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Showbiz Tonight
Encore: SHOWBIZ Flashback: Stars We`ve Known and Loved
Aired December 30, 2008 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST: Now, on a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ Flashback." Tonight, the best "Saturday Night Live" political spoofs ever - Will Ferrell`s George W. Bush, Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton and of course Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. But who`s the funniest of them all? Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT reveals the best "SNL" political spoofs of all time.
Tonight, a SHOWBIZ flashback to the way they were. Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears. Tonight, the stars who were on top of the world until it all came crashing down.
Plus, exclusive, Brad Pitt, the lost interview. Tonight, Brad before he made it big.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD PITT, ACTOR: I`ve got to admit I was like this - you know, I used to watch these people. I`m still a little star-struck to be honest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: The Brad Pitt lost interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
This special edition of TV`s most provocative entertainment news show, "SHOWBIZ Flashback," starts right now.
(MUSIC)
Hello. I`m A.J. Hammer, broadcasting tonight and every night from New York City.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST: Hi there, everyone. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. And welcome to this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ Flashback," a revealing, no-holds-barred look at the stars we`ve known and loved.
HAMMER: That`s right, Brooke. And first up, the best "Saturday Night Live" political spoofs ever. We`ve got all the big political names covered. I`m talking Chevy as a bumbling Gerald Ford; Will Ferrell doing a darn good spoof of George W.; and "SNL" sweetheart Tina Fey was a fantastic Sarah Palin.
Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is flashing back and calling in the comedians to pick the best and worst "SNL" political spoofs of all time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice over): The world went ga-ga over Tina Fey`s Sarah Palin.
TINA FEY, ACTRESS (as Sarah Palin): And now, I`d like to entertain everybody with some fancy pageant walking.
HAMMER: You could say she`s even better than Sarah Palin`s Sarah Palin.
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R-AK), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I`m not going to take any of your questions.
HAMMER: But SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has got to ask, how did Tina`s Sarah stack up to the rest of "Saturday Night Live`s" political spoofs? We`re talking all political spoofs in all of "SNL`s" history. Like will Farrell`s George W.
WILL FERRELL, ACTOR (as George W. Bush): I don`t want to be dividers - we want to be unificators.
HAMMER: Or Dana Carvey`s George H.W.
DANA CARVEY, ACTOR (as George H.W. Bush): I will never raise taxes again and I mean never.
HAMMER: What about Darrell Hammond`s Bill Clinton?
DARRELL HAMMOND, ACTOR (as Bill Clinton): People say, "Man, this party was beat until you got here.
HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT got the experts to cast their votes. Comedian, based on their feedback, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has developed a complex rating system. If it`s great, it gets a thumbs-up. If not, we shoot it down.
Let`s get right to it. Former "SNL" Mike Myers votes on his top pick.
MIKE MYERS, ACTOR: I love Dan Aykroyd`s Jimmy Carter.
DAN AYKROYD, ACTOR: I`ve never flip-flopped on any issue.
HAMMER: But comedian Jeffrey James doesn`t quite agree.
JEFFREY JAMES, COMEDIAN: My least favorite would probably be Dan Aykroyd`s Jimmy Carter.
HAMMER: Yes. We`re with you on that one. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT declares Dan Aykroyd`s Jimmy Carter mediocre. Shoot them down, Tina. Who else you got, Mike?
MYERS: When Dana Carvey used to do George Bush, I always thought I was just talking to George Bush.
CARVEY: Let`s stay the course a thousand points of life.
JAMES: By far, the best one ever, A plus, plus is the 1988 debate between Dana Carvey as George Bush, Sr. and John Lovett as Michael Dukakis.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: You still have 60 seconds left, Mr. Bush.
CARVEY: Let me just sum up, on track, stay the course, 1,000 points of life.
JOHN LOVETT, ACTOR (as Michael Dukakis): I can`t believe I`m losing to this guy.
HAMMER: Comedian Nick Stevens agrees.
NICK STEVENS, COMEDIAN: Everybody loves Dana Carvey`s George Bush. Even George Bush himself loved it.
CARVEY: I know.
HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT declares that Dana Carvey`s George Bush impersonation is a great big thumbs-up. What about Slick Willie? Both Phil Hartman and Darrell Hammond impersonated Bill Clinton. Who was better?
STEVENS: Every time Darrell Hammond comes on to the show as Bill Clinton, and looks like so satisfied and smug, the thumb, it`s great.
DARRELL: And I`m not a party wrecker. I love parties. Yesterday I asked somebody, do you party? You can see where my support lies.
JAMES: I always favored Phil Hartman`s Bill Clinton. Hartman played up the fact that he was just always out of control at the time, the just couldn`t help himself.
PHIL HARTMAN, ACTOR (as Bill Clinton): It is other countries too. It is like your McNugget is relief from Great Britain to Somalia, intercepted by warlords.
HAMMER: So who wins the Bill Clinton impersonation? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT declares a tie, Darrell Hammond and Phil Hartman, thumbs up.
