For Immediate Release on Entertainment Drive
Released by Beck/Smith

"Project Alf" Just the Tip of the Furberg?
Hollywood -- Jan. 16, 1996 -- Could "Alf" end up back on TV regularly? With the networks scrambling to raise the dead in hopes of reviving current lackluster broadcasting, anything's possible. Particularly since ABC's Feb 3. "Project Alf" telepic "is a road movie." That's according to actor William O'Leary, who says when we next see Alf -- who starred in his own series 1986- 1990 -- we'll discover that for the last five years he's been held by the military, who've been running diabolical tests on him. O'Leary plays one of two Air Force scientists who kidnap Alf to save his life and says the new scenario opens an obvious door for more travels and travails with His Furry Out-thereness. "They're freed to do much more than they were now that Alf is loose. It opens it up a lot....The storyline possibilites are endless." O'Leary, who's best known as Tim Allen's brother on "Home Improvement," says even though Alf is a bigger scene stealer than Tim, the movie "was a dream come true for me. I adored that show. Alf was my god. When I went in to read for the project I said, 'Do you know what this means to me?' I actually did the 'Wayne's World' salute -- 'I'm not worthy!' They didn't get it until I started doing lines from the TV show in Alf's voice: 'I kill me!'...'Slide the pizza...'" O'Leary says he'd like nothing better than to do more work with his little furry alien idol. Of course, it'll be the ratings god who determines if Alf returns to TV on a regular basis.

Watley's Greatest Hits Has Added Bonus Track
Hollywood -- Jan. 17, 1996 -- Jody Watley couldn't be happier that she and her former record label, MCA, were able to come together to put out her upcoming greatest hits album. "Our split was amicable," explains Watley. "So when it came time to do this album, which was MCA's idea, we just worked to put it together. I helped with picking some of the versions of the songs that are on there and certain versions of the artwork." She reveals that "Jody Watley's Greatest Hits," which will be in record stores Feb. 13, has a special bonus track. "We remixed 'Ecstasy' over in England and a new version will be included in this package. We'll probably do a video for 'Ecstasy' and have it incorporate some of the footage from all the videos I've done over the years. Fashionwise I was doing things before they were really popular -- or even out in my videos -- so they don't look dated now." Watley, who's had such hits as "Looking for a New Love," "Friends," and "Don't You Want Me," says, "It's really exciting to have a greatest hits album. The best thing about doing something like this is to realize you can really be proud of all the songs you did. There's not one thing I've done that makes me cringe or ask, 'Why did I do that song?' I think that's one of the most wonderful feelings."

Director John Frankenheimer High on TV's Possibilities
Hollywood -- Jan. 18, 1996 -- Esteemed director John Frankenheimer is adamant he has no intention of doing feature films full time, even though his latest project has been the big- screen "Island of Dr. Moreau" with Marlon Brando. Says Frankenheimer, 65: "Now that I've come back to TV, I am not going to go away from cable films. They're much more in tune with the kind of subject matter, the sociological dramas I tend to do." Frankenheimer, who did TNT's epic "Andersonville" Civil War-era miniseries debuting in March, has potential projects at Turner, and a multi-project commitment with HBO. Frankenheimer's being honored right now with a first-of-its kind joint retrospective at New York's Museum of Broadcasting and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The filmmaker, who first found success via such classic TV as "Playhouse 90," then with such films as "The Manchurian Candidate" and "Seven Days in May," has had a remarkable career resurgence thanks to such Emmy-winning fare as the Samuel Jackson "Against the Wall," and Raul Julia's "The Burning Season." "I think what it means is that for the guy who thinks life is over at 50 -- it's not."

Jazz Songstress Dianne Reeves Inspired by All Things
Hollywood -- Jan. 19, 1996 -- Jazz songstress Dianne Reeves is just starting work on her next solo album. The popular singer, who's been hailed as "the modern-day Billie Holliday," says that when she starts writing, she gets her inspiration anywhere she can. She recalls that when Eddie del Barrio composed the music for the tune "Nine," from her "Quiet After the Storm" disc, she immediately felt it had a childlike quality. She decided it should be about being age nine. But she had a terrible time getting into the nine-year-old frame of mine to write the lyrics. "I had the hardest time with it. I thought, 'Is there a blockage here or what?' Then somebody talked me into buying some Rollerblades and I was out there on those....After I'd sprained my ankle and fallen down about three or four times I said, 'Okay, I remember [being] nine. I think I can get back into it.' It wasn't meant to be like that, but that's the way the inspiration came." (Thank goodness she didn't write about murder.) One thing's for sure, Reeves says she'll do the new album live in the studio the same way she did "Quiet After the Storm," which has earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Performance. Reeves' guests on the album included such stellar artists as Hubert Laws, Everette Harp, Roy Hargrove, Joshua Redman, and the "Tonight Show's" bandleader Kevin Eubanks. "We still do it the old way for these kinds of records," says Reeves. "I need that personality and interplay you get between the vocalist and the musicians and since they're all my friends it just makes for a more exciting time."

Copyright (c) 1996 Beck/Smith Ent.


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