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Showbiz Tonight
"West Wing" to Stage Live Debate; Celebs Raise Money to Help Children with HIV/AIDS; Garry Marshall Dishes about "Chicken Little"
Aired November 04, 2005 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST: I`m Brooke Anderson.
DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CO-HOST: and I`m David Haffenreffer, in for A.J. Hammer. TV`s only live entertainment news show starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAFFENREFFER (voice-over): On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, an historic TV event of presidential proportions. Tonight, Democrat versus Republican, the live debate. Wait: fictional "West Wing" candidates get set to square off on real issues, and SHOWBIZ TONIGHT asks, are their presidential portrayals realistic?
ANDERSON (voice-over): Plus, battling eating disorders. Tonight, the emotional and painful story of one person`s struggle with anorexia and bulimia. But there`s a surprising twist: this person`s a world-class athlete and a man. A SHOWBIZ TONIGHT special report.
HAFFENREFFER: And, he`s the genius behind some of the most terrific TV shows of all time. And some of the most memorable movies. Tonight, you`ll get to meet him live. The secrets of his success and his new big role in a little movie. It`s the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
GOLDIE HAWN, ACTRESS: Hi, I`m Goldie Hawn, and if it happened today, then it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Hi there, I`m Brooke Anderson.
HAFFENREFFER: And I`m David Haffenreffer, filling in for A.J. Hammer.
Tonight, both presidential candidates are getting ready. Republican, Democrat. Preparing to debate, live, Sunday on America`s hot-button topics like abortion, national security and immigration. Thing is, this presidential debate is fiction.
ANDERSON: That`s right, David. The next real presidential election isn`t until 2008, but history is being made on TV`s "The West Wing" today. The show`s fictional presidential candidates will debate on real issues. It will all happen Sunday night, and it will all be live.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice-over): The candidates shake hands.
BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: Gentlemen, welcome to you both.
ANDERSON: A journalist referees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m going to have to insist we go back to the original rules with the audience.
ANDERSON: Sunday night`s presidential debate on "The West Wing" may have all the feel of the real thing. It will even air live.
JIMMY SMITS, ACTOR: You and me, a real debate.
ALAN ALDA, ACTOR: Oh, please.
SMITS: A real debate.
ANDERSON: But the fictional candidates, Republican Arnold Vinnick, played by Alan Alda, and Democrat Matt Santos, played by Jimmy Smits, are doing something the real candidates wouldn`t dream of, throwing out the rule book.
ALEX GRAVES, DIRECTOR, "THE WEST WING": The premise of the episode is that they decide at a certain point early on to dispense with the rules of debating, a network presidential debate, is they can interrupt each other and they don`t have to do the two-minute sort of type response.
ANDERSON: Contrast that with the debate format last fall, as agreed upon by the Bush and Kerry camps.
SCHIEFFER: To refresh your memory on the rules, I will ask a question. The candidate is allowed two minutes to answer. His opponent then has a minute and a half to offer a rebuttal.
ANDERSON: Producers say Alda and Smits have been studying actual briefing books with their character`s positions on the issues and will ad lib part of the debate.
LAWRENCE O`DONNELL, WRITER/PRODUCER, "THE WEST WING": Ten minutes into this debate you`re going to feel like you`ve not watching any presidential debate before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you`re interested at all in presidential politics, this is something to watch, because we`re trying to say, this is how they should be.
ANDERSON: Abortion, immigration and border security, that and more may be debated.
SMITS: We`re really prepped, so there`s a little -- there`s a little safety net we have going.
ALDA: We`ll be ready, but it`s going to be uncertain and a little -- we`ll be a little off balance, I think.
ANDERSON: One more thing will be different from last fall`s debates: "The West Wing" candidates will tangle live in the Eastern and Central Time zones. Then they`ll turn around and do it again live for the West Coast audience.
ALDA: A hell of a way to end your campaign.
SMITS: Oh, I`m just getting started.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And just in case people want to know what the polls think, leave it to pollster Zogby. It conducted a real-life poll of who would win the fictional debate, and it was a landslide. A whopping 59.4 percent said Jimmy Smits` character, Democrat Matt Santos, would win. Just 28.7 percent chose Republican Arnold Vinnick as the winner.
"The West Wing" airs this Sunday on NBC.
HAFFENREFFER: All right. From one poll to our own poll between "the West Wing" to "Commander in Chief," we want to hear from you. It`s our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. TV presidents: are their portrayals realistic? Vote at CNN.com/ShowbizTonight. Or send us an e-mail at ShowbizTonight@CNN.com. And we`ll read some of your thoughts a bit later on in the program.
ANDERSON: Well, thoughts by "60 Minutes`" Andy Rooney has the online world buzzing tonight. He made the comments today on the "Imus in the Morning" radio program. Take a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ANDY ROONEY, CBS` "60 MINUTES": I object every time I hear the words, "African-American," you know? I don`t know why we have gotten caught with that.
