Well, yours truly has been waiting a while for a chance to run one of my favorite letters - but the time is now right.
Way back on Sept. 6, Mike Salata of Salt Lake City wrote me in response to my review of former Playboy centerfold Jenny McCarthy's then-new NBC sitcom "Jenny." And, well, the review was not exactly an enthusiastic recommendation. I wrote:The best thing you can say about "Jenny" is that it isn't as bad as you might expect. But it's still pretty bad. Where this mistaken impression that McCarthy has actual talent began is a mystery. Expect both this show and the one that precedes it, "Men Behaving Badly," to go away before too long.
Salata disagreed with that assessment, sending me the following missive:
I think you are vastly under-estimating the popularity of Jenny McCarthy. Ask anybody between the ages of 15-30 and believe me, they'll know who she is.
With all respect, I think that in three months you'll be trying to figure out why it's a top 20 show (if not higher).
As far as talent, I saw the December '96 Playboy, and she looks pretty talented to me!
Well, I'll have to take your word for it on the Playboy spread. And there's certainly no question that McCarthy is an attractive young woman.
But, take my word for it, "Jenny" is still lame and unfunny - and McCarthy appears to be doing a parody of an actress.
If you haven't seen "Jenny," imagine "Laverne & Shirley" - only way, way stupider.
And what's with this crack about only 15- to 30-year-olds knowing who McCarthy is? Even those of us who are mid- to late-thirty-some-things do sometimes take a look at MTV (but only for the news updates). And occasionally we've happened upon McCarthy's two cable series - the raging-hormone game show "Singled Out" and the sketch (alleged) comedy series "The Jenny McCarthy Show."
As to those diametrically opposed predictions - made back in September - about where "Jenny" would be come December . . . well, let's take a look.
Is it in the top 20? No.
Is it in the top 30? No.
Is it in the top 40? No.
Is it in the top 50? No.
Is it in the top 60? No.
Is it in the top 70? Well, some weeks. Other weeks, it can't even crack that less-than-elite group.
What's even more dismal is that "Jenny" finishes fourth in its time slot - behind "Touched by an Angel," "The Wonderful World of Disney" and "King of the Hill."
That's bad. Really bad.
As to my prediction that both "Jenny" and "Men Behaving Badly" (a bomb of similar proportions) would both "go away before too long," well, that depends on your definition of "too long." They are indeed both still on NBC's schedule - which means they've lasted longer than I expected.
But the network's chief programmer has stated that changes are coming to his Sunday-night schedule in early 1998 - and both shows are hanging by a thread.
The really sad thing is that Salata's letter was much funnier than "Jenny" has ever been.
THEY NEVER LEARN: ABC has apparently learned nothing from fact that the beautiful-but-untalented Jenny McCarthy has bombed on NBC.
The alphabet network has signed supermodel Cindy Crawford to a three-year development deal with an eye toward finding a series for her to star in.
By the way, Crawford is going to guest star on the special one-hour, post-Super Bowl edition of "3rd Rock from the Sun" that NBC is planning. Her character will start dating Harry (French Stewart).
Of course, she's an alien - the only way anyone could possibly explain how Crawford could possibly be dating Stewart under any circumstances.
DON'T BLAME KJZZ: The folks at KJZZ-Ch. 14 spent a good part of the day on Monday taking phone calls from people wanting to know why the station wasn't broadcasting Monday night's Jazz game.
The answer is fairly simple. Because it wasn't on Ch. 14's schedule.
Yes, it was John Stockton's first game back on the court since injuring his knee. Yes, there was a good deal of interest.
But simply throwing an extra game on the air isn't quite that simple. There are contracts and schedules and the fact that KJZZ was not logistically prepared to air a game at the last second.
Would it have been nice if they game were on TV? Sure.
But injury rehab doesn't follow a TV schedule, even if some fans wish that it would.
GETTING A BOOST: "The Gregory Hines Show" is one of the season's best new sitcoms.
Unfortunately, not much of anybody has been watching it buried on CBS's schedule on Fridays at 8 p.m.
The network is going to try to remedy that, giving it two Monday-night airings (this coming week and Dec. 22) as well as a Wednesday-night airing on Christmas Eve.
Then, in January, it's moving to 7:30 p.m. on Friday - right after the Bill Cosby-hosted "Kids Say the Darndest Things." If that doesn't help, then there's probably no hope.
Which would be a shame.
ODD BUT TRUE: Two fine actors - Olympia Dukakis and Andy Griffith - are starring in an upcoming CBS movie titled "Scattering Dad."
The plot? Well, Dukakis plays a woman "suffering from agoraphobia who confronts her fear of leaving the house after the ghost of her recently deceased husband (Griffith) reminds her of a promise she made to scatter his ashes in a nearby canyon."
I am not making this up.
The movie is scheduled to air on Sunday, Jan. 4.
ODDER BUT STILL TRUE: Yes, it's true that Geraldo Rivera is giving up his sleazy daytime talk show next season in order to do more work for NBC News. In addition to his CNBC show, "Rivera," he'll be doing more news on the cable channel as well as prime-time news specials on the NBC broadcast network.
And, reportedly, NBC will be paying Rivera at least $40 million over six years to do it.
Really.
There is, however, no truth to the rumor that the increasingly infotainment-oriented NBC News team is also recruiting Sally Jessy Raphael, Jenny Jones, Jerry Spring and Ricki Lake.
Not yet, anyway.