditionally a people's Mac trade
Our audiences have always done great you know from the very beginning from the very first show
The Fleetwood Mac tour moves to Los Angeles for shows on Sunday and Monday
and then travels north to San Francisco next weekend before winding down in Portland, Oregon on December 18th
Dolly Parton is a one woman tour de force but even she knows that to be a success a variety show needs to feature Hollywood's brightest stars
Sunday night she pulls out all the stops and goes whole hog after ratings
If they ever black your eyes put me wide
Hey listen here now
If they ever put you to six
Always notorious for hogging the spotlight, Miss Piggy does her best to ham it up and all but steals the show on Dolly this Sunday
Friendship, friendship, just a perfect friendship
With all our friendships and big and dark
I will still be hot, hot, still be hot
Hot, hot, hot, hot, titty, titty
By the way ratings on Dolly's variety show have been inching up
The show is ranked 30th for the season and tied with Dallas at 26th during the latest weekly ratings
CBS has ordered The Law and Harry McGraw back into production
The show which was canceled last month due to poor ratings will film four more episodes set to air in the 8 o'clock time slot sometime in January
But barring some kind of unforeseen ratings turnaround those four episodes will be it
Coming up next Ralph Macchio breaks the Karate Kid image but can he see the forest through the trees
And ahead Napoleon and Josephine tried to light up the ratings but were they cheating when they used a lighter?
We'll check it out
Ralph Macchio's roles in the Karate Kid movies, in Crossroads and in Teachers all had one thing in common, play the student learning from a more experienced adult
In his latest movie Distant Thunder his character is more self reliant and that suits him just fine
And action
That's what I want to see
I never heard a word from you ever
I'm just looking to do some other things
As far as mentors student roles I think I'm done, I've run that out
Ralph Macchio is hoping his part in Distant Thunder will help him kick a tired image
I promise teach karate not to my part
You promise learning
With the type of role like Karate Kid and the success that it's had it's sort of put me in a typecast situation
So it's very important that the roles I choose especially now are something that is different concept and a different style of character
Macchio's newest film has him starring with John Lithgow
Lithgow plays a Vietnam vet who after the war abandons his family and seeks refuge in the forests of the Pacific Northwest
Macchio plays the son who never lost hope that someday he would meet his father
Last time I held this it was about the size of a pea
The underlying point of this whole story is that it's the relationship between father and son and separation
And them being together, Vietnam is the backdrop and it's important because it's the reason that it has occurred
Despite Macchio's efforts to do roles beyond the Karate Kid he still will play the part of Daniel one more time
But this time around he hopes there will be some changes in the character
I'd like to see Daniel deal with whatever confrontations and conflicts that he comes up against to deal with himself
And still have that relationship with Miyagi be important
But I'd like to see him stand up on his own a little bit more and stop asking so many questions
Distant Thunder wraps production tomorrow
That movie is scheduled to be released next fall
As a child star this young actor had everything except a normal life
So he dropped out to recoup what was left of his childhood
He's back now and we're going to show you what he's doing and where are they now
What child actor made his film debut with Sissy Spacek and Eric Roberts in 1981's Raggedy Man?
Who co-starred opposite football great mean Joe Green in a TV movie based on a soft drink commercial?
And at the age of 10 who was cast in the lead role of the biggest money-making film of all time?
I'm keeping you
When 10-year-old Henry Thomas landed the role of Elliot in ET the extraterrestrial
Little did he know the film would go on to become the biggest money-making movie of all time
And with it the problems that accompany instant recognition and celebrity hood
You can go out and go to birthday parties with my friends at a pizza place or something
Because everybody in there would recognize me and come bother me or whatever
You know, can we have your autograph? Blah blah blah
But I don't know, I mean you learn to accept that because it's something that comes along with the acting
Other roles followed notably opposite Gene Hackman in Misunderstood
And in Cloak and Dagger with Dabney Coleman
Both flopped at the box office and at the tender age of 12 Henry was burned out
I just got burned out on it so I just said, you know, I don't want to work for a while
A little time off, a lot of growing up
Now 16 he's back in front of the cameras in his first purely dramatic role in Murder One
Although it's unlikely he'll again experience the kind of success he found with ET
For now Henry Thomas is just happy to have learned one very important lesson
You don't realize how much you like something until you don't have it anymore
Or it's not there for you or whatever
And I just needed some time off, time to myself, time to sort things out
And then I thought, this is what I want to do and here I am
This weekend on Entertainment This Week we'll show you the movie that won the very first Oscar
Was it a prototype for Top Gun?
You'll discover the secrets behind these blockbusters and more as we celebrate Paramount Pictures' 75th anniversary
Then Monday on Entertainment Tonight Ted Danson tells you what really happened when he and Tom and Steve partied down during the making of Three Men and a Baby
Travel arrangements furnished by Delta Airlines
Discover Hawaii, the Caribbean, Mexico, Canada, Europe or Japan on a Delta Dream Vacation
At Delta we love to fly and it shows
Walter Cronkite is so identified with television news that it's hard to picture him doing anything else
But as our special correspondent David Frost discovered, Cronkite himself has imagined the possibilities
Of the three roles on camera, an interviewer, reporter, anchor
Which do you find the most satisfying? Have you found the most satisfying?
Oh, I think that a reporter is satisfying just from the kind of work ethic of being in there and doing your own job and doing it all yourself
I mean whatever the story is you're working on, that's your story
On the other hand, certainly being in at the almost the beginning and helping to build the responsibility, the anchor position
And making something out of that rather than simply a news reader role I think is a very important role and therefore satisfying
And if you hadn't done all this, what would you have wanted to do? Some dance man?