DON IMUS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Yes, I don`t, either.
ROONEY: I mean, am I an Irish American?
IMUS: Yes, I know what you mean. What should I say, just black, right?
ROONEY: Well, I don`t think there`s anything wrong with black.
IMUS: I don`t, either.
ROONEY: Growing up, it`s funny how words get to be opprobrious. The word "negro" is a perfectly good word. It`s a strong word and a good word. I don`t see anything wrong with that. I don`t -- mostly, it`s not necessary to identify anyone by skin color. But I certainly -- I don`t care for African-American.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ANDERSON: It`s generating buzz on blogs. A "60 Minutes" spokesperson said, quote, "to insinuate Andy Rooney is a racist is absolutely absurd." In the 1940s, Rooney was arrested in Florida for sitting in the back of a bus, a segregated area for African-Americans. The spokesperson says, quote, "That is how much he is not a racist."
HAFFENREFFER: Tonight, a SHOWBIZ TONIGHT special report, Hollywood and the AIDS epidemic in Africa. With 25 million already dead, the disease continues to wipe out whole societies and create tragic devastation in families. Many of your favorite stars are lending a helping hand, working to make HIV and AIDS a thing of the past, including a star-studded "TIME" magazine fund-raiser last night in New York City.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAFFENREFFER:: Jessica Alba, John Mayer, Usher. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT was there as they raised money to get medicine to children and families living with HIV and AIDS.
JESSICA ALBA, ACTRESS: It`s not fair and it`s not right that 12 million children have to be infected with a disease that they know nothing about and they didn`t chose to have.
HAFFENREFFER: Grammy award winner Alicia Keys is the face of the Keep a Child Alive foundation, which provides life-saving medicine to those in dire need of help.
ALICIA KEYS, SINGER: When you`re in an impoverished country where you just cannot afford that medication, your only other option is to die.
HAFFENREFFER: The numbers are staggering. Worldwide, three million children live with AIDS and HIV today, most in poor countries in Africa, but many here in America.
Around the world each year, more than 700,000 children are infected with HIV. Roughly half die before the age of 2. These figures may seem overwhelming, but help is out there.
(MUSIC)
HAFFENREFFER: Alicia called on several of her famous friends to help raise money. She even got some of them, like John Mayer, to perform a song with her.
(MUSIC)
USHER, SINGER: I mean, I didn`t really understand the severity of it until I decided to take a trip to Africa and got a chance to really see the faces of these people affected. And, you know, to stand aside and act as if, you know -- it`s just something that`s going to fix itself, is unrealistic. We have to do something.
HAFFENREFFER: Alicia tells us all donations to the Keep a Child Alive Foundation go directly to children and their families, and that`s important.
In the U.S. and other wealthy countries, anti-retroviral medicines have transformed AIDS from a virtual death sentence to a manageable disease. But over 95 percent of all people with HIV/AIDS live in impoverished countries that can`t afford the medication.
CYNTHIA NIXON, ACTRESS: It`s overwhelming when you think of how many people are infected. But again, if you just start, you know, every life saved is a life saved. And if you can save thousands of lives, millions of lives, you know, it`s worth it.
JOHN MAYER, SINGER: I find it amazing that there are numbers that exist in the world today that if you did -- and it doesn`t take long to put your head around -- that it would make you get up and stop what you are doing.
HAFFENREFFER: Actress Natasha Richardson knows AIDS firsthand. Her father, Tony Richardson, succumbed to it in 1991.
NATASHA RICHARDSON, ACTRESS: It`s a subject very close to my heart, the fight against AIDS, because my father died of AIDS. And I know what`s happening globally.
And we`re all -- we`re all feeling at the moment the horrors, the pain that Katrina caused. And I think if we imagine that times 100 over years and years with many, many thousands of people, that`s what`s happening in the world right now. And I wouldn`t want it for my child, and I don`t want it for anyone else`s.
HAFFENREFFER: Just recently, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT caught up with singer Elton John in New York. John established his own AIDS charity 13 years ago, and he tells us he regrets not getting involved sooner.
ELTON JOHN, MUSICIAN: It`s something that I thought I didn`t get involved with enough in the 1980s, when I needed to. And I`m trying to make up for lost time. It is a huge pandemic that`s affecting the whole world, and unless it`s, you know, stemmed in some way or another, it`s going to have catastrophic consequences for the economy of the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAFFENREFFER: Elton John started his charity back in 1992, and since then, the foundation has raised more than $60 million.
ANDERSON: Coming up, one person`s emotional battle with eating disorders. But there`s a twist: he`s a man and a world class athlete. It`s a SHOWBIZ TONIGHT special report.
