is David Letterman the toast of late night?
Does Chris Kristofferson mix politics with music? How does Hope thank Hollywood for the memories?
And who will be ET's rising movie star of 87? As entertainment tonight goes to the mat
for Friday February 6th, 1987.
Hello again everybody, I'm Mary Hart.
And I'm John Tesch.
Late Night with David Letterman passes a milestone this week. The late night lunacy will celebrate
five years on the air with a special 90 minute show on NBC Saturday night. The show is a
remarkable success story. Where else could you strap a camera on a monkey's back and
win an Emmy for your efforts? It was the strength of Letterman's wit that brought Late Night
to new comedic heights and now the show is soaking up the praise.
Here we go. I'm actually surprised to be here after five years. But no I still enjoy doing
this, it's a lot of fun. It's the most fun I have really. With the proper holiday spirit
let me just try.
The show is comedy disguised as a talk show featuring some of the most inventive and zany
humor on television. For five years loyal fans have learned to expect the unexpected.
The show's offbeat humor is perfectly suited to its after hours time slots and Letterman
has no interest in taking it to prime time.
Now we can do pretty much anything we want and NBC has been real supportive about that
because they know as well as we do that nobody's really watching.
Actually more people are looking in on a Late Night lunacy than ever before. Recent ratings
were the highest in the show's history. But new found success hasn't changed the irreverent
tone.
It's difficult to keep any kind of humor going as I prove on a nightly basis. But I think
as long as you try and make fun of yourself as much as you make fun of other things then
it's going to be okay.
I've got the suit of chips on here. I'm going into the tank. Wow it's like a party at your
house.
Although the Letterman show is now on a Monday to Thursday schedule, starting June the 8th
the growing legion of late night addicts will be able to satisfy their comedy craving five
nights a week.
I think it'll be better for the show because Friday there's a bigger potential viewing
audience more sets in use on Friday and it should help us. And I think also it'll help
people get their weekend off to a really bad start.
The fifth anniversary special will include some new hijinks to complement the highlights
from the past. And while a sixth season is a sure bet, Letterman jokingly says that once
the network gets low to this show they may have to think twice.
Several years ago up and coming stars of the movies included names like Kathleen Turner,
Allie Sheedy, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise and Michael J. Fox. Entertainment tonight's choice of
the rising stars of 1987 to watch for in the coming year include a whole crop of overnight
discoveries who have been working for years at their chance for the big break. Lisa Gibbons
looks at them plus entertainment tonight's rising star of 87.
Timothy Dolphin is the star of the new James Bond movie The Living Daylights. If the film's
a hit he'll have secured star status.
Mary Stuart Masterson got favorable reviews co-starring with Sean Penn in At Close Range.
This spring some kind of wonderful could be her breakthrough role.
Jim Varney's Ernest P. Worrall was a hit in commercials. Now he's hoping for big screen
success in Ernest Goes to Camp.
Bill Pullman earned rave reviews and a supporting role in Ruthless People. This summer Spaceballs
could be his star vehicle.
Entertainment tonight's pick as the rising star of 87 in movies is Teresa Russell. She
co-stars with Deborah Winger in Black Widow. Russell is 29. Her hometown is Burbank. She's
married with two kids and was discovered sitting on the steps of a shopping mall.
I play a murderer and every time I find a victim I change my identity totally. And I'm
a very sick girl. I mean she loves the men but she just has this thing she has to poison
them.
Ten years ago she was labeled a bright young star for her role opposite Robert De Niro in
The Last Tycoon.
I'm pretty well educated. Maybe I should get married.
Oh I'd marry. I'm lonely but I'm too old and tired to undertake anything.
Undertake me?
Russell chose to reject stardom at that time.
I wasn't interested in being the flavor of the month and staying around. I actually live
in London and I left Hollywood about five years ago and you know I really should have
been you know doing more Hollywood things I guess.
Although she has not had a commercial hit, Russell has co-starred in seven films from
Straight Time to The Razor's Edge to Bad Timing which was directed by her husband Nicholas
Rogue. They have collaborated on three films. Though they recently bought a house in Los
Angeles, London is where they call home.
My living in London I don't feel really deters my career very much at all. I mean the kind
of people that I've worked with and want to work with have always they seek me out no
matter where I am.
Is there a certain amount of Hollywood game playing that's necessary in the business?