STEVENS: I love Darrell Hammond`s Bill Clinton. As John McCain -
HAMMOND (as John McCain): Reach across party lines, something that pee pants over here would never even consider.
STEVENS: Fred Armisen as Barack Obama didn`t seem as comfortable. .
FRED ARMISEN (as Barack Obama): I met a man many years ago in Chicago. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
STEVENS: It`s not really that funny yet because he hasn`t found that note he wants to make fun of.
HAMMER: Yes. Not the strongest impersonations in "SNL`s" history. Darrell Hammond`s John McCain and Fred Armisen`s Barack Obama - shoot them down, Tina.
What about Chevy Chase back in the `70s and his stumbling, bumbling impersonation of Gerald R. Ford.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States.
STEVENS: Chevy Chase playing Gerald Ford was genius.
CHEVY CHASE, ACTOR (as Gerald Ford): Hello.
JAMES: He just basically used Gerald Ford as a reason to fall down on the set a lot. And yet, it was unbelievably popular.
HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT declares Chevy a winner, thumbs up. And then there`s Will Farrell.
FERRELL: Strategery.
STEVENS: Will Ferrell`s language that he made up for George W. Bush shows brilliance.
FERRELL: Some people around here, my dad`s friends - they don`t trust me. So I`m asking you, America, to be my buddy. I`m giving you $1,600.
STEVENS: Will Farrell was the best, not because he was the most accurate or the most spot-on. It was the funniest.
HAMMER: Thumbs up for Will Ferrell`s "W." But wait, there`s more.
FERRELL: Hey, C.J., roll that tape.
FEY: We`re going to get her done.
FERRELL: My god, you are folksy.
HAMMER: Tina Fey as Sarah Palin with Will Ferrell as George W., brilliant.
FEY: I`d like to think I`m one-part practice folksy, one part sassy, and a little dash of high school (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
HAMMER: Tina Fey as Sarah Palin - could she go down as one of the best "Saturday Night Live" impersonations ever? You betcha.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: I`m going to miss her. Sadly, Tina Fey has retired her Sarah Palin wig and glasses because she says she does have to focus on her day job as Liz Lemon on NBC` "30 Rock."
ANDERSON: Of course. OK, well, you know, Cyrus has certainly made an impression on Hollywood. These days, she`s one of the biggest stars out there, A.J. Her hit Disney show, "Hannah Montana," debuted in 2006 and launched Miley into superstardom. But it goes way beyond her show. She`s got a huge music career and she`s moving into movies.
HAMMER: Well, let`s keep in mind, it was not too long ago that Miley Cyrus was just starting out. Well, tonight, we have a terrific SHOWBIZ flashback to our very own lost Miley Cyrus interview. You have to watch this amazing interview I dug up with Miley and her dad, Billy Ray. It comes from February of 2006.
Now, at the time, Miley had just signed on to star in "Hannah Montana." And I could never imagine back then what a worldwide, billion-dollar phenomenon she would become just two years later.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: You seem very excited, Miley.
M. CYRUS: I am.
BILLY RAY CYRUS, FATHER OF MILEY CYRUS: A.J., it`s great to be with you.
HAMMER: Has she been buzzing all day?
B. CYRUS: She`s been working her tail off. I mean we`ve been in New York for three days now. And it`s just been very exciting. This is her first trip to New York City.
HAMMER: Is this your very first time here? You have lived in Tennessee on a ranch. You`ve now moved to Los Angeles.
M. CYRUS: Yes.
HAMMER: But here you are in New York City. So what are your impressions of our fair town?
M. CYRUS: I like it. It is different. It`s very different than Nashville, but so is L.A. and I just keep going. But I love it.
HAMMER: What`s the strangest thing you saw during your stay in New York? There are some freaks here, you know.
M. CYRUS: Well, mostly just all the buildings. I`ve seen them in movies. They look a lot smaller than they do in person.
HAMMER: You play this pop star and of course, you know, a lot of kids grow up hoping they can one day be a pop star, too. It`s a very enviable position to be. But you have a pop star dad, something a lot of kids probably wish they had, a big-time rock and roll country star. What`s that been like? What`s the best part of having Billy Ray Cyrus as your dad?
M. CYRUS: It`s been great. I probably wouldn`t be here if it weren`t for him, after growing up -
HAMMER: Yes, I can assure of that, actually.
M. CYRUS: Yes, seeing on set and seeing him singing and once I got on the stage with him. And I just knew that`s something I wanted to do. So I really enjoy it, especially getting to work with him.
HAMMER: What`s one of the perks, though, of having a famous dad. What do you think? You walk down the street - well, you probably get a lot of cool stuff.
M. CYRUS: Yes, I do. I get to go a lot - I get to travel with him. So that`s the fun part.
B. CYRUS: I don`t know if you`ve heard about her singing. She just signed a record deal with Hollywood Records.
HAMMER: Congratulations. It`s not a bad deal.
M. CYRUS: Thank you very much.
B. CYRUS: She writes her own songs.
HAMMER: Wow.