HAFFENREFFER: Plus, he brought us "Nanu-nanu" and "Aayyy." The mastermind behind "Mork & Mindy," "Happy Days" and some of your other all- time sitcom favorites. Garry Marshall, live. It`s the interview you`ll see only right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
ANDERSON: Sounded good, David, nice job.
And we`re going ape over an ape. And this is a big ape. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has your first look at the movie everybody`s talking about, the remake of "King Kong."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAFFENREFFER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m David Haffenreffer, in for A.J. Hammer.
Tonight, a look at "King Kong." He`s coming to the movie theater near you, and SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has your look at the adventure of empire proportions.
"Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson has remade the classic story of a gigantic ape forced into society, where beauty killed the beast. The beauty is played by Naomi Watts.
Turn up your speakers, here`s a look at the trailer in tonight`s "SHOWBIZ Showcase."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And, lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty, and beauty stayed his hand. And from that day forward, he was as one dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you`re ready for this voyage, Miss Darrow?
NAOMI WATTS, ACTRESS: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nervous?
WATTS: Nervous? No. Should I be?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Imagine, if you will, an uncharted island thought to exist only in myth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wall! There`s a wall ahead!
JACK BLACK, ACTOR: That`s where I`ll shoot my picture.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s deserted.
BLACK: Of course it`s deserted. The place is a ruin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`ve taken Anne! Find her!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Behind the wall!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw something.
BLACK: What took her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you haven`t found her in 24 hours, there will be nothing left to find.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look.
WATTS: No!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAFFENREFFER: "King Kong" swings into theaters December 14.
ANDERSON: Looks like it`s going to be a good one.
Tonight, in a "SHOWBIZ Sit-down," you all remember the leather-clad Fonz from "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley" capping those beer bottles at the Schotz Brewery. And who could forget Julia Roberts in that red dress in "Pretty Woman"? The guy responsible for those great pop culture moments is about to do it again by lending his voice to the new animated film, "Chicken Little."
Writer/producer/director and actor Garry Marshall joins us live from Hollywood.
Hi there, Garry.
GARRY MARSHALL, WRITER/PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/ACTOR: Hi, how are you? You`re far away but I know you`re there.
ANDERSON: We`re coast to coast tonight and you look great. And as I mentioned, you`ve written, you`ve created so many unforgettable films and television shows. Garry, I want to take us back to "Happy Days." I know what my memories are. What are your memories?
MARSHALL: Well, while I was doing "Happy Days," I was doing a show called "Me and the Chimp." It failed. I should have put the chimp up on the Empire State Building. I would have done better.
But "Happy Days" were very good days. We found Henry Winkler, and there we were off and running with a great actor like Ron Howard. Those were good days, and we went 11 seasons, amazing!
ANDERSON: Incredible. A ground-breaking show. And you helped launch the careers of so many actors, including Ron Howard, Julia Roberts, Robin Williams. You obviously have an eye for talent. How do you know when someone`s good? Is it just a gut feeling or can you even define it?
MARSHALL: Well, you can`t quite define it, but you know it when you see it. And they just light up the screen or the TV screen or the theater. Takes three different types of magic. So, for "Happy Days," we were looking for television, and Fonzie lit it up. Henry Winkler, terrific.
ANDERSON: Certainly had that magic. In your new film, "Chicken Little," out this weekend, you work side by side with Zach Braff. He`s on one of the few hot sitcoms today, "Scrubs." Many people feel the sitcom is dead in comparison to what the television landscape used to be. What do you think is missing these days?
MARSHALL: Zach Braff is missing. The magic is missing. Reality shows sometimes don`t have a magical character.
But sitcom is not dead. They say it`s dead every week. But there`s still -- the type of show like "Everybody Loves Raymond," is a little shifted now. They`re doing a little edgier stuff. But "Scrubs" is a good example.
And Zach was Chicken Little and I was Buck Cluck, one of the great characters. You remember, Rhett Butler, Forrest Gump, Buck Cluck, you know, classics. Buck Cluck is who I am.
ANDERSON: And you`re talking about shows being edgier. What do you think of the cable shows pushing the envelope, like "Entourage," for instance?
MARSHALL: Well, Jeremy Piven I happen to be very fond of on "Entourage," because I did a movie with him called "Lucky 13" that my son Scott directed.
ANDERSON: Son`s directing. Right.
MARSHALL: He`s a heck -- it`s coming out in February, March. But he`s a good actor, and I think that`s a good edgy show.
And for some reason, Brooke, I don`t know why, people like to hear about Hollywood. "Chicken Little" doesn`t know anything about Hollywood. But we do even make fun in our movie, too. "Chicken Little" has a whole Hollywood sequence.
ANDERSON: People are fascinated by Hollywood, and in "Chicken Little," you voice Chicken Little`s very frustrated father. Why don`t we take a listen to a quick clip?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZACH BRAFF, ACTOR: A piece of the sky? Not again!
MARSHALL: Hey, what`s wrong?
