They laughed, they cried, they reacted just like other mortals. We asked a cross section of show-biz makers and shakers about the movies that grabbed them, the books they couldn't put down, the songs that stayed on their lips, the TV shows that kept their hands off the remotes-and the ''entertainments'' they'd like to forget. Here's what got them ticking or ticked off in 1992:
MAYIM BIALIK (Star of Blossom)
*Hit: ''In 1992, I discovered the
wacky, ludicrous beauty of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, the saviors
of television through Seinfeld and Northern Exposure, and the
brilliant infinite esoteric genius of J.D. Salinger.''
KATHY NAJIMY (Actress, Sister Act)
*Hit: ''Lesley Ann Warren in
the Texas cheerleader movie Willing to Kill doing her Ginger Grant
imitation from Gilligan's Island the whole time.''
ICE CUBE (Rapper, The Predator, and actor, Trespass)
*Hit:
''Malcolm X — seeing one of my heroes, his life being played out on the
screen. I never thought it & would happen.''
SIR MIX-A-LOT (Rapper, Mack Daddy)
*Hit: ''The Red Hot Chili
Peppers performing at the MTV Video Music Awards. I just thought they
were awesome.'' *The Pits: ''Madonna's book, Sex. That book's not art.
I have to defend her right to do it, but I just thought it was
embarrassing, tacky, and unnecessary.''
CHAD SMITH (Drummer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik)
*Hit: ''Any Sally Jessy Raphael shows regarding transvestites.''
JAY THOMAS (Jack Stein on Love & War)
*The Pits: ''Sex, because
when you look at the book, the cover falls off. It's a very flimsy
form of pictorial entertainment.''
ROB PILATUS (Half of Rob & Fab, formerly Milli Vanilli, ''We Can
Get It On'')
*Hit: ''Sinéad O'Connor ripping up the picture of the
Pope, Ice-T's 'Cop Killer,' and the Luciano Pavarotti lip-synching
scandal — and anything else that served to deflect criticism and
controversy away from us.''
CAMERON CROWE (Director, Singles)
*Hit: ''The miniseries Sinatra.
What were the odds this would turn out so good? A miracle, a Paul
Shaffer wet dream, a bounty of classic moments. Encore!''
*The Pits:
''The reevaluation of Woody Allen's work because of his custody
battle — a sad trip through the mud for his fans.''
JOEL HODGSON (Star of Comedy Central's Mystery Science Theater
3000)
*The Pits: ''During the debates, when Admiral Stockdale
announced, 'I ran a civilization!' (I had) a scary grown-up feeling
that I may be a better orator than one of the vice-presidential
candidates.''
PAM HOUSTON (Author, Cowboys Are My Weakness)
*Hit: ''During the
Olympics there was this obnoxious tennis announcer (Bud Collins). He
was so hyper you had to mute the television. My favorite moment was
when Bob Costas said: 'Bud, tomorrow, remember the decaf.'''
JOHN FLANSBURGH (Bespectacled half of They Might Be Giants, Apollo
18)
*Hit: ''Al Pacino's performance in Glengarry Glen Ross — a chilling
portrait of a creep. Al chews up the scenery.''
