Morning Report - News from Feb. 13, 2002

MOVIES

Documentary Ruffling White House Feathers

Advisors to President Bush aren’t happy with a documentary premiering at the South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas, next month. The fun-loving antics captured on celluloid, they fear, could undermine the new square-jawed image sent out by the chief executive.

The 75-minute “Journeys With George” was shot by Alexandra Pelosi, who covered the campaign as a producer for NBC. Bush not only sat down for interviews, she says, but also came up with the name of the movie.

“It is not a George Bush blooper tape,” said Pelosi, 31, who is the daughter of Nancy Pelosi, the new House Democratic whip. “This is the campaign experience from my seat.”

In one scene, Bush is shown wading through throngs of journalists who are sipping margaritas in the back of the presidential campaign plane. “These are my people,” he says. “It takes an animal to know an animal. And I’m not admitting I’m an animal with 50 days to go in the campaign.” Though the President doesn’t break his sobriety, Pelosi shows him drinking a nonalcoholic beer with gusto--something other photographers were forbidden to shoot.

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Insurer Lashes Out at Transplant Drama

In New Line Cinema’s movie “John Q,” opening Friday, a distraught father played by Denzel Washington is trying to get a heart transplant for his ailing 9-year-old son. Unable to get an organ through the proper channels or to convince his employer to cover the procedure, he takes the emergency room hostage.

The plot is not only a stretch, it’s downright inaccurate, said the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Assn.

Though transplant demand has nearly quadrupled in the last decade, there is a nationwide network of centers set up to address the need, the health insurance carrier said.

“This kind of fiction reinforces ridiculous stereotypes about health care, glorifies violence as a means of problem-solving and needlessly frightens the public,” said Dr. Allan Korn, chief medical officer for the group.

The criticism took New Line by surprise. “We find it curious that Blue Cross/Blue Shield would issue a four-page press release--especially since the film makes it very clear that John Q has an issue with his employer, not his insurer,” spokeswoman Christina Kounelias said Tuesday. “In any case, the movie is only a dramatic ‘what if’--and we made every effort to be accurate.”

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POP/ROCK

Coolidge’s Fallbrook Home Still Standing

The Fallbrook home of singer Rita Coolidge was damaged by the wind-whipped brushfire that destroyed 30 homes and burned more than 4,500 acres in north San Diego County.

The two-time Grammy-winner was on tour and had just performed at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. She rushed back to Fallbrook expecting her home to be in ruins. The walls were scorched, and her 24-acre avocado grove was badly burned. But the house was intact.

“I’m one of the lucky ones,” Coolidge told reporters.

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TELEVISION

ABC Is Reducing ‘Millionaire’s’ Presence

ABC is cutting back on Regis Philbin’s workload.

The network is eliminating the Monday edition of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” The game show that aired four nights a week at its peak will now be restricted to one night--Thursdays.

Beginning March 4, the Damon Wayans sitcom, “My Wife and Kids,” will get its second slot of the week, Mondays at 8 p.m. Because the show will still run on Wednesdays, the Monday airing will be mostly reruns.

It will be followed on Mondays by “The Wayne Brady Show,” a variety program that did well in a limited run last summer, and the game show “The Chair,” starring John McEnroe. The ratings-challenged drama “Once and Again” airs at 10 p.m.

All this comes with an asterisk, however. Just as you’re getting used to its new schedule, ABC will air movies and specials on Monday nights in May.

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QUICK TAKES

David Bowie will serve as artistic director of the cutting-edge arts festival “Meltown 2002,” to be staged over two weeks in June at London’s South Bank arts complex ....The 13th annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards named Staples Center the nation’s arena of the year. The Greek Theatre was chosen as best small outdoor venue and the Universal Amphitheatre was selected as theater of the year.... Sting, Michael Jackson, Randy Newman, Barry Manilow and Ashford & Simpson are among those being inducted into the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 13 .... Los Angeles Philharmonic assistant conductor Yasuo Shinozaki will make his Dorothy Chandler Pavilion debut Thursday, replacing Hans Vonk, who canceled due to illness.

Elaine Dutka