BRAFF: Nothing.
MARSHALL: I thought I heard you yell.
BRAFF: No, I fell out of bed.
MARSHALL: Huh? How`d you get over there?
BRAFF: Over where?
MARSHALL: There?
BRAFF: Where?
MARSHALL: There? How`d you get over there?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Over there! Was this fun for you?
MARSHALL: Yes, it was. You see, a lot of animation is like we`re working, Brooke. You`re in Pittsburgh, I`m here.
ANDERSON: Pittsburgh?
MARSHALL: You talk to on nothing.
But on "Chicken Little," they said we could work together, so Zach and I actually got to work in the same room, so we got a lot of timing like that because we work together.
ANDERSON: Many people say with animated films, you really don`t get to work together in the same room or at the same time. So that`s great that you were able to do that.
And I have to ask, Garry, all that you`ve done, you`ve accomplished so much, what`s still out there? What do you still want to do?
MARSHALL: What I`m working on now is one of the things we`re doing, "Happy Days" as a musical, at the Falcon Theater, at my theater. And Paul Williams wrote the music and I really would like to do a musical, and we got one. And we got casting Fonzie and Pinky Tuscadero and the Milachi (ph) brothers. They`re all in this musical, and that`s what I really wanted to do coming up.
ANDERSON: Congratulations on that. And the theater`s in Burbank, right? Burbank, California?
MARSHALL: Yes, the Falcon Theater in Burbank.
ANDERSON: All right.
MARSHALL: Named after a gang that was disbanded in New York City many years ago.
ANDERSON: Where I am, New York City. Not Pittsburgh. Garry Marshall, thank you for joining us tonight.
MARSHALL: I know you`re not in Pittsburgh! But I very would like to meet you sometime. We`ll be together! It will be great, like me and Zach.
ANDERSON: We will. We will. Sounds great.
"Chicken Little" opens in theaters everywhere this weekend.
All right, Madonna very in vogue in Europe, on stage for the first time since falling off a horse. Did she get into the groove? Find out coming up.
HAFFENREFFER: And Ozzy Osbourne live. You`re not going insane. The rock `n` roll doctor himself is now covering the Moody Blues. And the Ozman will share some of his craziest moments while on the road. It`s the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
ANDERSON: Also, he had millions of dollars, a successful career, but he risked it all to stay on top and it almost cost him his life. One man`s struggle with eating disorders tonight, a SHOWBIZ TONIGHT special report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAFFENREFFER: Time for the "SHOWBIZ Guide," where throughout the week we help you decide where to spend your dollars on movies, music, DVD`s and more. Tonight "People" magazine`s picks and pans. New movies "Jarhead," "Chicken Little" and "Capote" are out in theaters.
Joining us now in New York City is "People" magazine movie critic Leah Rozen.
Nice to see you again.
LEAH ROZEN, MOVIE CRITIC, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Thanks, David.
HAFFENREFFER: "Jarhead" is based on a book about a Gulf War veteran from 1991. Is this one going to do well? It stars Jake Gyllenhaal (sic).
ROZEN: I don`t know that it`s going to do well, but it`s going to get a lot of attention, given the current war in Iraq and similarities.
This is the Gulf War. It is -- the book was written by Anthony Swofford, who served. He was a 20-year-old Marine who went over there. And this book is based on -- it`s his memoirs. So it`s really pretty much a true story.
The movie has these sort of great visual scenes. It`s directed by Sam Mendes, who did "Road to Perdition," but in the end, I don`t know that it adds up to that much. It doesn`t really stay with you.
The problem is there`s kind of no plot, so you sort of have these great scenes, these arresting visual images, but you kind of come out and go, huh? At the very end of the movie, the young Marine observes all wars are the same, all wars are different. And you sort of feel that sense, that sums up the picture. All war movies are the same, all wars are different. This one -- this movie isn`t different enough.
HAFFENREFFER: All right. We might miss that one.
"Chicken Little," we all know the story of course. This is an important step for Disney.
ROZEN: This is Disney`s new animated film, and it is digital animation. "Chicken Little," of course, the sky is falling. He is this adorable little tiny chicken. Everyone picks on him when he announces the sky is falling. No one believes in him. Of course, he is correct. How does he get everyone to believe him?
It`s kind of fun. It`s a lot of fun in the beginning and then I think they don`t quite know where to go with it.
In many ways, these kids` films now are sort of trainer films for children. You know, it involves aliens and you get the feeling it`s trainer films so the kids will become inculcated in this kind of material so they will then go to all the pap that they`re going to put out as grown- ups.
HAFFENREFFER: Already my 4-year-old asking about "Chicken Little."
What about "Capote," starring Philip Seymour Hoffman? Obviously, this man is such an icon.
