Through the Wire

New York— Two giants of the TV business — fitness king Jack LaLanne and nostalgia king Joe Franklin — were exercising their right to zing corny one-liners last Thursday at a press event celebrating LaLanne's new book.

LaLanne — boasting a rock-hard stomach “just like my head!” at age 93 and a half — was the center of attention as co-author, with Matthew J. Rettick, of a book about maintaining lifelong financial and physical health, called Fiscal Fitness.

But with Franklin (a mere 82 this month) there at the St. Regis Hotel conference room as emcee, the spotlight was definitely shared.

“This week I commemorate 52 years on TV and radio, so it's a very special week,” Franklin said, plugging his Bloomberg Radio show.

“Jack LaLanne and I go back to the days when the Dead Sea was only sick!” he cracked. “Way, way back. He was my third guest when I started TV in the early '50s. My first guest was Moses! When Moses had a headache I told him to take two tablets! I don't do comedy, I don't do jokes. But I want to say, age is only a number, and my number is unlisted.”

Franklin (whose chat show ran on New York TV stations from 1951 until 1999) called LaLanne (whose eponymous TV exercise show ran for 34 years) “the man who invented everything that's happening today in the way of keeping physically fit.”

Then it was LaLanne's turn. He talked about his daily routine, which starts out at 6 a.m. with 90 minutes of lifting weights and a half-hour of swimming. “You don't have to do that much but it's an ego thing — I want to see how much longer I can keep this up,” he said, advocating 30-40 minutes' strenuous activity three to four times a week for most people.

Asked the link between physical and fiscal fitness, he said: “They're both the same — you've got to work at them. You've got to have a plan!”

So what's your plan, Jack? “I've got a plan financially — my wife [Elaine] takes care of all that and I take care of the physical part.”

But seriously, he said “so many people, you know, they end up bankrupt. You have good physical condition but if you're broke financially you can't be happy. Other folks, they have a lot of money but they neglect their physical side. So they're bankrupt physically. You've got to put them both together, that's the whole key.”

LaLanne said he and Elaine eat out every night but Christmas and New Year's, and he always orders raw vegetables chopped fine, four hardboiled eggs from which he removes the yolks, and fish or occasionally turkey. And here's a simple rule to remember to help keep the calories down.

“Don't exceed the feeding limit!”

New York — Edward James Olmos, who plays Capt. William Adama in Sci Fi Channel drama Battlestar Galactica, didn't sound terribly upbeat about the upcoming fourth and final season (debuting April 4).

At Sci Fi's upfront event at the Morgan Library here, he noted that his standard advice to people is not to watch the darkly adapted version of the '70s sci-fi vehicle. Too depressing, he feels. And this year, he said, there are lots of deaths.

Fans of the show already know it's somber, but don't mind. But Olmos's frankness prompted some smiles and amusement from his fellow female cast mates, including Mary McDonnell and Katee Sackhoff, seated in front of him onstage.

Perhaps sensing tension, Olmos looked up and gave a shout-out to a VIP in the audience. “I love you Bonnie Hammer,” he said from the stage, addressing the USA Network and Sci Fi Channel president.

The Wire is sure the feeling is mutual.