B. CYRUS: She is the real deal. She`s got some great music ahead of her, and again, it`s just a lot of fun.
HAMMER: And as I said, this character - you`re playing Hannah Montana, one of the world`s biggest pop stars. Is it somebody you are emulating? Because certainly, the premise is, you know, if Britney Spears was in high school but nobody knew it was Britney Spears, that`s what the deal is. So is there a pop star that you sort of looked up to prepare for this?
M. CYRUS: I kind of thought of Hillary Duff when I was doing this. Because she actually started doing Disney at the same time as I did. And then she went off to music. So I kind of watched her concerts and saw some of the footage that she`s done and kind of took some of her style and used it towards "Hannah."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: A.J., I think it is tremendous how Miley`s has become such a successful music star. And do you remember how we loved Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and even Britney Spears for the same reasons?
HAMMER: Yes, all of them, Brooke. And I really think it`s a shame that those guys now are really more known for scandal. They were on top of the world and then, it all came crashing down. What happened? Well, coming up, we`ve got SHOWBIZ flashback to the way they were.
And an exclusive SHOWBIZ flashback to Brad Pitt before he became Brad Pitt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PITT: A lot of the attraction before I came out was the fame, the lifestyle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Tonight, Brad before he made it big. It`s the lost interview you will see only right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: And "One Day at a Time" star, Valerie Bertinelli, on drug use, the shocking cheating that went on in her marriage and the battle to lose weight. This special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ Flashback" is back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VALERIE BERTINELLI, ACTRESS (as Barbara Cooper in "One Dat at a Time"): See, I Ms. Excitement. I`m the only kid I know who goes to confession and has to make up sins.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: You`ve got to love this, one of my favorite shows. Valerie Bertinelli playing the oh-so- squeaky clean Barbara Cooper in the `70s hit "One Day at a Time."
HAMMER: Welcome back to this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, SHOWBIZ Flashback. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. Well, Valerie Bertinelli was really one of those stars that we`ve known and loved, you know, as America`s sweetheart. But even though Valerie might have played the perfect daughter on "One Day at a Time," her real life was far from perfect.
In her explosive memoir called "Losing It," Valerie opens up about everything from experimenting with drugs to her bumpy 20-year marriage to rocker Eddie Van Halen and her emotional up-and-down weight battle. Well, when I sat down with Valerie, she even set the record straight about the reported feud between her and former Jenny Craig pitchwoman Kirstie Alley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): The image that you had as a result of doing "One Day At A Time" show when you started at 15 years old vastly different if I may be so bold just to say from some of the things we learned about you.
BERTINELLI: True.
HAMMER: And I`ll get right to it. I mean you`re very candid about the drug use.
BERTINELLI: Yes.
HAMMER: Fame obviously came very quickly at you when you were 15 years old. What was it, though, that actually led to you beginning to do cocaine as you talk about doing with Mackenzie Phillips and other people?
BERTINELLI: Well, I think I was a product of the age, too. I mean I know not everybody in the late `70s and `80s tried you know, drugs. But I think that has more to do with the era, and experimentation at that age. Luckily, I didn`t like it that much, so I didn`t - so I stopped doing it. I didn`t do it for too long of a time. And of course, I loved food so much more, so nothing could take the place of that.
HAMMER: And you talk about how you were still dabbling in the drugs when you first got together with Eddie Van Halen. You were 20 years old at that time?
BERTINELLI: Well, actually - Yes, I was 20 when I met Ed. I`ve done some drugs with Mac, not that it was her fault. We were just, you know, experimenting. And then I was with a man who didn`t do drugs at all, so I didn`t do any. And then I met Ed and I started doing them again.
HAMMER: And one of the stories you tell us when you`re going and signing the paperwork with the priest and you both had cocaine on you.
BERTINELLI: I know.
HAMMER: That`s a bad sign.
BERTINELLI: Yes. What part of this tells you that you can get married?
HAMMER: That`s not a good sign. Yes. What`s the deal?
BERTINELLI: These are two people that don`t know how to actually enter into a marriage so they shouldn`t be doing it. But we did anyway. And we got a great son out of it, so there you go.
HAMMER: You got a beautiful son in Wolfy(ph), Wolfgang. And you were married for 20 years. Now, another thing you speak candidly about is the infidelity that took place. But you talk about your infidelity. You talk about Eddie`s infidelity. You said that you had this son, nonetheless who turned out to be the great beauty of it all. But you were together for 20 years and the infidelity happened pretty early on in the marriage.
BERTINELLI: You know, I was surprised. Actually, I didn`t remember it that way until I went back over my journals, and it was only four years into our marriage and I - looking back now, I can see we started drifting apart so much earlier than I really thought we did. Because we had so much love for each other that that really kept us going through a lot of the really terrible things we were doing to one another. So I guess I didn`t realize that it started so early. But yes, it pretty much did.