ROZEN: The movie has been out for awhile, but now it`s going much wider. And it`s absolutely worth seeing, because Philip Seymour Hoffman who plays writer Truman Capote when he`s doing "In Cold Blood," is pretty much guaranteed an Oscar nomination for this one. It is a sensational performance.
HAFFENREFFER: Well, people looking forward to that.
Leah Rozen, thanks for being with us.
ROZEN: You`re welcome.
HAFFENREFFER: And of course, for more "Picks and Pans," you can check out the new issue of "People" magazine, on newsstands now.
ANDERSON: Now, the amazing way Johnny Cash is still cashing in.
HAFFENREFFER: Plus, Ozzy Osbourne, live. Get this, now singing a John Lennon tune. You`ll see -- it`s the interview you`ll only see right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
ANDERSON: And eating disorders in men, the story of a famous man who had everything but almost lost it all. It`s a SHOWBIZ TONIGHT special report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT continues in just a minute. I`m Sophia Choi with your "Headline Prime Newsbreak."
Well, violence and demonstrations are overshadowing the Summit of the Americas and President Bush`s visit to Argentina. Protesters set fire to buildings, threw rocks, and burned U.S. flags.
The family of a soldier kidnapped in Iraq may finally be getting some answers. The parents of Army Reserve Sergeant Matt Maupin were flown to Washington today for a meeting with military brass. They`ve been critical of the Pentagon for not giving them updates on the search of their son who disappeared last April after an ambush by insurgents.
And call it creative commuting. A California man was caught in the carpool lane with a dummy in his passenger seat. A police officer noticed the passenger had no legs and ticketed the man to the tune of about $350. Oh, pricey, huh?
That`s the news for now. I`m Sophia Choi. We return you to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAFFENREFFER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s only live entertainment news program. I`m David Haffenreffer, in for A.J. Hammer.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson.
Tonight, a special report, men and eating disorders. When you hear about eating disorders, you might think that it only strikes women and girls, but as many as one million men in America struggle with problems like anorexia and bulimia, and the number is growing.
HAFFENREFFER: Tonight, a special report on a world-class, famous athlete who risked his life to stay on top. Here`s CNN`s Paula Zahn for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHANE SELLERS, FORMER JOCKEY WITH EATING DISORDER: This is the area that I dreaded the most.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A trip to the racetrack for retired jockey Shane Sellers is now a walk through hell.
SELLERS: This is what I call jail, you know? It was when -- I don`t have a lot of happy memories about this place.
ZAHN: But it didn`t start that way. Sellers fell in love with horses and racing when he was just 11. That passion blossomed into a 26-year career, winning more than 4,000 races, earning purses worth more than $130 million. Shane Sellers is one of the nation`s winningest jockeys.
SELLERS: It`s such a rush, you know? You pull out, and that horse accelerates, and you win. It`s just -- it`s addicting.
ZAHN: While hooked on horse racing, Sellers learned early about what he called the dark side of the sport.
Every track sets weight requirements for each race, depending on the horse`s age, sex and skill level and the race`s distance. Including seven pounds of gear, a horse can generally carry about 112 to 126 pounds. That means Sellers would have to weigh between 110 and 112 pounds to make weight.
Despite being 5`3", Sellers` natural weight is closer to 150 pounds. The only way he thought he could make jockey weight was to go to extremes.
SELLERS: In the morning, I would get up and take a diet pill, drink a cup of coffee. And you head out to the racetrack and...
ZAHN (on-screen): With no food in your stomach at all?
SELLERS: No food in my stomach, you know? And, you know, you go and you see the trainers and work your horses in the morning that you have to work. By 10:00, you finish. I`d go...
ZAHN: Are you hungry at this point?
SELLERS: Oh, I`m starving. I mean, I went to bed with nothing in my stomach, either. Maybe, you know, just a piece of ham or, you know, just grab something to put in my stomach before I went to bed, and head to the track, and maybe lay down for an hour, and then head to the hot box with -- for a couple hours and pull four or five pounds of water.
ZAHN (voice-over): The hot box is a sauna, a fixture in almost every jockey locker room.
SELLERS: The hot box, sweat box.
ZAHN: Sellers would often spend two hours inside "pulling," or sweating off extra pounds.
(on-screen): And are you miserable the whole time you`re in there?
SELLERS: Oh, it`s horrible.
ZAHN: You have to be very weak.
SELLERS: Weak. You have nothing. You`re already dehydrated, you know?
ZAHN: So, for more than 20 years, you went through this process of basically not eating anything during the day, sitting in the sauna a couple hours a day, sweating two or three pounds off, getting back on your horses, training and maybe -- maybe -- having a piece of ham. And that`s all you had to sustain you.
SELLERS: Right. If I did anything, sometimes -- when I`m at my worst, I was heaving three or five to six, seven times a day. I was heaving.
ZAHN (voice-over): Jockeys call it "heaving" or "flipping." Most doctors would call it bulimia. Overcome by hunger pains, Sellers would eat massive amounts of food and then throw it up to make weight. He says a tour of the jockey locker room shows you just how easy and accepted it was.
