ALSO TODAY Pi Reviewed by Laura Miller An arty mix of math and migraines The Latin invasion By John Milward A "midrocker" finds reason to learn how to really dance RECENTLY IN ENTERTAINMENT Back is beautiful By Erin J. Aubry The cultural significance of Jennifer Lopez's abundant butt (07/15/98) Sharps & Flats Reviews of new music by the Beastie Boys, BR5-49, Primus, Baaba Maal, Shirley Horn and Ernest Ranglin (07/15/98) Home Movies By Charles Taylor "Matador": Almodóvar's paean to sex, violence, passion and death (07/14/98) American Squirm By Sarah Vowell Jennifer Lopez isn't the only one who thinks cruising criminals is fun (07/13/98) Small Soldiers Reviewed by Scott Rosenberg How much mayhem can a bunch of foot-high action figures incite? Plenty (07/10/98) BROWSE THE TV ARCHIVES COLUMNS FEATURES ILLUSTRATION BY ERIC WHITE

blue glow SALON'S TV PICKS FOR THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1998 BY JOYCE MILLMAN S E R I E S ABC News Thursday Night (8 p.m., ABC), which, in case you haven't noticed, is a big recycling bin for previous ABC newsmagazine reports, reruns Barbara Walters' January 1998 retrospective "The Unlikely Life of Ronald Reagan." Charlton Heston took some time off from touting the joys of firearms to make a cameo appearance on Friends (8 p.m., NBC). Seinfeld (9 p.m., NBC) reruns the one where George's girlfriend won't break up, Elaine thinks her boyfriend is married and Jerry and Kramer have a run-in with a parrot. 48 Hours (10 p.m., CBS) has a show on people trying to make it in the entertainment industry. Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky ("Pi") and author Nicholas Sparks are profiled. S P E C I A L S Stephen King's 'The Stand' (9 p.m., ABC) finally wraps up with a rather anticlimactic war between Good and Evil. T A L K Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) Highlights of previous shows David Letterman (CBS) Anthony Hopkins Jay Leno (NBC) Jennifer Lopez, Jet Li, Matchbox 20 Politically Incorrect (ABC) Karen Finley, Holly McClure Conan O'Brien (NBC) Matt Dillon, Ben Folds Five E T C The newsmagazine Fox Files (9 p.m., Fox) debuts tonight. This is a prime time network introduction to Fox's horrific cable news channel, FNC, which takes a lurid, local news approach to world events. On FNC, the robotic, helmet-haired anchorpeople use the grabbiest language possible (the other night, reporting on the firebombing of a house in Northern Ireland, the anchorwoman used the phrase "three little boys were burned alive," just to make sure we were paying attention). The newscasts have these little "Pop Up Video"-style factoids running down the left side of the screen and a whooshy, clangy sound effect to introduce each new story (again, in case we've nodded off). Most pathetic/hilarious of all, the whole channel seems to take its cue from Fox's "The X-Files." The weirdly paranoid motto of FNC is "We Report. You Decide," the implication being that all other network news reports are biased and only Fox will bring you The Truth. There's a morning news block called "Fox Express," with the "X" standing out very prominently in the logo. Which brings us back to tonight's kickoff of (ahem) "Fox Files." It's a Princess Diana remembered thing, featuring "X"-clusive (sorry) interviews with her mother and brother and a visit to the shrine recently opened at her burial place. It was a conspiracy! Diana was abducted by aliens! The Well-Manicured Man was spotted leaving the tunnel! SALON | July 16, 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Blue Glow for < href="http://www.salonmagazine.com/ent/glow/1998/07/15glow.html">Wednesaday, July 15, 1998

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