No "Lion" in a Theater

If you missed "A Lion in the House," you can order a DVD copy ($29.95) of the four-hour documentary about five Cincinnati area kids with cancer. Copies will be available sometime next month through www.lioninthehouse.com. You can also order the companion book for $19.95.

If you wanted to see the film in a local theater, you'll have to wait even longer. Producers had hoped to arrange a local screening in June or July, but now they're looking at August.... though that might not happen. They're just not sure how many people are interested in going to a theatrical screening after the national telecast June 21-22.

"A Lion in the House" was a moderate ratings success in Cincinnati. The two-night broadcast averaged a 1.2 rating (about 10,500 homes) on CET. That’s higher than the 1.0 rating for most PBS prime-time documentaries on CET, but lower than CET’s prime-time average (1.3) for normal programming, says Grace Hill, CET program director. The show generated a lot of calls, she says. "It was a difficult show to watch, but very powerful."

More CET
CET needs your help. To be precise, CET needs your money. The station is $68,000 shy of a balanced budget for the fiscal year ending Friday. The station was about $220,000 away from its goal at the first of June, before the on-air pledge days. CET also is worried about next year’s budget, knowing that the station’s PBS costs will increase 6.8%, and that federal funding could be cut by Congress, says Susan Howarth, CEO and president. For more info go to
www.cetconnect.org

Smooth jazz returns
Good news for smooth jazz fans. I just discovered Greg Brown’s smooth jazz internet station WINR Smoothjazz4u from his home in Mason. He says he has over 25,000 listeners a week at
www.smoothjazz4u.com.
Brown this summer also is bringing smooth jazz to nonprofit WAIF-FM (88.3) on 4-5 p.m. Fridays. Sounds like a great way to unwind if you’re headed home from work early on Friday.

And I can’t mention smooth jazz without plugging Michael Grayson’s “Cincinnati After Dark” smooth jazz show Saturday night on WARM98 (98.5).

Welcome back, DeVito!
Have you seen the clever parody of the "Friends" open in commercials for FX’s "It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (10 & 10:30 p.m. today, FX)? Danny DeVito joins the cast for the second season, his first regular sitcom role since "Taxi." DeVito plays Frank Reynolds, estranged father of Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Sweet Dee (Kaitlin Olson), regulars at Paddy’s Irish Pub in Philadelphia. This "Cheers" knock-off, which premiered last summer, is rated TV-MA for its strong language and adult themes.