S T A T S

An occasional compendium of the arcane, the trivial and the intriguing .

TOP 10 TV SHOWS OF 30 YEARS AGO Network/Rating

1--”$64,000 Question” CBS 47.5

2--”I Love Lucy” CBS 46.1

3--”Ed Sullivan Show” CBS 39.5

4--”Disneyland” ABC 37.4

5--”Jack Benny Show” CBS 37.2

6--”December Bride” CBS 37.0

7--”You Bet Your Life” NBC 35.4

8--”Dragnet” NBC 35.0

9--”The Millionaire” CBS 33.8

10--”I’ve Got a Secret”CBS 33.5

THE TOP 5 TV SHOWS of 20 Years Ago ... 1--”Bonanza” NBC 31.8

2--”Gomer Pyle, USMC” CBS 27.8

3--”The Lucy Show” CBS 27.7

4--”Red Skelton Hour” CBS 27.6

5--”Batman” ABC 27.0

2--”Rich Man, Poor Man”ABC 28.0

3--”Laverne & Shirley” ABC 27.5

4--”Maude” CBS 25.0

5--”The Bionic Woman” ABC 24.9

Source: “The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows,” Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, Ballantine Books

CHIPS WITS: ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARDS The busiest public electronic bulletin boards serving the entertainment industry in Los Angeles:

Call-Sheet: (818) 363-3192

Compu-Cast: (818) 247-6343

L.A. Communications System:

(818) 763-5821

Videoman: (213) 666-8588

Source: MicroTimes

WHO HAS MORE SHOES THAN IMELDA

The American Ballet Theater travels with 5,000 pairs of dance slippers for 86 dancers at a cost of $26 a pair.

Source ABT

ALL-TIME TOP 10 MOVIES IN AUSTRALIA 1--”E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”

2--”Man From Snowy River”

3--”Star Wars”

4--”Ghostbusters”

5--”Grease”

6--”Raiders of the Lost Ark”

7--”Jaws”

8--”The Sound of Music”

9--”Tootsie”

10--”Return of the Jedi”

Source: Variety

A FANTASTICKS ENDING

After 10,864 performances, the world’s longest-running musical, “The Fantasticks,” closes June 8 at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in New York. The musical has been running continuously for 26 years and originally cost $16,500 to produce. Backers have received a 8,242% return on the investment.

Source: Associated Press

PRICE FOR A 30-SECOND SPOT, ‘85-’86 SEASON “The Cosby Show” $270,000

“Dynasty” $245,000

“Family Ties” $220,000

“60 Minutes” $195,000

“Miami Vice” $165,000

Source: Advertising Age

A WEEK OF BUMMERS Today: The Beatles turn down an offer to perform for Queen Elizabeth at the London Palladium. Says Ringo: “It’s better to say ‘no’ to all, than ‘yes’ to one and ‘no’ to 99 others.” (May 11, 1968)

Monday: Yardbirds singer/guitarist Keith Relf is electrocuted at his home in London while tuning an electric guitar. (May 12, 1970)

Tuesday: Pink Floyd indulge themselves in a 2 1/2-hour concert at the Crystal Palace Garden in England. Included in the show is a 50-foot inflatable octopus. The music is so loud that it kills fish in a nearby lake. (May 13, 1970)

Wednesday: Pete Townshend is arrested in New York after assaulting a man who jumped up on the stage at the Fillmore East during the Who’s set. The man trying to snatch the microphone was not an overzealous fan, as Townshend thought, but a plainclothes policeman trying to warn the audience that fire had broken out. (May 14, 1969)

Thursday: Mick Jagger gets 20 stitches in his hand after putting his fist through the plate-glass window of a Long Island restaurant. (May 15, 1975)

Friday: Tiny Tim’s “Tiptoe Through The Tulips” is released. (May 16, 1968)

Saturday: Alan Freed is indicted by a federal grand jury for “commercial bribery” and the term payola is born. He refuses to testify. (May 17, 1960)

Source: “Rock Chronicle” by Dan Formento, Delilah Communications Ltd.

WHO’S WATCHING ‘THE TONIGHT SHOW’? From September, 1985, to February, 1986, “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” had a 7.5 rating with a 23 share. For the average minute, the show hit 6.4 million homes with an average viewing audience of 9.2 million. Within that audience:

Female: total 4,875,000

18-34: 1,552,000

35-49: 1,037,000

50+: 2,286,000

Male: total 3,542,000

18-34: 1,423,000

35-49: 818,000

50+: 1,301,000

Age 12-17: total 440,000 Age 2-11: total 374,000

Source: Department of Audience Research, NBC Network

KCET PLEDGE BREAKS The most recent fund drive at KCET raised $1,773,000 in pledges. Three thousand volunteers participated during the drive (March 1-16). One hundred phones were used and more than 35,000 calls came in. The collection rate on pledges is between 85% and 90%.

Source: KCET

HOME VIDEO IN 1995

By 1995 85% of all U.S. homes will have VCRs. Four billion cassettes a year will be rented. Twenty-five percent of all TV viewing time will be spent watching videotapes.

Source: Wilkofsky Gruen Associates, Inc., in Video magazine

GODZILLA & SOME OF HIS PEERS

Commemorating the 30th anniversary of Godzilla’s awakening by H-Bomb testing. Now, who knows what Chernobyl will wake

Kinggidrah Place of origin: Outer space

Height: 100 meters

Weight: 30,000 tons

Wingspan: 150 meters

Description: A three-headed creature which came to Earth riding on a meteor. Its wings can absorb solar heat and cosmic rays and transform them into energy.

Mothra Place of origin: Iniant Island (South Seas)

Larva length: 40-150 meters

Larva weight: 8,000-20,000 tons

Cocoon length: 100 meters

Imago length: 80 meters

Imago weight: 15,000 tons

Description: Mothra is a giant moth that acts as the protector of Iniant Island. It has three stages of life: larva, cocoon, and imago--a giant moth. It flies at a speed of Mach 3, communicates telepathically and can spew a radioactive flame.

Rodan Place of origin: Mt. Aso (Kyushu, southern Japan)

Height: 50 meters

Wingspan: 170 meters

Weight: 15,000 tons

Description: Rodan, known to scientists as Pterorodan, is a type of flying reptile born 200 million years ago. It is capable of flying at supersonic speed and can blow down buildings with its shock-wave sonic beam.

Godzilla Place of origin: Oto Island (Kyushu)

Height: 50 meters

Weight: 2,000 tons

Description: An amphibious reptile that roamed the Earth millions of years ago, Godzilla was awakened in his underground lair by H-bomb tests. Because of exposure to radiation, Godzilla can spew a radioactive flame from his mouth.

Angilas Place of origin: A glacier

Height: 60 meters

Weight: 50,000 tons

Description: Angilas is a type of dinosaur that lived on Earth 150 million years ago. Its brain is scattered throughout its body so it is capable of very rapid action. It has a terrible temper and a strong dislike for all other species. This was the first reptile challenger to Godzilla.

Source: Toho Special Films Index and Godzilla Calendar