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American Morning

90-Second Pop, Culture Watch

Aired January 19, 2004 - 07:44   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.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's time once again for "90-Second Pop," our lightning-fast look at what's hot in the world of pop culture.
Joining us today is Toure, contributing editor from "Rolling Stone" magazine, Christy Lemire, entertainment writer for the Associated Press, and Christopher John Farley, senior editor for "TIME" magazine.

Thanks to the three of you for being with us today. We sure do appreciate it.

TOURE, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: Thank you.

COLLINS: Toure, help me out with this one. Michael Jackson, he shows up 20 minutes late for his court appearance, and then he ends up doing a little dance number on top of a car.

TOURE: Yes.

COLLINS: What's going on here? Is he not taking this seriously?

TOURE: I -- you know, I don't think he's taking it seriously the same way that your senile grandpa doesn't quite know exactly what's going on anymore. I mean, even the Ed Bradley thing was a bad move -- once again re-asserting it's OK to sleep in the bed with children. It seems that nobody can guide him, nobody can tell him anything. Even Mark Geragos can't say, hey, we've got to get there on time.

COLLINS: Right.

TOURE: You know, it's bizarre, yet Jermaine showed up, Janet showed up, daddy showed up. I was like, whoa!

COLLINS: Yes.

TOURE: Joe is here. This is big-time now.

CHRISTY LEMIRE, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: When he got on the car, though, it was, like, straight out of his black and white video. He has a video where he (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and he goes, "Ah!" And he beats it with, like, a baseball bat. I thought he was going to start doing that out of nowhere.

TOURE: Exactly.

CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY, SENIOR EDITOR, "TIME" MAGAZINE: I was hoping he'd do an encore and Janet would come out, too, and they could do a sort of a secondary number.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: It's too much. It's too much.

All right, let's move on to "The L Word." A lot of people are talking about this now. Christy, this is a new show on Showtime. It's about a group of lesbians in Los Angeles. We want to go ahead and take just a quick second and listen to a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE L WORD")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's not my type. She looks like she's been around the block a few times. You know what I mean?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's wrong with that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ooh, ooh, ooh. Now she's cute.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her name is Tina Befuz (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New blood! (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: OK, I was not going to laugh, but some people are comparing this now to "Sex and the City." Do you think it's going to have an appeal like that?

LEMIRE: I think it's actually more like a lesbian "Melrose Place," because they're all, like, fabulous and glamorous and hot, and they're all having sex with each other and they're all talking about each other. It's -- I think it's going to be an interesting show. We were talking about this earlier. Is it really for lesbians, or is really for the rest of us to watch hot women having sex?

TOURE: I mean, it's very much soft-core porn, like the sex is the center of the show. And the plot and the characters are sort of like the wallpaper. "Sex and the City" is the opposite. That's why we love it so much.

COLLINS: That's true.

FARLEY: But why is this a surprise? Because, you know, Showtime, Cinemax and HBO, they've been showing lesbian sex in different formats for years, and every 14-year-old boy knows there's hot sex on those shows -- on those channels after 12:00.

TOURE: Well, they know it's on the Internet. That's where they are really trying to find it. I'm just happy to see Pam Greer (ph) working and Jennifer Beals. It's nice to see her get a job. That happens, like, once every five years, like Haley's Comet, like Jennifer Beals gets work. So, it's good.

COLLINS: I can still only think of "Flashdance." But anyway, I know she has moved on. LEMIRE: She's all grown up now.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: She is.

Hey, let's talk about, you know, the big one, my most favorite, which I'm frightened to admit. But "American Idol," a new season tonight.

FARLEY: "American Idol" starts again? You know, I hope they allow Justin Guarini to enter again, because, you know, he lost his record contract. I want the guy to get one more shot at maybe the No. 1 slot.

So, it's a great show, I think. The results aren't always very good. I mean, but the process is always interesting. It's sort of fascinating -- I guess a little like the presidential elections on that.

COLLINS: Ah!

TOURE: It will be the same show as before. Simon will be mean, and then we'll have a few people that we'll like, and then we'll get down to three, and the wrong person will be chosen.

COLLINS: But don't you think it's kind of fun?

LEMIRE: It's great.

COLLINS: I mean, it becomes kind of an interactive show, because you choose the person that you really want to win. I think people go for that.

LEMIRE: And they matter to you. They're like your friends now. People know Clay. He's like their buddy. People love Rueben. It can only better, I think.

FARLEY: And Clay Aiken and Kelly Clarkson are touring together, so people are still turning out to sort of watch these people, even after they've won the show.

LEMIRE: I would go to that, yes.

FARLEY: So, these are people who are not, like, the record industry's favorite consumers. These are 40-somethings, 50- somethings.

LEMIRE: Right, and that's what makes it great. But they spend money. They buy records.

