TELEVISION
Terror in Studio B
GET READY FOR SOME IRREVERENT, down-and-dirty TV satire, promises the new ABC sitcom THE JACKIE THOMAS SHOW. Created by TV's terror couple, Roseanne and Tom Arnold, the show revolves around the egotistical star (Tom Arnold) of a network sitcom. But it is surprisingly conventional and toothless. Staffers quake at the mere thought of a meeting with Jackie, but he turns out to be an easily manipulated dunce. The inside-TV humor is too familiar, as are the supporting players (Martin Mull, Alison LaPlaca). Even Arnold's performance has the whiff of a recycled Dave Thomas character from SCTV. Still, the show has a fiendish glint in its eye, and with its surefire time slot (following Roseanne on Tuesdays), it may be around long enough to forge a fresh path.
MUSIC
Worthy Vessel
WHY HASN'T JOHN ADAMS' OPERA THE DEATH OF KLINGHOFFER made the same sort of splash as the composer's earlier Nixon in China? The controversial subject matter -- the murder of an American Jew by Palestinian terrorists -- may be one reason, and Peter Sellars' murky staging at the premiere last year in Brussels another. But the new Nonesuch original-cast CD (which coincides with an updated production in San Francisco) reveals the real explanation: Adams' lush score is fundamentally an oratorio, lacking Nixon's sharp characterization and big set pieces. This, however, is good news for the recording, for Klinghoffer's reflective soliloquies and choruses make the work better suited to home listening than to the stage.
BOOKS
The Examined Life
FOR ANYONE WHO CARES TO MEET A JOURnalist who has been happy in his work, THE SWAMP ROOT CHRONICLE (Norton; $24.95) is heartily recommended. In this peppy memoir, Robert Manning traces his career through the wire services, TIME and John Kennedy's State Department, plus 16 years as editor in chief of the Atlantic until he was sandbagged -- there seems no better word for it -- by the magazine's present owner, Mort Zuckerman. It's hard to avoid smugness when recounting one's triumphs, and the author does not always succeed. Manning got his start at the Binghamton (N.Y.) Press, which had been founded by the maker of an alcoholic elixir called Swamp Root. Interesting factoid, but it's a bit of a reach for a cutesy-poo title.
CINEMA
Everyone Points A Loaded Gun
THEY ARE A STRANGE QUARTET: THE sensitive IRA gunman (Stephen Rea) and his brutal blond colleague (Miranda Richardson); the gentle English soldier they take hostage (Forest Whitaker) and the love he left behind (comely newcomer Jaye Davidson). In THE CRYING GAME, Irish writer-director Neil Jordan spins his had-I-but-known plot twists from Belfast to London. By the end of this devious thriller, just about everyone has had to point a loaded gun at just about anyone else he or she might have cared for. In a style of agitated naturalism, Jordan (Mona Lisa) examines poignant matters of life and death, sex and friendship, duty and loyalty, freedom and bondage, manhood and womanhood and all the ambiguous areas in between.
CINEMA
Rehab Time