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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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