Morning Report - News from July 20, 1999

TV & FILM

‘Little Bill’ Kids Alert: Nickelodeon and Bill Cosby have teamed up to present a new animated series, “Little Bill,” based on the entertainer’s popular children’s book series. The TV show will air on Sundays, beginning Nov. 7, at 8 p.m. The story will follow the adventures of an inquisitive, energetic 5-year-old boy who, with the help of his family and friends, finds adventure in everyday life. Gregory Hines does the voice of the child’s father, Big Bill, and Phylicia Rashad, Cosby’s longtime TV wife, does Little Bill’s mother, Brenda. Also providing voices are Ruby Dee as the child’s lively great-grandmother, Alice the Great, and “Cosby” regular Madeline Kahn as his quirky neighbor, Mrs. Shapiro. A 6-year-old newcomer, Xavier Pritchett, plays the title character. “Bill Cosby has been providing wonderful family entertainment for years,” said Cyma Zarghami, executive vice president of Nickelodeon. “He is a tremendous talent who is adored by kids and adults, and we are proud to be working with him.”

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Calling All Tough Men: “The Toughman World Championship Series” debuts Friday at 10 p.m. on the FX cable channel. The hourlong weekly series combines amateur boxing and profiles of the participants. National finals for the title of “World’s Toughest Man” will take place early next year, and also air on FX. Produced by Litton Syndications and AdoreAble Promotions, this is the first regular Toughman series. Previously the contest, created in 1979 by boxer Art Dore, was done as single pay-for-view events. FX President Peter Ligouri, calling the contest “no-holds-barred excitement,” said, “There are no actors, no scripts and no punches pulled. There is nothing fixed or fake.”

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Conservative Seals of Approval: Based on criteria such as foul language, depictions of sex and violence and plot lines, the Los Angeles-based Parents Television Council has named the WB’s “7th Heaven” the most “family-friendly” show on network TV, followed in order by three CBS series--”Touched by an Angel,” “Promised Land” and “Early Edition”--and another WB entry, “The Smart Guy.” The conservative watchdog group also selected what it considered to be the “most offensive” shows: WB’s “Dawson’s Creek,” followed by Fox’s “Melrose Place,” NBC’s “Will & Grace,” Fox’s “Ally McBeal” and ABC’s “Spin City.”

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The Raunch Count: Moviegoers already know that “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” gets pretty raw. How raw is it? According to Movie Index of Colorado Springs, Colo., a fledgling company, the movie based on the Comedy Central cable TV series may be the crudest ever released by a major studio. It found that “South Park” contained 399 words that the company classifies as crude, obscene/profane or sexually suggestive. That’s more profanity per minute for the cartoon movie than any other of the more than 1,000 films Movie Index has examined. The company says it isn’t passing judgment--just keeping score. “Indexers” employed by Movie Index literally count the bad words, naked body parts, sex acts and instances of violence in popular films, and classify all of this according to intensity (mild, moderate, etc.). By Movie Index’s count, “South Park” contains fewer salty words than “Pulp Fiction,” which weighed in with 411 no-nos. But “South Park” runs a mere 80 minutes, compared with “Pulp Fiction’s” 154, giving the animated flick a much higher raunch-per-minute ratio.

POP/ROCK

TLC Nails Hammer: The Hammer has fallen--and TLC is on top. The best-selling hip-hop album of all time is now 1994’s “CrazySexyCool” by the Atlanta-based trio TLC, edging Hammer’s “Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em” from 1990, according to the Recording Industry Assn. of America. “CrazySexyCool,” which included the group’s biggest hit, “Waterfalls,” has now sold 11 million copies, the association reports. TLC, which mixes R&B; grooves and hip-hop, had already claimed the title of best-selling female group in pop history with hits such as “No Scrubs” and “Waterfalls.”

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‘A Day in the Garden at Yasgur’s Farm’: Tickets priced at $19.69 are on sale to commemorate on Aug. 15 the 30th anniversary of the seminal rock concert known as Woodstock. A larger anniversary show is scheduled in Rome, N.Y., but this so-called alternative event--”A Day in the Garden at Yasgur’s Farm”--will be held on the original site and will feature David Crosby and CPR, Richie Havens, Arlo Guthrie, Johnny Winter, Melanie, Country Joe McDonald, Leslie West of Mountain and Rick Danko and Garth Hudson of the Band. Tickets for the reunion (11 a.m.-11 p.m.), 75 miles north of Manhattan, are being sold through various Ticketmaster outlets.

DANCE

Kicking High: Arthur Mitchell, who was inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame last weekend, isn’t wholly comfortable in his new role. “I’ve always thought those things were for the old and dead,” Mitchell said in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. “But I’m glad to get the honor while I’m still alive and kicking. Although I’m not kicking as high these days.” Mitchell became the first black male principal dancer of a major ballet company in 1955 and went on to found the Dance Theatre of Harlem. He broke the traditionally white ballet mold when he joined the New York City Ballet, under the direction of George Balanchine.

QUICK TAKES

Los Lobos will perform songs from their new album and sign autographs today at Tower Records in Monterey Park at noon and then at the chain’s Sunset Strip site at 7 p.m. . . . KCRW-FM’s (89.9) “The Politics of Culture” deals with the protests, personnel firings, gunshots and arrests at Pacifica radio outlet KPFA-FM in Berkeley at 2:30 p.m. today. . . . Due to illness, singer Oumou Sangara will not perform in the African Pulse concert at the Hollywood Bowl Sunday. . . . Verne Troyer, the diminutive actor who played Mini-Me in “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” will guest star on a UPN sitcom, “Shasta McNasty,” in October. The network announced that it will begin rolling out its new season of prime-time shows starting with “Moesha” on Aug. 23.