HAMMER: So then, what was the deal with you guys staying together for so long after that in hindsight? Because I think a lot of people watching right now may relate in that they don`t make it through even that first infidelity. That`s it, game over.
BERTINELLI: Well, it should be, too. I mean I think I really truly believe in monogamy. Back then, I didn`t know how to deal with the complexities of a relationship and how you treat one another and avoiding pain when I just brought on more pain by putting infidelity into the marriage. So I don`t know. I guess older is wiser.
HAMMER: Makes sense to me.
BERTINELLI: You know, you make that mistake. You really shouldn`t make it again. You don`t want to make it again.
HAMMER: You talk about your love for food. You talk a great deal about your body image issues, the up and down weight struggles. You talk about the rock bottom that you hit and I guess it pertains to your weight when you saw yourself on screen doing the TV movie "Claire" and what you write book is quote, "the sight of myself was too much for even me to tolerate." How bad was it at that moment? How bad did it get?
BERTINELLI: God, I just looked at it and I think I had been able to live in denial for a length of time there, that when I did see my image, I just - who is that? I didn`t recognize her any longer. "Who is that old, ugly fat woman?" is exactly what I remember saying out loud. I was in a room by myself. And that was a very - a good starting for me to say I can`t. I`m not going to live this way any longer.
HAMMER: You`re having such great success with Jenny Craig. We loved seeing your progress on the commercials. You`ve lost around 40 pounds. Is that the deal? Is it something, though, that you still live in fear of falling off the wagon? Is it a battle, a struggle every day?
BERTINELLI: It`s a challenge, but I don`t have a fear about it. I really, for the first time in my entire life, feel like I`ve got control to the most degree with this. Because I have people I can lean on now. Every time I go on a diet before, it was almost hiding from it, "Well, I`m not really dieting. No one needs to know this."
But when you finally stop hiding and stop the facade and you would just out and out say, "Well, this is what I`m doing. And I need help and I want this from you. Can you help me?" You can`t hide anymore. That`s the whole point is just to be up front and live your life, and be joyful in it.
HAMMER: I need you to set the record straight on something. You`re probably just going to have a laugh. But here`s what I read on the papers. You know, you come on to the Jenny Craig program. There you are doing the commercials originally with Kirstie Alley.
BERTINELLI: Yes:
You`re younger -
BERTINELLI: Not much.
HAMMER: I`m reading - everybody`s saying she`s younger. And now the two of you are mortal enemies and -
BERTINELLI: I don`t know how that happened. Honestly, I don`t. It`s almost like society doesn`t think that two women can actually be friends and get along and have a good time working together, but it`s true. We`re not all catfights all the time. We`re real people, you know.
HAMMER: Yes, I knew that.
BERTINELLI: But that`s from, you know, living in a patriarchal society. What are you going to do?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: I like her a whole lot. Look at her - she`s just glowing and obviously, so candid. A lovely, lovely lady. Valerie Bertinelli`s book is called "Losing It and Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time." And it`s available right now.
ANDERSON: A.J., Valerie looks terrific and where does the time go? Boy, it really seems like just yesterday when I watched her on "One Day at a Time".
HAMMER: I think I did watch her yesterday in a repeat somewhere. And Brooke, you`ve got to take a look at this, a very young Brad Pitt before he became, well, Brad Pitt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PITT: I used to watch these people. I`m still a little star-struck, to be honest, you know. Six months ago, I was sitting home in Missouri, watching these people on TV.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Oh, you`ve just got to love the glasses and poofy hair, right? Tonight, a SHOWBIZ flashback exclusive, Brad Pitt, the lost interview, straight ahead.
HAMMER: Brooke, we are also flashing back to the way these guys were. I`m talking about Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, the stars who were on top of it all until it all came crashing down. That`s coming up.
ANDERSON: And Marcia Brady`s confession. "Brady Bunch" star, Maureen McCormick on her drug use and dating Michael Jackson. Yes, I said dating. You`re watching a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ Flashbacks."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Thank you, Charles. Welcome back to this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ Flashbacks." These are the stars we`ve known and loved. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
I`ve got to tell you, I loved "Beverly Hills 90210," the original. When I sat down with Tori Spelling to talk about her tell-all book, "sTORI Telling," I couldn`t believe what Tori told me about the sex-capades that happened on "90210" set. I`ve got to tell you, this was shocking to hear coming from the virginal Donna Martin.
I also asked Tori about her sex scandal, what was going on in her mind when she cheated on husband number one with now husband number two, and if she ever stopped to think about the damage she was doing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TORI SPELLING, ACTRESS: That was the hardest thing for both of us is that there were children involved. There were two other people innocently involved. You know, whether they were happy marriages, whether they were meant to work out, it`s still at the end of the day people are going to get hurt.
And that was the hardest thing about that whole situation. But, you know, in life you have to really - you have to look out for yourself and I found my soul mate and I couldn`t deny love.
HAMMER: You talk about the "90210" cast and how everybody was basically sleeping with everybody. And I`m curious was that -
SPELLING: I had to give that tidbit up.
