Battle of the Network Stars - it's ba-a-a-ack!

[dzinkin]

From the 6/23/03 issue of Broadcasting & Cable:

Film director Quentin Tarantino and Time columnist Joel Stein have been tapped for the first two quarterly editions of My Trio, for which famous folks will \"program\" the cable net for a week.  Stein's week, beginning July 20, will feature his \"hand-selected\" assemblage of five episodes of the old Battle of the Network Stars.  Tarantino's week, beginning Oct. 5, isn't as fully planned.

[vtown7]

Is that the same Joel Stein that does the back page of Entertainment Weekly?

Cheers,

Ryan V.

[uncamark]

Is that the same Joel Stein that does the back page of Entertainment Weekly?

The one and the same.

Here's the pertinent portions of the press release, which reveals that we'll also see another game show on Joel's \"My Trio\" nights:

MY TR!O: Joel Stein Week kicks off on Sunday, July 20 at 9:00 p.m., ET/PT with the premiere of My TR!O: Joel Stein, a half-hour special that explains the curator's unusual programming choices for the week. The special features clips from the upcoming week's shows as well as phone interviews with Welcome Back, Kotter's Gabe Kaplan (who appeared on Battle of the Network Stars), Jeff Altman (Pink Lady & Jeff) and Greg Fitzsimmons (Idiot Savants).

The first episode of TR!O's limited original series Good Clean Porn, follows at 9:30 p.m., ET/PT. This three-edition series spotlights the subtlety of the acting and the complex narrative storylines of four classic porn films, without any of those distracting sex scenes. The films Debbie Does Dallas, The Devil in Miss Jones, Through the Looking Glass, and I Dream of Jenna are each the subject of their own episode.

Among Joel's hand-selected acquired series will be five episodes of the reality show Battle of the Network Stars (1976-1983) which featured teams from the three major broadcast networks who compete against each other in physical challenges. Stars include Billy Crystal (Soap), David Letterman (Mary), Robin Williams (Mork and Mindy), Farrah Fawcett (Charlie's Angels), Penny Marshall (Laverne & Shirley), Ron Howard (Happy Days), and Rob Reiner (All in the Family). The series premieres on TR!O on Sunday, July 20 at 10:00 p.m., ET/PT and airs Monday through Friday at 7:00 p.m., ET/4:00 p.m., PT.

Additionally, the weeknight primetime schedule will include the camp favorite Pink Lady and Jeff, a short-lived 1980 series featuring a female Japanese rock duo (Pink Lady) and comedian Jeff Altman, airing Monday to Friday at 10:00 p.m., ET/7:00 p.m., ET. In keeping with the camp theme are five episodes of the Jerry Van Dyke classic My Mother the Car (1965-66), a comedy about a mother who was re-incarnated as 1928 automobile. Dave (Van Dyke), her son, was the only one who could hear her speak. This series airs Monday to Friday at 9:30 p.m., ET/6:30 p.m., PT.

Idiot Savants -- another personal favorite of Joel's -- is a quiz show in which four college-age contestants were asked pop culture questions by wiseguy host Greg Fitzsimmons. An episode featuring a younger Joel Stein as a contestant premieres on Monday, July 21 at 9:00 p.m., ET/6:00 p.m., PT.

To celebrate Joel's birthday on July 23, Late Night with David Letterman, airing during MY TR!O week in the special time period of 6:00 p.m., ET/3:00 p.m., PT, will feature the episode in which the talk show host reads a letter written by Joel Stein when he was a child.

--------------

That's right--the Brain is back (in rerun form for one night)!

Right now in Chicago, besides satellite, Trio's (excuse me, TR!O'S) only available in those areas where Comcast has \"rebuilt\" the cable system on the digital tier--I'm not in one of those yet.  I'd like to be in one by July 20.

