What makes Ted Turner's takeover tick?
Can newsman Lou Grant find happiness in the garment district?
Are computers taking over in TV newsrooms?
Remember the colorful days of black and white?
Entertainment Tonight has a cliffhanger for Thursday, April 18th, 1985.
Boy, I got out of that one pretty neatly.
Hello again everybody, I'm Mary Hart.
And I'm Rob Weller.
They said it couldn't be done.
No one could take over a television network.
Then a small fish called Capital Cities Communications ate a big fish called ABC.
Now the process is underway again.
And the big fish is even bigger.
Scott Osborne has the story in our news studio.
Rob, this time the big fish is a whale, CBS incorporated.
And the little fish, some might say a pretty smart shark, is Ted Turner.
The Atlantic cable TV mogul told the Federal Communications Commission
and the Securities and Exchange Commission he's planning an unfriendly takeover of CBS.
He's offering CBS investors stocks, notes and other securities worth $175 per share.
And all of this raises a great many questions.
Who is Ted Turner?
I must be doing something right.
Turner is a flamboyant and ambitious businessman, cable TV pioneer and energetic sportsman.
His cable station, WTBS, reaches about 35 million homes in all 50 states.
And he operates Cable News Network and CNN Headline Service.
He owns Baseball's Atlanta Braves and the Basketball Atlanta Hawks.
And as a yachtsman, Turner won the America's Cup.
What does Turner want to buy?
CBS is not only a TV network, but a collection of five big city TV stations,
13 radio stations, two radio networks, the world's largest record label, and a publisher of 22 magazines.
What would Turner do if he took over CBS?
We do not intend to make any fundamental changes in the CBS television network.
Instead, we would seek to improve the quality, objectivity, and diversity of CBS programming.
I want to make it very clear that Turner Broadcasting is acting on its own
and has no connection with any ideological or other group in this transaction.
How does CBS respond to Turner?
At the company's annual meeting in Chicago, CBS President Thomas Wyman vowed to fight.
We are dedicated to resisting efforts which threaten our ability to live up to this responsibility.
How we meet this test and how we preserve this tradition
must determine how our stewardship is judged.
What is Wall Street's reaction?
Most analysts are saying that it is ludicrous, it's ridiculous.
There is one edge that Mr. Turner has.
He has a lot of respect by very smart money, and he has opened the door for investors.
He said so publicly late in the morning that he will accept offers for cash investors to join him.
And those that respect Ted Turner just might put money in his war chest.
I thought it was six out of ten.
There's probably a better than 50-50 chance this thing might go.
What do broadcasters think?
The Turner bid for CBS has the industry watching and waiting.
I think if an unfriendly merger takes place of that nature,
not only is the organization upset, the morale is upset,
and therefore what appears on the screen is going to be bad,
and there's going to be disservice to the public, and I think it's very unfair.
Well, nothing is going to change right away.
CBS has a lot of options to fend off the Turner bid, but as of today, the battle is joined,
and it's TV's biggest show of the year by far.
Mary?
Whatever problem CBS is facing in that takeover attempt, ratings are not among them.
CBS next week will wrap up another primetime Nielsen seasonal victory.
Last night, the fourth episode of the space miniseries won the evening for CBS,
with a Nielsen overnight average of 17.1.
CBS is also maintaining its lead in the evening news ratings week after week.
The latest numbers from Nielsen have the CBS evening news with Dan Rather at 12.1.
NBC's nightly news with Tom Brokaw is second at 11.1.
ABC's world news tonight with Peter Jennings third with 10.5.
The weak spot in the CBS lineup continues to be the early morning.
ABC's Good Morning America won that time slot last week with an average rating of 5.3.
NBC's Today Show was second at 5.1, and the CBS morning news was last, well behind at 3.3.
USA for Africa's We Are the World album has hit the top of Billboard's pop album chart just two weeks after its release.
It contains cuts by Bruce Springsteen, Prince and others, and of course, the We Are the World hit single.
The last album to go number one that fast was the Rolling Stones' Tattoo You back in September of 1981.
The We Are the World single, meanwhile, is number one on the pop singles chart for the third week in a row.