SELLERS: These are regular toilets, and this is what they call the heaving. This is where they heave. You know, it`s a much different type of commode.
I don`t know, it`s not -- I don`t know if it was especially made for that purpose, but it`s sure not the same as the other, and that`s what we used it for.
ZAHN (on-screen): Is it true that some of you got so efficient at flipping that you could actually do it without putting your finger down your throat?
SELLERS: I was one.
ZAHN (voice-over): Aside from his daily starvation diet, binging, purging, and sweating in the box, Sellers says he took Lasix, a prescription diuretic that would cause him to lose more water weight.
When not on the racetrack, he also ran for hours in layers of heavy sweat suits. When he finished, he would have his wife, Kelli, wrap him in blankets to make sure he lost even more weight.
KELLI SELLERS, SHANE`S WIFE: I was in fear of him having a heart attack, you know. I mean, it`s like -- and I would try to peel the clothing of off him. And he`s like, "Wait, no, leave it a little longer." You know, and I would cry, like, "What do you mean? What are you doing?"
And try to cool him off, and, you know, help him in any way possible. And just crying. You know, I just -- I hated it. Because I felt like, in a way, I was almost helping him to kill himself.
ZAHN: Sellers was dangerously weak, a frail 112-pound man who had to control a 1,000-pound horse.
(on-screen): Do you remember being dizzy?
SELLERS: Oh, yes, absolutely.
ZAHN: On the horse as you were racing?
SELLERS: When I had to really ride one hard down the stretch, I`d see spots, you know, until sometimes I couldn`t pull up the horse. I had to let the out-rider pull me up, I was so weak, you know?
ZAHN: Do you think it`s a miracle you didn`t kill yourself because you were that weak on a horse?
SELLERS: Sure.
ZAHN (voice-over): And Sellers looked weak. This was Shane Sellers at the height of his career. This is Shane Sellers now. The 40-pound weight difference is startling.
SELLERS: I didn`t know what it was like to look any different. I knew I was awful skinny.
ZAHN (on-screen): Was it worth the cost to your body and your health?
SELLERS: I`d say yes, only because I -- what would have I done if I didn`t ride?
ZAHN (voice-over): According to research, Sellers isn`t alone. In a 1995 study by the Chicago Rehabilitation Institute, 69 percent of all jockeys said they skipped meals, 34 percent used diuretics, 67 percent sweated off pounds in the sauna, 30 percent flipped, and 14 percent took laxatives.
SELLERS: I was riding at 2, 3 percent body fat. And doctors told me what that was doing to my organs. It was cannibalizing your organs, and when doctors started looking into this, it scared me. It scared me very much.
ZAHN: That fear, coupled with a devastating knee injury just last year, took Sellers out of the sport he loved so much. Deeply depressed, he began seeing a therapist who prescribed anti-depressants. Shane Sellers learned to eat again.
(on-screen): Do you think that depression is a result of all the years that you went hungry and dizzy?
SELLERS: Oh, it was a part of it, absolutely. I mean, doctors will tell you that, you know? I`m not saying anything that I -- that doctors didn`t tell me.
ZAHN: How is your relationship with food today? Can you eat normally?
SELLERS: Oh, absolutely.
Girl, I taught you how to cook.
At first, when I first quit, I would eat too much. When you heave, you eat until you -- and drink until you can`t, you know? And so that was maybe -- I had a problem with that, you know?
And until like right now, I started working out and stuff like that. And I weigh 150 pounds, and I feel good.
ZAHN (voice-over): Now retired at a healthy weight, Sellers has found his next passion: country music.
SELLERS: Yes, how you like that? What`s that, girl?
ZAHN: He still spends his days around horses, but now as an owner and trainer. He`s also become passionate about his family, forever mindful of the time he lost when he was struggling to make weight. Now, he can focus on his wife and children, making sure his young girls don`t get caught up in what took so many years from his life.
SELLERS: People need to keep an eye out, their eyes open to this, because when it gets out of hand, you can`t get it back.
ZAHN: Shane Sellers wants to make sure that what happened to him doesn`t happen to other jockeys. He now lobbies tracks, trainers and owners to raise limits so jockeys can ride at a healthier, more realistic weight.
SELLERS: I don`t want to be remembered for what I did on the racetrack. I got to -- I was able to ride good horses that I just pointed them in the direction and they were going to win.
It wasn`t me. I was no better than the next guy. I want to be remembered for somebody that made a change in this industry for the better, for riders.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAFFENREFFER: That was CNN`s Paula Zahn for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
And while some tracks have raised the weights and others agree that something needs to be done, many are resisting, claiming that the extra pounds will harm the fragile horses. Many say, if jockeys can`t naturally make the weight, they shouldn`t be riding.
