Wiseguy

I, and many women I know, are furious with Stephen J. Cannell for quarreling with and getting rid of Ken Wahl. Without him, "Wiseguy" is just another violent show. We all loved Vinnie and wanted there to be more of him and his love life, and less of the many gangsters. Cannell left Vinnie--half out of his mind after that horrible episode in that wet little Oregon town with the crazy mayor--delivering disgusting bloody garbage to the dump and stealing watches for money. What is all this nonsense--a grudge of some kind?

DURING animation's golden age, Michael Maltese and Tex Avery were two wild and crazy guys who created some of the era's wackiest cartoon shorts. Maltese wrote and story-boarded such classics as "One Froggy Evening" (starring Michigan J. Frog), "For Scent-imental Reasons" (Pepe Le Pew), "Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 th Century" (Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Marvin the Martian) and "What's Opera, Doc?" (Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, who sings the Wagnerian "Kill the Wabbit" song). Animation director Avery began his career at Walter Lantz's Universal cartoon studio before moving to Warner Bros.

If Ken Wahl's version is true (" 'Wiseguy' Plot Thickens, but Who's the Fall Guy Here?," by Irv Letofsky, June 2), it is unfortunate that Stephen Cannell believes that "Wiseguy" can continue without Wahl. The actor brought incredible depth to the character of Vinnie Terranova that undoubtedly cannot be matched. His portrayal is what made the show intriguing. It is always sad when quality programs such as "Wiseguy" go down because of behind-the-scenes battles. While "Wiseguy" is not dead yet, its demise is only a matter of time.

, a city forged on gambling, booze and flesh, has been strangely reluctant -- and perhaps a little nervous -- to make money off its mob roots. Until now. On a recent drizzly night, a small, white Vegas Mob Tour bus rumbled past aging strip malls, its passengers eager to see the spots where wiseguys were killed. Thug Jerry Lisner was repeatedly shot, strangled with an electrical cord and dumped in his swimming pool on a tree-lined street named Rawhide.

I love "Wiseguy." It's very well done. I hope CBS continues to offer us such good shows. Susan Vasquez, Los Angeles

I love watching Ken Wahl on "Wiseguy." He has a brawny, intelligent look, and he can convey both street smarts and handsome sophistication. The man has versatility. Please keep "Wiseguy" around. It is the only program I watch on Wednesday nights. Judy Masaki, Anaheim Hills

I would like to thank CBS for providing such an engaging and entertaining series as "Wiseguy." The superb acting and well-written scripts make this the best series on TV. Our entire family enjoys "Wiseguy" and we looked forward to each episode. We hope CBS will continue to show this wonderful series for seasons to come. Michelle Ghafouri, Los Angeles

In his first career as a doorman at Chicago's Park Hyatt Hotel, Ike Reilly hobnobbed with everybody from businessmen to barflies, from partyers to politicos. He learned a lot. Like humility. "Everybody should have to work in the service industry at some point in their life," he says. That job might have been the perfect incubator for Reilly's music -- barroom rock narrated by a wiseguy who's as comfortable regaling PhDs and poets as he is pimps and porn stars.

LEAVE it to the Onion to build a better atlas. The cover of "Our Dumb World: Atlas of the Planet Earth" (Little, Brown: 246 pp., $27.99) boasts "Curvier Latitude Lines," "Better-Veiled Xenophobia," a "Bono-Awareness Rating" for each country and, enterprisingly, "30% More Asia."

The videocassette pickings are slim but choice this weekend, topped by two 1990 films for sophisticated tastes. RECENT MOVIES "GoodFellas" (Warner, $94.99, R) is the most outstanding of last year's several Mob films. Martin Scorsese's adaptation of Nicholas Pileggi's book "Wiseguys" manages to be fast, violent, shocking--and funny.

LEAVE it to the Onion to build a better atlas. The cover of "Our Dumb World: Atlas of the Planet Earth" (Little, Brown: 246 pp., $27.99) boasts "Curvier Latitude Lines," "Better-Veiled Xenophobia," a "Bono-Awareness Rating" for each country and, enterprisingly, "30% More Asia."

Steven Shainberg and William Chartoff option David Evanier's "Making the Wiseguys Weep," the story of pop crooner Jimmy Roselli, "the other Sinatra," who is hugely popular in the Italian American community but largely unsung outside of that world. Evanier is represented by Andrew Blauner for literary rights, and Liza Wachter with Rabineau, Wachter, Sanford & Harris Literary Agency for film rights.

AROUND 12:30 p.m. PST on Feb. 8, the first word of Anna Nicole Smith's death began to float into public consciousness. Within minutes, cable news networks ground to a halt as anchors fumbled for profundity. Within the next hours, newsrooms across America began a weeklong debate: "Is she a real celebrity?" and "Just because America is dying to know about her death, does that make it news?" But while old media struggled to get its ducks in a row, online an unlikely news team snapped into action.

"Al Franken: God Spoke" is a great title for a send-up and an even better one for a Hellerian satire of institutional insanity. It sets you up to expect a merciless lampooning of the pundits and politicians who insist they are just checking off errands on the to-do list of the Almighty after every foul. So, for that matter, do the opening images of Nick Doob and Chris Hegedus' documentary.

Dear Mexican, Why do Mexicans call white people gringos? It was the type of impolite question few people would dare ask in everyday Southern California, much less in print. "Dear Gabacho," began Gustavo Arellano's answer in the OC Weekly alternative newspaper. "Mexicans do not call gringos gringos. Only gringos call gringos gringos. Mexicans call gringos gabachos.

In his first career as a doorman at Chicago's Park Hyatt Hotel, Ike Reilly hobnobbed with everybody from businessmen to barflies, from partyers to politicos. He learned a lot. Like humility. "Everybody should have to work in the service industry at some point in their life," he says. That job might have been the perfect incubator for Reilly's music -- barroom rock narrated by a wiseguy who's as comfortable regaling PhDs and poets as he is pimps and porn stars.

A rock-music industry investigation will be the storyline of a seven-episode arc on CBS' "Wiseguy" beginning March 1. The stories will feature guest stars Tim Curry ("Amadeus," "Rocky Horror Picture Show"), Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac) and Deidre Hall ("Our House," "Days of Our Lives").

"Triangle," an hourlong drama starring series veterans Bruce Boxleitner ("Scarecrow and Mrs. King") and Jameson Parker ("Simon & Simon") will debut on CBS April 18. Boxleitner and Parker portray friends who have been in competition since their school days, and continue to compete for the attentions of their dream woman (Daphne Ashbrook). "Triangle" replaces "Wiseguy" in the 10 p.m. Wednesday time slot. "Wiseguy" will air its final original episode of the season April 11.

Henry Hill is at the office doing something he loves and hates -- reflecting on himself. To the unfamiliar, it would appear that a thin, tanned 60-year-old man with close-cropped gray hair is enjoying an afternoon at West Hollywood's Palm Restaurant. But to Hill, the steakhouse's dark wood bar casts him back some four decades when he was a young kid working for the Lucchese crime family in New York.

Until the new fall TV season officially starts in three weeks, fans can bide their time by reliving the first seasons of several series still on the air. Also new on DVD are some classic series and mouthwatering political shows from England. A decade before HBO premiered its award-winning mob series "The Sopranos," CBS offered its own buzzed-about mob series, "Wiseguy," from producers Stephen J. Cannell and Frank Lupo.