I've said that many times, sure, that's not what I would have done
That's a dream, that's my Walter Mitty myth world
I think that to entertain singing and dancing, to have that audience out there cheering and laughing
Smiling, patting their foot would be a marvelous way to make a living
The other thing of course is that as the most trusted man in America, you could probably have been president if you'd wanted to be
I'm happy to say people who think I can be trusted
I hope what they're saying I can be trusted to hear to the middle of the road in trying to report on controversial subjects
But the minute you went out on a political campaign and took the positions that I would want to take, the supporters would have sloughed off
I would have been left with my mother and possibly my wife
Well despite speculation about other career opportunities, Cronkite remains a working journalist
His latest project, a documentary on the effect of apartheid on South Africa's white and black children, it airs Saturday night on CBS
That's your clue, it is check it out time
Our first story concerns the recently aired miniseries Napoleon and Josephine
Well the producers prided themselves on the historical accuracy of the costumes and locations
But when this scene played, viewers all over the country said, hey, wait a second
Now is that a bic in that actor's hand? Did they really have lighters back then?
Well we called France, just in general, to check it out and yes they had lighters in Napoleon's times
A Los Angeles antique collector provided us with this example of an early design, this is a real, well Napoleon may have used this
Actually he didn't, someone's grandfather used it
Try it again, you have a better shot at it
No it doesn't light Mary, it's long out of a lighter fluid
It worked in the miniseries
Yeah well, that's it, that's the real deal
That was real good Rob, I'm impressed
Thank you
Well it's not too elegant, you're right
In a recent interview, President Reagan compared his upcoming summit meeting with Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to working with one of his famous co-stars
When questioned, Reagan said he's accustomed to working with scene stealers
I don't present his popularity or anything else, and good lord I co-starred with Errol Flynn once
Yeah indeed he did, of course in the interest of international relations we had to check out President Reagan's filmography
And found out that while under contract with Warner Brothers, he actually did two films with the swashbuckler, not just one
Righto, he played an escaped American prisoner of war with Flynn in Desperate Journey
And he played General George Custer in Santa Fe Trail
Hopefully before the Battle of Little Bighorn
I would assume so, yeah
In our next Check It Out, we heard that Miami Sound Machine's Gloria Estefan has an outrageous demand in her concert contract
We heard that she won't go on unless she has a Ms. Pac-Man video game in her dressing room
We put it in the contract and sometimes it's hard to get because I figure why not, we're usually at the gig for about four hours before
There's nothing to do there, so we said if it's easy for you to get a Ms. Pac-Man machine, get it for me backstage
I would love it because it really helps me to not only loosen up the tension, but it's just a lot of fun
And I'm not the only one, our bass player George Casas is a challenger, my sister is constantly challenging me
So we have like Ms. Pac-Man playoffs and it's a lot of fun
You know most people don't know that Mary Hart actually has a whole croquet set up in her dressing room
Oh, I don't even let you close to the dressing room, how would you know?
I get the little stripe ball, what do you mean?
When we come back, one of the hottest new comedians gets a multi-pick pack
Oh
Music
In today's People Post scripts, Arsenio Hall, who gained national exposure as host of The Late Show
following Joan Rivers' exit, has signed an exclusive movie deal with Paramount Pictures
It's a deal that should take about the next five years, three pictures
I'm not allowed to talk about how much money is involved, but let's just say it will be a real nice Christmas for Mom
Yeah, definitely, Hall's first project will be in Eddie Murphy's new movie co-starring as Murphy's best friend
The two are also off-screen buddies
And new stars paid homage to old ones at a one-of-a-kind exhibit of Hollywood memories
Music
Last night Los Angeles welcomed the Smithsonian exhibition called Hollywood Legend and Reality
Celebrities had a chance to take a look at movieland memorabilia
Oh, and I love that of Scarlet Duck, it's so nifty
Every little thing you see brings back such a memory, does anyone remember that?
I think my favorite was the script page from Casablanca because it had typos in it
and a lot of X's where obviously they either made mistakes or had to rethink those lines
The exhibit touches on Hollywood history from its earliest days to the sci-fi special effects movies of more recent times
During the studio system, the studios created a myth around what we do and they created a kind of glamour that doesn't exist today
and this exhibit reflects that glamour, that idea of Hollywood as something larger than life
Hollywood Legend and Reality will be on display in Los Angeles until mid-February when it will head for Japan
Next week the exhibit will be the setting for a tribute to the life and work of James Stewart
Legends, all of them
Oh yes, indeed
And speaking of Legends, Mary, I want you to join Lisa Gibbons and me for our entertainment this week this weekend
You two are indeed legends
And humble
In your own minds
We're going to salute Paramount Pictures on its 75th anniversary
And then Monday, join John Tesh and me for entertainment tonight, David Frost will be back with us
This time with the inside story on the woman who gets the inside story, namely Barbara Walters
Oh good, nice working with you today
It's great to see you, Mr. Legend
Have a great weekend
We're going to leave you with a look at the performers honored at the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards
You have a great week
Bye-bye
You can hear all the people sing
There's a gal from Tennessee
She's long and she's tall
She's the combination of the warbash cannonball
At only 24, Michael Jordan is the highest scoring guard in the history of the NBA
Tonight on Channel 8's PM Magazine, Jordan talks about his endorsements for several products including McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Nike
Then stay tuned for an exciting Friday night on NBC
Cold outside, got to go away, it's cold out there, this evening has been, I'm hoping that you drop in, so very nice