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American Morning

Interview with Susan Campos, 'Entertainment'

Aired May 20, 2002 - 07:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The winner of "Survivor": Marquesas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Some of us thought it would never end, but it did. The survivor of TV's "Survivor" revealed last night in a three-hour season finale. I wonder if that was long enough. This morning, as the winner, Vecepia Towery, is a newly- minted millionaire. I guess it was worth it for her big time.

In the often schizophrenic world of television sweeps, we've got the May sweeps going on, one long-running, hit series bid adieu last night while the cast of another said hello again. And on the big screen, it was the battle of the blockbusters. "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" squaring off against "Spider-Man" at the box office.

And here to tell us all about all of this and kind of put it in some perspective is "Entertainment" reporter, Susan Campos -- happy Monday -- good morning.

SUSAN CAMPOS, "ENTERTAINMENT" REPORTER: Good morning to you too.

CAFFERTY: Do you want to start with the movies? Let's do the movies.

CAMPOS: All right. "Star Wars" right?

CAFFERTY: Yes. That was supposed to be perhaps the biggest gross -- it was supposed to do better than "Spider-Man," but it didn't, did it?

CAMPOS: It didn't, but I think we are all jaded by "Spider-Man," because it did so well. But 86 million for three days is very good for an opening.

CAFFERTY: We're not talking chop liver here.

CAMPOS: Exactly. And that still makes it one of the biggest openings for a three-day weekend. And it also did better than the last "Star Wars" movie, which means that the audience is actually still growing, which is good for them. CAFFERTY: I also read that George Lucas has a restriction on this that it can only be shown in theaters that have a certain kind of sound system. So it actually was on -- what -- 400 or 500 fewer screens than "Spider-Man?"

CAMPOS: Absolutely.

CAFFERTY: Right?

CAMPOS: Right. So he just wanted to have that certain sound system, so you could hear it just right.

CAFFERTY: "Spider-Man," how big is big? I mean, this thing is going to be -- what -- $1 billion movie?

CAMPOS: It continues to break records. On Friday, it hit the $250 million mark in just 15 days.

CAFFERTY: Wow.

CAMPOS: That's the first time any movie has gotten there that quickly. And so the question is: Will it be one of the all-time grossing movies? And right now, "Titanic" holds that record at $600 million, but maybe "Spider-Man" will beat that.

CAFFERTY: That's just phenomenal. Needless to say, there will be "Spider-Man" 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

CAMPOS: Right. And they've got everybody signed up for it.

CAFFERTY: All right. Television, "Survivor," big ratings? Big numbers? A series that's going to continue?

CAMPOS: Sure. A three-hour finale. Vecepia, as you said, won the $1 million. And actually they announced the winner in New York City, and then Rosie O'Donnell ended up hosting the one-hour reunion special. And that kind of made it great, because she's the ultimate fan, and she just loves "Survivor." But I have to say I miss -- I loved the first "Survivor," and I kind of missed that Richard Hatch, because he was the perfect winner. And so...

CAMPOS: CAFFERTY: Was that the fat, naked guy wading around in the surf catching fish?

CAMPOS: That's right.

CAFFERTY: That's the last time I ever watched "Survivor." I clicked it on one night, and I saw this fat, naked guy in the water, and said I'm not watching this. And I never watched it.

CAMPOS: I can't take it anymore!

CAFFERTY: That was the end. I never went back.

CAMPOS: Well, he was so eccentric that he kind of was perfect for the show. CAFFERTY: All right. May sweeps, we've got a couple of things going on. "X-Files," that was the last show ever last night, but it's not going to die, right?

CAMPOS: No. They are going to make this a movie franchise, David Duchovny, he was there for the two-hour finale.

CAFFERTY: He's pretty cool.

CAMPOS: He is pretty cool, and he wears those gray T-shirts, which I guess on the Web site they actually sell, and everybody loves those gray T-shirts on him, and was wearing his, you know, standard T- shirt. But they are going to make this a movie franchise, and you know, it should be bigger than ever.

CAFFERTY: Oh, I'm sure it will do fine. Reunion specials, TV is loathe to find anything that hasn't been done before.

CAMPOS: Oh, I know.

CAFFERTY: And they did one of these with -- was it the old "Carol Burnett" show?

CAMPOS: Carol Burnett got $30 million.

CAFFERTY: And now everybody is doing reunions.

CAMPOS: And no, really the other reunion specials haven't done anything near the "Carol Burnett" special, but they keep doing them. And so they did the "Cosby" special last night. And I have to say watching it was fun, because it was such a great show.

CAFFERTY: That was a wonderful program. Any indication of the ratings yet, or is it too early? They will be out later today.

CAMPOS: No, right, they will be out later today. But I'll be really interested to see how this does, because it was such a competitive night last night on television. You had "Survivor," the "X-Files," everything all going head to head.

CAFFERTY: I watched the Mets game, which was a good game. "Ally McBeal," another very popular show, which is going to fade away or no?

CAMPOS: Yes, it will fade away. This is going to be the last night tonight, a special again, the last finale, and it was on the air six years. They really felt like the Ally McBeal character had kind of done everything it could do. And I don't think -- maybe Calista Flockhart can now spend more time with Harrison Ford. I mean, you see them everywhere. It's kind of cute, right?

CAFFERTY: What are you saying there, Susan? Talking like item here, are we?

CAMPOS: They are everywhere together. It's very cute.

CAFFERTY: She's a remarkable actress. CAMPOS: She is so good on that series.

CAFFERTY: And if she gets out from under that grind of a TV series, we'll probably see her in some big-screen stuff.

CAMPOS: I think so too.

CAFFERTY: I was reading a thing in the paper this morning, the up fronts, where the networks unveil all of their fall seasons last week. CBS, NBC expected to do very well in selling their programs ahead of time. Fox and ABC not expected to do so well.

CAMPOS: Well, also I think this really hurt Fox, because they lost the "X-Files," "Ally McBeal."

CAFFERTY: Wow, that's right.

CAMPOS: So you really have to find new franchises out there, and that's always tough. And television is such a -- I always think whoever has that job of programming for every network, that is the most difficult job, and that's why they are always kind of changing.

CAFFERTY: And you talk about building obsolescence, you know.

CAMPOS: Right.

CAFFERTY: Regardless of how good you are for a while, eventually somebody else is going to take you out, and that's the end of your career doing that.

CAMPOS: Well, also there is also some new trend, like reality television...

CAFFERTY: Sure.

CAMPOS: ... and you had "Survivor" and you had every kind of knock off. And then, you know, the reunion specials, it's always something.

CAFFERTY: All right. Susan, good to see you -- thanks.

CAMPOS: Thank you.

CAFFERTY: Susan Campos, "Entertainment" reporter.

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