New TV Program Idea

We've read Clark's recent report about Robert Blake and O.J. Simpson. Our staff has been creatively thinking about the two men and how they can increase their financial standing. (Blake says he's broke and can not pay the $30 million awarded by the jury in a recent civil case for wrongful death. O.J. thinks it's "double jeopardy" to be tried once in criminal court and then again in civil court for essentially the same offense.)We think some enterprising television producer should cash-in on the notoriety of both men by casting them as co-hosts of a show we call the new "21st Century Fugitives". Two men wrongly accused of crimes they did not commit now scour the countryside searching for the true killers, firstly on behalf of themselves, then the program expands to include their search for all the men and women unjustly accused. Each episode would feature a crime wherein OJ and Blake search for the real perpetrator(s) of the crime in question, beginning with the interview of the unjustly accused in prison.

The first program, a special two hour episode, would feature each of OJ and Blake's stories, and answer the question why they are not in prison. This would help O.J. make good on his promise to seek and find the killer(s) of his ex-wife. It would surely help Blake's money situation. He could pay off the debt imposed by the court and live well with his young daughter from the marriage to the deceased woman, Bonnie Lee Bakley. I'm sure it would be as popular as the original "Fugitive" series' or at best as popular as "Unsolved Mysteries", and it would also qualify as a new "reality" program. As they say, "Truth is Stranger than Fiction."

NOTE to Enterprising TV Producers: Contact me, Henry Gandolph if you're interested. As they say in the industry rag this could be "Boffo!"

Coming Spring 2009: George and Dick on the road in Iraq looking for WMD, accompanied by OJ and Blake, who still have not found the killers.

Clark Dark's Celebrity Round-Up Continues

People magazine has again named the "sexiest man alive". For the past twenty years the magazine has been selecting popular men for the title. This year it's 36-year-old Matthew McConaughey who has been awarded the honor. The magazine's editors and publisher credited McConaughey's "heaping helping of Texas's finest Southern charm" as the reason for the choice. McConaughey says the part of the title that he's proud of isn't "sexiest": "I like the `alive' part." I say, I like your style, Playa.

Broadcast pioneer Ralph Edwards, who spotlighted stars and ordinary people as host of the popular 1950s show "This Is Your Life," died Wednesday of heart failure. He was 92. Edwards, whose career as producer and host included shows such as "Truth or Consequences" and "People's Court," died in his sleep in his West Hollywood home. Edwards passing comes just as ABC television announced plans to air a new version of "This is Your Life," with Regis Philbin ("Live with Regis and Kelly") as host.

Speaking of Reeg...Philbin was spurned by Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve a year after stepping in for the holiday show's host who had suffered a mild stroke weeks before the event. Philbin will ring in 2006 on Fox.

Friends of Nicole Richie say she's receiving crank phone calls from Paris Hilton. If this is true I say as would Joan Rivers, "GROW-UP! Paris Hilton please, grow up!"

Clark Dark's Celebrity Round-Up

I'm Clark Dark here with celebrity news. Here we go!

Tab Hunter, aging heart-throb leading actor, popular during the 1950s and 1960s, has written his own "tell all" autobiography. In an interview Hunter said rather than take the chance "some horse's ass" would write his story and get it all wrong he decided the public should "get the story straight from the horse's mouth". I think this is an interesting choice of words since straight is not what Hunter is. He writes about being a homosexual actor during a less enlightened time in Hollyweird.

According to the New York Daily News a conservative group has asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether the "Vote or Die" campaign launched by Sean "Diddy" Combs' Citizen Change was really a ploy to sell his line of clothing. A formal complaint filed by the National Legal and Police Center alleges that Combs violated election law in his 2004 "Vote or Die" campaign by promoting Democrat Senator John F. Kerry and opposing Republican President George W.Bush. In its complaint the group notes that at rallies sponsored by Citizen Change, Leonardo DiCaprio urged the crowd to back Kerry. A commission spokesman told The Associated Press that it will review the complaint, and the matter will remain confidential until resolved.

It's been confirmed by reports on a website for the ubiquitous Beyonce Knowles. A star of the third season of "American Idol" has been cast in the key role of Effie in the film version of "Dreamgirls" the Broadway hit musical from several years ago. It's going to be--drumroll, please, Jennifer Hudson, not Fantasia. Fantasia had the support of some big names, including the already-cast Jamie Foxx, but Hudson was quoted saying, "They said they wanted me. They said I was born for this."

More Simpson Comments on Blake's Civil Trial

The jury awarded $30 million in the civil lawsuit against 72 year-old former television actor, Robert Blake, to the family of his murdered wife Bonnie Lee Bakley. Blake has said he is broke and owes money to the Internal Revenue Service. An attempt was made before the civil trial to settle the case out of court for $250 thousand, the amount Blake says is left from his once large fortune. Bakley's family rejected the offer.

O.J.Simpson, former grid-iron star at the University of Southern California and in the NFL, was acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, then was sued in civil court by their families where a jury found him liable for their deaths. Because he did not follow either trial closely, the former rental car company spokesman says he has no opinion about Blake's guilt or innocence in the murder of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. The families of Brown-Simpson and Goldman were awarded damages of $33.5 million. Simpson said the damage awards in both cases, (his and Blake's) are suspiciously similar.

