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American Morning

90-Second Pop: Culture Watch

Aired June 30, 2003 - 07:54   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.


RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: It's time now for our "90-Second Pop," our lightening-fast look at pop culture.
Our experts this morning, B.J. Sigusmund, he's the entertainment reporter for "Newsweek," Toure, contributing editor for "Rolling Stone" magazine, and Andy Borowitz, author of "Who Moved my Soap: the CEO's Guide to Surviving in Prison."

Forget about all of this talk about girl power. We've got guy power this morning.

(CROSSTALK)

MIGUEL: The testosterone is running high this morning. But we have to start off talking about the girls with you, B.J., to talk about "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," the sequel, getting $38 million. Only in Hollywood in 2003 can 38 million be seen as, you know, some kind of failure, because the previous movie, the first one, took in 41 million.

B.J. SIGUSMUND, "NEWSWEEK" ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Yes.

MIGUEL: What do you think? Did it not work or what?

SIGUSMUND: This is a huge Hollywood shock. The only other movie sequel this year that hasn't done better than its first movie was "Dumb and Dumber," which didn't have Jeff Daniels or Jim Carrey.

MIGUEL: Yes.

SIGUSMUND: But this movie, of course, had the three women, plus Demi Moore, plus Bernie Mac. It had a little bit of something for everyone. And they were out everywhere. Was there a single magazine or TV show that they didn't promote this thing on? So, showbiz types continue to scratch their head over what went wrong here.

MIGUEL: But if...

TOURE, "ROLLING STONE" CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: But there is not a need to go out on your house on Friday night and see "Charlie's Angels." As much fun as it is, it's not like "The Matrix," where I've got to discuss it with my friends. It's not like "Austin Powers," where I've got to know what the new hot jokes are going to be. It's like...

MIGUEL: It hasn't entered the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is what you're saying here. ANDY BOROWITZ, AUTHOR, "WHO MOVED MY SOAP": Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. This is very bad news for the makers of "Josie and the Pussycats" here.

SIGUSMUND: Absolutely. Yes, but I think that possibly one of the things that went wrong were that the reviews were poor, and actually conventional Hollywood wisdom (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a movie like this is review-proof. But possibly they were wrong. The reviews were mixed to bad, and possibly a lot of people paid attention to them and said, well, maybe I'll skip it.

MIGUEL: And not a critic-proof movie. Let's move on to Wimbledon now with you, Toure. It begins its second week. Agassi and Roddick still there. It could be an all-American final, but Sampras is out. And I can't imagine this, Agassi nearing retirement or talking about it. I can't imagine a grand slam tour without him.

TOURE: Well, he's 33. He's been around for a really long time.

MIGUEL: Yes.

TOURE: I mean, he was Lebron James (ph) of tennis, you know, like, a whole generation ago. So, I mean, it's a very exciting week coming up. This is what American tennis is about now: Agassi at the end but still very successful; Roddick at the beginning of his career, still waiting to see if he can fulfill the promise. So, this is going to be the exciting week to see what happens with them. Serena and Venus are still here. So, you know, it's going to be a big litmus test for American tennis of where are we now?

MIGUEL: The men. But the women seem to be, you know, pretty much set?

TOURE: The women are still...

MIGUEL: The Williams' sisters are pretty much it.

TOURE: Absolutely.

BOROWITZ: I was shocked by this news out of Wimbledon, because I had no idea that Wimbledon was going on. And so, this is a big wake- up call to me. I've got to pay more attention to tennis.

MIGUEL: This news just in: there are sports going on.

TOURE: But this is the big week, where, like, all of the best players are left. So, now you can tune in.

BOROWITZ: And this Agassi fellow is a tennis player?

TOURE: He's good.

(CROSSTALK)

SIGUSMUND: He's like an Energizer bunny, though. I feel like he's been playing our whole life. MIGUEL: That's what I'm saying is like, you know, I can't imagine a grand slam tour without Agassi in there whipping the crowd into shape.

All right, Andy, let's move on to you now. Pamela Anderson, "Stripperella," the cartoon on the National Network, which wanted to be Spike TV, but a judge said you can't be Spike TV. So, is this innovative animated entertainment or anther sign of the impending apocalypse? You be the judge.

BOROWITZ: Well, you know, what's interesting about this whole Spike Lee, I'm assuming Spike TV, I think after "Stripperella" everybody in America with the initials TNN should sue TNN.

MIGUEL: Is that right?

BOROWITZ: Well, I don't know. You know, it seems like -- I am not a showbiz expert, but it seems to me that if you do a series featuring the voice of Pamela Anderson, isn't the voice of Pamela Anderson the only part of her that we're not interested in? I mean, I just thought it was a very strange -- a really strange decision.

MIGUEL: Yes.

SIGUSMUND: What I like so much about "Stripperella" is that she has her tongue firmly planted in cheek.

TOURE: Yes, yes.

BOROWITZ: For a change!

TOURE: Yes.

SIGUSMUND: She designed this thing. You know, she said make my boobs bigger, make my waist smaller. I want stilletto heels that allow me climb up buildings, I want a lipstick laser.

(CROSSTALK)

MIGUEL: As much as we would love to continue with discussing Pamela Anderson and animated parts of her body, we have got to move on. Andy Borowitz, Toure, B.J. Sigusmund, thank you so much for joining us on "90-Second Pop."

SIGUSMUND: Thank you.

BOROWITZ: Thank you.