I think it's necessary to a certain extent but I think it really depends a lot on what
it is you want to do. Do you want to be a movie star? Do you want fame and fortune or
do you just love the work? Do you love acting? Do you love the creativity of it?
Teresa Russell's next project is another family affair. Husband Nicholas Rogue will direct
Russell in a new film to be called Track 29.
CBS News is facing a 50 million dollar budget cut. That's out of a total 300 million dollar
current budget. According to the New York Times, the cutback was ordered by CBS Chief
Executive Officer Lawrence Tisch and Tisch reportedly questioned the efficiency of the
network news unit after a 10 day tour of its European bureaus. CBS News staff has been
cut by 300 over the past year and a half and these new measures will undoubtedly add more
casualties to that list.
Coming up, America the Red. Chris Christopherson stars in the TV dramatization and is front
and center in a real life confrontation.
And ahead, help. It's The Beatles, a first time event on home video.
In the upcoming ABC mini series America, Chris Christopherson plays a character almost out
of a Christopherson song. He's a rebel jailed for his beliefs, betrayed by his former wife,
shunned by his children and father, but embraced by those people searching for freedom. Eric
Burns has more on the actor, singer, songwriter.
I was concerned from the first day, but the more debate that it has stirred, the better
I feel about it. I feel that it has caused people to come to the defense of the United
Nations and of the Russians that I never heard before.
Now that's an interesting point Chris, are you saying that even if, if America is right
wing propaganda that that's alright because it will stir the kind of left wing opposition
that you would like to have stirred?
Not only left wing, but people that just maybe never thought about it before. I would hope
that Americans would re-examine their attitudes toward Russia, but also they'd re-examine
their attitudes toward the principles on which the country is supposed to be founded.
These views that you've been talking about, these political views, are they, you've got
a new album which is coming out very soon, are these expressed musically as well as in
this interview?
Some of them, yes. It's one of them I remember was a thing called Anthem 84, which goes,
If you're looking for a fighter who'll defend you, love you for your freedom, I'm your man.
I would like to continue to be a creative artist. I always wanted to write novels.
And the novel won't be about some Hollywood jet setters who are concerned about the next
deal. I get a feeling.
Well, it'll probably be what I know about and that would probably not be about making
the next deal. I don't make many deals.
America, the ABC mini-series starts airing one week from Sunday.
Chris Topperson was involved in a real life drama yesterday. This one set outside a nuclear
test site in Mercury, Nevada.
More than 1,000 nuclear activists came to the site 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas by
air, bus, bicycle, and on foot. Those protesting the resumption of U.S. testing along with
Chris Topperson included Martin Sheen, who was arrested there just last month and later
released after posting a $5,000 peace bond.
I can only make it a personal statement. I cannot speak for anyone else and I wouldn't
try to. I can only speak for me and I can only do what I feel my conscience and my spirit
directs me to do. I've come here today to pray for peace.
When demonstrators began crossing into the test site, sheriff's officers began making
arrests. Among the 437 taken by bus to a nearby town to be charged with trespassing were Sheen,
Chris Topperson, and actor Robert Blake.
We're ready for our side.
How are you feeling right now?
I feel great. There's no greater high in the world than committing yourself. Join us next
time. Whoever you are, you will love it and you can tell your grandchildren about it.
It's a piece of cake.
Also among the arrested peace activists, Daniel Ellsberg and astronomer Carl Sagan. All those
arrested, including actors Blake, Sheen, and Chris Topperson, were released on their own
recognizance.
If you happen to be wrestling with what to watch on television this weekend, here's ET's
weekly preview of Best Bets. Saturday, ABC Wide World of Sports covers the 1987 U.S.
Figure Skating Championships with Debbie Thomas defending her title. Saturday evening, Bruce
Willis' musical alter ego Bruno Randolini debuts in a 60-minute HBO special called The
Return of Bruno. And Linda Lavin returns to the small screen in the CBS television movie,
A Place to Call Home, based on the true story of a woman deserted in the wilderness by her
husband and left with 11 children to care for.
On Sunday, East meets West in a 37th annual NBA All-Star Game telecast by CBS live from
the Seattle Kingdom. Sunday night, NBC premieres part one of The Two Mrs. Grenville, starring
Anne Margaret and Claudette Colbert in Dominic Dunn's best-selling story of high society
scandal. And ABC will host the network premiere of the 1984 box office smash, Romancing the
Stone, with Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito.
