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American Morning

90-Second Pop, Culture Watch

Aired January 15, 2004 - 07:43   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's time once again for "90-Second Pop." Our fast-talking experts will have to settle three burning issues from the pop culture world in just a minute and a half per topic.
Here they are this morning. "New York Times" reporter Lola Ogunnaike is with us, Peter Castro, assistant managing editor of "People" magazine as well, and Jessica Shaw, the author of the "Shaw Report" in "Entertainment Weekly."

Good morning to each and every one of you. Thanks for coming in.

LOLA OGUNNAIKE, "NEW YORK TIMES" REPORTER: Good morning.

PETER CASTRO, ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

JESSICA SHAW, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Let's start with Boy George and "Taboo." Critics hated it before it even -- before the reviews were even open to be reviewed. Everyone was piling on and hating it. It came at a very bad time, obviously, for Rosie O'Donnell. Now, as everyone predicted, it's gone down the tubes. Do you think this is unfair or a deserved dinging of this show?

OGUNNAIKE: Well, I saw the show, and I have to say the first half was great. I really had a fun time. And the music was good and the acting was -- the star, Euan Morton, was really talented and he's really good. But the second half was just a drag, and it really fell apart.

And I think people really enjoyed the Boy George aspect of it, but Leigh Bowery, it's a character that's not familiar to American audiences. And they just had trouble getting into it.

O'BRIEN: But the reviews were vicious. So, I'm wondering, it just sounds like not a great Broadway show...

OGUNNAIKE: Well...

O'BRIEN: ... where people were just, you know, out there with a hatchet to stab it.

CASTRO: Well, I want to see a musical on the behind-the-scenes version of that musical.

O'BRIEN: Much more interesting.

SHAW: Rosie O'Donnell versus the entire cast.

(CROSSTALK)

OGUNNAIKE: Yes, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) behind the scenes, and then the director, they were going to change him midway through the show, and I....

SHAW: He was storming off the set right and left. Yes, it was a mess.

OGUNNAIKE: Yes. And I interviewed Boy George just days before the show was about to open, and they were still making major script changes, and that's usually a bad sign.

O'BRIEN: So, it was deserved that it closed.

OGUNNAIKE: Yes, I think so.

CASTRO: Yes, but I love that she's rich enough to just throw away $10 million like that.

OGUNNAIKE: Really.

SHAW: Like, she released a statement saying, like, I'm happy I invested $10 million.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Better her money than other people's money. I'm, like, right on.

(CROSSTALK)

SHAW: That's true. That's true, I know.

CASTRO: And she was referring to the show as her child. Very strange stuff.

SHAW: That's never healthy.

CASTRO: No.

O'BRIEN: No, that doesn't sound very healthy.

Let's talk, Peter, about the new "Bachelorette." Let's -- you know what? Because I am so sick over Trista.

CASTRO: Yes. Well, you know, they're just running this franchise into the ground, much the same way they did "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." And they have to be careful. They have to take a page out of Mark Bennett's (ph) genus book of casting. And following Trista, you know, that was a hard act to follow. I feel no heat whatsoever on...

O'BRIEN: From Meredith.

CASTRO: From Meredith.

O'BRIEN: But the viewers seemed to like Meredith. She got ditched early on and was all broken up about it. And...

SHAW: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) broken up about it. I don't think the viewers or no one really cared much about her.

CASTRO: Yes.

OGUNNAIKE: And if anything, it was a sympathy vote, because her grandmother died during the show. They might have felt bad for her, and they figured once she recovered from that, she'd be a hot babe. But she is so not a hot babe.

SHAW: She is maybe the blandest TV reality personality I've ever seen in my life.

OGUNNAIKE: She really is. She really is.

CASTRO: Yes, this is egregiously bad last night.

(CROSSTALK)

CASTRO: And the guys were just...

SHAW: The guys were horrible.

O'BRIEN: All 25 of them?

SHAW: All of them. All are dead fish.

CASTRO: They're like what guy would be interested in Meredith, who was in love with bachelor Bob? I mean, really?

SHAW: Bachelor Bob, so much product in his hair.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Someone likes Bachelor Bob a lot. Hello Jessica. Want to talk about your little crush on Bachelor Bob?

OGUNNAIKE: You like bachelor Bob.

O'BRIEN: Well, clearly, she's defending him.

SHAW: I did.

O'BRIEN: So, you think this is a no-go, and actually think it could hurt the franchise. I mean, are these the sort of clever ideas that, you know, it's just over, let it go after one show.

CASTRO: Well, I mean, you mentioned clever, and that's what it needs. I mean, this new device about the white rose, you know, at the end. I would like to have been at the production meeting for that. We'll throw a white rose there, and we'll freak everyone out. Like, you know...

SHAW: That would make it interesting.

CASTRO: Yes.

OGUNNAIKE: I think Trista is a hard act to follow. She was really annoying and coy, but she had that cutesy Malibu Barbie thing going for her. And Meredith just doesn't have that...

(CROSSTALK)

OGUNNAIKE: Like, you really want to be the next Trista?

