ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 8, 1996 TAG: 9602080100
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Off the Clock
SOURCE: CHRIS HENSON
Let's see...
Earnest Borgnine was in the "Poseidon Adventure," which also had Gene Hackman.
Now, Gene was in "No Way Out" with Kevin Costner, who was in the "Untouchables" with Sean Connery, who was in "Meteor" with Brian Keith.
Who was in "Young Guns" with Kiefer Sutherland, who was in "Flatliners" with KEVIN BACON.
Quad erat demonstrandum. And they said it couldn't be done.
|n n| This is how you play "Makin' Bacon," a game introduced to the Roanoke Valley by WROV-FM radio personalities Sam Giles and Mark Nelson.
The trick is to connect a movie star to Kevin Bacon through film roles. Jennifer Jason Leigh may have never shared the screen with Bacon, but she did star in "Miami Blues" which also had Fred Ward, who starred in "Tremors" with Kevin Bacon.
Thus, the Bacon is Made. It's kind of a "Where's Waldo" for adults.
"We got a phone number for these two college guys from Pennsylvania who said they were the Bacon Police," says Giles. "Apparently, they believe that Kevin Bacon is the center of the acting universe, and that every other actor can be traced to him. We called one of them up, on the air, and asked him to Make Bacon with Earnest Borgnine. He immediately said, 'You can't do it!' Then a listener called in and did it, and it kind of took off."
Occasionally Sam and Mark Make Bacon on their morning show. They pick a star and invite listeners to call in and connect that person with the star of "Footloose."
"Never has a game translated so well with our audience," says Giles. "The response has been amazing...we get calls, and faxes..."
If you play this game for more than a little while, you discover "Bacon Shortcuts" like Kiefer and Fred Ward, that speed things along.
"The great thing about 'Makin' Bacon' is that it doesn't have pieces," says Giles. "You can do it for hours...it's addictive."
The game can be deceptively engrossing, as with two listeners who were driving to Richmond one recent morning.
"They called to say they had gotten so caught up 'Makin' Bacon' that they missed the exit to I-64," says Giles. "They drove like an hour out of their way."
With the aid of his computer, and Leonard Maltin's "Cinemania '95" CD-ROM, Giles can Make some pretty tough Bacon connections.
"We did Don Knotts," he says smugly, "And we didn't use 'The Apple Dumpling Gang.'"
Every good morning show subsists on listener involvement. The best way to get it is to play games and offer prizes. Giles and Nelson consult a morning show network for ideas, and upload a few themselves.
The Bacon thing is not the first game Giles and Nelson have tried. "We have one," says Giles, "where we say a word or phrase and you have to call in and guess whether it's the name of a race horse, adult film or rock band."
Recently, the DJs gave away Roanoke Express tickets to anyone how could call in and say, "Thank you, Sam and Mark, you smell like a barn full of swine," in a foreign language. They had four winners who repeated the phrase in French, Finnish, Latin and German.
But, it's "Makin' Bacon" that has ignited the hearts and imaginations of the WROV audience. Why, the airwaves practically sizzle with it. Which means the game will be around a while. People are hooked.
"A prime example," says Giles: "Keith MacDonald, a guy at the station, was looking for Dave O'Brian. He's the new program director. Keith finds him in a booth, and you don't just go into the booths, because they might be recording something. Keith can see him through the glass, and Dave is in there scratching his chin and looking all serious - like he's got the weight of the world on him. Finally, after waiting a couple of minutes, Keith goes in and says, 'Dave, I hate to disturb you...' And Dave says, 'No, no. I'm just Makin' Bacon.'"
And speaking of bacon...
I've decided that my life's ambition is to have a Cracker Barrel breakfast named after me.
The restaurants already have "Uncle Herschel's Breakfast" of two eggs, ham and fried apples or hash browns, for instance.
I figure my breakfast would have French toast, two eggs, sausage (link and patty), a separate plate heaped with crispy bacon, coffee, OJ, fried potatoes, a whole onion and miniature box of Cocoa Pebbles.
I figure I inherited a breakfast gene from my grandmother. That's the kind of breakfasts she made. Granted, that was back when pan grease was good for you. This is the same grandmother who gave me $10 when I first tipped the scales at 100 pounds. Alas, I received nothing for reaching 200 pounds three years ago.
I called the Cracker Barrel home office in Lebanon, Tenn. and chatted with Becky Jennings, a marketing coordinator. Apparently, Uncle Herschel is Herschel McCartney, whom she describes as "a country gentleman and a possible stockholder."
Jennings declined to comment on my qualifications to have a meal named after me. She transferred me to the breakfast menu coordinator's voice mail.
I left my name, but have not heard back yet. Perhaps its because my message was too long, what with all those ingredients.
Anyway, if you hit the Cracker Barrel one of these mornings ask if they have "Chris Henson's Heart Stopper Breakfast" yet. Tell them you want to join my "Breakfast Club"...
...which starred Emilio Estevez, who was also in "Young Guns," which also had Kiefer Sutherland...
It works, I tell ya! It works!
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: ROBERT LUNSFORD/Staff. color.by CNB