Coming up this weekend on Entertainment This Week, an extraordinary personal plea from
Richard Pryor on drug abuse. Just say no. Plus, a look back at three of America's favorite
kids stars of the 60s growing up on television getting ahead in the 80s.
Monday on Entertainment Tonight, the candle still burns brightly. Marilyn Monroe, 25 years
after her death, still a superstar. And Michael J. Fox goes back to the present as a rock
and roll star.
Opening in movie theaters today, From the Hip, starring Judd Nelson. Dead of Winter,
co-starring Mary Steenburgen and Roddy McDowell. Black Widow, with Deborah Winger and Teresa
Russell. Light of Day, co-starring Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett.
There may be a rising political star on the horizon. Sonny Bono has announced his candidacy
for mayor of Palm Springs. Bono owns a tennis complex and restaurant in the desert city
and hopes to join fellow celebrities Ronald Reagan and Clint Eastwood in office.
While Sonny and Cher were at the top of the charts in the 1960s, little John Bon Jovi
was just another kid growing up in Sayerville, New Jersey. Now his band Bon Jovi is on top
of the world. According to the new Billboard music charts, their album Slippery When Wet
is number one, and their song Livin' on a Prayer is the new number one single. More
Bon Jovi news and Beatle news as well from Nina Blackwood.
Thanks Mary. It could be Beatlemania once again, this time at your local video and record store.
By the end of the month, the first Beatles music on compact disc will be available. And
in less than two weeks time, the Beatles first film in color, the classic 1965 comedy Help,
will be out on home video. And for those who really want to hear, as well as see the Beatles,
the home video version of Help is being released in digital hi-fi stereo. A stage version of
Beatlemania was a big hit a couple of years ago. Well now, someone is trying something
similar with Elvis Presley of a more classical nature. Ben Wiseman, who wrote several early
Elvis hits, is now hard at work putting together an Elvis Presley ballet. That's right, an
Elvis ballet. Wiseman says it will be staged by the Long Beach Ballet Company later this
year and it will cover Elvis's entire life story and know as far as we know it, the cast
will not be wearing blue suede toe shoes. The fingers of Bruce Hornsby are doing some
fast walking up the charts these days and his record company decided to thank the singer-songwriter
with something for the trophy case. The Way It Is, the number one single from Bruce Hornsby
and the Range, propelled the group's first album to the top of the charts last month.
In New York, Hornsby and the band were presented with a double platinum album for sales in
excess of two million units. The Way It Is was almost the most uncommercial song on the
whole record in the sense that a song about racism with jazz piano solos is certainly
not our top 40 formula as we know it. So, yeah, it surprised the hell out of me. While
we're on the subject of Bruce Hornsby, Bruce has just one of ten albums in the top 30 whose
name starts with a B. It's sort of a rock and roll's A-list with a B. There's Bruce
Hornsby, the other Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi in Boston, the Bangles and the Beastie Boys,
Billy Joel, Billy Idol, Billy Vera and the Beaters, and Anita Baker. Which all means
if you want to be a pop star these days, having a B in your first or last name is clearly
the secret to success. I'm Nina Blackwood, that's with a B. Where'd you come up with
that Fight of the Bumblebee? You have that at home? I have my sources. Thanks, Nina.
You can take classes for anything these days. How to cook, how to sew, how to tune your
car, how to become a game show contestant, how to discover past lives. That one, of course,
taught by Shirley MacLaine. But can you learn how to body slam someone into tomorrow? Bob
Sarlott suggests that you shouldn't pin your hopes on becoming a professional wrestler,
but reports there is indeed a school to teach you the ropes of wrestling. Pro Wrestling
always takes a bad rap as being phony. Perhaps you'd like to share that sentiment with these
gentlemen. They've come to school here at the Monster Factory to learn the ropes and
pay the price. Their teacher, pretty boy Larry Sharp, would love to hear your criticism.