Sellers believes few jockeys really can naturally keep a competitive weight. And he says he`ll continue to fight what he believes are unrealistic and unnatural requirements.
You can watch the rest of Paula`s special report, "Walking the Thin Line," this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.
ANDERSON: And coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Lady Madonna back up on stage after falling down off a horse.
HAFFENREFFER: Yes, she is.
And the Ozman cometh. Ozzy Osbourne joins us live in a "Showbiz Sitdown." Ozzy is flying high again, putting his own spin on songs by John Lennon and the Moody Blues. It`s the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
ANDERSON: And the man in black is back. The late Johnny Cash scores a hit record and walks the line in a movie starring Joaquin Phoenix. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is at the premiere of "Walk the Line."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAFFENREFFER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m David Haffenreffer, in for A.J. Hammer.
Madonna mania electrifies Europe. The 47-year-old material girl -- she`s 47, can you believe it -- rocked the house at last night`s MTV Europe Music Awards in Portugal. It was the first live televised performance of "Hung Up" off her upcoming album and the first time she`s taken the stage since falling off a horse in August. She cracked three ribs and broke her collarbone.
Her new album, "Confessions on a Dance Floor," comes out November 15th.
ANDERSON: Tonight, another "Showbiz Sitdown," this time with rocker Ozzy Osbourne. He`s out with a new album of old covers, has got a new Ozzfest 10th anniversary DVD on the way. Yes, now you`ll know what really goes on behind the scenes at Ozzfest, which is a hard-rocking music festival. And he`s got a famous family that keeps everyone talking.
Now, joining us live from Hollywood is Ozzy Osbourne.
Welcome to the show, Ozzy.
OZZY OSBOURNE, MUSICIAN: How you doing? Your name`s Brooke, I understand?
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: Yes, it is. And you`re name is Ozzy Osbourne.
OSBOURNE: You must have a bit of the old highland blood somewhere with a name like Brooke.
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: You do that well. And, Ozzy, you have a new album out, "Under Cover." In it, you perform your personal favorites, including the Moody Blues and some John Lennon tunes. How did you come up with the list? And John Lennon, that`s sacred ground, right?
OSBOURNE: Well, the Beatles were the reason I started -- I took singing up in the first place. And I wanted to do a cover of a Beatles song which hasn`t been covered to death -- and there ain`t that many of them that hasn`t, you know?
But it was like -- it was an easy album to make. It was a lot of fun to make. And I didn`t expect it to turn out as good as it has. And the response for it has been really good.
And that doesn`t mean to say that from now on I`m going to do nothing but covers, but, you know, it`s just -- you either like it or you don`t. I think it`s a good bit of work.
ANDERSON: You`re also out with your 10 anniversary Ozzfest DVD. Apparently some real behind-the-scenes shots there. What`s the one thing, Ozzy -- I have to ask you, you have seen everything -- what`s the one thing that you`ve seen or done that you thought, "Wow, I can`t believe that happened or I just did that"?
OSBOURNE: There`ve been so many things, but, you know, I`m clean and sober. I don`t smoke cigarettes anymore. But the one thing, when I was out there doing all the crazy stuff, my memory`s terrible. And saying that, I probably leave the studio and go, "Why didn`t I mention that," you know?
But it just, I mean, the Ozzfest has been something that`s beat everything that I`ve -- I mean, I never dreamed that it would last 10 years. I mean, I thought it was good for a year or so. And the 10 years has gone so quick, and there are so many bands that spun off the Ozzfest and gone on to do better things. That`s what I like to see, you know, sort of passing the torch on, you know?
ANDERSON: It`s got longevity. And that`s great that you`re clean and sober now. And you`re, what, about to be 57? Sorry to out you on that.
OSBOURNE: Yes, I`m still going, Brooke.
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: Yes, you are. You`re still going strong.
And is it about time you just kicked back and relax in that mansion of yours? I know you`re heading out to London tonight. Why do you still do all this craziness?
OSBOURNE: I mean, it`s what I do, you know? You know, I once heard an interview by Paul McCartney, I think it was, (INAUDIBLE) about Paul McCartney, and I asked him, "You know, you`re a very wealthy man. Why do you have to keep on doing it?"
And he said -- it`s true what he said. It`s what I do, you know? What am I going to do, sit at home in my so-called, what you say, mansion and look, "I`ve made a mansion." I`ll just, I`ll die, you know. I`ve got to be in the middle of some drama or...
ANDERSON: Need to be active and creating this music.
OSBOURNE: Yes, yes.
ANDERSON: We all know your family, especially from the recent reality show. And we`ve all been keeping up with everybody. Jack, your son, looks incredible. He`s lost, what, 50 pounds?
OSBOURNE: Isn`t he just -- I mean, I learned more from him than I can ever -- he can ever learn from me. I mean, he got into drugs. He got into rehab. He sorted that out.
