Advertisement

Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

Share via

TELEVISION

Roasting in Full View: Drew Carey may be the 94th recipient of the New York Friars Club’s annual Celebrity Roast, but he will be the first to be so honored on television. For the first time, the Friars will allow television cameras into the event, with cable’s Comedy Central to broadcast the often off-color festivities on Oct. 2. Previous roastees have included Johnny Carson, Whoopi Goldberg, Richard Pryor and Milton Berle. Meanwhile, Carey’s summer ABC series, the improvisational comedy program “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” will premiere Aug. 5, airing Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m., following “The Drew Carey Show.”

*

CBS Ousts Molinari: Susan Molinari, who gave up her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to join CBS News, has lost her job with the network. CBS News President Andrew Heyward said Tuesday that “CBS News Saturday Morning,” which Molinari has co-anchored since its September launch, “is not a perfect fit for [Molinari’s] interests or talents, and she will be leaving after this week’s broadcast.” Her replacement has not yet been named. In a statement, Molinari said she is “disappointed” and will continue a career in broadcasting.

Midseason Mania: CBS has ordered “Payne,” a U.S. version of the British comedy series “Fawlty Towers,” as a midseason backup for next season, with John Larroquette in the role originated by John Cleese. Meanwhile, a proposed ABC sitcom starring Bette Midler won’t happen next season, after the star and production company, Carsey-Werner, spent months trying to settle on a concept. Meanwhile, ABC continues to develop a show that would reunite Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper as their characters from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” for midseason as well, though its prospects remain uncertain.

Advertisement

POP/ROCK

Back to Woodstock: The lineup is confirmed for “A Day in the Garden,” two days of concerts scheduled for the site of the original Woodstock festival in Bethel, N.Y. Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Ziggy Marley & the Melodymakers and Ten Years After will perform on Aug. 14, followed by Pete Townshend, Joni Mitchell, Lou Reed and Richie Havens on Aug. 15. The shows will mark the first large-scale concerts at the site since the landmark 1969 event. Tickets--$70 per person, per show; free for children under 12 with a paid adult--go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster.

*

Green Day Bassist Recuperating: Green Day plans to follow through on a three-week Canadian tour, scheduled to kick off Saturday in St. John’s, Newfoundland, despite injuries suffered by bassist Mike Dirnt after the band’s performance at Saturday’s KROQ-FM (106.7) Weenie Roast concert at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. Dirnt suffered a fractured skull when a bottle was cracked over his head backstage, a band spokeswoman said, which forced Green Day to cancel a Sunday performance in Sacramento. Third Eye Blind, which was also on the Irvine bill, has denied reports that its bassist, Arion Salazar, was responsible for the attack; however, Salazar has admitted to rushing the stage and colliding with Dirnt during Green Day’s Irvine set “in the spirit of an inter-band prank.” Afterward, according to a statement released by Third Eye Blind’s management, Dirnt found Salazar backstage and the two “tussled” before an unidentified third man intervened and cracked the bottle over Dirnt’s head. Dirnt is recuperating this week at his Bay Area home; meanwhile, Green Day’s publicist has issued a statement saying: “On the advice of their attorneys, Green Day are unable to comment at this time.”

STAGE

Playhouse Season: A new play about a clergyman’s family conflict over gay marriage will be part of Pasadena Playhouse’s winter-spring season. D. Paul Thomas’ “The Presentment,” scheduled for March 21-April 25, will be preceded by Pearl Cleage’s play about black homesteaders, “Flyin’ West” (Jan. 17-Feb. 21). The season will conclude with “The Importance of Being Earnest” (May 16-June 21).

Advertisement

QUICK TAKES

Macaulay Culkin won’t be going “Home Alone” anymore. The actor and Broadway actress Rachel Miner, both 17, were married Sunday at an undisclosed Connecticut location, Culkin’s publicist said Tuesday. The couple had announced their engagement in March. . . . Chicago and Hall & Oates are scheduled to play the grand opening show July 21 at the new Coors Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, south of San Diego. Construction delays caused by rain postponed the opening of the 20,000-capacity facility, which at one point had scheduled a July 10 Pearl Jam performance as its inaugural show. So far, 12 concerts have been booked for the first season. . . . Actor Richard Dreyfuss (“Mr. Holland’s Opus”) will step up to the podium in real life tonight when he conducts the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Dreyfuss also hosts tonight’s opening Bowl gala, which includes fireworks. . . . Cable’s Fox Family Channel--which debuts Aug. 15--is spending a whopping $35 million to produce 65 episodes of “The New Addams Family,” a new live-action series, scheduled to premiere in October. . . . Musicians Neil Young, Paul Simon and Chrissie Hynde; TV newswoman Diane Sawyer; and designer Ralph Lauren were among those joining Paul McCartney Monday at a private New York memorial for his wife, Linda McCartney, who died in April from breast cancer at age 56.

Advertisement