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American Morning
90-Second Pop, Culture Watch
Aired December 11, 2003 - 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: Time now for "90-Second Pop," a lightning-fast look at the world pop culture, with our very own pop stars, as we like to call them. Humorist Andy Borowitz is joining us this morning.
Good morning, Andy.
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: And Christy Lemire, Associated Press's entertainment writer joins us as well.
Good morning.
CHRISTY LIMIRE, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Hello.
O'BRIEN: B.J. Sigesmund, a staff editor for "US Weekly" here as well.
Good morning.
B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right into it with my favorite couple, Trista and Ryan.
LEMIRE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Actually, I'm so sick of them, but everybody seems to love them, so let's talk about them. They're finally wed.
LEMIRE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Is it over? Are we done? Do we never hear from them again as they go off into wedded bliss?
(CROSSTALK)
LEMIRE: That's a slip. A little Freudian there, do you think?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
LEMIRE: Actually, I'm not even sure if they did get married, because I couldn't hear what they were saying over the whir of the helicopters. They were hovering over the thing. And they both walked out and the first thing they said, "Wow, helicopters!"
O'BRIEN: That happened at my wedding.
LEMIRE: Right.
O'BRIEN: Of course it didn't, because that's not...
SIGESMUND: There were seven helicopters there. I think Madonna and Sean didn't even have that many at theirs.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
LEMIRE: It was a fairy tale romance. That's what we hope for. I mean, now she says she wants to have a baby. She is postponing (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
O'BRIEN: She didn't want to say she wanted to have a -- it was on the front cover of a magazine that she wants to have a baby.
LEMIRE: Right. She's going to postpone her dreams of Hollywood stardom to have a child, which is the ultimate sacrifice any wife can make, I think.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely.
LEMIRE: So, they're not going anywhere, I don't think.
BOROWITZ: You know, I think the show sends such a bad message, because, you know, when you get married, you don't get a check for $1 million. You have to get divorced to get that. It's really a bad thing.
SIGESMUND: You know, Soledad, no reality TV star has really become anything so far. They all have been flash in the pans, but maybe...
O'BRIEN: Look at you, B.J., the cynic here, I believe.
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: Once a week or once in awhile. But except for Elizabeth from "Survivor," who is one of the new hosts on "The View," they basically all disappear. You know, they tried to do something. Trista herself has done some TV hosting, but basically they don't make it.
BOROWITZ: I don't do impressions, but could I do my imitation of Trista?
O'BRIEN: Please. There you go.
(CROSSTALK)
BOROWITZ: Isn't that good?
LEMIRE: She's perky. All that poetry, it made her smile.
O'BRIEN: Oh, excuse me while I -- moving on to a not so happy couple. We'll continue with you, because, of course, you're the cynic this morning. Andrew Firestone, Jen Schiff (ph), Andrew and Jen.
SIGESMUND: They're over, too.
O'BRIEN: It didn't work out.
SIGESMUND: It didn't work out. They didn't even get the million-dollar wedding on ABC. You know, it just -- yes, it fell part. She's moved out. It's over. Surprise.
BOROWITZ: You know, maybe I'm old fashioned, but I don't think these couples are working hard enough on their reality TV marriages, I just don't think. It takes work and time.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely.
LEMIRE: They need a reality therapist in there with them working it out.
O'BRIEN: You know what? I have a feeling that's probably already a story line.
BOROWITZ: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: Someone else is working it. We could have saved Jen and Andrew. We could have done it if we had just had a therapist in there.
All right, let's talk about Abercrombie & Fitch.
BOROWITZ: Oh, my god!
O'BRIEN: They have the raciest, smuttiest -- dare we say sluttiest -- once again, ads ever. And they finally yanked them, and the last catalog is on eBay, where I guess the latest bid is $76 for the final one.
BOROWITZ: Wow!
O'BRIEN: Because they pulled the plug. But surprise there, or sort of a brilliant move because they've gotten a lot of publicity about it? And their stock has gone up as well.
BOROWITZ: Well, it's going to get attention. You know, anytime you ban something, automatically it gets a lot of attention. I have a problem with this catalog, because it's a clothing catalog that has people with their clothes off. So, it's really hard to order from. I mean, that's my biggest problem with it.
