Mail

‘King’ of Comedy

Obviously, the folks at EW, who had the audacity to publish an interview with the animated cast of King of the Hill (#401, Oct. 17), have once again shown a clear lack of respect for the rules of journalism … And bless you for it! The brilliant King of the Hill brings me back to the not-too-distant past when another little animated program dared to be hilariously groundbreaking. The Simpsons went on to become the phenomenon it is today thanks to good writing that reflected everyday life in a twisted sort of way.
DAVE J. ZIOLA
haaash@hotmail.com
Terrace, British Columbia

Congrats on the great cover story about the hilarious King of the Hill. Until I got your magazine, I thought I was the only one who noticed the show’s comedic genius.
BECKY KING
Becky98@hotmail.com
Willow Creek, Calif.

Vintage Sherry

Just wanted to say that I loved your article on Sherry Stringfield! I’m happy that she is living her life the way that she wants to! I miss her on ER; she had a good part, but I agree with her on doing what her heart felt and not what everyone else said!
MICHELLE POUPARD
Tecumseh, Ontario

Savage Love

It is heartening to know that Fred Savage has learned something from history; that he won’t be joining the the ranks of those whose private and public lives implode once the baby fat erodes. Having caught the premiere of Working, there is no doubt that Savage’s ”wonder years” will continue in his adult life.
MIKE HERMAN
Bleu_Meany@aol.com
La Palma, Calif.

Wide at Heart

While I would certainly like to thank you for the recent article about letterboxing movies on VHS, I felt the article could have done this important subject more justice. As a telecine operator [the person who transfers a movie from film to video], it is often my sad duty to perform these ”mutilations” to a film. Panning and scanning a wide-screen film does more damage than just removing some actors. It can dramatically alter the emotional impact of a film by destroying some of its visual composition, changing the pacing of the film, and adding edits and camera moves where there were none before. Any publicity of this problem is welcomed by many in the film industry, and if more directors like Alan Parker got so deeply involved, it would certainly help.
DAVID BERNSTEIN
Colorist, The Post Group West
DBClrst@aol.com
Los Angeles

Cinemascope and other wide-screen processes might never have been developed if Cinerama had not first proved that paying filmgoers would flock to theaters to see movies [like How the West Was Won] on a huge, curved, wide screen with multichannel stereophonic sound. Cinerama debuted in the fall of 1952, and within weeks the major studios were scurrying to create cheaper, if technically inferior, competing systems. Both CinemaScope and 70 mm Todd-AO were being readied before year’s end. A great number of the technical improvements in film exhibition that we enjoy today have its roots in the groundbreaking advances of Cinerama.
MATT LUTTHANS
Cinerama Society of Seattle
cinerama98@aol.com
Seattle

CORRECTIONS: The music group Aqua is from Denmark (Music). Sherry Stringfield left ER in November of its third season; Anthony Edwards’ character is Dr. Greene (”The Goodbye Girl”).