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[Carrie McLaren <carrie AT stayfreemagazine.org>]

MIDSEASON TV PREVIEW
Comic Miller prepares to monkey around

With chimp Mugsy at his side, he'll take on politics on CNBC
By Hal Boedeker
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/orl-livmiller19011904jan19,0,5257997.story?coll=orl-caltop
Sentinel Television Critic

January 19, 2004

LOS ANGELES -- Dennis Miller is borrowing a legendary bit from NBC's 
Today for his new CNBC talk show. He'll have a chimpanzee co-star.

"We're going to call him Mugsy, because we can get away with that," 
Miller says. "If you use J. Fred Muggs . . . you get sued, and then I 
got [lawyer Mark] Geragos in my life with a monkey."

Muggs was the chimp who became a sensation when appearing with host 
Dave Garroway on Today in the 1950s. The animal and his trainer later 
retired to Tampa.

Miller, the Saturday Night Live comedian who went on to Monday Night 
Football and his own HBO talk show, starts his weeknight talk show 
Jan. 26. He plans to explore the main story of the day, interview 
guests, offer news in the "Weekend Update" style he did on SNL and 
feature panels that debate issues. He also vows to speak about his 
support for President Bush.

"Am I going to contrive any animus toward him in an effort to look 
fair and balanced? No," Miller says. "I don't want to be fair and 
balanced. I want to be fair and unbalanced."

The presidential election will be the show's main focus for the next 
10 months. "It's a great time to come on the air because, quite 
frankly, the political discourse in this country is as polarized as 
it's been since the Vietnam War," Miller says.

The chimpanzee won't be used every day because he costs too much, 
senior producer and head writer Eddie Feldmann says.

"We went to an Ebola-free monkey employment agency, didn't we?" Miller asks.

"Oh, yeah," Feldmann says.

"Because I don't want to break out in pustules in midshow," Miller adds.

Hal Boedeker can be reached at hboedeker AT orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5756.