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.

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.

The Paley Center for Media, named after founder and media giant William S. Paley, collects, preserves, and interprets television and radio programming. The center opened its doors in 1976 in New York City, educating people on the history of broadcast. In 1996 the company opened a second location in Los Angeles. With a collection of more than 140,000 programs enveloping close to 100 years of television and radio history, The center analyzes the media’s relationship with the public and defines how they shape one another.

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.

COSTA MESA - In an effort to keep residents abreast of City Hall events, the city has launched daily newscasts online and on public-access television. Called "Costa Mesa Minute," the two- to three-minute videos can be watched on Costa Mesa TV (Channel 24 on Time Warner Cable and 99 on AT&T U-verse), the city's website, http://www.costamesaca.gov , and on the municipal Facebook page. Programming is written by city spokesman Bill Lobdell. Dane Bora, who heads the city's video department, serves as the on-air anchor.

NEWPORT BEACH - Interior designer Lindsay Espinoza aims to make beautiful homes available to the masses, but she never envisioned that her audience would be comprised of thousands of viewers tuning into reality TV. The 1995 Newport Harbor High School alumna will be featured in a new HGTV series that was scheduled to premiere Monday evening. "Showhouse Showdown" puts interior designers in competition, leaving the judging up to the viewing public. "It's a full design show packed with design knowledge," said Executive Producer Dawn Stroupe.

Pat Bennett faces Kenny "Deuce" Garner in Costa Mesa July 8, part of a night of fights that will air live on Showtime. The rematch of the 2010 M-1 Selection Americas Tournament heavyweight finalists is the featured fight of a mixed martial arts event titled "M-1 Challenge: Bennett vs. Garner" in the Hangar at the OC Fair & Events Center. M-1 GLOBAL in association with Roy Englebrecht made the announcement today. Garner (6-3) last faced Bennett (4-2) in the 2010 M-1 Selection Amercias tournament finals, where he won a convincing first-round TKO. Garner has four knockout wins and is seeking another.

Comedian Bill Skiles, one half of the Skiles and Henderson comedic team with Newport-Mesa roots who went on to appear on "The Ed Sullivan Show," "The Tonight Show" and other TV programs in the 1960s and 70s, has died. He was 79. Skiles died of kidney cancer in St. Cloud, Fla., on Monday at a hospice, said Pete Henderson, the other half of the duo, in a phone interview Wednesday from his home in Branson, Mo. Their partnership started at Disneyland in 1958 and lasted 52 years.

IRVINE — When Peggy Tanous was a little girl, she told her mom she wanted to be the next Marilyn Monroe. Tanous could be living out the beginning of her dream as the newest blonde bombshell to enter the cast of "The Real Housewives of Orange County," now in its sixth season. Although the new season premiered last week, Sunday's episode will mark the Irvine mom's first appearance as a housewife. Tanous, a mother of two little girls named Capri and London, prides herself as being the only housewife who grew up in O.C. She was raised in Tustin, attended Foothill High School and has a degree in communications from Cal State Fullerton.

The late Paul Johnson, a longtime traffic reporter for KNBC-4 TV news and a Newport Beach business financier, now has a segment of the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway named after him. Johnson died in June after a long entertainment career, which included 28 years of reporting on Los Angeles-area road conditions. His wife Nancy, who owns a hair salon in Newport Beach that Johnson paid for, said she drives along the Paul Johnson Memorial Freeway every day. It stretches from Katella Boulevard in Orange to Chapman Avenue, near where the couple lived.