O'BRIEN: All right, let's move on. That's what I was thinking. Let's move on to our next topic. Jennifer Anniston has a new movie out, and it's actually not getting very good reviews, considering she had a really good movie out, "The Good Girl," which got wonderful reviews for her. This new movie is called "Along Came Polly." And it kind of seems very redundant, like haven't we seen that before, but with Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck or something?

OGUNNAIKE: And Cameron Diaz.

SHAW: We've seen it a million times. Jennifer Anniston is queen of the mediocre movie. You know, "Rock Star," "Object of my Affection," she hasn't made the greatest movie choices, but "Good Girl" was great, which is what she really, really needs to focus on -- good directors, independent films. She shouldn't try and be a huge leading lady.

O'BRIEN: Is the friend, who after the show ends is going to really leverage it into the movies more than anybody else? Who do you think it is?

OGUNNAIKE: You know, it's...

O'BRIEN: Who becomes this movie...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CASTRO: I thought it was Lisa Kudrow.

O'BRIEN: Really?

CASTRO: But that sort of like tailed off. I don't know. I just...

SHAW: Do you really think so?

CASTRO: You know, she is facing stiff competition. She has got Scarlet Johansson and Kirsten Dunn (ph), you know, this new crop of actresses that are just making such a big splash right now.

SHAW: Who are actually really good film actresses, it's hard to transition from being a TV sitcom star into a movie actress. It's a whole different page. O'BRIEN: Do we know at all what's going to happen in the last episode? Everyone is guarding it under lock and key.

CASTRO: You know, I love...

O'BRIEN: I have friends who write for that show, and they're, like, you know I love you, but I'm not telling you what's going to happen on the show.

CASTRO: Well, I'd love to interview your producer, because (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I have no idea.

O'BRIEN: That's called a tease, Peter.

CASTRO: Yes, right.

O'BRIEN: We know, but we're not telling.

SHAW: Very top secret, and emotions are running high.

CASTRO: It really is.

O'BRIEN: But they finish shooting in January, and then they are going to sit on it for months?

OGUNNAIKE: Yes.

CASTRO: Yes, I think they're going to shoot several different endings, too.

OGUNNAIKE: Right.

CASTRO: Because that will be very easily...

OGUNNAIKE: Choose your own adventure sort of ending.

CASTRO: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Interesting.

CASTRO: Yes.

O'BRIEN: We will see, won't we?

CASTRO: It will be huge.

O'BRIEN: Lola and Peter and Jessica, nice to have you. And we'll see what happens. We should put money on it. Like, as we get closer, we'll start to bet.

CASTRO: Let's do that, yes.

O'BRIEN: Let's do that. Thanks you, guys. Appreciate it.

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 January 15, 2004 - 07:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's time once again for "90-Second Pop." Our fast-talking experts will have to settle three burning issues from the pop culture world in just a minute and a half per topic.
Here they are this morning. "New York Times" reporter Lola Ogunnaike is with us, Peter Castro, assistant managing editor of "People" magazine as well, and Jessica Shaw, the author of the "Shaw Report" in "Entertainment Weekly."

Good morning to each and every one of you. Thanks for coming in.

LOLA OGUNNAIKE, "NEW YORK TIMES" REPORTER: Good morning.

PETER CASTRO, ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

JESSICA SHAW, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Let's start with Boy George and "Taboo." Critics hated it before it even -- before the reviews were even open to be reviewed. Everyone was piling on and hating it. It came at a very bad time, obviously, for Rosie O'Donnell. Now, as everyone predicted, it's gone down the tubes. Do you think this is unfair or a deserved dinging of this show?

OGUNNAIKE: Well, I saw the show, and I have to say the first half was great. I really had a fun time. And the music was good and the acting was -- the star, Euan Morton, was really talented and he's really good. But the second half was just a drag, and it really fell apart.

And I think people really enjoyed the Boy George aspect of it, but Leigh Bowery, it's a character that's not familiar to American audiences. And they just had trouble getting into it.

O'BRIEN: But the reviews were vicious. So, I'm wondering, it just sounds like not a great Broadway show...

OGUNNAIKE: Well...

O'BRIEN: ... where people were just, you know, out there with a hatchet to stab it.

CASTRO: Well, I want to see a musical on the behind-the-scenes version of that musical.

O'BRIEN: Much more interesting.

SHAW: Rosie O'Donnell versus the entire cast.

(CROSSTALK)

OGUNNAIKE: Yes, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) behind the scenes, and then the director, they were going to change him midway through the show, and I....

SHAW: He was storming off the set right and left. Yes, it was a mess.

OGUNNAIKE: Yes. And I interviewed Boy George just days before the show was about to open, and they were still making major script changes, and that's usually a bad sign.

O'BRIEN: So, it was deserved that it closed.

OGUNNAIKE: Yes, I think so.

CASTRO: Yes, but I love that she's rich enough to just throw away $10 million like that.

OGUNNAIKE: Really.

SHAW: Like, she released a statement saying, like, I'm happy I invested $10 million.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Better her money than other people's money. I'm, like, right on.

(CROSSTALK)

SHAW: That's true. That's true, I know.

CASTRO: And she was referring to the show as her child. Very strange stuff.

