Art Garfunkel may join American Dreams
The Girl Connor
By BILL BRIOUX -- Toronto Sun
http://www.canoe.ca/Television/jan17_art-sun.html
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Psst, pass it on: Art Garfunkel is about to join
the cast of American Dreams.
That was the buzz yesterday on the set of the NBC family drama, where
the cast and crew welcomed TV critics from across North America.
The series shoots on the same Sunset-Gower studio back lot where many
of the Frank Capra films of the '30s were lensed. Real Philly steak
sandwiches were served as reporters were led through the American
Bandstand set and other Philadelphia back-street locales, circa 1964.
Gail O'Grady, who plays '60s mom Helen Pryor, even offered Tastycakes
as writers filed through the interior set of her house, a very close
duplicate of the home used in the American Dreams pilot, shot on
Vancouver's North Shore area.
NBC entertainment president Jeff Zucker just stopped short of
announcing that the rookie Sunday night series would be back next
fall. "It's my favourite show of the year so you know what that
means," said Zucker.
Montreal-native Vanessa Lengies, who plays eager teen Roxanne, has
been asked to write a real life column for Seventeen magazine to
correspond to her character's own foray into journalism. Look for it
in the May issue.
Bandstand creator Dick Clark, also an executive producer on this
series, was on hand and says he is "a half step away" from bringing an
updated version of American Bandstand back to television. He says all
the gold records, pennants and other paraphernalia on the American
Dreams' Bandstand set are exact duplicates of the ones he still has in
his office. "Why I kept them all, I don't know," says Clark.
Connor
--
"So let me get this straight. You're saying that something which you
have never seen is slightly less blue than something else which you
have never seen?" ~ Prince Edmund, The Black Adder
Boardwalk7
>the cast of American Dreams.
Okay, just remind him he can't sing with Paul Simon on the show until 1966...
:-)
Seriously, this would make a very interesting casting choice. I'm curious as
to what part of the AD universe Art's character would participate -
1. Would he be an extended member of the Pryor family (possibly Jack's father,
who was referenced in an earlier episode) or a member of the Dolan family
(Helen's side of the family)?
2. Would he be part of the Bandstand staff, possibly a network executive from
ABC trying to plan out the decision to move the show from Philadelphia to Los
Angeles?
3. Would he be a quick-talking record producer who could take a Bandstand
regular into the studio for a quickie record, that would be only a marginal hit
in the Philadelphia area (don't laugh, there are some Bandstand regulars who
actually recorded songs).
4. How about the true owner of the Vinyl Crocodile, the person who employs Luke
Foley?
Just a note - Art Garfunkel does have some acting chops, he's not just a
"singer who wants to play a guest cameo appearance" on a TV show. He appeared
in Catch-22, Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession and Carnal Knowledge, and received
positive reviews for his work. He also sang the theme songs for the show
Brooklyn Bridge, and the love theme from the movie Watership Down.
Listen, I'm just pitching out some ideas for discussion, so that people don't
think the only thing I do with this show is bitch about it.
Chuck
Tony Calguire
>
>
> HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Psst, pass it on: Art Garfunkel is about to join
> the cast of American Dreams.
>
... And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the only-- THE ONLY-- line in the
entire article which has anything to do with Art Garfunkel.
The article doesn't contain an interview with Art Garfunkel. It doesn't
give the name of Art's character, or how he will fit into the show's
storyline. It doesn't give a date for his first appearance. It doesn't
say if he'll be a regular character, recurring character, or just a
multi-show arc. It doesn't describe what made him decide to jump back
into the acting biz. There's no quote from the producers and co-stars
declaring how "excited" they are to have Art join the cast.
And yet, the title of the article is, "Art Garfunkel may join American
Dreams", subtitled "Art lands a Dream role".
Why don't these Internet "journalists" give appropriate, on-topic
headlines for their articles? We Usenetizens do a better job of writing
subject lines for our posts than they do for their articles. And why
can't they compose a focused article about a single topic? This article
is about five or six unrelated things.
WebSp...@webtv.net
that you Usenet guys were "here" first, cyberspace speaking???
Tony Calguire
>
> What's the difference between a Usenetizen and an Internet poster? Only
> that you Usenet guys were "here" first, cyberspace speaking???
I wasn't drawing a distinction between Usenet and other types of
Internet discussion forums. I was just using Usenet as an example.
My point was, when you read an article on Yahoo! News or Canoe.ca, the
people who write those articles are supposed to be professional
journalists. And yet, they seem unable to write an appropriate,
on-topic headline for their stories.
On the other hand, those of us who participate in Usenet newsgroups (or
Yahoo! Groups, or any other type of Internet discussion forums) are
amateurs, and yet, most of us are able to come up with a subject line
which fits the topic of our post.