We Are the World merchandise, on the other hand, is number one in the hearts and pocket books of counterfeiters.
Al Owens has that story.
When counterfeit items bearing the USA for Africa logo began cropping up in stores around cities such as Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta,
the USA for Africa Foundation decided to fight back, and they announced how they were going to do it at a news conference today.
To attempt to stem the tide, we filed a lawsuit this morning in federal court here in Los Angeles.
Although officials say they've raised over $35 million so far, they told us they could lose between 25 and 30 percent of expected revenues if the counterfeiting continues.
This lawsuit is only the beginning of a series of lawsuits that we will take across the country against manufacturers, distributors, printers, or anybody else who's selling the merchandise.
Al Owens, Entertainment Tonight.
Eddie Murphy has a number of jokes about homosexuals in his stand-up comedy routine, and at a performance last night, he was picketed by some students who don't think his gay jokes are a laughing matter.
A few dozen protesters demonstrated against Murphy's appearance on the campus of Brandeis University last night.
He's promoting the stereotypes which are keeping people oppressed in our society.
I basically feel I will not tolerate, not that I want to prevent him from performing, but I will not tolerate someone to get up and makes basically what offends me the most are the AIDS jokes.
Despite the problems outside, 2,100 fans attended the first of two sellout concerts, and most students were unruffled by the charges against Murphy.
It's a part of Brandeis University. They protest everything. Protest Meyer Kahani, which I was in on. Protest Eddie Murphy. Protest Dan Landers of Brandeis University.
What's new in TV news? That's the question we put to Dick Shoemaker, and he went to the broadcaster's convention in Las Vegas to get the answer.
Television newsrooms. They all look pretty much the same, except one thing in this picture may soon be outmoded.
Not the writer, the typewriter, because computers have invaded the TV newsroom.
It's primarily designed for people who are journalists, who are not computer experts. Their primary concern is how do they get the news on the air?
Punch a button, and the computer can call up a wire service electronically and place the copy on the right of the screen.
Start typing, and the TV script will appear on the left side of the screen.
When the script is finished, push a button, and the words are transferred electronically to the teleprompter.
But that's not all. When the on-camera talent is finished reading the teleprompter,
the computer automatically cues, then plays a tape cassette containing either a field report or a commercial.
But that's not all. The look of a television news show can be changed with an electronic light pencil.
If you want a station logo over a moving background, just paint it in with a computer.
In this way, TV news shows can change just as easily as the news does.
Dick Shoemaker, Entertainment Tonight.
© BF-WATCH TV 2021
Coming up next on Days of Our Lives, Bo and Hope tie the knot, but will it be happily
ever after?
And ahead, Ed Asner.
He's serious about comedy.
Two Hollywood marriage reports for your social calendar.
One match was made on television, the other for television.
Lisa Gibbons was at the nuptials you won't be seeing until May 23rd.
I now pronounce you man and wife.
Days of Our Lives fans have been waiting almost two years for Bo Brady and Hope Williams to
become man and wife.
And the producers are hoping that their matrimonial spectacle will top Luke and Laura's soap opera
marriage almost three years ago.
Christian Alfonso and Peter Reckle, who play Hope and Bo, were voted among the top five
daytime actors by soap fans.
So the on-air marriage looks like a match made by Nielsen.
We waited a long time for it and we didn't think it was ever going to happen.
Soaps have a reputation of when a couple gets married, the story goes downhill, you know,
the relationship.
I don't think that's going to happen with us.
This story definitely is not going to go down.
Do you think Bo and Hope will live happily ever after?
Of course not.
Why did Hope want to marry Bo?
Because she's just head over heels in love with him.
And Hope is a type of character, she's a very strong character.
And feisty and she's going to get what she wants.
Why did Bo want to marry Hope?
Because she is feisty and gets what she wants.
The groom is Muslim, the bride is Jewish, and they were married by a minister who does
tarot and gives guitar lessons on the side.
How did this couple ever get together?
Try TV's Love Connection.
This is Adam.
He says he's seriously searching for his Eve.
Which of these women did he choose?
That was last June and the Eve Adam chose was named Laura.
A month later, they were on the show again.
