Four new articles

• LA times review
• Hollywood Reporter
• Variety
• LA times TV section interview

In the 9/22 L.A. Times, Scott is the cover story. There is a beautiful photo of him and Maria on the cover.

The Daily News, our local San Fernando Valley paper, M&M got four stars for fashion.

"They're the new Nick and Nora Charles (cocktails, anyone?) dressed to the teeth in all the latest designer styles (think Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss). By day they wear smart, well-tailored suits and by night they go spying in tuxedos and satin gowns. You'll find their wardrobe in the shops along Rodeo Dr. and Wilshire Boulevard in the 90210 ZIP code. If you're just shopping for the look, check out the designer areas at Nordstrom and other department stores.

Style status: Suave. * * * *

A short interview article from Jeanne Wolf
This file was moved. In case you couldn't find it before, I have changed the link and it should work now.
Read it, it's good! (this is the same one listed on the what's new page as "you have to read this")

Thanks to Janell

A great interview article from the LA Daily news TV section, September 15

One more Thanks to Sue

AND
The following, from "The Salt Lake Tribune," Friday, September 13, 1996
The article is titled "Round Up the Usual Suspects -- Old Stars Are Big News"
by John Youngren.

This is a long article which briefly discusses the fall line-up. It is segmented by days. This is the "Friday" section quoted directly.

ABC had the trademark on a "must-see" night first, arguably, with its "TGIF" comedies. These days, only one of those shows -- "Family Matters" -- remains, at 7 p.m. The show is entering its seventh season, and it's hard to believe Jaleel White's geeky Urkel still has much appeal, but the series carries on.

It leads off an evening featuring two new comdies, including "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" at 7:30 and the TV version of teh hit film "Clueless" at 8. "Clueless" has received more attention -- there's no Alicia Silversone on TV, but the supporting cast is about the same and the show comes from Amy Heckerling who wrote and directed the movie.

"Boy Meets World" and "20/20" remain ABC's other aces; the network traditionally carries Friday nights. The other networks counter, naturally, with dramatically alternative programming -- CBS has added the enticing "Everybody Loves Raymond" (from David Letterman's production company) and "Quantum Leap" star Scott Bakula in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and rolls into Don Johnson's appealing "Nash Bridges" at 9 p.m. in an attempt to lure male viewers. "Daves's World" also finds itself on Fridays, leading off the evening.

Without "The X-Files" (now on Sundays), Fox counters with two sci-fi series hoping to appeal to the same audience: "Sliders" and "Millennium," beginning at 7 p.m. But the show most lost in all of this may be NBC's high-quality "Homicide" at 9 p.m. Why can't the network dump an extra "Dateline" and give this crime drama better berth?

Prediction: It's assumed the kids run the remote control on Friday nights, which is why ABC's comedies traditionally fare well. If that's the case in your home, so be it. If not, sample CBS -- with strong, adult-oriented comedies and fun, crime-busting dramas. And tape "Homicide."

Finally!! A good review.
New Orleans Times Picayune Sun, 8 Sep 1996
by Benjamin Morrison

"TV tries again at sophisticated spies -- think 'North by Northwest,', think 'Hart to Hart,' think Natasha and Boris. The thoroughly satisfying hour stars Bakula (again quantum-leaping into changeable personalities) and newischomer Bello. The very happy news is that their chemistry, and therefore the show, is good. The pilot has the duo as battling secret agents who end up osculating atop a desk while his pants (and boxers!) are down. Don't ask why. As killer rivals, they get mixed up in industrial espionage and a plan to murder the man who created 'cheap, abundant, clean energy' ('cold fusion, lightning in a bottle'). Since this is light comedy-drama, none of the good guys die, and Bakula (code-named 'Mr. Smith') and Bello ('Mrs. Smith') get reassigned as partners. We particularly like the line, 'Sex, it has a way of keeping people from thinking clearly.' Oh, for more mental blur!"

thanks to Margaret in N.O.

From this morning's [August 27] New York Newsday newspaper
An article by Diane Werts, titled "Getting Obsessive with Reality", wherein she talks about how so many shows on TV get consultants to provide the most realism they can in their portrayals of their characters, to an obsessive point. Then she states,
"Thank goodness a few of them still resist. One of the least 'real' of fall series must certainly be CBS' fanciful Scott Bakula spy romp, 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' - yet one critic at press tour felt compelled to ask producers that if costar Maria Bello was supposedly such a great espionage agent, why'd she leave her hotel room drapes open for Bakula to eye her?
"'We're not doing a spy how-to show,' producer Kerry Lenhart pleaded. 'It's just kind of fun. And we hope people will take that leap with us.'
"Don't count on it."

Thanks to Barb

From the AOL Style section
by Andrea Braverman

As temperatures begin to dip into less than Africa-hot zones, one of the favorite annual pastimes will begin. No, not back-to-school shopping, not football season -- it's time to check out the fall TV lineup and determine which nights you'll be ordering in. Here's our preview:

[large part of article snipped]

And let's face it, there are fronts other than fashion that can be used as predictors of a show's succes. Like, say, sex-appeal. Ever since Quantum Leap, viewers have been waiting for another weekly date with Scott Bakula. (No, those guest appearances on Murphy Brown didn't cut it.) Well, the wait is over. He's starring in CBS's Mr. and Mrs. Bridge. [ed note--their error, not mine!] Those are code names, not lawfully wedded ones. He and newcomer Maria Bello are the sexiest pair of sleuths to hit the airwaves since Moonlighting. You heard it here first.

From Jefferson Graham's latest TV News blurb over on Prodigy:
"Also on CBS is the new spy drama, 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' starring Scott Bakula ('Quantum Leap') and newcomer Maria Bello as the Sharon Stone-type mystery gal who wins his affections in the pilot. After they meet, she licks his face. After that, he's extremely hooked. Look for Bello to be the queen of magazine covers within a year."

Thanks to Margaret T. in N.O.