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Posted on Wed, Jan. 08, 2003
TV critics get little satisfaction from Stones
By Charlie McCollum
HOLLYWOOD - It's nice to know there are some constants in the world.
After four decades of being the bad boys of rock 'n' roll, the Rolling Stones proved once again the other day that they can artfully dodge press questions about their lives, their music, their longevity and place in pop music history and just about anything else reporters can come up with. And manage to do it while being vastly amusing and entertaining.
I will now officially date myself by noting that I interviewed the Stones several times while a pop music writer in the 1970s. Individually, the key members -- Mick Jagger, Keith Richards -- can be articulate and insightful. In a group interview, the band was always pretty tough to pin down and move beyond its joint tendency to crack wise.
On Tuesday, the Stones surfaced -- via satellite from Montreal -- at the semiannual Television Critics Association press tour to promote their upcoming ``Rolling Stones: Live From Madison Square Garden'' concert special on HBO. (The show will air at 9 p.m. Jan. 18 and won't actually be live on the West Coast.) And it's safe to say that they're still at the top of their game when it comes to eluding the grasp of the media.
Since the Stones have been using three vastly different sets on their current tour -- one for stadiums, one for arenas and one for smaller venues -- one obvious question was what they'd do for the live telecast.
``We haven't actually done a set list yet. Everyone keeps saying, `Where is the set list?' '' Jagger replied.
Uh, OK. How about accounting for the longevity of the band?
``None of us know, nor does the audience,'' opined guitarist Ron Wood.
``Hard work, dedication to your task,'' Richards suggested with his tongue so firmly planted in cheek that it must have hurt.
Occasionally, a bit of seriousness slipped into the mix. Jagger admitted that playing oldies like ``Satisfaction'' just about every night can be a little less than satisfying.
``There's nights when you just want to throw the set list out the window,'' he said. ``People like to hear certain things, but you don't want to only play those. You want to play other things.''
OK, guys, play on. After all these years, it's still fun to watch these guys go through the paces of being the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band.
Sci Fi follies
Sci Fi has a lot to brag about these days, being the fastest-growing cable channel at the end of the year.
Its critically acclaimed UFO miniseries, ``Taken,'' drew big audiences and established the channel as a major player in terms of high-end original programming. It also has some major projects coming up this year, such as the six-hour ``Frank Herbert's Children of Dune,'' which combines the second and third book in Herbert's series of novels. Also on tap: remakes of cult TV science fiction series ``Battlestar Galactica'' and ``Quantum Leap.''
So with all this good news floating around, you can understand why Sci Fi President Bonnie Hammer was less than thrilled that reporters kept asking about the bad news: the cancellation of ``Farscape,'' which begins its final run of episodes Friday. The devoted fans of the space show have launched a persistent e-mail campaign to save ``Farscape'' -- which so far has influenced Sci Fi not one whit.
``Look,'' Hammer said with more than a hint of irritation in her voice, ``what really happened . . . is we wanted to do 13 new episodes of `Farscape' to end the series the way we felt it should be ended properly.
``The bottom line was that we couldn't come up with a financial deal that made sense. . . . And the series had softened for us in the ratings.''
Somehow, I don't think what Hammer had to say will stop ``Farscape'' fans from pressing their campaign.
HBO changes
HBO has made official what had been rumored for weeks: The upcoming sixth season of ``Sex and the City'' will be its last. The critically acclaimed comedy will do 20 episodes, with 12 airing this summer, starting in June. The other eight won't be shown until next January.
In addition, the cable channel announced that ``Six Feet Under'' will start its third season March 2 and that ``The Wire'' -- its gritty series about the urban drug wars that failed to draw the attention that some HBO shows have -- will get a second 12-episode season this summer
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