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ENTERTAINMENT
B ra n d N u b ia n
P a m e la
A aòeks
B lending action and hum or in a
fast-paced adventure series, “V .l.P .”
takes a behind the scenes look at an
elite bodyguard agency protecting
the rich and fam ous in glam orous
Beverly Hills.
......Starring Pam ela A nderson Lee
and executive produced by J. F.
Law ton, (“ Pretty W om an,” “ U nder
S ieg e” ) M organ G en d el (“ N ash
B rid g e s,” “ L aw & O rd e r” ) and
A nderson Lee, “V .l.P .” is produced
by Lafitte Productions and distrib
uted by C olum biaT riS tarT elevision
Distribution.
...... M arking the return to televi
sion o f A nderson Lee, w ho won
w orldw ide fam e in “ B ay w atch ,”
“V .l.P .” prem ieres in S eptem ber
1998 and has been sold to m ore than
200 stations representing m ore than
98 % o f the country, including a
m ajor deal w ith all 22 Fox ow ned
and operated stations. “The prem ise
is a little bit like ‘P retty W om an,” ’
sional bodyguards realize that they
need a figurehead for their struggling
agency, they persuade her to jo in
them with the prom ise that sh e’ 11 live
a glam orous Beverly H ills lifestyle,
\ and never be in danger. She gets the
\ glam our, but from w eek to w eek as
jh e a d o f V.l.P. — as in V allery Irons
^ P ro te c tio n — she is also in a lot o f
says creator and executive producer
Law ton. “A beautiful girl com es to
Los A ngeles and is propelled into a
w orld w here sh e’s surrounded by all
this glam our. The audience can en
jo y the fun o f imagining w hat it would
be like to have all these things. There ’ s
a C inderella elem ent to it all.”
......A nderson Lee plays Vallery
Irons, a sm all-tow n girl w ho com es
to Southern C alifornia looking for a
break but w inds up w orking at a
fashionable hot dog stand. O ne o f
her custom ers, a top action-m ovie
star — Brad C liff — invites her to a
film prem iere. W hile w alking down
the red carpet, a crazed fan pulls out
a gun. The hunk turns into a coward
and V allery saves the day. E ager to
defend his reputation, C liff tells re
porters that V allery is his bodyguard,
and she goes along to save his em bar
rassm ent. Suddenly sh e’s on every
m ajor m agazine cover in the coun
try. W hen a group o f real profes-
» danger.
......Each w eek, the Beverly Hills-
based series w ill feature a fam iliar
face from the worlds o f television,
sports and film in a cam eo role as a
celebrity needing protection. “V .l.P .”
also has a regular fantasy sequence in
which Anderson Lee imagines herself
in luxurious and sexy surroundings,
only to be brought dow n to earth in
humorous fashion. “J.F. Law ton did a
very clever thing in setting up a first-
act fantasy segment that shows o ff a
side o f Pam ela that everyone expects
to.see, then undercuts it with hum or,”
says show -runner and executive pro
ducer Morgan Gendel. “ I know it’s
going to be a fun show to w atch” adds
Anderson Lee, w ho displays a new,
soft side to her character in the series.
“ It’s got humor, and it shows the bright,
colorful, behind-the-scenes C alifor
nia that everybody wants to see. “
......Besides a great cast, Law ton is
determined to give the show big-screen
values. “W e’re going to tell big sto
ries with big action every w eek,”
Lawton says. “W e w ant to ram p up
the level ofquality all around: writing,
visuals, photography. It’s a great look
ing show.” Adds G endel, “W e’ve got
the rare writing staff that is as adept at
adrenaline-rush action as it is with sly
humor."
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There are few pleasures in life
greater than hearing that your favorite
new-school rap group has reformed.
Y our memories begin to soar back to
the last time you saw them rocking the
mic in a humid club, like bold hip-hop
superstars. Or, as the boombox that is
your mind begins to quickly rewind to
the group’s blazing singles o f yester
year, you easily recall a time when
those tracks served as the soundtrack
to your life.
On “The Return,” the single from
Brand N ubian’s latest disc Founda
tion, Lord Jam ar proudly proclaims,
You ain ’t heard us all together in sev
eral vears/it’s like a federal crime, you
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Primo style from
anarrayoftheirold
re c o rd in g s and
grafted onto a fresh new track,
one can’t help but be thrilled. Indeed,
these hip-hop brothers from another
m other are “all for one" once again.
U C W H B tr
Show
In her new incarnation as a daytime
talkshow host, Roseanne is a legiti
mate heir to Dinah Shore’s couch.
Finally, she’s m oved beyond her
personal travails to rem ind us why
R oseanne’s domestic goddess oeuvre
hit so big when the Den ver housewi fe-
cum -standup-cum -sitcom star arrived
on the national landscape at the tail
end o f the Reagan era.
For som e tim e now, Roseanne has
insisted she would m ake a killer talk
show host if she was just given the
chance to speak directly (read: with
out network and studio interference)
to her hard-core audience. She was
right. The multifaceted star has the
goods for daytime TV, even if it may
take a w hile for host and producers to
figure out how all the parts should fit
together.
At her best, Roseanne’s hum or has
always revolved around the truism, so
often overlooked by showbizzers, that
the A merican public is infinitely hip-
per and funnier than m ost TV writers
give it credit for. For the assembly line
nature o f daytime talk shows, Roseanne
is all-purpose: part showbiz celebrity,
and part earthy mom, one who was
pushing the notion o f girl power long
before the Spice Girls were even in
puberty.
Hands down, though, Roseanne is
funniest in her celebrity interviews,
w hich have been better, and longer,
than the average chat show session.
W hat’s not to like about a host that
puts John W aters through a series o f
Rorechach tests, or gives Kirstie Alley
her very unpolitically correct opinion
ofScientology.
Roseanne stands out from the rest
o f the yak pack by serving up sassy,
heartfelt opinions, usually with punch
lines. S he’s not diplomatic, or even
particularly polite, and doesn’t pre
tend to be. Some days she’s dressed as
ifshejust stepped out ofachic Melrose
A venue boutique; other days she dons
a drab gray sweat suit.
s a r a r
nes Film Festival
ANY
COLOR
spirals forward
» a raw,
u|v immediacy,
^ind of movie
maires you
ive in movies ”
ant
M V II
ANY
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