THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 26, 1996 TAG: 9602240063
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
TODAY'S TV BUZZ:
Ann-Margaret, who stars on NBC in the conclusion of ``Seduced by Madness: The Diane Borchardt Story'' tonight at 9, told me this about playing an evil character: ``It was hard for me to identify with a sociopathic, psychotic person with no conscience, because I never met anyone like that.'' We chatted in Los Angeles. . . . Evan Bonifant, the 10-year-old from Pungo who's been seen in TV commercials and on a Fox sitcom, turns thespian in ``A Penny for the Guy,'' which opens March 6 at the Virginia State Company in Norfolk. . . .
If you want to see the Oscar telecast for the rilly big shew that it is, catch the ``Hooray for Hollywood'' night out at the Commodore Theater in Portsmouth on March 25. The Arthritis Foundation is sponsoring the event. The telecast will be seen on a giant movie screen without commercials. Call 420-4638 . . . Filming is about to begin on the ``Dallas'' reunion film for CBS. No word yet if Norfolk's Debbie Shelton (she played J.R. Ewing's mistress) will be included. . .
Starting at 7 p.m. Thursday, WTKR takes three hours from its broadcast schedule for ``Talk It Out,'' a locally produced vox populi forum about curtailing violence . . . Tonight's sweeps stunt on CBS is nothing but one long commercial for Liz Taylor's new perfume. The former Mrs. John Warner - yes, she was once a humble Virginia farm wife - appears on all the CBS sitcoms tonight starting with ``The Nanny'' at 8. Surprise. Liz plays herself. . . . Heidi Fleiss, that infamous Hollywood madam, has been selling her line of clothing on pay-per-view, but she has yet to pop up on Cox Cable here. The next best thing to seeing the real Heidi was watching ``The Good Doctor: The Paul Fleiss Story'' on CBS last week. Tricia Leigh Fisher played Heidi, who makes a living these days autographing boxer shorts.
Memo from Ed Munson Jr., general manager of WAVY: In about a month, WVBT will be at full power with a new transmitter and 1,000-foot tower going up in Driver. ``If the weather cooperates,'' said Munson. WAVY and WVBT are joined at the hip in a local marketing agreement. . . . Will all those who participated in the American Family Association's Turn Off TV Day earlier this month please raise their hands? I don't see many hands in the air. The boycott sent this message to the networks: Cool it on sex, violence, bad language.
Out at The Family Channel headquarters in Virginia Beach, they say that the animal guy who schmoozes with David Letterman on CBS, Jack Hanna, will be a regular on the ``Home & Family'' show scheduled to start in April. FAM will also show 65 episodes of ``Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures'' in the fall . . . From the mailbag: Frank Cassell of Edenton, N.C. writes, ``We would like to see you do something on not only your favorite shows such as `Beverly Hills 90210,' but also our favorites, including the best show on television, `Touched by an Angel.' No problem. I've interviewed angel Monica; stay tuned for that story. . . .
Andy Rooney, 76, was the last to learn that CBS is adding three more commentators to ``60 Minutes.'' Is that any way to treat the man who does the best three minutes on network television? . . . The Chiropractic Centennial Foundation has arranged for a documentary about that branch of medicine, ``From Simple Beginnings,'' to be seen all over cable next month. CNBC has it March 3 at 1 p.m.
``Mystery Science Theater 3000'' alert! WPEN is re-running the series in which two robots and one human talk back to movies. Catch it Sundays at midnight.. . . . And speaking of TV flicks, here's a great idea: Take a movie, cut out the dull stuff and condense it to 30 minutes. That's what's happening on E! Entertainment Television on Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m., Saturdays at midnight and Sundays at 5:30 p.m. in ``Cut to the Chase.'' Said Host Art Mann, ``Only the good parts remain.'' by CNB