Thursday, August 19, 1999
Politically incorrect? Stand in line
BY JOHN KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Who's the most politically incorrect person in the Tristate? Bill Maher wants to know.
The star of ABC's late-night Politically Incorrect (12:05 a.m. weeknights, Channel 9) will audition 50 Tristate residents at WCPO-TV (Channel 9) on Sept. 1.
He will pick one person to fly all expenses paid to Los Angeles Sept. 28 to be the “citizen panelist” on the late-night talk show.
What is he looking for?
“The key thing is that people are well-spoken and articulate, and that they won't waffle on the opinion when they hear someone else express a different point of view,” says Sheila Griffiths, associate producer.
“Bill likes to say he's looking for people with "crackpot solutions.'”
Cincinnati will be the 19th city to contribute a “real person” to the panel this year.
Here's the drill:
• The first 50 people to line up outside WCPO-TV, 500 Central Ave., downtown, on Sept. 1 will be auditioned starting at 8:30 a.m.
• Each person will be asked to fill out a questionnaire. Then people will be interviewed in groups of five by Ms. Griffiths. She'll ask each to state his or her “most politically incorrect opinion.” She will select the best person from each of the 10 small groups.
• The 10 finalists will meet together with Mr. Maher in a Politically Incorrect-style current events discussion. He will pick Cincinnati's representative.
Politically Incorrect also stressed that I publicize these ground rules:
• Camping overnight at the station is not permitted.
• Please do not arrive before dawn.
“The citizen panelist has been extremely successful for us. I don't think we've had a bad one. Sometimes they've out-shined the stars,” Ms. Grif fiths says.
“We're the only late-night show that has gained viewing audience this season. We like to attribute it to some of this (citizen panelists),” she says.
THREE FOR EMMY: WKRC-TV (Channel 12) also has a finalist for a national Emmy, along with Channel 9, which has two.
The 1998 Golden Galaxy Awards special broadcast by Channel 12 last December was nominated for a national community service Emmy to be presented Aug. 25 by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Cincinnati should be very proud: Three of the 14 finalists came from local stations. Channel 9 was nominated for its I-Team reports about the lack of minority hiring on Paul Brown Stadium and Just Passin' Through, a Dreambuilder Celebration production.
ENQUIRERING MIND: Enquirering minds want to know: Why isn't Nick Clooney hosting afternoon programs on American Movie Classics? Is he on vacation?
No, the former WKRC-TV news anchor did not renew his contract, which expired July 31, after five years.
“We're sorry to see him leave,” says Dina White, AMC publicist.
In a recent newspaper column, Mr. Clooney explained: “The parting has nothing to do with money. The divorce is amicable. AMC gets custody of the films.”
Nick and Nina Clooney had made more than 150 personal appearances across the country for the cable channel, in addition to regular trips to New York to tape his film comments.
Actor John Burke, former host of Personal FX: The Collectible Show on FX cable, has replaced Mr. Clooney as 1-8 p.m. movie host.
By the way, a 1970 Nick Clooney Show with comedian Soupy Sales repeats on Sunday (3 p.m., Channel 9) as part of the station's 50th anniversary celebration.
UNCLE AL SHOW: Channel 9 also repeats a 1971 Uncle Al Show from Riverfront Coliseum (now the Firstar Center) with Cincinnati Zoo animals, the Royal Lipizzaner Stallions, the Hamilton Junior Circus, Mr. Patches (Tom McGreevey) and Lucky the Clown (Jack Williams) at 1 p.m. Sunday.
HAVE FAITH: Faith Ford (Murphy Brown) and Nikki Cox (Unhappily Ever After) have been signed to appear on Norm Macdonald's Norm sitcom starting with the season premiere Sept. 22 (8:30 p.m., Channels 9, 2).
Ms. Ford will guest star as a probation officer in a six-week arc. Ms. Cox, who appeared in the March pilot, will resume the role of former prostitute Taylor Clayton for the entire season. Next fall she will star in her own WB sitcom created by Bruce Helford, executive producer of Norm and the Drew Carey Show.
TV BUSINESS: CNBC's Business Center this week became the first daily news program to be anchored regularly from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (6:30-7:30 p.m. weekdays).
DEAL ENDS: PBS' NewsHour with Jim Lehrer has teamed up with the Washington Post for coverage of the 2000 presidential race, but it's not a replacement for NBC News. NBC announced it will not share TV coverage with the NewsHour, as it didin 1992 and 1996.
“We're still having discussions with two or three (TV) entities,” says Bruce Lott, NewsHour publicist.
NBC will split coverage next year with MSNBC, the cable channel that launched weeks before the '96 Summer Olympics and nominating conventions.
The Post partnership began with the Iowa straw poll this week.
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