HAMMER: Was that going on just to kind of pass the time while you had some downtime on the set, or was it something that you guys didn`t realize was happening until you would finish shooting for good?
SPELLING: No. I think, you know, it was a group of young people kind of thrust into a very unique situation that bonded. Everyone bonded really quickly. We all really liked each other. And you know, it`s like you go to high school and there`s a cute boy and you want to date him. That happened on the set, just like high school.
HAMMER: Yes, just like high school. Everybody wants everybody.
SPELLING: Yes. And then the next figure is another cute boy.
HAMMER: Well, of course, "90210" fans everywhere, and they still exist all over the planet.
SPELLING: They do.
HAMMER: They want to know who Tori Spelling was sleeping with. I mean it`s not me, it`s just they want to know.
SPELLING: Well, they have to read the book because I divulged that.
HAMMER: You do mention David Austin Green -
SPELLING: Yes - Brian Austin Green. David is his character.
HAMMER: Brian Austin Green, who of course, played David on "90210." And of course, anybody, when they find that out, the great irony of the fact that Donna Martin, your character was the great virgin of the show and wouldn`t sleep with David.
SPELLING: But she did lose her virginity to David. So kind of all bounces out. She married him, so -
HAMMER: It`s life imitating art imitating life or something like that.
SPELLING: Something crazy like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Oh, goodness. You know, A.J., there was a time that we loved Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, for their music.
HAMMER: Yes. What a group of enormously talented people.
ANDERSON: Right. But what happened to them? Why did everything come crashing down? Tonight, we`re taking a SHOWBIZ flashback to find out how did everything go so wrong, the way they were.
Also the way Brad Pitt was before he became one of the biggest super stars in the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PITT: A lot of the attraction before I came out was the fame, the lifestyle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: You`ve got to love this look on Brad. Well, tonight, I`m digging into the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT file cabinet and dusting off this amazing lost exclusive interview of Brad Pitt. That is coming up.
ANDERSON: A.J., we`ve got another one, the "High School Musical" lost interview. You do not want to miss the secrets from the set. This special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "Showbiz Flashback," is back right after this. Keep it here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Now, on this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ flashback," the way they were. Whitney Houston, Britney Spears and Michael Jackson before all the drama. What was it about them that made us love them and where did they go wrong?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PITT: I used to watch these people. I`m still a little star-struck, to be honest, you know. Six months ago, I was sitting home in Missouri watching these people on TV.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: And Brad Pitt`s lost interview. Tonight, Brad years before he hit the big-time. You won`t believe what Brad had to say about fame and Hollywood.
TV`s most provocative entertainment news show continues right now.
(MUSIC)
Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It`s 30 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer, broadcasting tonight and every night from New York City.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson, coming to you tonight from Hollywood. You are watching a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ Flashback," stars we`ve known and loved.
HAMMER: And tonight, we are flashing back to the way they were - Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears- you know, they all have something in common - going from the stars America loved to the stars America loved to watch as they became train wrecks. So tonight, we now look back at the highs and lows of the way they were.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER (voice over): Ah, the memories. Remember Michael Jackson`s moonwalk? How about Whitney`s heavenly voice and Britney`s brilliant pop sounds? It`s like Barbra Streisand sang in "The Way We Were," memories of the greatest entertainers in the world still live in the corners of our minds.
They are the biggest stars the world has ever seen. Their careers have become prisoners to their personal demons.
Rehab, trials and addiction have put a different spin on their lives and none of it good. But SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you, the golden era of these super-sized stars will never be tarnished.
MICHAEL JACKSON, POP STAR: I am totally innocent of any wrongdoing.
HAMMER: It has been a tough couple of years for Michael Jackson. From being accused of child molestation in 1993, dangling a baby from a window in 2002, to facing more child molestation charges in 2005. Everyone watched as the king of pop became the king of bizarre. But remember when we just couldn`t get enough of Michael?
Before he was the center of controversy, Michael Jackson was the undisputed king of pop.
ALEX WAGNER, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Michael Jackson, when he was at his most popular, was less an artist and more sort of a worldwide phenomenon. I think Michael was the first in the, you know, true pop kings. This is someone that has sold a total of 3 billion albums worldwide. So it`s basically everybody and their mother in every country in the world was listening to him.
HAMMER: And, of course, there was "Thriller," still touted by "Billboard" magazine as the single biggest selling album of all time. With Michael, it wasn`t just the music.
WAGNER: He had dance moves. I mean, nobody had a floor show like Michael Jackson.
HAMMER: Oh, boy, Britney Spears, between the panty-less partying, the head shaving, rehab and the custody battles, it`s easy to forget Britney was once a superstar.
It has been a wild ride for Britney and even a few bumps along the way, you can`t deny for more than a decade she`s been a pop phenomenon, 83 million albums sold worldwide, a superstar by the age of 19.
WAGNER: Britney, you know, back in the day, was someone we loved watching grow up. She was young. She was kind of this teenybopper with pigtails.
