Banner Graphic, Volume 21, Number 35, Greencastle, Putnam County, 13 October 1990 — Page 3

People in the news Bart by a sliver in ratings war NEW YORK (AP) The second-season premiere of Fox’s “The Simpsons” beat NBC’s “The Cosby Show” by half a ratings point, overnight ratings showed. But NBC officials were not about to have a cow, man. When the national Nielsens come in, Bill Cosby’s series “in all likelihood will win,” said Preston Beckman, NBC vice president for audience research. “The Simpsons,” whose reruns have been clobbered by NBC’s hit series since the new season began last month, averaged a 19.9 rating in the 24-city overnight ratings when it began its second season Thursday nigh*. Cosby’s show, which began its seventh season last month and has been a perennial ratings winner, received a 19.3 rating. The first half-hour of a new “Columbo” episode on ABC was third in the Thursday ratings battle, averaging an 11.5. A CBS movie, “Dark Avenger,” was left far behind with a 5.2. The 24-city overnight ratings represent more than 47 percent of the nation’s 93.1 million TV househoulds. The high “Simpsons” ratings were anticipated by NBC, Beckman said, both because of heavy press coverage of the show’s return and heavy promotion of the show this week by Fox Broadcasting Co. “Fox must have spent an enormous amount on promotion for this show,” he said. “Given all that, it’s a good number for him.” Can Matt Groening’s bug-eyed, big-toothed cartoon clan continue beating Cosby’s Huxtable family? “It’s really difficult to say,” Beckman said. That will become clearer in about two weeks from now “when ‘The Simpsons’ aren’t on the cover of every magazine around,” he said. • NEW YORK (AP) Model Marla Maples says she’d keep her name if she were to tie the knot with her alleged lover, Donald Trump. “I always promised my daddy I’d keep my name, because I’m an only child and he never had a son,” Ms. Maples, 26, said in the November issue of Vanity Fair magazine. “I said, ‘Daddy, don’t you worry.’ So I don’t know, maybe Marla Maples Trump,” she said. • IRVINE, Calif. (AP) Mariya “Masha” Kalinina has been a busy Miss Moscow. “What can I say? I am here because of Miss Moscow,” the first crowned beauty queen in Soviet history said during a recent California visit. Since winning the title two years ago, she has appeared in an Italian movie, “Pay Attention to Perestroika,” and cut a record, “Love Me,” in France. And she wrote a book, “Me, Miss Moscow: The Diary of a Beauty Queen.” Ms. Kalinina, 19, said she was shocked to hear of reports she agreed to pose for Penthouse and Playboy magazines. She said she refused.

Dear Abby

Cyclists: Use your head and wear a helmet

DEAR ABBY: Most of us remember spending many pleasurable summer days riding our bicycles through the neighborhood on the way to a friend’s house or to the corner store. Times have changed. That innocent ride can be very dangerous if children do not wear bicycle helmets. Adults often forget that there are more and faster cars on the road than when they were kids. Many think that because they survived the bumps and bruises of childhood, their children will, too. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Each year 500 children die and more than 380,000 are seriously injured because of collisions while on bicycles. In the United States, more than 50,000 children suffer head injuries in bike-related incidents. Adults tend to think of bikes as “toys” and, consequently, they do not teach their children to follow the rules of the road. (Most collisions occur as a result of children riding in the street without first looking or yielding to traffic, riding against the flow of traffic, ignoring the rules of the road or swerving suddenly to make a turn.) Abby, helmets can prevent 85 percent of serious head injuries they are crucial to the safety of chil-

THE FAMILY CIRCUS® By Bil Keane jO <*lo x //\ * W vV / X AF f . Jma ( y&J 10-\3 X. O two m kmm. OK by Cowm Synd, Inc “Is it okay if we paint stripes across the lawn?”

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BART SIMPSON Tops the Huxtables

NEW YORK (AP) Cher and Madonna have a few things in common successful singing careers, movie stardom and Warren Beatty. “That was before Sonny. Warren has probably been with everybody I know and unfortunately I was one of them,” Cher said in the November issue of Vanity Fair magazine. “But since I was only 16, maybe I can get out of it with that. I don’t know if I was a bimbo then, but I had pretty low self-esteem,” she said. Madonna and Beatty, who co-stared in the film “Dick Tracy,” had a highly publicized affair, now ended. Cher says she has five other tattoos in addition to the one she bared in her “If I Could Turn Back Time” video. “I don’t know why I like tattoos so much,” she said. “I can’t defend them. I love getting them.” SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) Attempts to reach a plea bargain for Marlon Brando’s son broke down, and a judge set Christian Brando’s murder trial for Nov. 5. “Nobody’s talking settlement now,” Deputy District Attorney William Clark said. Clark said Christian Brando’s lawyer and prosecutors discussed a possible plea bargain after it became apparent Brando’s sister, Cheyenne, was unlikely to testify in the case. Clark said defense lawyer Robert Shapiro’s proposals were not accepted. Hie 32-year-old Brando is charged in the May 16 murder of his half-sister’s Tahitian lover, Dag Drollet, 26, who was fatally shot at Marlon Brando’s hilltop mansion. Superior Court Judge Robert Thomas said jury selection in the trial would begin Nov. 5. He noted he has received large amounts of mail indicating strong public sentiment in the case. “If the mail is any indication, there’s some very strong feelings about the matter both ways,” he said, adding he expects a difficult search for jurors unaffected by publicity. Clark said Marlon Brando will testify in his son’s trial but he was uncertain whether he would be a prosecution or defense witness. ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) Gov. Mario Cuomo is turning to acupuncture for treatment of a knee injury. Cuomo, 58, said Friday he got the idea at a campaign reception this week in New York City with Asian-American supporters. The governor says he injured his knee while playing basketball with an aide about a week ago. He says it frequently stiffens and makes it difficult to walk.

Abigail Van Buren

dren. Parents should set a good example by wearing bicycle helmets themselves when they ride with or without their children. Children need to be taught that a bike is a vehicle not a toy and, as such, cyclists must follow the rules of the road. Wearing a helmet should be a condition for riding a bicycle, not an option. No helmet no bike riding! Bike helmets save lives. What better reason is there to make sure your child wears one? " HERTA B. FEELY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL SAFE KIDS CAMPAIGN, WASHINGTON. D.C. DEAR HERTA: Thanks for the alert. Let’s hope parents and children take heed.

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CHER Beatty-eyed at 16

DEAR ABBY: Why do joggers run in the street instead of on the sidewalk? I nearly killed one the other day; he was running at night, in the street, wearing dark clothes. FURIOUS IN FALLS CHURCH, VA. DEAR FURIOUS: I have dealt with this problem several times in an effort to protect not only joggers, but also the motorists who hit them. This is what one motorist had to say back in May 1985: DEAR ABBY: This evening I came so close to hitting a jogger, my heart is still pounding. In the first place, this idiot was jogging on a dark street at about 11 p.m. He was wearing a black sweatsuit with a hood, and nowhere did he have any reflectors or luminous tape. You can buy that stuff by the yard in any sporting goods shop and sew (or pin) it on your clothing. There are even reflecting shoelaces that light up in the dark. People that stupid make me sick. Every day, nuts like that are killed by innocent motorists, who then have to carry the unearned guilt around for the rest of their lives. STILL SHAKING IN VEGAS

Peanuts

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Fox Trot

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Hagar the Horrible

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October 13,1990 THE BANNERGRAPHIC

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