SHAW: That's never healthy.

CASTRO: No.

O'BRIEN: No, that doesn't sound very healthy.

Let's talk, Peter, about the new "Bachelorette." Let's -- you know what? Because I am so sick over Trista.

CASTRO: Yes. Well, you know, they're just running this franchise into the ground, much the same way they did "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." And they have to be careful. They have to take a page out of Mark Bennett's (ph) genus book of casting. And following Trista, you know, that was a hard act to follow. I feel no heat whatsoever on...

O'BRIEN: From Meredith.

CASTRO: From Meredith.

O'BRIEN: But the viewers seemed to like Meredith. She got ditched early on and was all broken up about it. And...

SHAW: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) broken up about it. I don't think the viewers or no one really cared much about her.

CASTRO: Yes.

OGUNNAIKE: And if anything, it was a sympathy vote, because her grandmother died during the show. They might have felt bad for her, and they figured once she recovered from that, she'd be a hot babe. But she is so not a hot babe.

SHAW: She is maybe the blandest TV reality personality I've ever seen in my life.

OGUNNAIKE: She really is. She really is.

CASTRO: Yes, this is egregiously bad last night.

(CROSSTALK)

CASTRO: And the guys were just...

SHAW: The guys were horrible.

O'BRIEN: All 25 of them?

SHAW: All of them. All are dead fish.

CASTRO: They're like what guy would be interested in Meredith, who was in love with bachelor Bob? I mean, really?

SHAW: Bachelor Bob, so much product in his hair.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Someone likes Bachelor Bob a lot. Hello Jessica. Want to talk about your little crush on Bachelor Bob?

OGUNNAIKE: You like bachelor Bob.

O'BRIEN: Well, clearly, she's defending him.

SHAW: I did.

O'BRIEN: So, you think this is a no-go, and actually think it could hurt the franchise. I mean, are these the sort of clever ideas that, you know, it's just over, let it go after one show.

CASTRO: Well, I mean, you mentioned clever, and that's what it needs. I mean, this new device about the white rose, you know, at the end. I would like to have been at the production meeting for that. We'll throw a white rose there, and we'll freak everyone out. Like, you know...

SHAW: That would make it interesting.

CASTRO: Yes.

OGUNNAIKE: I think Trista is a hard act to follow. She was really annoying and coy, but she had that cutesy Malibu Barbie thing going for her. And Meredith just doesn't have that...

(CROSSTALK)

OGUNNAIKE: Like, you really want to be the next Trista?

O'BRIEN: All right, let's move on. That's what I was thinking. Let's move on to our next topic. Jennifer Anniston has a new movie out, and it's actually not getting very good reviews, considering she had a really good movie out, "The Good Girl," which got wonderful reviews for her. This new movie is called "Along Came Polly." And it kind of seems very redundant, like haven't we seen that before, but with Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck or something?

OGUNNAIKE: And Cameron Diaz.

SHAW: We've seen it a million times. Jennifer Anniston is queen of the mediocre movie. You know, "Rock Star," "Object of my Affection," she hasn't made the greatest movie choices, but "Good Girl" was great, which is what she really, really needs to focus on -- good directors, independent films. She shouldn't try and be a huge leading lady.

O'BRIEN: Is the friend, who after the show ends is going to really leverage it into the movies more than anybody else? Who do you think it is?

OGUNNAIKE: You know, it's...

O'BRIEN: Who becomes this movie...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CASTRO: I thought it was Lisa Kudrow.

O'BRIEN: Really?

CASTRO: But that sort of like tailed off. I don't know. I just...

SHAW: Do you really think so?

CASTRO: You know, she is facing stiff competition. She has got Scarlet Johansson and Kirsten Dunn (ph), you know, this new crop of actresses that are just making such a big splash right now.

SHAW: Who are actually really good film actresses, it's hard to transition from being a TV sitcom star into a movie actress. It's a whole different page. O'BRIEN: Do we know at all what's going to happen in the last episode? Everyone is guarding it under lock and key.

CASTRO: You know, I love...

O'BRIEN: I have friends who write for that show, and they're, like, you know I love you, but I'm not telling you what's going to happen on the show.

CASTRO: Well, I'd love to interview your producer, because (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I have no idea.

O'BRIEN: That's called a tease, Peter.

CASTRO: Yes, right.

O'BRIEN: We know, but we're not telling.

SHAW: Very top secret, and emotions are running high.

CASTRO: It really is.

O'BRIEN: But they finish shooting in January, and then they are going to sit on it for months?

OGUNNAIKE: Yes.

CASTRO: Yes, I think they're going to shoot several different endings, too.

OGUNNAIKE: Right.

CASTRO: Because that will be very easily...

OGUNNAIKE: Choose your own adventure sort of ending.

CASTRO: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Interesting.

CASTRO: Yes.

O'BRIEN: We will see, won't we?

CASTRO: It will be huge.

O'BRIEN: Lola and Peter and Jessica, nice to have you. And we'll see what happens. We should put money on it. Like, as we get closer, we'll start to bet.

CASTRO: Let's do that, yes.

O'BRIEN: Let's do that. Thanks you, guys. Appreciate it.

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