Did you know that something was up right away?
Well, from the very beginning I thought you'd be a big part of me.
I now pronounce that you are husband and wife.
You may kiss the bride.
Certainly, there have been some marriages performed under stranger circumstances.
But I can't think of one.
Not everybody meets on TV and it works out and then you get married and they keep up
with it.
So it's been kind of fun.
We're just kind of going through the motions.
It is a little hard to believe.
But everyone here believed it and they all hope this TV pilot turns into a long running
series.
Alan Arthur, Entertainment Tonight.
Milton Berle is being honored this week in New York by the Museum of Broadcasting, including
a retrospective of Uncle Milti's work.
Dixie Watley has more on Mr. Television.
You see, I'm on television.
Television?
Yes.
Well, it's even more pitiful than I thought.
But not for Milton Berle.
Texaco Star Theatre and a 30 year contract with NBC established Berle as the master of
live television.
You didn't get a second chance if a joke bombed it.
Really bombed it.
And you stand with egg on your face.
And that weight, that silence, that weight used to murder you.
But if you were adaptable and had the expertise of being taken care of it, it worked.
I don't steal jokes.
I'm an ad lib comedian.
Some ad lib comedian.
Yeah.
You couldn't lean against a stove and something unspoken.
You couldn't.
You, I said you leaned against a stove.
You couldn't get a blister.
No, no, no.
You're all putting an ad lib of blister if you leaned against a hot stove.
What do you watch on TV?
I know that you expect me to say I watch comedy shows.
I don't.
I watch Hardcastle and McCormick because his first name is Milt.
That's the first name.
Pardon me.
Talk to yourself a minute.
Despite the fact that Berle is 76 years old and has been performing since he was five,
he still plays a few club dates a year in addition to lecturing.
I like to do personals and I'm still hammy.
I'll tell you that.
Dixie Watley, Entertainment Tonight.
An interview with the British Rock Band Power Station, originally scheduled to air today,
will run at a later date.
But that doesn't mean we'll be without our weekly fix of rock and roll news from Carol
Miller.
Well, it's finally happened.
The Beatles music is now officially for sale for use in commercials.
Their classic help can already be heard selling Lincoln Mercury and in Spain it will be used
for Schweppes.
In England, we can work it out while hype Hewlett-Packard.
These are no ordinary contracts, however.
When a company buys a Beatles song, it's stipulated that the song cannot be altered or parodied
in any way.
Now, while Beatles fans may be annoyed at all this, the latest report from the Recording
Industry Association of America could give a major headache to heavy metal bands and
fans alike.
The association says no platinum albums were awarded to a heavy metal band in the first
quarter of this year compared to five during the same period last year.
This Sunday is Radio USA for Africa Day.
Some top artists who didn't participate in the Superstar recording session will be part
of an historic live nationwide broadcast.
The three-hour show will feature interviews with the Beach Boys, Rod Stewart and Pat Benatar
and exclusive material recorded during the marathon We Are the World session.
So far, the USA for Africa effort has netted more than $20 million for famine relief.
The British pop duo Wham is looking for some relief on their own.
Their history-making tour of China may have cost the group over $1,200,000.
As one manager of the band was quoted, we've been taken to the cleaners.
The other rock groups thinking of going to China?
Wham bam, no thank you ma'am.
I'm Carol Miller.
Entertainment Tonight.
Ed Asner is president of the Screen Actors Guild.
He's also a dedicated political activist.
And as Lisa Gibbons discovered, he's an actor who takes his comedy seriously.
Television audiences know Ed Asner best for his long-running role as Lou Grant.
First on the Mary Tyler Moore Show and then on the series named after the gruff but warmhearted
city editor.
I did Lou Grant for 12 years.
That's a long time to do a character.
The phenomenal stretches and growth that was contained therein is a lot.
And for an actor, it's time to move on.
Excuse me Kate, I've been drinking beer for the last two hours.
And he has moved on into Off the Rack, a series about the clothing industry co-starring Eileen
Brennan.
Real nice out there Kate.
A gathering of every fruit and nut in Los Angeles.
Can't judge people by their looks.
You of all people should know that.
We like each other.