COLLINS: They do spend money. Guys, we've got to go. A lot of people are going to be watching that tonight, though. We appreciate your time this morning very much. Toure from "Rolling Stone," thanks so much. Christy Lemire, Associated Press, and Christopher John Farley, "TIME" magazine. Thanks, 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 19, 2004 - 07:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's time once again for "90-Second Pop," our lightning-fast look at what's hot in the world of pop culture.
Joining us today is Toure, contributing editor from "Rolling Stone" magazine, Christy Lemire, entertainment writer for the Associated Press, and Christopher John Farley, senior editor for "TIME" magazine.

Thanks to the three of you for being with us today. We sure do appreciate it.

TOURE, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: Thank you.

COLLINS: Toure, help me out with this one. Michael Jackson, he shows up 20 minutes late for his court appearance, and then he ends up doing a little dance number on top of a car.

TOURE: Yes.

COLLINS: What's going on here? Is he not taking this seriously?

TOURE: I -- you know, I don't think he's taking it seriously the same way that your senile grandpa doesn't quite know exactly what's going on anymore. I mean, even the Ed Bradley thing was a bad move -- once again re-asserting it's OK to sleep in the bed with children. It seems that nobody can guide him, nobody can tell him anything. Even Mark Geragos can't say, hey, we've got to get there on time.

COLLINS: Right.

TOURE: You know, it's bizarre, yet Jermaine showed up, Janet showed up, daddy showed up. I was like, whoa!

COLLINS: Yes.

TOURE: Joe is here. This is big-time now.

CHRISTY LEMIRE, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: When he got on the car, though, it was, like, straight out of his black and white video. He has a video where he (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and he goes, "Ah!" And he beats it with, like, a baseball bat. I thought he was going to start doing that out of nowhere.

TOURE: Exactly.

CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY, SENIOR EDITOR, "TIME" MAGAZINE: I was hoping he'd do an encore and Janet would come out, too, and they could do a sort of a secondary number.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: It's too much. It's too much.

All right, let's move on to "The L Word." A lot of people are talking about this now. Christy, this is a new show on Showtime. It's about a group of lesbians in Los Angeles. We want to go ahead and take just a quick second and listen to a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE L WORD")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's not my type. She looks like she's been around the block a few times. You know what I mean?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's wrong with that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ooh, ooh, ooh. Now she's cute.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her name is Tina Befuz (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New blood! (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: OK, I was not going to laugh, but some people are comparing this now to "Sex and the City." Do you think it's going to have an appeal like that?

LEMIRE: I think it's actually more like a lesbian "Melrose Place," because they're all, like, fabulous and glamorous and hot, and they're all having sex with each other and they're all talking about each other. It's -- I think it's going to be an interesting show. We were talking about this earlier. Is it really for lesbians, or is really for the rest of us to watch hot women having sex?

TOURE: I mean, it's very much soft-core porn, like the sex is the center of the show. And the plot and the characters are sort of like the wallpaper. "Sex and the City" is the opposite. That's why we love it so much.

COLLINS: That's true.

FARLEY: But why is this a surprise? Because, you know, Showtime, Cinemax and HBO, they've been showing lesbian sex in different formats for years, and every 14-year-old boy knows there's hot sex on those shows -- on those channels after 12:00.

TOURE: Well, they know it's on the Internet. That's where they are really trying to find it. I'm just happy to see Pam Greer (ph) working and Jennifer Beals. It's nice to see her get a job. That happens, like, once every five years, like Haley's Comet, like Jennifer Beals gets work. So, it's good.

COLLINS: I can still only think of "Flashdance." But anyway, I know she has moved on. LEMIRE: She's all grown up now.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: She is.

Hey, let's talk about, you know, the big one, my most favorite, which I'm frightened to admit. But "American Idol," a new season tonight.

FARLEY: "American Idol" starts again? You know, I hope they allow Justin Guarini to enter again, because, you know, he lost his record contract. I want the guy to get one more shot at maybe the No. 1 slot.

So, it's a great show, I think. The results aren't always very good. I mean, but the process is always interesting. It's sort of fascinating -- I guess a little like the presidential elections on that.

COLLINS: Ah!

TOURE: It will be the same show as before. Simon will be mean, and then we'll have a few people that we'll like, and then we'll get down to three, and the wrong person will be chosen.

COLLINS: But don't you think it's kind of fun?

LEMIRE: It's great.

COLLINS: I mean, it becomes kind of an interactive show, because you choose the person that you really want to win. I think people go for that.

LEMIRE: And they matter to you. They're like your friends now. People know Clay. He's like their buddy. People love Rueben. It can only better, I think.

FARLEY: And Clay Aiken and Kelly Clarkson are touring together, so people are still turning out to sort of watch these people, even after they've won the show.

LEMIRE: I would go to that, yes.

FARLEY: So, these are people who are not, like, the record industry's favorite consumers. These are 40-somethings, 50- somethings.

LEMIRE: Right, and that's what makes it great. But they spend money. They buy records.

COLLINS: They do spend money. Guys, we've got to go. A lot of people are going to be watching that tonight, though. We appreciate your time this morning very much. Toure from "Rolling Stone," thanks so much. Christy Lemire, Associated Press, and Christopher John Farley, "TIME" magazine. Thanks, 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.