From the December 25th Entertainment Weekly:

BEST of 1998

the ENTERTAiNERS

STRETCHING the BOUNDARIES

You can never be too rich, too young, or too thin. And if you happen to be all three - and talented to boot - you may find your name somewhere on the following pages of of our ninth annual "Best of..." issue. Top entertainers have never made more money (even ADAM SANDLER may soon be a $20 million-a-picture man) and never looked so youthful (we wouldn't sell a six-pack to the BACKSTREET BOYS, CHRISTINA RICCI, or THE WOMEN OF THE WB). Lord knows they've never been skinnier (CALISTA FLOCKHART turned waifdom into a national debate, and Bridget Jones diarist HELEN FIELDING is surely the Samuel Pepys of calorie counting). Of course, if you happen to be all of the above - young, rich, trim, and wrapped up in one rebellious, baby-faced, steerage-class package - then you get EW's biggest prize. Which is why this year our choice for the No. 1 King of the Entertainment World is none other than...

1 leonardo DiCAPRiO

2 steven SPiELBERG and tom HaNKS

3 the WOMEN of the WB

No mere babes in the woods, these. The superheroines of BUFFY, DAWSON'S CREEK, 7th HEAVEN, CHARMED, and FELICITY prove Prince Charming is just another accessory

     And to think, only two years ago, the most famous pair of legs on The WB belonged to the network's corporate mascot, Michigan J. Frog.
     Then Sarah Michelle Gellar's Buffy the Vampire Slayer kicked down the door for strong young women on TV. Soon 7th Heaven's Jessica Biel, 16; Dawson's Creek's Katie Holmes, 20, and Michelle Williams, 18; Charmed's Shannen Doherty, 27, Alyssa Milano, 26, and Holly Marie Combs, 25; and Felicity's Keri Russell, 22, joined Gellar, 21, as WB poster girls, attracting legions of young female fans and millions in ad revenue. Suddenly a struggling network had an identity, and the entertainment biz a burning obsession.
     Hollywood execs lusting after young women? Nothing new there. Resting the fate of an entire network on their collective shoulders, however, is a fresher concept. And The WB -- one of the few networks to see Nielsen growth this season thanks to its young viewers (the net says two thirds of its audience is under 35) -- has been savvy enough to corner the market on smart, youth-directed, female-driven programming. "Twelve- to 34-year-olds view women differently than do older adults," explains WB entertainment president Garth Ancier. "They've grown up in a world where women are more empowered. We're just reflecting that world."
     Ironically, these characters -- most of whom are in high school or college -- seem more competent and self-confident than their older sisters on other networks, neurotic career women such as Ally McBeal and Veronica Chase. Biel's Mary "is a good student who can take on any guy in basketball and win," says Ancier; Williams' Jen and Holmes' Joey are growing up without their parents; Russell's freshman Felicity is making it on her own in New York City.
     So yes, the WB girls are positive role models. But don't underestimate the power of the superficial: They're also smokin' hotties (to use common guy parlance). "Charmed is a perfect postfeminist girl-power show," says Milano, one of its three witch sibs. "Even independent of their special powers, these women are strong, but they're still feminine and accessible."
     Never ones to miss a moneymaking opportunity, moviemakers have taken note of The WB's girl-power gold mine, snapping up Gellar for Scream 2 and I Know What You Did Last Summer, Holmes for Disturbing Behavior, and Williams for Halloween: H20. Coming attractions include Russell's Irish romance Perfect Timing, Williams' Nixon-era comedy Dick, Holmes' revenge fantasy Killing Mrs. Tingle, and Cruel Intentions, an adolescent adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons with the WB all-star team of Gellar, Creek's Joshua Jackson, and Selma Blair (whose mid- season series about a New York City teenager, Zoe Bean, will try to translate The WB's successful female formula to sitcoms).
     Of course, Party of Five's Neve Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt also made the leap to movie stardom, but there's a difference: While their TV aliases continue to mope, The WB's women are kicking butt, literally (in Gellar's case) and figuratively. "They're all fighters," observes Russell. "They're not sitting in their pink bedrooms with their teddy bears. They're young women who are exploring and experiencing life." You go, WB girls. -- Bruce Fretts

4 adam SaNDLER

5 calista FLoCKHaRT

6 the BaCKSTREET BoYS

7 peter + bobby FaRRELLY

8 lauryn HiLL

9 tom FoNTANA

10 christina RiCCi

11 shania TWAiN

12 helen FiELDiNG


Where's Charisma Carpenter, my future ex-wife?! She's the most babelicious of all of the women of the WB.


Previous entry | Next entry | Back to Archives | Back to The Place