Simpson said he and Blake were subjected to an unfair system in which a civil jury can essentially reverse a criminal jury's finding by using a lesser standard of proof in which jurors need be convinced only by "a preponderance of the evidence," meaning at least 51 percent.

O.J. Simpson also states he hopes someone eventually will go the before the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the system that permits double trials. "I'd love to see the Supreme Court rule on one of these cases," he said. He notes a defendant must have the money to post a bond in order to appeal the judgment, something usually beyond their financial ability.

Simpson offers this advice to Blake: "If Robert Blake has friends and family around him, he'll do fine. I would give him the same advice I gave Michael (Jackson) . You've got your kid. Go and raise your kid."

Finally he added, *"To me, the thing that's most disturbing is to watch these lawyers grand standing. It's all for TV and for the book deals. I predict they will make a book deal. They did it in my case."

*Our staff has a suggestion on how to get over being disturbed about the way the lawyers behave. SEE "New TV Program Idea" post

Clark Dark Has A Report

Clark Dark here, with the latest celebrity news.

The jury awarded $30 million in the civil lawsuit against former television actor, and child-star of another era, Robert Blake, to the family of his murdered wife Bonnie Lee Bakley. The decision by the jury was 10-2 that Blake "intentionally caused the death" of his wife who was gunned down May 4, 2001 outside a restaurant where the couple had just dined.

"I still don't get how anyone can be found not guilty of a murder and then be found responsible for it in any way shape or form," so said O.J.Simpson in a telephone interview from his Florida home. "... If you're found not guilty, how can you be found responsible? I'd love to hear how that's not double jeopardy."

Simpson who was acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown-Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, then was sued in civil court where a jury found him liable for their deaths, said he has no opinion about Blake's guilt or innocence in the murder of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, because he did not follow either trial closely. The families of Brown-Simpson and Goldman were awarded damages of $33.5 million. Simpson said the damage awards in both cases are suspiciously similar.

Simpson said both he, and 72 year old Blake were subjected to an unfair system in which a civil jury can essentially reverse a criminal jury's finding by using a lesser standard of proof in which jurors need be convinced only by "a preponderance of the evidence," meaning at least 51 percent.

"If that was the standard in criminal trials, only 51 percent, then so many people would be convicted that we'd have to build more jails," Simpson said. "The standard is the difference."

I'm Clark Dark, ace investigative reporter for YouThinkWhat with your celebrity news.

Celebrity News Report: Clark Has the Latest

Clark Dark has the latest news on Michael Jackson, Johnny Gill, hearthrob of the 1950s and 1960s Tab Hunter, Paris Hilton and more.....

Allons L'enfants De La Patrie...

The colors of the flags are not the only colors France and the United States have in common. Truth in black and white. (Verite en blanc et noir.) For nearly three weeks race riots have continued in the land of "Equality, liberty, and fraternity". The rioting is the result of an accidental killing by the French police of two youths, of Black African descent. Zyed Benna, 17, and Bouna Traore, aged 15 were electrocuted at an electricity sub-station in Clichy-sous-Bois. According to police reports their deaths occurred when they ran from the police.

The trouble has spread across France and into Brussels, and Germany as well. It appears the US isn’t the only place in the world that does not wholeheartedly embrace people of color. Just as the hurricane, Katrina, exposed the US’ problem of racial neglect in the Gulf Coast region, the latest rioting in Europe has exposed similar conditions, much to the embarrassment of these rich member nations of the G8.

The statements by the French government administrators and the manner in which they are responding to this crisis suggests they should perhaps consider changing their country's motto to
"Equality, liberty, fraternity, and STUPIDITY."

VETERANS' Day- November 11th

It began after the First World War as Armistice Day. That was the day the truce was signed between all the warring nations, November 11 1918. As time went on, and after the end of another world war which consumed the planet the name "Armistice Day" was deemed inappropriate for the holiday in which new veterans of the latest war would be included in the honors. It was thought, at the time, they had no relation to the previous international conflict.

By May of 1954 the US Congress, in an official Act, changed the name of the observed holiday to remember and celebrate all veterans, thus the name VETERANS' Day.

President Woodrow Wilson, in his first Armistice Day Proclaimation of 1919, set the tone for how we should observe November 11:

To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nation.

There is no mention of special sales or bargain prices being offered by car dealerships or department stores or neighborhood restaurants.

10 November Birthday-Siempre Fidelis

United States Marine Corps Birthday-November 10th 1775

The UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS (USMC), is older than the nation with November 10, 1775 as its celebrated birthday. Founded after several attempts by the American colonies to work out some sort of reconciliation between the Crown and the American people, the Colonial Congress decided to take a sterner attitude. A committee of the Congress drafted a resolution to create a new military unit, called the Continental Marines.

This resolution was drafted in a popular Philadelphian inn called Tun Tavern, and was later approved by the entire legislative body. The owner of the tavern, Robert Mullan, was named a Marine Captain, and the owner of another tavern, Samuel Nicholas, was designated commandant of the Continental Marines. (This may be the reason you can always find a Marine in a bar.)

Nearly twenty-three years later on 1798, July 11, President John Adams officially signed a bill in to law, creating the US Marines. I will never complain again about how long it takes our modern congress to pass legislation.

The USMC's motto Siempre Fidelis is Latin for "Always faithful". Read the history of this fascinating American military organization with warriors like General Lewis B. Puller, also known as "Chesty".

Siempre Fi! and Happy Birthday to all you Marines.