TOURE: Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired June 30, 2003 - 07:54   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: It's time now for our "90-Second Pop," our lightening-fast look at pop culture.
Our experts this morning, B.J. Sigusmund, he's the entertainment reporter for "Newsweek," Toure, contributing editor for "Rolling Stone" magazine, and Andy Borowitz, author of "Who Moved my Soap: the CEO's Guide to Surviving in Prison."

Forget about all of this talk about girl power. We've got guy power this morning.

(CROSSTALK)

MIGUEL: The testosterone is running high this morning. But we have to start off talking about the girls with you, B.J., to talk about "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," the sequel, getting $38 million. Only in Hollywood in 2003 can 38 million be seen as, you know, some kind of failure, because the previous movie, the first one, took in 41 million.

B.J. SIGUSMUND, "NEWSWEEK" ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Yes.

MIGUEL: What do you think? Did it not work or what?

SIGUSMUND: This is a huge Hollywood shock. The only other movie sequel this year that hasn't done better than its first movie was "Dumb and Dumber," which didn't have Jeff Daniels or Jim Carrey.

MIGUEL: Yes.

SIGUSMUND: But this movie, of course, had the three women, plus Demi Moore, plus Bernie Mac. It had a little bit of something for everyone. And they were out everywhere. Was there a single magazine or TV show that they didn't promote this thing on? So, showbiz types continue to scratch their head over what went wrong here.

MIGUEL: But if...

TOURE, "ROLLING STONE" CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: But there is not a need to go out on your house on Friday night and see "Charlie's Angels." As much fun as it is, it's not like "The Matrix," where I've got to discuss it with my friends. It's not like "Austin Powers," where I've got to know what the new hot jokes are going to be. It's like...

MIGUEL: It hasn't entered the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is what you're saying here. ANDY BOROWITZ, AUTHOR, "WHO MOVED MY SOAP": Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. This is very bad news for the makers of "Josie and the Pussycats" here.

SIGUSMUND: Absolutely. Yes, but I think that possibly one of the things that went wrong were that the reviews were poor, and actually conventional Hollywood wisdom (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a movie like this is review-proof. But possibly they were wrong. The reviews were mixed to bad, and possibly a lot of people paid attention to them and said, well, maybe I'll skip it.

MIGUEL: And not a critic-proof movie. Let's move on to Wimbledon now with you, Toure. It begins its second week. Agassi and Roddick still there. It could be an all-American final, but Sampras is out. And I can't imagine this, Agassi nearing retirement or talking about it. I can't imagine a grand slam tour without him.

TOURE: Well, he's 33. He's been around for a really long time.

MIGUEL: Yes.

TOURE: I mean, he was Lebron James (ph) of tennis, you know, like, a whole generation ago. So, I mean, it's a very exciting week coming up. This is what American tennis is about now: Agassi at the end but still very successful; Roddick at the beginning of his career, still waiting to see if he can fulfill the promise. So, this is going to be the exciting week to see what happens with them. Serena and Venus are still here. So, you know, it's going to be a big litmus test for American tennis of where are we now?

MIGUEL: The men. But the women seem to be, you know, pretty much set?

TOURE: The women are still...

MIGUEL: The Williams' sisters are pretty much it.

TOURE: Absolutely.

BOROWITZ: I was shocked by this news out of Wimbledon, because I had no idea that Wimbledon was going on. And so, this is a big wake- up call to me. I've got to pay more attention to tennis.

MIGUEL: This news just in: there are sports going on.

TOURE: But this is the big week, where, like, all of the best players are left. So, now you can tune in.

BOROWITZ: And this Agassi fellow is a tennis player?

TOURE: He's good.

(CROSSTALK)

SIGUSMUND: He's like an Energizer bunny, though. I feel like he's been playing our whole life. MIGUEL: That's what I'm saying is like, you know, I can't imagine a grand slam tour without Agassi in there whipping the crowd into shape.

All right, Andy, let's move on to you now. Pamela Anderson, "Stripperella," the cartoon on the National Network, which wanted to be Spike TV, but a judge said you can't be Spike TV. So, is this innovative animated entertainment or anther sign of the impending apocalypse? You be the judge.

BOROWITZ: Well, you know, what's interesting about this whole Spike Lee, I'm assuming Spike TV, I think after "Stripperella" everybody in America with the initials TNN should sue TNN.

MIGUEL: Is that right?

BOROWITZ: Well, I don't know. You know, it seems like -- I am not a showbiz expert, but it seems to me that if you do a series featuring the voice of Pamela Anderson, isn't the voice of Pamela Anderson the only part of her that we're not interested in? I mean, I just thought it was a very strange -- a really strange decision.

MIGUEL: Yes.

SIGUSMUND: What I like so much about "Stripperella" is that she has her tongue firmly planted in cheek.

TOURE: Yes, yes.

BOROWITZ: For a change!

TOURE: Yes.

SIGUSMUND: She designed this thing. You know, she said make my boobs bigger, make my waist smaller. I want stilletto heels that allow me climb up buildings, I want a lipstick laser.

(CROSSTALK)

MIGUEL: As much as we would love to continue with discussing Pamela Anderson and animated parts of her body, we have got to move on. Andy Borowitz, Toure, B.J. Sigusmund, thank you so much for joining us on "90-Second Pop."

SIGUSMUND: Thank you.

BOROWITZ: Thank you.

TOURE: Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.