HAMMER: "Hit Me Baby One More Time" made her a sensation and, oops, the hits came coming, again and again. She told CNN in 1999 the success even caught her by surprise.
BRITNEY SPEARS, POP STAR: I just wanted my song to be in the Top 40.
WAGNER: Britney`s is someone whose, you know, personal crises may have eclipsed her musical career, but fundamentally has a team around her and understands music and pop hooks in a way that we`ll never escape or anything.
WHITNEY HOUSTON, POP STAR: Crack is whack.
HAMMER: A moment in pop culture history, Whitney Houston being interviewed by "Prime Time Live`s" Diane Sawyer about her reported drug use. Just one example of Whitney`s bumpy ride in the spotlight.
HOUSTON: Damn, damn. Lord, I just want to be a real person.
HAMMER: Substance abuse, rehab, divorce - all turned the American sweetheart into tabloid fodder. Some blame her ex-husband bad boy Bobby Brown, her co-star in the reality show "Being Bobby Brown."
BOBBY BROWN, HOUSTON`S HUSBAND: I`ve been to jail before. That`s American.
HOUSTON: Kiss my ass!
HAMMER: But we remember the time before her life spun out of control when everybody wanted to dance with somebody named Whitney.
WAGNER: Whitney came on to the scene and was an angel
HAMMER: That song from Whitney`s film, "The Bodyguard" marked her pinnacle. She`s still the only artist in history to have seven consecutive number one hits. She holds the title of being the first female artist to enter the billboard 200 at number one, "The Bodyguard" soundtrack in top 10 biggest selling albums of all time.
WAGNER: If you look at the early tapes of Whitney, there`s something that`s just glowing, this poise and this dignity. And, you know, there really actually isn`t even anyone like her now.
HAMMER: And if they had a chance to do it all again, tell me, could they, would they?
WAGNER: They all had something fundamentally that none of us have and I think, you know, the American public wants that again. So they just need to realize that for themselves.
HOUSTON: Makes you feel kind of old, huh? Hah, but I`m not done yet. Believe me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Oh, I hope that`s true. And you know, if anybody knows, A.J. about the intense media scrutiny that today`s young stars have to face, it`s New Kids on the Block. The teen pop phenoms reunited after a decade and a half break. I want to flash back to 1988 - that`s when "Hanging Tough" was taking over the charts and establishing New Kids on the Block as a boy band sensation.
HAMMER: Brooke, they were on their way to mega-stardom at that point. And in a SHOWBIZ flashback, I spoke with Donnie, Danny, Jonathan, Jordan and Joey about their heyday and why it took them 14 years to give it another go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONNIE WAHLBERG, NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK MEMBER: I think all of us were sort of ready. I think we`d been away for a while and we did other things. We had a chance to really not only do other things but to really engage and become parents and have private lives and businesses and careers.
And you know, quite frankly, I think the fans need time away, too. I mean, you know, the fans couldn`t chase us around for the last 14 years. They had to go off and have families and get jobs and careers and start their own lives. And somehow this whole thing is sort of allowing us to come back.
And it`s kind of doing the same thing for the fans. They`re reliving an experience, but they`re grown now. Instead of sleeping outside of the hotel, they just get a room inside the hotel.
HAMMER (on camera): But boy, 15 years ago or so, were the fans something to behold. Could you imagine, guys, what that would have been like if the paparazzi were constantly after you in the extreme way they are out there today, and you had to deal with the gossip bloggers and sites like Perez Hilton and TMZ tracking your every move?
DANNY WOOD, NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK MEMBER: We`re pretty resilient. I think we would have adapted to it. You know, definitely - I think back then there wasn`t, you know, all the Internet stuff, but the stories came out. They had longer life spans. So you still had to deal with, you know, the press and, you know, some paparazzi here and there. Now, there`s so many outlets that sometimes a big story is one day, because there`s a different story the next day.
HAMMER: You know, you look around today at the younger groups that are coming up. It`s hard to ignore that perhaps the Jonas Brothers are dealing with a bit of what you went through with the mass fandom. If you had the opportunity, got in a room with them and could sit them down and give them a heads-up about anything that you went through, what would you tell them?
JONATHAN KNIGHT, NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK MEMBER: Tell them, don`t listen to our advice.
JORDAN KNIGHT, NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK MEMBER: Enjoy yourself and don`t take it too seriously. You know, have fun with what you do, and there`s going to be a lot of critics. And you know, don`t listen to them and don`t so much listen to all the praise either. Just kind of like know who you are, basically.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: A.J., very few people probably understand the pressures of fame better than Brad Pitt. But believe it or not, there was a time when Brad himself was star-struck.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PITT: I used to watch these people. I`m still a little star-struck, to be honest, you know. It was six months ago in Missouri watching these people on TV.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Tonight, a SHOWBIZ flashback you won`t want to miss, Brad Pitt, the lost interview. We talk about his first big gig and meeting the stars of TV`s "Dallas". Brad Pitt in his own words, still ahead.