[Matt Ottinger]

I have Comcast's digital tier (it's the way I get GSN) but strangely, on our system anyway, Trio is part of an even MORE expensive package despite being located on a lower channel number than our dear GSN.  I say strangely, because it's not as though Trio is anything special as program services go.  They're really best known as being a slightly more upscale TV Land, with stuff like Laugh-In reruns, their \"Brilliant but Cancelled\" showcase for limited-run series and unsold pilots, and the project described in this thread.  Seems mighty odd that a station offering such gems as Battle of the Network Stars and Pink Lady & Jeff would be considered such a premium service.

And yes, somebody got hold of an old bio for Joel Stein.  His contributions to Time have been fewer in recent months as his main job has become filling the back page of Entertainment Weekly.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jun 25 2003, 04:11 PM\'] Seems mighty odd that a station offering such gems as Battle of the Network Stars and Pink Lady & Jeff would be considered such a premium service.
 [/quote]
 Comcast needs to seriously get their head out of their asses with regard to their non-major-channel (HBO, Showtime, Skinemax, etc.) digital offerings. I have Digital Basic myself, which is a goodly chunk of digital channels, including GSN. The other day I called Comcast to ask what I had to get to get Tech TV and VH1 Classic Rock, neither of which I currently get. The girl on the other end of the phone tells me that for roughly three bucks more than I pay now I can have everything but the aforementioned HBOs and Showtimes. Sign me up, I say.
I get home, and I have VH1 Classic (and Nick GAS, a nice but thoroughly nonessential addition), but no Tech TV. The guy tells me that's yet ANOTHER digital level that'll cost me six more bucks. I told 'em to take it all and shove it.

Basically their digital tiers are neatly divided so that about half of the stuff most people would want is on each one, surrounded by 47 niche Discovery Channels I could give a whit about.

[PeterMarshallFan]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jun 25 2003, 08:47 PM\'] The guy tells me that's yet ANOTHER digital level that'll cost me six more bucks. I told 'em to take it all and shove it.

 [/quote]
 Smart man. I've (unfortunately) had to do that a few times myself. Smartass NYC phone operators......


ObGameShows: We're finally gonna get the PYL Christmas board.

[dzinkin]

[quote name=\'clemon79]Basically their digital tiers are neatly divided so that about half of the stuff most people would want is on each one\' date=\' surrounded by 47 niche Discovery Channels I could give a whit about.[/QUOTE\']

I guess my being in Time Warner territory is actually lucky for a change... not counting HBO, Showtime and other premium channels, we have one digital tier, and that's it.  A good selection too, though I wish we had Hallmark and TechTV.

[ilb4ever2000]

Lucky me. TechTV is on analog on Comcast in my area. Not that I watch it that much...

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'ilb4ever2000\' date=\'Jun 25 2003, 11:03 PM\'] Lucky me. TechTV is on analog on Comcast in my area. Not that I watch it that much... [/quote]
To give you an idea of the state of cable in Seattle, Washington, when I first moved here in 1998, you could not receive MSNBC at my first apartment in Bellevue, Washington, on 156th Avenue NE. This wouldn't be all that remarkable in and of itself, until you realize that less than a mile north of my apartment, also on 156th Avenue, was the MAIN WORLDWIDE HEADQUARTERS of a REALLY BIG SOFTWARE COMPANY with ties to that particular network, if you know what I mean.

[tommycharles]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jun 25 2003, 06:11 PM\'] I say strangely, because it's not as though Trio is anything special as program services go.  They're really best known as being a slightly more upscale TV Land, with stuff like Laugh-In reruns, their "Brilliant but Cancelled" showcase for limited-run series and unsold pilots, and the project described in this thread.  Seems mighty odd that a station offering such gems as Battle of the Network Stars and Pink Lady & Jeff would be considered such a premium service.
 [/quote]
 TRIO remains a favorite channel of mine purely because of the Late Night reruns, but they do show some fairly good original shows (but they repeat them to death). The \"Face Time\" interview with Les Moonves was interesting, because Millionaire cloning was brought up, and the interviewer had never heard of Winning Lines...

Oh, and if they show the \"Most Censored Moments\" thing again, that documentary has the popsicle twins in it, with Chuck Barris explaining why that got by the censors in the first place.