Word: creators
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...cartoons, starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and a dozen other barnyard thespians, were the star attractions of countless children's Saturday afternoons--and internal lives. But Chuck Jones' Warner Bros. cartoons were more than kid stuff, as we realized long before their creator's death last week, at 89, of congestive heart failure. "We weren't making them for kids or for adults," he often said. "We were making them for ourselves." And, a grateful viewer has to say, for the best part of ourselves...
...Before there was Gene Kelly (and after), there was Fred Astaire, the creator and apotheosis of movie dance. By the time Kelly got to Hollywood in 1941, Astaire had already completed his amazing series of RKO musicals with Rogers. Among other things, this run of eight films - from "Flying Down to Rio" in 1933 to "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle" in 1939 - established the gangly Fred Austerlitz from Omaha as the most elegant man in the world...
Bernie Mac's premise is less traditional: a successful comedian--Bernie Mac--takes in his nieces and nephew after his sister develops a drug problem. But his toughlove philosophy of parenting is strictly old school. "Bernie Mac does not feel it is important to be your kids' friend," says creator Larry Wilmore--a sentiment that transcends color. Mac is both thoroughly black and raceless. Its aesthetic perfectly fits its black baby boomer protagonist (the smartly chosen sound track bursts with such soul hits as the Ohio Players' Love Rollercoaster). But like My Wife, Mac rarely mentions race--a sharp contrast...
...blocks. UPN's Girlfriends (Mondays, 9:30 p.m. E.T.) has well-written black, white and biracial characters and a sophisticated take on race. Originally a salty, derivative takeoff on Sex and the City, it has matured into a perceptive look into the inner lives of four thirtyish black women. Creator Mara Brock Akil doesn't buy, though, that it's too "inside" for white viewers. "Look at Will & Grace," she says. "That show is so inside about gay culture...
...like Felicity, also spawned by Alias creator J.J. Abrams, the new show features a heroine with romance-challenged friends, an unwanted crush and lots of doubt about a career-exit strategy. "She is very lonely," says Garner. "She's an overachiever who works to the best of her abilities but can't believe she is in a position of not wanting to be a spy anymore." The producers don't saddle her with a stint in special ops to try to explain her combat chops. She's an athletic collegiate who fights because sometimes...