HAMMER: Plus, Marcia Brady tells all. "Brady Bunch" star Maureen McCormick reveals to me more about her drug use and dating Michael Jackson. It is the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT and it is next.
ANDERSON: And another lost-then-found interview with the cast of "High School Musical." Their reaction to new-found fame and what really happened on the set. That`s straight ahead on this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ Flashback." Hey, remember, you can watch SHOWBIZ TONIGHT video anytime you want. We are always posting new stuff for you to watch, that`s at our Web site, CNN.com/ShowbizTonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Sixty, 64, 50, 80, 90 -
MAUREEN MCCORMICK (as Marcia Brady): Hey, you guys - oh, my nose!
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Marcia, you OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Marcia Brady may have survived getting bonked on the nose in this unforgettable "Brady Bunch" episode. But what happened to Maureen McCormick in real life would make your head spin.
HAMMER: Welcome back to this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ Flashback," the stars we`ve known and loved. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
And tonight, Marcia Brady`s confessions. Marcia Brady seemed to have it all on "The Brady Bunch." But Maureen McCormick`s real life was far from the squeaky-clean image that she portrayed on screen.
Maureen reveals she had a cocaine addition, nearly lost her virginity to Barry Williams, who of course, played Greg Brady on the show. She dated Michael Jackson and all before she was even 18 years old. It`s all in her shocking book, "Here`s the Story."
And when I spoke with Maureen, the first thing I had to ask her was just how difficult it was to write such a dramatic tell-all.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCCORMICK: It was hard. It was hard, you know, going back to a lot of the difficult times that I`ve been through. But it was also really cathartic, just because I feel like, you know, I don`t have to hide anything that I`ve been through. I don`t have to hide that I did cocaine anymore. I don`t have to hide that I had bulimia. I don`t have to hide that I dealt with - or have dealt with depression for a lot of my adult years. So it feels really good just to get out and to say it.
HAMMER (on camera): You talk very candidly about the severe addiction to cocaine that you had.
MCCORMICK: Yes.
HAMMER: And that began after the "Brady Bunch." How old were you when the show ended, by the way?
MCCORMICK: Seventeen.
HAMMER: Wow. So right there. There were also other difficult things going on in your life. Was the addiction more to do with the show coming to a close, or the other things, or sort of a combination of both?
MCCORMICK: I think it was a combination of the people that I was hanging out with. I got involved with a guy, and he was my boyfriend. And one day he said, "I want to take you up to my teacher`s house in Laurel Canyon." And I was like, "Great. Let`s go."
So we went. And there was a glass coffee table like this, and it was filled with a mountain of cocaine. And I had no idea what it was. And I took one hit. Didn`t do anything. Couldn`t feel anything. Took another hit. Maybe a little bit more. Then another one. And I was like, "Wow, this is great."
And I have a very, very addictive-type personality. So the drug and me just were inseparable for years.
HAMMER: Yes. It kind of created a perfect storm and led to really quite a spiral that you detail in the book.
MCCORMICK: Yes.
HAMMER: You talk about nearly losing your virginity to Barry Williams ...
MCCORMICK: Right.
HAMMER: ... who of course, played Greg Brady. And you were 16 at the time that this took place?
MCCORMICK: Sixteen, seventeen.
HAMMER: Sixteen, seventeen?
MCCORMICK: Yes.
HAMMER: And it didn`t actually happen.
MCCORMICK: Right.
HAMMER: But again, let`s keep in mind, this is the guy who was your TV brother when you were, you know, a very young person.
MCCORMICK: Right.
HAMMER: What happened that night, though, when you almost lost your virginity to Barry Williams?
MCCORMICK: It sounds so funny to me now.
HAMMER: And the fact that you`re actually sitting and having conversations about this?
MCCORMICK: Yes. OK.
HAMMER: Why? Just because of the surrealness of it all?
MCCORMICK: Totally, it`s surreal. It`s a trip. It`s really funny, you know? I mean, yes, he played my brother. And it just - it`s so funny to me. But what was it like? It was very romantic. It was, you know, our hormones were going crazy. And we were in his bedroom having a really good time. And his parents walked in. Thank god. And we didn`t do the deed.
HAMMER: You talk about some of the other people you were involved with when you were very young, that I found a little surprising, having never heard this before. Steve Martin is someone you had dated at one point?
MCCORMICK: I dated once, yes.
HAMMER: Michael Jackson, while he was in the Jackson Five?
MCCORMICK: Yes, when he was like 14 years old.
HAMMER: Do you have a specific recollection of what that was like? Dating Michael Jackson?
MCCORMICK: Oh, my gosh, are you kidding me? Because he was a superstar to me.
HAMMER: Sure.
MCCORMICK: I was like, you know - I mean, Jackson Five was my favorite group. So to be able to be at the Jackson house, and to hang out with Michael Jackson, and go ice skating with him was, you know, wow. Just an unbelievable thing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Imagine it was. For more of Maureen McCormick`s incredible story, grab a copy of her book, "Here`s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice."