I mean, turned to food for comfort. And he gained about -- he was up to 240. And then he said to me one day. He said, "I`m going to climb mountains, Dad. I`m going to jog every morning. I`m going to lose weight." And he has. I just...
ANDERSON: It`s amazing what he`s done.
OSBOURNE: My wife and I went to Yosemite to watch him descend from El Cap, the mountain, you know, one of the cliffs thing, and he climbed 4,000 feet straight up. Now, if I`m hope sitting on a bottom rung of a ladder, I get vertigo. And I`m thinking, I mean, he`s so brave for doing that.
ANDERSON: Well, you tell Jack that we are all very proud of him here. And, Ozzy, thanks so much for joining us. And thanks for sharing what you`re up to now. We appreciate it.
OSBOURNE: Thank you for having me. God bless you all.
ANDERSON: Of course, thank you. And Ozzy`s new album, "Under Cover," is in stores now.
HAFFENREFFER: Tonight, Johnny Cash is cashing in, even in death. His latest album, "The Legend of Johnny Cash," is his highest debuting album of his career. It entered the "Billboard" charts at number 11.
And the timing couldn`t be better. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT was in Hollywood for the premiere of the new movie about Cash called "Walk the Line," about him and his wife, June Carter Cash. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon star in the film, and both had to learn to sing. They said there were many surprises along the way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOAQUIN PHOENIX, ACTOR: I was surprised that he toured with Elvis Presley, and Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison. I couldn`t believe that. I mean, I thought that that was fictionalized.
And I think also the love story, I mean, that was something that I couldn`t, you know -- I remember reading it and saying, "You know, this is great for a film, but how much of this is accurate?" I mean, the fact that he proposed to June Carter on stage, that was surprising to me.
REESE WITHERSPOON, ACTRESS: I don`t think a lot of people knew that she wrote, "Ring of Fire," and that he took it from her and turned it into a big hit. And it was just basically that they loved each other so much and worked side-by-side for 12 years and couldn`t be together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAFFENREFFER: Johnny and June couldn`t be together, because they were both married to other people much of the time that they were on tour. The movie hits theaters Friday, November 18th.
Well, as we told you earlier, the cast of the "West Wing" is getting ready for their live presidential debate. And we`ve been asking you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day."
TV presidents: Are their portrayals realistic? Keep voting at CNN.com/showbiztonight. Or write us at showbiztonight@CNN.com. Your e- mails are coming up at 55 minutes after the hour.
ANDERSON: Coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, will Sarah Jessica Parker give up movies for motherhood? We`ll tell you what she revealed to "Life" magazine.
HAFFENREFFER: First, a look at what`s new at the movies this week.
Opening today, "Jarhead," Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx`s Gulf War drama, Disney`s animated comedy, "Chicken Little," with Zach Braff, Joan Cusack and, as we told you earlier, Garry Marshall. And in limited release, "Brooklyn Lobster," Danny Aiello and Jane Curtin`s movie about a family struggling to keep their business afloat.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Tonight, three leading actresses are dishing about fame, family and film. Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker and Claire Danes star in the upcoming comedy, "The Family Stone."
It`s girls night out as they reunite in the new issue of "Life" magazine to swap stories and secrets. Sarah Jessica Parker, who`s the mother of 3-year-old James Wilke, admitted she fantasizes about being a full-time mom all the time, but she doesn`t plan to give up her career. She says, "It makes me a better mother to be outside the home sometimes. I don`t know that I have the personality to spend concentrated time alone with my child without working."
That issue of "Life" magazine is in newspapers nationwide today.
HAFFENREFFER: And we`ve been asking you to vote online on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day." TV presidents: Are their portrayals realistic?
The vote so far: 21 percent of you say yes; 79 percent of you say no. Here are some of the e-mails that we`ve received thus far.
Susan from Indiana writes, "If only our president were as intelligent as the TV presidents."
And Bill from Ohio writes, "Television presidents are unrealistic. They are actually virtuous."
ANDERSON: Time to see now what`s playing on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on Monday.
HAFFENREFFER: Yes. Let`s take a look at the "Showbiz Marquee." Marquee Guy, take it away.
MARQUEE GUY: Monday, "The West Wing" smack-down. Who will win the debate between Matt Santos and Arnold Vinick? Can they take on Hulk Hogan? Political pundits weigh in on the great debate and tell us who they think should win the White House, Monday on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Also Monday, she`s so unusual. Cyndi Lauper shows her true colors to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, as she celebrates the release of her new album, "The Body Acoustic." Cyndi Lauper, live Monday.
This is the Marquee Guy. It`s Friday, which means only one thing: The Marquee Guy just wants to have fun.
ANDERSON: Equal opportunity.
HAFFENREFFER: Love that Cyndi Lauper. And that`s SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m David Haffenreffer.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson. Please stay tuned to the latest from CNN Headline News.
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