Morning Report - News from Dec. 5, 1998

PEOPLE

‘Never Bitter’: The late Paul Jarrico, who fought Hollywood’s blacklist and its aftereffects for 50 years, will be the recipient of the Writers Guild of America’s rare Lt. Robert Meltzer Award. Jarrico, who died at 82 in a car accident in October 1997 while driving home from an event honoring those who were blacklisted, will be honored Feb. 20. His widow, Lia Benedetti, will be presented with the honor at the guild’s 51st annual award ceremonies. “What Paul cared deeply about was the restoration of proper credits--who really wrote the movie, when ‘fronts’ or pseudonyms were used to hide the truth,” said former WGA President George Kirgo. “Remarkably, he was never bitter about the past.”

New Dean: Hollywood producer and film teacher Dale Pollock will become the next dean of the film school at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Pollock, 48, became a producer in 1986 after several years as a film reporter for the Los Angeles Times and Daily Variety. His credits include “Mrs. Winterbourne” and “Meet the Deedles.” Pollock, who also wrote a biography of producer George Lucas, is co-chairman of the producing program at the American Film Institute’s Center for Advanced Film and Television Studies in Los Angeles.

TELEVISION

Cherokee Docs Debut: Targeting the creation of documentaries for cable and broadcast networks, James Garner’s Cherokee Productions has formed a joint venture with documentary writer-producer-director Irwin Rosten and television marketing executive Bob Klein. The new company--Cherokee Documentaries--will focus on producing programs on entertainment history. The first project is “Private Eye: Knight in Tarnished Armor,” which will trace the cases of private detectives in fact and fiction, from those of Scotland Yard to Sam Spade. Garner, who played Philip Marlowe in the movie “Marlowe” (1969) and Jim Rockford on television, will host and narrate. Other projects in development include histories of movie musicals, screen comics and screen romances.

Ventura Viewing?: NBC plans to make a movie about Minnesota’s Gov.-elect Jesse Ventura, the Hollywood Reporter said Friday. The 250-pound former pro wrestler, dubbed “the Body,” stunned the political world with his election last month over his Democratic and Republican opponents. A former Navy SEAL, Ventura also served as an NBC commentator on “Saturday Night’s Main Event” in 1985. An NBC spokeswoman said she could “neither deny nor confirm” the report.

Cable Notes: Court TV has announced a new afternoon and evening weekday lineup for 1999 that will include “Crime Stories,” a nightly 7 p.m. documentary based on actual cases, and two new magazine shows airing at 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. . . . TV Land has acquired 30 crime-fighting dramas that will begin airing on the network Jan. 1. The series include “Dragnet,” “Adam 12,” “Kojak,” “It Takes a Thief,” “Ellery Queen,” “The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries,” “Get Christie Love” and “Switch.” . . . VH1 will premiere a new weekly series, “Where Are They Now?,” revisiting rock stars of the past, on Dec. 15, in the Tuesday 10 p.m. time slot. Another new program, “VH1 Gospel From the House of Blues,” will premiere Dec. 17 at 8 p.m. with a performance by Kirk Franklin and the Nu Nation Project.

Hola, ‘Angeles’: Mexican singer and soap opera star Paty Manterola will play one of three lead characters in a new Telemundo television series shooting in Tijuana. The crime drama “Angeles,” based on ABC’s old “Charlie’s Angels,” was scheduled to debut in the fall, but format and cast changes forced the network to scrap much of its early work, pushing the air date to late January. Sandra Vidal and Magali Caicedo also star.

QUICK TAKES

The rock band Hanson will perform outside the Mann’s Village and Mann’s Bruin theaters in Westwood at 11 a.m. today, in conjunction with the premiere of the Warner Bros. movie “Jack Frost,” doing three songs from the film’s soundtrack. . . . Michael Caine will be presented with the Career Achievement Award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures on Feb. 8. . . . Houston-based Latin music group La Mafia announced Thursday that it will split up after recording one final album. The Grammy-winning group said its members are “ready to explore different interests,” including solo projects. . . . KRLA-AM (1110) adds “Traffic Jam,” a show for and about drivers, to the Saturday 10 a.m.-1 p.m. slot, starting today. It will be hosted by Kenny “Mr. Traffic” Morse and Reed “The Traffic Guy” Berry, both veteran teachers of the Improv’s comedy traffic school. . . . Dodd Darrin, son of Bobby Darrin and Sandra Dee, will appear live during KCET-TV’s pledge break Monday night during “Bobby Darrin: Beyond the Song,” a program honoring his late father, airing at 10 p.m. . . . “ER” co-star Kellie Martin, 23, has announced her engagement to J. Keith Christian, 24, a Columbia University law student. . . . Naomi Judd, 52, and daughter Wynonna Judd, 34, said Friday they will hold a reunion concert in Phoenix on New Year’s Eve 1999 designed to celebrate more than just the new millennium. “Celebrating Naomi’s health is a big part of it,” spokeswoman Kathy Allmand said. The senior Judd quit the country singing duo in 1991 after contracting hepatitis C, which she’s been cured of for a year, while her daughter continued her career solo.