Cop Talker On His Own, You Know

Mark Fuhrman, our own excuse for a local talk-show celebrity, ventured out on his own on KXLY-AM (920) on Thursday.

For the first time, the former LAPD detective, now living in Sandpoint, hosted his crime talk show by himself, without benefit of on-air partner Mike Fitzsimmons.

Program director Jim Bickel said it was time for Fuhrman, who is still trying to syndicate his show, to fly solo. Also, under KXLY-AM’s new schedule, Fitzsimmons is now paired with Bickel in the afternoons so it would probably have been unwieldy to have three talkers in the booth at once.

Fuhrman’s show runs from 2 to 4 p.m every Thursday, and the Bickel & Fitzsimmons show follows from 4 to 6 p.m. Every other weekday, Bickel & Fitzsimmons fill up the entire 2-to-6 slot.

This means Fuhrman has even more time than usual to torture the English language with such statements as: “You know, having been in law enforcement for 20 years in California, and I don’t care where you are, if this broadcast is being heard in Nome, Alaska, don’t let your children out of your sight anywhere.”

Or how about: (saying goodbye to a guest) “Doctor, you know, it’s been a great, you know, half hour.”

(Actual transcriptions from Thursday.)

Whither Don Imus

Some Don Imus fans called up this week, frantic that they were being deprived of their daily “Imus in the Morning” fix.

Imus vanished from KTRW-AM (970) on Monday when that station switched owners and went beautiful-music-Christian-talk. However, the KXLY Broadcasting Group switched Imus over to another AM station in its stable, KKPL-AM (630).

You’ll have to get up mighty early to hear the whole thing. The Imus show runs from 4 to 8 a.m.

A Gene Harris replacement

Jazz pianist Gene Harris and vocalist Nikki Harris have been forced to bow out of their second straight Spokane Jazz Orchestra date, March 20 at The Met, but they have an excuse nobody can argue with.

Harris, 65, is suffering from kidney failure, and he needs a kidney transplant. His daughter Nikki will be the donor.

Craig Volosing of the Spokane Jazz Orchestra said the group wishes the best for both Harrises, who have said they will come back and perform with the jazz orchestra next year.

Meanwhile, the orchestra has booked two world-class replacements: vocalist Dee Daniels and pianist Joe Kloess. The place and time are the same, The Met, March 20, 8 p.m., and ticketholders can use the same tickets.

This show was already a make-up show for one the Harrises were forced to postpone last May.

Civic sellouts

The Spokane Civic Theatre is on a roll. Hard on the heels of selling out the entire run of “The Glass Menagerie” in nine hours, the theater may sell out its new Studio Theatre production, “The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr, Abridged.”

Before the show even opened on Friday, seven of the show’s 12 performances were sold out. The Studio Theatre is only about one-fifth the size of the Main Stage, but still, this is a sign of good health at the Civic.

A true Duke fan

Speaking of “The Glass Menagerie,” I have discovered that Patty Duke’s fans are not only numerous, but sometimes they border on the zealous.

“Some people go to the beach to party for spring break,” wrote student Mike Dereniewski of Wayne State University in Detroit in a letter to Spotlight. “Me? I’m going to the Spokane Civic Theatre to see Patty Duke in a play.”

Dereniewski explained that he just happens to be “a huge fan of Patty’s.” He also has a radio show on his college station in which he has a weekly segment called “The Patty Duke TV Listings of the Week.” He phoned the Civic to see if he could get a brief interview with her.

“I just thought it would be really cool to have Patty do the intro for the show,” he said.

He’ll be in the audience next weekend.

Looking for the WB?

Spokane doesn’t have its own WB network station, but did you know that you can catch all of the network’s hit shows on KSKN-22?

KSKN is actually the area’s UPN affiliate, but just to confuse you, it is also what you might call a backup affiliate of WB. That means it airs WB shows such as “Dawson’s Creek,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Felicity,” but not during prime time. UPN shows get the prime time slots, and WB shows have been shoved off into the 2:30-3:30 a.m. time slot.

Not any more. KSKN revamped its schedule on March 1, and now the biggest WB shows are airing at more viewer-friendly times. For instance, “Dawson’s Creek” is now airing at 8 p.m. Saturdays, followed by “Buffy” at 9 and “Felicity” at 10. Other WB shows are on Sunday evening and Saturday afternoon, while the rest are still on during the wee hours on weekdays.

Many cable subscribers are already catching WB shows on WGN, but that won’t last for long. WGN will probably have to start blacking out WB shows in the fall.

New FOX schedule

KAYU-28, the local FOX affiliate, also will be rolling out some changes this month.

Here’s a list: “Guinness World Records” will take over the Friday 8 p.m. slot beginning March 19; “That ‘70s Show” goes on hold until summer and will be replaced by Matt Groening’s new animated show, “Futurama,” at 8:30 p.m. Sundays until April 6, when it goes to a Tuesday 8:30 p.m. time slot; and “The PJ’s” moves to 9 p.m. Tuesdays on April 6.