Jill Spiegel's career is moving along way too fast to tolerate a train ride. The author of 'Flirting for Success' thought she and her business partner-husband, Joe Brozic, could make a romantic Amtrak ride out of what they expected to be a successful fall NYC business trip from the Twin Cities to pitch an idea for a TV show. 'We thought, Oh, wouldn't it be fun!' said Spiegel. It wasn't. 'By the time we were on about our third hour, we were like, We've earned this show! It was taking forever,' she said. But the trip did pay off. Her Perkiness has signed a TV show development deal with Broadway Video - Lorne Michaels' company behind 'Saturday Night Live' and Conan O'Brien. In the past few months, fast-talking TV types have promised the moon, but she and Joe waited until someone was willing to put a deal in writing - they signed last week. Spiegel was a regular Are-We-There-Yet? during negotiations. 'I said to the business manager, WHEN CAN I TELL THE WOOOOOORLD? He goes, Probably by the end of January,' she said. 'And then January passed, February passed. . . . It was like waiting for a guy to call.' He called, but Spiegel and Brozic still aren't sure what form the relationship will take. 'It's not like a talk show; the best we can describe it is motivational reality,' she said. Huh? 'It's not an infomercial!' Brozic added: 'I feel like I wrote a pizza and they gave me a pancake. I wrote a show that's educational, where we teach people how to communicate. Jill is the host. I brought it to them, and they're like, Yeah this is great. We'll bring in a comedian instead of the expert, for the eye communications show.' Brozic didn't understand TV dealmaking until he watched HBO's 'The Late Shift,' based on a book about the David Letterman-Jay Leno late-night battle. The movie 'reaffirmed my faith that I was doing fine,' said Brozic.
Is Prince a papa to be?
Rumor has it that Mayte is pregnant. Already. And she only married the Prince of her wildest dreams on Valentine's Day. As previously gossiped here, procreation was a primary reason this longtime playboy married. While it is never wise to disclose this kind of baby news before the first trimester, the rule is being broken here because, for twisted little minds, this baby ranks right up there with the pregnancy that led to the birth of Prince William.
1/3 It's CAN DO or die
Nothing like a pep talk laced with a threat. In a February memo, purportedly from WCCO-AM program director Mike Elder, the producers were told that despite 'some growing discontent with the responsibilities and schedules that we are dealing with based on the changing culture,' he wants them to get their butts in gear. 'Times of transition are always difficult,' he writes, but there has to be a 'CAN DO attitude,' none of this 'CAN'T DO' or 'NOT ENOUGH TIME IN THE DAY' stuff. 'Jobs and tasks have to be done and done well and up to expected standards,' Elder writes, warming up to the threat: 'These are things that can be measured . . . and will be.' That's pretty tough talk from someone viewed as being afraid of his own shadow. . . . If the memo is interpreted literally, producer Nancy Walker deserves some special empathy. She gets to meet with Elder twice a week to discuss the Ruth Koscielak show, and at least three times a week to talk about Nanci Saper's, um, show. 'I'll touch base with Jimmy Erickson for [Steve] Cannon when Jimmy comes in Mondays and Wednesdays,' Elder memos. Sounds as though Cannon has the best deal. An insider informed us that Cannon doesn't need to show up for his meetings with Elder because they are in total agreement about the station's goals and have only the best regard for each other as professionals.
Mozy moseys south
When restaurateur Mozy Jahanguiri bought space for a bar in Riverplace, he dubbed it the Hang Out. But now that he's got to hang out more in Dallas, he's brought on a partner and renamed the place Joe Schmit's Hang Out. Schmit, KSTP-TV's sports guy, joins WCCO-TV's Mark Rosen of Rosen's Bar and Grill in the sports bar biz. Mozy, owner of Sophia, has signed with the Dallas Cowboys' Jerry Jones and Barry Switzer to open 'the largest restaurant in Texas.' Large is a rather childish obsession in Big D, but Mozy insists that the 16,000-square-foot Switzer & Jones Place will be the most mucho. Tony Bennett is being sought for opening ceremonies at the place, which will feature 'live music, dancing, gift shop, banquet area, and selling Switzer & Jones salad dressing,' said Mozy. In the next five years they plan to open Switzer & Jones Places in San Antonio, Houston and Austin, Texas, and Tulsa, Okla.
Little pops the question
'OK, I've got the scoop of the century for you. The biggest and best bachelor, the oldest in Minneapolis, is getting married. Matthew Little, your friend, is finally going to tie the knot to Lucille Bryant!' Dear 332-TIPS Caller: Matt, the prez emeritus of the Minneapolis NAACP, throws a heck of a curveball: 'Where the hell did you get that? Who would do a trick like that on me! That's a low blow. Must have been one of my former girlfriends; I've had to release them all. Yes, indeed, it's true.' Matt was spurred on by a combination of factors: seeing 'Grumpier Old Men,' taking a Costa Rican vacation in February and getting encouragement from Bryant's kids and his, who worry about the two of them living alone. 'I run a cycle - married for 27 years, divorced for 22.' Bryant is the retired Oakdale schoolteacher he's been dating for 10 years. Oh, he's rushing into this. A prenuptial agreement is in the works because 'it makes sense with both of us having so many grandkids - she has one, I have 11,' he said. 'We've lived a full life separately, and it's a matter of keeping all those other years separate from our union, in the interest of our heirs.' A May or June date is under consideration. 'We can still double up here,' said Matt the Dreamertor, who's been trying to marry off yours truly. Dream on.