LEMIRE: Even Victoria's Secret has people with clothing on. You know, what are they selling here? And they're all selling a brand and they're all selling a lifestyle. But are they selling like (UNINTELLIGIBLE) boys?
O'BRIEN: The naked one.
SIGESMUND: Yes. The thing is, this Abercrombie & Fitch has taken a lot a heat over the years for their catalog. It's always been very controversial and it's always stoked sales. What's different this time is suddenly sales are down 8 percent throughout this year. So, suddenly now, they're changing their catalog, changing their strategy. You know, it's really just about...
O'BRIEN: Do people think sales are down because people are sick of the catalog? Or...
SIGESMUND: Well, there have been boycotts and possibly styles have changed. But the bottom line is, you know, sales were down 13 percent in November, 8 percent throughout the year. That's why they're changing it.
O'BRIEN: Naked people don't sell clothes.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Let's take a moment to talk, B.J., about some movies that are coming out. "Stuck on You," "Something's Got to Give," "Love Don't Cost a Thing."
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Which one of those?
SIGESMUND: I think "Stuck on You" is going to be the big hit this weekend. This is Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear playing Siamese twins.
O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
SIGESMUND: Yes, it's a Fairly (ph) brothers movie, and they play Siamese twins joined at the liver. It's very sweet. We gave it a very good review in "US." It's part comedy, part drama. It's successful along the lines of "There's Something About Mary."
O'BRIEN: They always push the line, and I've interviewed the Fairly (ph) brothers a zillion times. They're very funny, but they always sort of go where other people will not go.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: And you're talking about conjoined twins. I mean, there's at a lot of not funny in that. Is it funny?
SIGESMUND: It is very funny. It's, like, sort of sickingly (ph) funny in many ways and seriously silly. You know, it's a cute movie, and I think it's going to be a real crowd pleaser.
LEMIRE: I want to see Matt and Ben Affleck, though, as conjoined twins.
O'BRIEN: They are conjoined.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMIRE: Not anymore. It's J. Lo came between them and split them up.
O'BRIEN: Well, Andy and Christy and B.J., as always, you guys, thanks. 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 December 11, 2003 - 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: Time now for "90-Second Pop," a lightning-fast look at the world pop culture, with our very own pop stars, as we like to call them. Humorist Andy Borowitz is joining us this morning.
Good morning, Andy.
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: And Christy Lemire, Associated Press's entertainment writer joins us as well.
Good morning.
CHRISTY LIMIRE, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Hello.
O'BRIEN: B.J. Sigesmund, a staff editor for "US Weekly" here as well.
Good morning.
B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right into it with my favorite couple, Trista and Ryan.
LEMIRE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Actually, I'm so sick of them, but everybody seems to love them, so let's talk about them. They're finally wed.
LEMIRE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Is it over? Are we done? Do we never hear from them again as they go off into wedded bliss?
(CROSSTALK)
LEMIRE: That's a slip. A little Freudian there, do you think?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
LEMIRE: Actually, I'm not even sure if they did get married, because I couldn't hear what they were saying over the whir of the helicopters. They were hovering over the thing. And they both walked out and the first thing they said, "Wow, helicopters!"
O'BRIEN: That happened at my wedding.
LEMIRE: Right.
O'BRIEN: Of course it didn't, because that's not...
SIGESMUND: There were seven helicopters there. I think Madonna and Sean didn't even have that many at theirs.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
LEMIRE: It was a fairy tale romance. That's what we hope for. I mean, now she says she wants to have a baby. She is postponing (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
O'BRIEN: She didn't want to say she wanted to have a -- it was on the front cover of a magazine that she wants to have a baby.
LEMIRE: Right. She's going to postpone her dreams of Hollywood stardom to have a child, which is the ultimate sacrifice any wife can make, I think.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely.
LEMIRE: So, they're not going anywhere, I don't think.
BOROWITZ: You know, I think the show sends such a bad message, because, you know, when you get married, you don't get a check for $1 million. You have to get divorced to get that. It's really a bad thing.
SIGESMUND: You know, Soledad, no reality TV star has really become anything so far. They all have been flash in the pans, but maybe...
O'BRIEN: Look at you, B.J., the cynic here, I believe.