I have the perfect place to bring the doubter and change his mind or give him an attitude
adjustment. These guys all hope to break into the pro circuit and compete around the world
for big money. Pretty boy's prize pupil is this guy, Bam Bam Bigelow. Beneath his 406
pounds and gruff exterior beats a heart of pure stone. Larry, how's it going? How's
your man doing? And how's the whole car tonight? Pretty good? I got a 400 pound giant that
can beat anybody up in the world. Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, any champion there is. He's 400
pounds, probably the most handsome wrestler on the face of the earth. Beats all the people,
takes all the money, gets all the women. And you ask me how I'm doing? How do you think
I'm doing? I'm doing quite well, thank you. Just pick up a little of that sound right
here from Bam Bam Bam. Do you have anything to say about all this? How do you feel about
your career? Hungry. You're hungry? I don't let him eat. I keep him hungry. It keeps him
mean. I see. Now what about the tattoos? You want to explain these tattoos for us, pretty
boy? Flames. What else can I say? He's right down to White Hot. Yeah, if Bam Bam asks,
tell him I had a run, okay? Bob Sarlat just leaving the Monster Factory Entertainment
tonight. If you don't count yourself among the legion of wrestling fans, you might be
interested to know that when the wrestling superstars of today perform, arenas across
the country are filled to the rafters. I'm going to be right here in L.A. taking in my
first wrestling match Saturday. Be careful of Bam Bam Bigelow, word is he's hungry. Yeah,
the Monster Factory. Ja Ja Gabor celebrates a birthday and she may need 400 candles for
the cake. Understand that one? Well, that story when we come back. Celebrating a birthday
today, singer Natalie Cole is 37, Fabian is 44, actress Gail Honeycutt is also 44, NBC
anchorman Tom Brokaw, 47, actor Mike Farrell, 48, Mamie Van Dorn is 54, actor Rip Torn,
56, The Avengers Patrick McNeese, 65, and former actor, former president of the Screen
Actors Guild and current president of the United States, Ronald Reagan is 76. And we're
going to continue our birthday theme in today's People Post scripts, which is entirely devoted
to the birthdays of Ja Ja Gabor. Now most sources agree that today is her birthday.
However, there is certainly disagreement about the year. There is. Screen World lists Ja Ja
Gabor's year of birth as 1918, which would make her 69 years old today. Variety International
Celebrity Birthday Book and Star Stats say she is 68, born in 1919. The Associated Press
and Film Encyclopedia report she was born in 1920, which means she is now 67. However,
the Motion Picture Almanac, the International TV Almanac, and the Celebrity Book of Lists
agree on the year 1923. In that case, Ja Ja would be 64. So enough of this. How old is
Ja Ja Gabor according to Ja Ja Gabor? Her daughter says the year of birth was 1928,
making Ja Ja 59 years old today. Yeah. Well, at any rate, from all of us to all of you,
happy birthdays to Ja Ja Gabor. And I'm glad that's over with. I was beginning to get a
little winded there. Fantasy is the bubble in which the Hollywood magic operates, whether
it's Ja Ja's 59th birthday or Bob Hope's reaction to seeing his first star. Today in our salute
to Hollywood's 100th birthday, entertainment tonight gets to thank Bob for the memories.
I never dreamed that those people that I saw when I was a kid, those people I saw on the
screen actually lived. I didn't think they were a real, real people until I saw Charlie
Chaplin get out of a car on 49th Street in New York, because he was one of my favorites.
In fact, I started out when I was started, I started out doing Charlie Chaplin imitations.
And to see him get out of a car, I didn't believe it was him. And I waited for an hour
and a half until he came back out of an office just so I could take another peek at him,
you know? And that's what it was, the great fantasy about pictures. Because today, people,
they still don't know whether people exist, that they even see on television, young people,
you know? They say, I don't believe it. I've had people walk up to me and say, I don't
believe it. I don't believe it. I don't believe I'm seeing you, you know? And that's what,
the wonderful part of it, because it was all a big fantasy.
If that's Bob's house, I want to go for a visit.
Okay, lunch tomorrow.
That's about it for us. Be sure to join Rob Weller and Lisa Gibbons this weekend on entertainment
this week. And we hope you'll be back here Monday as we start a special series on Marilyn
Monroe, a superstar at 60, though she's been dead for 25 years.
As we were mentioning earlier in the program, the Bruce Willis musical special, The Return
of Bruno, begins airing on Home Box Office tomorrow night. Here's just a little preview
of Bruno and the Heaters to get your weekend started off the right way. We'll see you on
Monday.
Take care, everybody.
See a special colorized version of the classic movie, Topper, tomorrow on the Saturday Showcase
at 3 here on WJAR Channel 10.