ANDERSON: From Marcia Brady to Hollywood`s best-known high schoolers, the cast of the "High School Musical" movies. A.J., these kids are larger than life now. But you talked to them when things just started heating up.
HAMMER: That`s right, Brooke. This is a SHOWBIZ Flashback - "High School Musical," the lost interview. "High School Musical III: Senior Year," of course, was a box office smash hit. It opened at number one and raked in a record $42 million out of the gate.
But before they were huge stars, they were right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. This was back in 2006 when a very giddy cast talked to me about their excitement and awe just before they made it big-time.
Tonight, "High School Musical," the lost interview, starting with Zach Efron`s confession about just how tough it was to learn all those dance numbers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAC EFRON, ACTOR: I had no dance experience. I wasn`t ready. It was tough, man, it was very tough.
HAMMER: One of the things that is amazing about this phenomenon, and I know you guys have talked about this, is the fact that here we have something for Disney, which does not involve drugs or sex or swearing, you know. These days things that don`t have one of those worked into the mix often don`t do very well.
So now that you`ve really had some time since you`ve shot it and seen all the success, what do you really think this is the reason this has connected with so many people?
CORBIN BLEU, ACTOR: First of all, the fact that it`s a musical.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, if Troy can tell his secret, then I can tell mine. I bake. I love to bake. Sure, scones. Even apple pie(ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLEU: It`s funny because musicals sort of went into a high point and then they went low again. And I think after, you know, came with "Rent" and "Chicago" and "Moulin Rouge" and a whole bunch of those, just the musical section has started to really grow again. "High School Musical," I think, was very popular because of that. Also...
VANESSA HUDGENS, ACTRESS: And I think - I think kids can relate to the movie as well because of the clique problems that there is in high school. There`s the movie, as well, and the characters representing Gabriela kind of break out of the cliques and kind of conquer.
HAMMER: This has transcended the audience that it was originally intended for, which was a younger audience, but obviously, adults have latched onto this thing, too, and not just adults because of their kids. Shaquille O`Neal reportedly singing one of the songs from your movie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you serious?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where`s Shaq? Get Shaq!
HAMMER: Can you guess which song?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Get in the Game".
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Get in the Game".
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Get in the Game".
HUDGENS: That`s so cool.
HAMMER: There you go. Who would have thought?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, believe it or not, there was a time when with Brad Pitt was not one with of the biggest stars in the world. He was just a young kid trying to get his big break in Hollywood.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PITT: A lot of the attraction before I came out was the fame, the lifestyle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Love those glasses, love that poofy hair. Tonight, a SHOWBIZ TONIGHT exclusive, Brad Pitt, the lost interview. You will not believe the things he had to say about fame and Hollywood before he became famous and moved to Hollywood. We`ve got that coming up next.
HAMMER: Now, you need to check out the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT podcast. You`ll find it on our Web site CNN.com/ShowbizTonight. If you`d like to use iTunes, you could do, too. Do a little search for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. New ones are popping up all the time. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is coming straight back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Hey, welcome back to this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ Flashbacks," stars we`ve known and loved. I`m Brooke Anderson. There aren`t many stars bigger than Brad Pitt. Tonight, we`re giving you a rare flashback to one of Pitt`s very first interviews. You will only see it here exclusively on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Picture this. It`s 1988, and a fresh faced, awkward Brad had just started acting. He had some surprising things to say you about finding fame and fortune, his first big TV role, and about lying to his parents when he moved from a small town in Missouri to Hollywood.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Less than two years ago, 22-year-old Brad Pitt left Missouri and told his parents he was heading West.
PITT: I told them I was coming to finish my education.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What he had in mind, of course, was stardom, not school.
PITT: A lot of the attraction before I came out was the fame, the lifestyle. What really counts - or, you know, the people you care for, and now my motivation is more like I want to be good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His first job? A regular on "Dallas."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PITT: I`m randy. Nice to meet you, sir.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PITT: I got to admit I was like this, ah, ah, ah. You know, I used to watch these people. I`m still a little star-struck, to be honest, you know. I just watched - six months ago I was sitting home in Missouri watching these people on TV.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And soon people will be watching him on the big screen in his first starring role in the movie "Cutting Class."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PITT: You know, have I a lot more to find out about Mr. Brian Woods.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The actor admits he has gotten a lot quickly, but he says he also has a foundation that show business can`t shake.
PITT: I have to give credit to - because, you know, I told myself before I got out here that the only way I was going to make it was to keep my head straight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which can be hard sometimes in a town where most heads are in the clouds.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Now, this interview originally aired on the great-grandfather to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "Showbiz Today."
HAMMER: And we give our props to "Showbiz Today," Brooke.
ANDERSON: Yes.
HAMMER: That is it for this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ Flashback." I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. Thanks so much for watching.
And remember you can always catch SHOWBIZ TONIGHT 11:00`s, 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, and in the morning, 11:00 a.m. Eastern. The latest from "CNN HEADLINE NEWS" is next.
END