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: Once a week or once in awhile. But except for Elizabeth from "Survivor," who is one of the new hosts on "The View," they basically all disappear. You know, they tried to do something. Trista herself has done some TV hosting, but basically they don't make it.
BOROWITZ: I don't do impressions, but could I do my imitation of Trista?
O'BRIEN: Please. There you go.
(CROSSTALK)
BOROWITZ: Isn't that good?
LEMIRE: She's perky. All that poetry, it made her smile.
O'BRIEN: Oh, excuse me while I -- moving on to a not so happy couple. We'll continue with you, because, of course, you're the cynic this morning. Andrew Firestone, Jen Schiff (ph), Andrew and Jen.
SIGESMUND: They're over, too.
O'BRIEN: It didn't work out.
SIGESMUND: It didn't work out. They didn't even get the million-dollar wedding on ABC. You know, it just -- yes, it fell part. She's moved out. It's over. Surprise.
BOROWITZ: You know, maybe I'm old fashioned, but I don't think these couples are working hard enough on their reality TV marriages, I just don't think. It takes work and time.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely.
LEMIRE: They need a reality therapist in there with them working it out.
O'BRIEN: You know what? I have a feeling that's probably already a story line.
BOROWITZ: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: Someone else is working it. We could have saved Jen and Andrew. We could have done it if we had just had a therapist in there.
All right, let's talk about Abercrombie & Fitch.
BOROWITZ: Oh, my god!
O'BRIEN: They have the raciest, smuttiest -- dare we say sluttiest -- once again, ads ever. And they finally yanked them, and the last catalog is on eBay, where I guess the latest bid is $76 for the final one.
BOROWITZ: Wow!
O'BRIEN: Because they pulled the plug. But surprise there, or sort of a brilliant move because they've gotten a lot of publicity about it? And their stock has gone up as well.
BOROWITZ: Well, it's going to get attention. You know, anytime you ban something, automatically it gets a lot of attention. I have a problem with this catalog, because it's a clothing catalog that has people with their clothes off. So, it's really hard to order from. I mean, that's my biggest problem with it.
LEMIRE: Even Victoria's Secret has people with clothing on. You know, what are they selling here? And they're all selling a brand and they're all selling a lifestyle. But are they selling like (UNINTELLIGIBLE) boys?
O'BRIEN: The naked one.
SIGESMUND: Yes. The thing is, this Abercrombie & Fitch has taken a lot a heat over the years for their catalog. It's always been very controversial and it's always stoked sales. What's different this time is suddenly sales are down 8 percent throughout this year. So, suddenly now, they're changing their catalog, changing their strategy. You know, it's really just about...
O'BRIEN: Do people think sales are down because people are sick of the catalog? Or...
SIGESMUND: Well, there have been boycotts and possibly styles have changed. But the bottom line is, you know, sales were down 13 percent in November, 8 percent throughout the year. That's why they're changing it.
O'BRIEN: Naked people don't sell clothes.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Let's take a moment to talk, B.J., about some movies that are coming out. "Stuck on You," "Something's Got to Give," "Love Don't Cost a Thing."
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Which one of those?
SIGESMUND: I think "Stuck on You" is going to be the big hit this weekend. This is Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear playing Siamese twins.
O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
SIGESMUND: Yes, it's a Fairly (ph) brothers movie, and they play Siamese twins joined at the liver. It's very sweet. We gave it a very good review in "US." It's part comedy, part drama. It's successful along the lines of "There's Something About Mary."
O'BRIEN: They always push the line, and I've interviewed the Fairly (ph) brothers a zillion times. They're very funny, but they always sort of go where other people will not go.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: And you're talking about conjoined twins. I mean, there's at a lot of not funny in that. Is it funny?
SIGESMUND: It is very funny. It's, like, sort of sickingly (ph) funny in many ways and seriously silly. You know, it's a cute movie, and I think it's going to be a real crowd pleaser.
LEMIRE: I want to see Matt and Ben Affleck, though, as conjoined twins.
O'BRIEN: They are conjoined.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMIRE: Not anymore. It's J. Lo came between them and split them up.
O'BRIEN: Well, Andy and Christy and B.J., as always, you guys, thanks. 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.
