6B = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
ENTERTAINMENT
VH1 show celebrates anniversary
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — After spending five years chronicling the rise, fall, and redemption of rock's biggest and wackiest stars, Behind the Music narrator Jim Forbes admits there are some phrases he gets sick of repeating.
No, it's not the now famous line about hitting "rock bottom."
"You know the line that's always bugged me? 'He or she was only X years old when he or she died.'" Forbes says with a laugh. "Well, you always want to live longer."
"I fight so hard not to become a caricature of myself, and not to become a cliche, and to deliver those lines with sincerity."
Despite—or perhaps because of—its sometimes predictable formula, the VH1 biography series has become one of television's most copied and parodied shows.
"Behind the Music in five years has already managed to make it to The Simpsons. Need
we say more?" said Robert Thompson, professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University. The animated show won an Emmy for its satire episode, The Simpsons: Behind the Laughter.
Not only is Behind the Music VH1's longest running show, it is also the low-rated network's most consistent ratings grabber; it's currently running neck-and-neck with another biography show. Driven as VH1's most popular program.
Next week, the channel celebrates Behind the Music's fiveyear anniversary with a marathon including some of its most popular and notorious episodes, hosted by the comedian Cedric the Entertainer.
There's Shania Twain's tearful account of her parents' deaths; MC Hammer's account of his fall from stardom to bankruptcy; and Leif Garrett's awkward reunion with the friend paralyzed in an accident Garrett caused.
"It's exploitation reality TV,"
Garrett said. Yet he admits that his Behind the Music episode helped rekindle interest in his forgotten musical career.
"The timing was really good, so it did help for sure getting people to see what I am doing now."
Although Behind the Music has profiled such stars as Twain, Faith Hill and Madonna, it got its start profiling those whose luster had dimmed.
The show's first subject was Milli Vanilli, the pop duo disgraced for lip-syncing to other people's voices.
The series "came out of questions that were asked like, 'What ever happened to Milli Vanilli?'" says George Moll, its executive producer.
"We didn't know exactly what the show was going to be, but we thought that there was a good documentary."
The caveat was that the subjects had to cooperate and be willing to delve into uncomfortable topics.
Crossword
ACROSS
1 Poet Teasdale
2 Reindeer herder
9 Bar seat
14 Dumbstruck
15 Ananias, e.g.
16 Dishes
17 Hope/Crosby movie
19 Ventilated, in a way
20 Amen to that!
21 Jolly pirate?
23 Actress Lupino
25 Jam-packed state
29 Sudden inclinations
34 Strasbourg's region
35 WWII surrender site
36 Fronts of calves
38 Old salt
39 Concept
40 Body bulk
41 Tiller
42 Respectful address
43 Jacket flap
44 Knickknack
45 Aural buildup
47 Of Methodism
49 Lip-curler
51 Hit the slopes
52 Emergency paper money
54 Make compulsory
59 Overact
62 Fairway fliers
64 Talk and talk
65 Ungulate's foot
66 Swill
67 Extreme pain
68 In this manner
69 Cut
DOWN
1 Rani's dress
2 Mil. truant
3 Tangible
4 Annexes
5 British insurance syndicate
6 Lung filler
7 Twosome
8 Confirmation
$ \textcircled{2} $ 2002 Tribune Media Services, Inc All rights reserved.
08/26/02
Maximilian
10 Rose stickers
11 Lubricate
12 United
13 Deposit
18 Follows surreptitiously
22 Fertilizer from bird droppings
24 Greek fablet
26 Greasy spoon
27 Antonin of the Supreme Court
28 Sunday speech
29 Parts of eyes
30 Highway strip
31 Capital on the Missouri River
32 Ms. Thurman
33 "The Taming of the "
37 Man and Wight
40 Strainer?
41 Shade or tone
43 Theft
44 Scale
46 Photographer Edward
Solutions
MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2002
48 Flatbottom open boats
50 Just
53 Friend of Tigger
55 Football play
56 Earthenware jar
57 Reduce speed
58 Cable channel's letters
59 Time to remember
60 Drinking cup
61 John's Yoko
63 Singer Rawls
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