Television

Steve Virgen If Mike McLean never became famous, he would be OK with that. Just because he has been studying to be an actor doesn't necessarily mean he wants fame or celebrity status. And even though a day in his life will be highlighted on television tonight in a program called "American Talent" on KCET, the teenager -- one of only 20 Presidential Scholars in the Arts in the nation -- is keeping his cool. "If I start thinking about how huge an event is, I start freaking out," said McLean, 18. "I try to stay calm."

Elia Powers Teens and 20-somethings are normal targets for television shows. Baby boomers are the ones usually calling the shots. Now it's time for a different demographic to have its time on camera. Producers at PBS Kids are turning to grandparents for the taping of multiple three-minute segments that will accompany its Emmy award-winning television program, "Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks." They have invited more than a dozen grandparents -- mostly immigrants -- to a San Fernando Valley studio for filming of casual conversations that begin airing in the fall.

Newport Beach resident and party planner Brian Dobbin never imagined he would have to face Bengal tigers and put on a smile for the television cameras while planning ritzy soirees for the upper echelons of Newport Beach society when he and a friend began catering parties out of the back of two Volkswagens some 20 years ago. “Being in the presence of a 600-pound Bengal tiger is completely terrifying and humbling at the same time,” Dobbin...

Judging by the response to my Aug. 20 column, I believe it's safe to say that everyone is now back from vacation. I was beginning to wonder what it was going to take to get some momentum going on a good argument. What finally got things rolling was a favorite subject of mine, for which I can thank Joe Bell for initiating. The Communications Act of 1934 forbade noncommercial broadcasters (in this case, stations such as KOCE) from airing advertisements defined as messages that "promote any service, facility or product" for profit.

You have to wonder about the sanity of a person who, after seeing no measurable results after 10 years of trying, will keep trying to make something work. Call it passion, call it obsession, call it whatever you want. I prefer to call it just plain stubbornness. Being stubborn is an underrated quality. Stubbornness is, in fact, not a bad trait but a good one. Just think of all the inventions and innovations we have because some people were stubborn. Thomas Edison conducted more than 6,000 experiments to perfect the light bulb and 10,296 experiments on perfecting a nickel/iron storage battery.

An accomplished writer, photographer, dancer, actress and model, Newport Beach's Nancy Robison has worn many hats throughout her lifetime. She has had 70 published books. Several of her photographs were published in a Newport Beach photography book. She spent two years working as a dancer at the Biltmore Bowl with Dorothy Dorben and the Adorables, and also has a long list of television shows and movies she's worked on. Along with her many careers, Robison, 71, has raised four children and has been married to the same man, Robert Robison, for 51 years.

o7 "The most important thing we've learned, so far as children are concerned, is never, NEVER, NEVER let them near your television set -- or better still, just don't install the idiotic thing at all."f7 -- From "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl A wise man once said, "There's nothing wrong with beating a dead horse. It's good exercise and the horse certainly doesn't mind." With that in mind, and with apologies to my colleague Joe Bell, it's time to talk about television.

For television trivia buffs, we just celebrated an anniversary of sorts — Sept. 14, 1985, was the television premiere of “The Golden Girls.” Estelle Getty, Betty White, Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan starred in this award-winning comedy for seven seasons. The highly acclaimed sitcom showcased the concerns and escapades of four distinctive, aging women. When Estelle Getty died this summer, fans everywhere mourned her loss. Reruns of the “The Golden Girls” can still be seen on television and DVD, of course.

"I'm an international student here from Sweden and I want to work freelance as a music video editor. This is the first step, then I want to take more advanced classes." TAMARA SAYINER, 30, Costa Mesa "I'm not a film major, but I wanted to learn editing for some projects. I'm active in the student sociologists' club and I like to be involved in making documentaries." RAQUEL S-SABOOR, 23, Fullerton "[I want to learn this] for my future career.

"Pretty Little Liars" star Janel Parrish will be at the Foreign Exchange clothing shop at the Irvine Spectrum on Saturday. Parrish will host the celebrity shopping event, posing for pictures, picking out her favorite pieces from the shop's collections and chatting with fans, according to a news release. Also making appearances are Lindsay Yenter and Ashlee Frazier from "The Bachelor. " Celebrity stylists and fashion bloggers will also be on hand, acting as Foreign Exchange "fashion experts" and lending their expertise to shoppers.

