An L.A. Browneout? Read the Small Print

Is Jackson Browne really skipping the chance to play in his hometown this week--or is he just a great pretender? Browne is on tour with an all-star band of singer-songwriters that includes Bonnie Raitt, Shawn Colvin and Bruce Hornsby, and the ensemble will hit the stage of the Greek Theatre on Tuesday night. But unlike the other 21 shows on the tour, the advertisements for the Los Angeles show omit Browne, and if you ask a Ticketmaster operator, you’ll be told the 50-year-old singer is not on the bill (which has likely prompted many fans to head north for the Santa Barbara shows on Wednesday and Friday). So why is Browne bypassing L.A.? Call it a Y2K problem: Browne is joining the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt for the big New Year’s Eve show at the Staples Center, and, with many high-priced tickets still available for that show, Browne’s contract forbids him from playing an advertised gig in the local market, sources say. (That same contract issue also prompted Ronstadt to limit her August concert with Emmylou Harris at the Troubadour to an invitation-only event.) But Browne’s contract would not prevent him from, oh, say, just walking out on stage and joining Raitt and the rest of the band as an unadvertised “surprise guest.” And since the outfit’s three-hour set includes intricate harmonies and polished revampings of each singer’s hits, wouldn’t the show be hard to pull off without him? “I can’t get into it; I can’t talk about it,” Raitt said Friday from Colorado, where the group, which also includes David Lindley and Wally Ingram, sold out two nights at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre. What can Raitt say about the show? “It’s a dream team and just a lot of fun for us to get up there together. . . . We each have about six or seven of our songs, but they’ve been rearranged or done in a new way, and we do them as a band. And we do all the good ones, the ones everybody knows. We’re not going all artsy on you.”

Passing of the Political Plate: Open Season

It’s that season again in Hollywood--no, not the fall movie season, the fall political fund-raising season. With eyes on the 2000 elections, politicians of every stripe--from presidential wannabes to candidates running for Congress, the U.S. Senate and state governorships--will be hitting up the entertainment industry for campaign contributions. Vice President Al Gore will kick off the latest round of fund-raisers on Thursday with a $1,000-per-person reception at the home of former studio mogul and longtime Democratic Party fixture Lew Wasserman. President Clinton will then fly into town on Oct. 2 to attend a “Take Back the House” gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel sponsored by the gay and lesbian community, with tickets going as high as $50,000 for a table of 10. Clinton also is scheduled to attend a $15,000-per-couple reception at the home of director Rob Reiner to benefit the Democratic National Committee. Another Gore fund-raiser is set for Oct. 12, co-hosted by DreamWorks founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, Creative Artists Agency President Richard Lovett and incoming Warner Bros. studio chief Alan Horn. Meanwhile, sources say, plans are being formulated for a Hollywood fund-raiser in early November on behalf of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is eyeing a U.S. Senate campaign in New York. Then, in December, Los Angeles businessman Ron Burkle is hosting a $10,000-per-couple fund-raiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Andy Spahn, political advisor to DreamWorks founders Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, noted that in May a fund-raiser hosted by the DreamWorks trio raised $2 million for Democratic congressional and Senate races. Spahn said that earlier in the summer GOP presidential hopeful George W. Bush came to Hollywood “raising a ton of money,” and Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley also held a $1,000-per-person fund-raiser attended by entertainment industry figures.

Times Square Flash May Steal ‘Today’s’ Show

It’s a case of taking it to the streets--literally. The battle of the morning television studios officially begins today when ABC’s “Good Morning America” moves into its new home with a view over Manhattan’s teeming Times Square. NBC’s “Today” show, which was the first studio to hit the pavement, has found the digs are not without problems, though: Producers must contend with rowdy viewers and public-relations stunts by people trying to worm their way into the picture. “GMA” avoids that because its main studio is on the second floor, although weather and cooking segments will be done from a street-level space complete with removable windows. But ABC has a different problem: The billboards that crowd Times Square include some from the competition, such as MTV, whose parent Viacom just announced plans to acquire CBS. “You’ll see it,” says a resigned co-anchor Charlie Gibson. “GMA,” which is co-anchored by Diane Sawyer, is a distant second in the ratings behind NBC, and the network clearly hopes the street suite will help close the gap. Meanwhile, CBS’ “Early Show” moves into its own new studio near Manhattan’s Central Park on Nov. 1, when anchors Bryant Gumbel and Jane Clayson make their debut.

--Compiled by Times Staff Writers