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6-Leader Times CoverStory/TV, Friday. April 21, 1995CoverStory/TV, Monday. April 24. 1995The people who make TV clickPunch lineHBO comes out swinging with tumultuous tale of ‘Tyson ’By HARVEY SOLOMONRIGHTS fees often bedevil producers: “Do you think we can get the footage?” “How much will it cost?You would think that because HBO Sports already owned the rights to the early Fights of Mike Tyson, the filmmakers behind “Tyson had some of their work done for them. But with this film, that wasn’t the case.You can't use actual footage of Tyson Fighting. director Uli Edel (“Last Exit to Brooklyn”) says. “That won’t work with what we’ve created. We have restaged severalpie in the world who could do that. When I walked in and saw Michael White throwing punches exactly like Tyson. 1 knew the team was doing the right thing.’’That man. actor Michael Jai White, won the title role over more than a thousand contenders. The mus cular 27-year-old also happens to hold Five black belts in Five different styles of karate, and has held 26 U.S. and regional titles.Fights.UnlikeFilmingFictionalTyson8 p.m. (ET) April 29 on HBOMike Tyson (Michael Jai White) knocks out Michael Spinks (DeAndre Whitten) in a pivotal moment in “Tyson,” an HBO movie about the troubled champ.Fights, though. In ‘Tyson.’ the Fights are actual bouts that audiences still remember. We must re-create every’ hit, every jab. “Tyson” recounts the boxer's rags-to-riches tale that later soured. Through his rise and marriage to actress Robin Givens, to his divorce and loss of the heavyweight title, the Film ends as its protagonist enters prison to begin serving his rape sentence, for which the real Tyson was released last month.“I felt that it was impossible to -j, get the fundamentals of MikeZ Tyson, says Jose Torres, author of the book “Fire and Fear: The ^ Inside Story of Mike Tyson” on which the Film is based, and a former light heavyweight champion himself who also was trained by Tyson’s mentor. Cus D’Amato. “I helped train Mike. I thought I was one of the only peo-White says he and the former champ share some traits. We were both these children in men’s bodies. At 141 was already at my present height and weight and in a world that revered what I could do with my Fists.It’s unique to be that young, treated like an adult and praised for your talent.Among the characters circling Tyson are George C. Scott as D’Amato; Paul Winfield as the promoter with that electrified-hair look, Don King; Tony LoBianco and James B. Sikking as former Tyson managers Jimmy Jacobs and BillClayton; and Malcolm-Jamal Warner (“The Cosby Show”) as Tyson’s friend, Rory HollowayWarner wanted to play the champ, despite long odds. Yeah, I auditioned for it, Warner says. “I really didn’t think I would be right for the character at all, to be very honest. But... I knew by going in to at least meet the people I could come back and read for RoryDon King (Paul Winfleld) revels in Tyson’s triumphs in the ring.Classes clashCharles Dickens’ Hard Times” comes to PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre at 9 p.m. (ET) April 30. Veteran actor Alan Bates (“An Unmarried Woman”) leads an ensemble cast in this biting critical view of Victorian England’s economic and class system.Deadly downfallDiscovery relives the chaotic last days of the Vietnam War 20 years later when it premieres “The Fall of Saigon” at 9 p.m. (ET) April 28. As 300,000 North Vietnamese soldiers closed in, 2,000 Americans and countless thousands of South Vietnamese endured an agonizing three days in hopes of departing the besieged city by air.Dynastic duo returnsThe producers of the hit primetime soap “Dynasty” will return with a two-hour ABC pilot that intertwines several families and a police investigation. Set in Malibu, the yet-unnamed show will be executive produced by Richard and Esther Shapiro in association with the company that produces “Baywatch.Night movesThe thriller “Wedding Night,” a Gary Devon novel about an actress whose seemingly ideal marriage begins to crumble, has been acquired by Jaffe/ Braunstein Films (“Snowbound: The J im and Jennifer Stolpa Story,” “Madonna: InnocenceBriefsLost”) for an NBC movie. The company has a number of other projects in development, including an NBC miniseries culledfrom two Richard North Patterson novels, “Degree of Guilt” and “Eyes of a Child.”Leading ladsTony Goldwyn will star in an upcoming ABC pilot, “Under Fire.” He’ll play a former head of the FBI’s New York bureau, and the series will shoot in the Big Apple. Adrian Pasdar will star in “Profit,” a new Stephen Cannell pilot for Fox about a corporate viper scheming his way to the top.Nothing to fear but...HBO is planning a new anthology series called “Fear Itself” that will focus entirely on phobias. Three top Hollywood names created and will executive produce theseries: director Renny Harlin (“Die Hard 2: Die Harder), writer Shane Black (“Lethal Weapon) and Michael De Luca (In the Mouth of Madness”).Sci-fi sliceNBC has teamed up with CST Featurizations, an independent production company, for a half-hour series of colorized, re-edited camp movies of the ’50s and ’60s. Taking a page from Comedy Central’s hit “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” the new show will slice down questionable classics such as “Killers From Space,” Wasp Woman, “Devil Girl From Mars” and Teenagers From Outei Space, among others.Harvey Solomoi
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Kittanning Leader Times
Kittanning, Pennsylvania, US
Fri, Apr 21, 1995
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