CNN entertainment reporter Jim Moret shared his secret for becoming a chick magnet in sixth grade: have your dad "star" in an episode of The Flintstones. Moret happily related his tale during tribute ceremonies last week for William Hanna and Joe Barbera, creators of The Flintstones and dozens of other characters. The lifetime achievement of the pair, both now 88, was celebrated at the Los Angeles Museum of Television & Radio. Moret was in elementary school when his father, actor James Darren, was a guest on the animated primetime series as "James Darrock." The Flintstones was at the peak of its popularity, and with that cachet, "You can have anybody go to the dance that you want," he said.
A recent interview with the Northwest-region president of Millenium Digital Media rang a bell with a Wire Correspondent. Many readers may be old enough to recall that Steven Weed was the name of the boyfriend of heiress Patty Hearst when she was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. "Don' t think I haven' t been asked that before," said Millenium' s Steven Weed. He grew up in the Northwest and "had some rough times in high school" over the connotations of his name, but no, he never met the millionairess.
What was supposed to be a routine flight from Dallas to Orlando turned into an adventure last week for Fox Sports Net senior vice president of rights acquisitions Dave Almstead. Almstead and several thousand people at Dallas-Fort Worth International were forced to move underground in light of the approaching tornado that devastated parts of Fort Worth last Tuesday. Almstead initially called local Fox broadcast affiliate KDFW just to alert them of the airport' s decision, but he was soon recruited as an on-site reporter for the station, relaying breaking news on-air from the airport. The tornado thankfully missed the airport, but after his performance, Almstead may want to consider a new profession in broadcast journalism.
Cable News Network anchor Judy Woodruff, the keynoter at the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau' s Cable Advertising Conference in New York, recently predicted "a very close election" between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore. Further, she said, we should "keep an eye" on former John McCain supporters, Catholics and Hispanics as key swing factors. She then asked for a show of hands from her audience of more than 1,200 people in the packed Marriott Marquis ballroom and found that CAB attendees expected Gore to win the presidential election and Rudy Giuliani to beat Hillary Clinton in the heated New York Senate race.
Dr. Malone, The Wire apologizes. Contrary to what was reported here last week, Time Warner does not vote Liberty Media' s Time Warner shares. Instead, each Liberty share has 1/100th of a vote, all its own.
