WASHINGTON – President Obama might not be able to grin and (Chicago) Bear it, but he’s throwing a Super Bowl party anyway, his beloved Monsters of the Midway falling one game short of the title tilt.
Which part of today’s activities might give him the most heartburn? The Bears’ archrivals, the Green Bay Packers, fighting it out with the Pittsburgh Steelers? The Wisconsin sausage in the gift baskets carted in by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett? The pregame interview with Fox’s Bill O’Reilly?
Additional Photos
Fox is televising the game, so Obama is keeping with tradition — he sat down with CBS’ Katie Couric last year and NBC’s Matt Lauer the year before.
It’s certainly not out of love for Fox. White House aides have denounced Fox as a vitriolic mouthpiece for the president’s foes. After some big fights early in the Obama presidency, the relationship with Fox has turned less contentious.
Ahead of his interview, O’Reilly forecast that it would be “the most watched . . . that’s ever been done in the history of mankind.”
Despite the sometimes hard feelings, it’s hardly Obama’s first interview with Fox, and not even his first with O’Reilly. The two faced off in September 2008 when he was a candidate.
Still, the interview fit neatly into Obama’s theme for this year’s bash: above the fray — albeit somewhat resigned — and good fellowship.
‘Food Revolution’ kicked out of Los Angeles schools
LOS ANGELES – Jamie Oliver, the British celebrity chef, won’t be cooking another course of his reality TV show in Los Angeles schools.
The filming permit for the celebrity chef’s ABC series “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” was terminated this week, said Los Angeles Unified School District spokesman Robert Alaniz. He said Oliver had been filming for two weeks at one school but the decision was made to ban him from others because he failed to submit a proposal about his plans to officials.
A spokeswoman for the network said production on “Food Revolution” would continue.
The first season of the show featured Oliver attempting to revolutionize the eating habits and food policies of Huntington, W.Va.
Asner comfortable with roles as ‘crab’
LOS ANGELES – Ed Asner, a busy actor at age 81, waves away any comparison to Betty White, Hollywood’s 89-year-old champion of the work ethic.
“She’s not the female me. She’s the big cheese. She certainly is the mark I shoot for,” Asner said.
While White has shaken up her image by hosting “Saturday Night Live” and with the TV Land sitcom “Hot in Cleveland” — “showing them all that jazz that she’s got stored up in her,” as Asner puts it — he says audiences are used to “the usual crab element I’m known for.”
Asner is in full and familiar grouchy glory in his latest role, a grocery store worker who acts as adviser and foil to a single mom, Carli, in CMT’s “Working Class,” starring Melissa Peterman. It’s territory he plowed in TV’s “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Lou Grant.”
Mention that he’s lucky to work when older people can struggle for employment, and he’s off and running.
“It sucks, doesn’t it?” he said. “I can understand how they don’t want to see an old fart in front of the camera, but when they start ruling out directors and cinematographers and producers and writers because they’re too old, there’s something wrong in the world.”
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.