Liking each other can help create a lot of art.
We're inventive, innovative, and we know how to feed off each other.
Off the Rack is programmed against the consistent ratings blockbuster Dallas.
I guess I like the challenge.
I think we're good enough that you can put us anywhere and eventually we will achieve
a following.
Now one of us has to be the grown up here.
And as usual, it's the thinner of the two.
Leonard Maltin reviews Ladyhawk and Sergeant Joe Friday reports to Mr. Tostitos.
Those stories when we return.
Tomorrow on Entertainment Tonight, Dean Martin and Hal Holbrook.
And check your local listings for time and station this weekend as Entertainment This
Week turns the spotlight on Elizabeth Taylor, Eric Clapton, John Rubenstein, David Carradine.
All this weekend all new on Entertainment This Week.
The new medieval fantasy adventure Ladyhawk got off to a ye olde rousing start with moviegoers
last weekend.
But how will it fare under the watchful eye of ye olde reviewer of film Leonard Maltin?
I have waited almost two years for a sign from God.
So when I heard the warning bells of Aquila, I knew the moment of my destiny had come.
You will be my guiding angel.
Me?
Looks like the set up for a medieval adventure and that's just what it is.
Ladyhawk is a rousing old fashioned adventure with a dose of old fashioned fantasy thrown
in.
Rutger Hauer enlists young Matthew Broderick to help him and his ill fated lover Michelle
Pfeiffer.
They live under the curse of an evil bishop who has sent his men to destroy them.
Now it's up to Matthew to protect the fair damsel.
This cliffhanger is just part of the action that fills the screen and sweeps through the
picture in grand style.
I enjoyed Ladyhawk even though I felt a certain amount of frustration.
It goes on too long and bogs down at times.
A lot of the action is cluttered and it does take some doing to swallow Matthew Broderick's
contemporary character and Erzath's accent in the midst of an otherwise perfectly cast
and beautifully appointed period piece.
Well, I'd still recommend Ladyhawk if you like fantasy adventure.
It's got so many good things in it, I don't think it could be so easily undone.
And I'm giving it a seven.
I'm Leonard Maltin, Entertainment Tonight.
Ticket buyers surveyed on both coasts by movie track gave Ladyhawk the grade of A. 20% rated
it the very best and 39% loved it.
31% liked it while only 9% were disappointed and just 1% rated it a bomb.
Ladyhawks very best and loved it combined total falls short of the magic 65% movie track
says is needed to be a big hit but close enough to do brisk business at the box office.
Based on its survey movie track reports Ladyhawk will continue to soar until summer.
You saw some vintage Milton Berle clips a few minutes ago.
Now here are some clips from another favorite old television series this time with a difference.
Television technology is now so sophisticated it's possible to sell a new product by moving
backwards in TV time.
Ladies and gentlemen these are Tostitos brand tortilla chips they're for sharing.
I'm Fernando.
What do you guys know about these?
Well just what we've heard around the office Frank.
Same here I could stand some briefing.
You know that the chips everyone loves these are for you but there's a catch.
If I had a hunch Joe.
You have to share.
Share America's best tasting tortilla chips.
Better get some more.
Downtown or out in the neighborhoods.
You can get them anywhere Joe.
Boy that opens up a new field.
Tomorrow on entertainment tonight Tostitos.
Yeah and also Orson Welles, Dean Martin, Hal Holbrook in a reunion of 50 teen idols Bobby
Rydell, Frankie Avalon and Fabian.
And today we're going to say goodbye with a look at the number one song from that number
one album We Are The World.
We'll see you tomorrow.
Bye bye.
We are the world.
We are the children.
We are the one to make a world.
We are the world.
We are the children.
We are the one to make a make a make a make a for Mother's Day.
For Mother's Day, so let's start giving.
For Mother's Day so let's start giving.
There's a choice we're making.
We are singing our lines.
It's true we make a mother day just you and me.
We are the world.
We are the children.
We are the one to make a mother day so let's start giving.
For late night comedy that will keep you rolling, watch the Zany Benny Hill Show.
It's on at midnight, right after WKRP in Cincinnati.
Now join host Richard Dawson for Family Feud next.