Richard Bare is a veteran of the Hollywood studio system, when those fortunate enough to have a job could rely on a steady paycheck. But he also knows something about being an unknown filmmaker trying to slip a foot in the door. The 99-year-old Newport Beach resident, who will appear at the Island Cinema 7 on Sunday to talk about his life and career, made a Hollywood career in the 1940s and 50s with his educational Joe McDoakes series - live-action shorts about how to give up smoking, build muscles, buy a used car and more.

Recently, Netflix made available to the public the complete first season of the new TV series "House of Cards. " This meant that a viewer could watch all 13 hours of the show, one after another. And people did. This is known as binge viewing — sitting in front of the television for hours on end, consuming an entire season of shows. I'm sure there are people out there who used up an entire weekend watching an entire TV show's episodes. Can you imaging watching all nine seasons of "Everybody Loves Raymond"?

Well, it happened. It was inevitable, friends tell me. It's part of the parenting experience, or so the experts say. We got a TV for our son's bedroom. He can now play "Call of Duty," yelling out bizarre yelps in the comforts of his own room. Of course, the three-hour limit of game-playing on weekends (none during the school week) is still enforced. My wife and I held out for almost 14 years to make sure that our family had one television to allow for whole-family viewing opportunities and to avoid having the kids seclude themselves behind locked doors.

Stan Frazier can't cook in silence. Depending on his mood, tunes ranging from David Bowie to Slayer and Madonna to Bill Evans can be heard pouring out of his two-story home in Newport Beach. "I need to have music playing when I'm involved in the craft of cooking because it puts me in such a good mindspace," said Frazier, one of the investors in A Restaurant & Market in Newport. "To me, they go so hand-in-hand that the music player needs to be switched on before I even tie my apron.

The Big West Conference and Fox Sports Networks announced a long-term media rights agreement Thursday that makes Prime Ticket, Fox Sports West, and Fox Sports San Diego the exclusive regional TV partners for Big West Conference sports commencing with the current 2012-13 season. This season, a minimum of 20 marquee events will be showcased across Prime Ticket, Fox Sports West, and Fox Sports San Diego, including regular-season men's basketball games, four men's basketball tournament quarterfinal games, and the women's basketball tournament championship game, as well as the soccer and track and field championships.

In a perfect world, parents can grab a beer, sit down to watch a game with friends while their children are perfectly entertained and well-behaved without them. Restaurateur Jeremy Foti can't guarantee a child's manners, but he is trying to provide the entertainment. Opening in about a month, Tapshack in Newport Beach and Taphouse in Huntington Beach will offer a wide array of draft beers, lunch and dinner menus, plasma-screen TVs and video game consoles. "It was sort of trial and error with my own three boys," Foti said of coming up with the concept behind the sports-themed bar and grill.

Last year, the wife and I took some of our tax-return money and decided to buy a new television. Our old one was on the fritz, and it was time to upgrade. We had visions of being able to watch our favorite shows in high-def. She would be able to watch the Lakers play with so much detail, she could count the droplets of sweat on Kobe's brow. I imagined counting the blades of grass during football games and seeing the shower of ice shavings during a Kings game. After consulting with several friends and comparing prices, we wound up with a majestic 55-inch LCD HDTV from Vizio.

If you've turned on a television in the last year, you've probably glimpsed Young the Giant. The Irvine natives have played on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno"and "Later with Jools Holland" in the U.K. Rock music enthusiasts might also recognize the band from a slightly more prominent gig this past summer at the MTV Video Music Awards, when Jared Leto and Zoe Saldana introduced them to the stage. For many who grew up in the 1980s, '90s and '00s, the VMAs are a summer standard.

COSTA MESA - Signs outside the Rags to Riches store run by reality TV "mogul" Dave Hester have been defaced. Black letters across the red and white consignment store's sign read "davehesterfraud.com," and a sign announcing the store's move to Orange was pasted over with a sign reading "Newport con gallery has moved. For more information, go to davehesterfraud.com. " The website urges people not to do business with the TV star. Hester, who stars on A&E's " Storage Wars," ran the thrift store at 1941 Newport Blvd.