• by September 12, 2003

The Riff is wearing black today. And it's not just because the Man in Black - country legend Johnny Cash - has passed on, but also because it comes on the same day as news of the sudden death of another endearing personality, TV and film actor John Ritter. To the Riff, Ritter always represented an image of indelible youth, even as he aged into more "mature" roles like Paul Hennessey, the father character at the center of ABC's "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter." And while he will perhaps be best remembered for the fluff-like role of Jack Tripper on ABC's "Three's Company," he nonetheless brought a range and freshness to everything he touched and gave us good reason to watch what would otherwise be unwatchable stuff.

If there was any doubt New York is being transformed into one big theme attraction, billionaire mayor and media titan Michael Bloomberg has put it to rest by cutting an unprecedented concessions deal with Snapple. While the $166 million deal only gives the Cadbury Schweppes brand exclusive rights in the city's public schools and other city-owned buildings, we think this will build a broader affinity between the juice-based beverage marketer and a city that is perhaps best known for a fruit. We'd call that co-branding initiative the Big Snapple. Just think of it, a special liter-sized bottle of Snapple apple juice, bottled from local orchards. We also can envision various other beverage line collaborations between the city and the bottler, which could resurrect long-dormant and ultra-nostalgic New York favorites such as lime rickeys, Manhattan Specials and, of course, the egg cream. It's a deal that the fountain soda syrup magnates at U-Bet should have struck long ago and one that just might drive the bottlers of Yoo-hoo to scour the message boards on Yahoo in search of a new municipal partner.

The Riff always understood the principle that sex sells, but we never imagined it would be the thing beleaguered AOL Time Warner CFO Wayne Pace would tout to a room full of investors and securities analysts. But that's just what AOL's chief numbers cruncher chose to highlight to the crowd during Thursday's session of Merrill Lynch's West Coast media conference. "It will be a huge lift for HBO," said Pace, referring to the just-announced deal to syndicate the off-network rights to the pay channel's steamy "Sex and the City" series to Tribune Broadcasting's 26 major market TV stations beginning in the fall of 2005. Now it could be that analysts expect public sensibilities and broadcast standards and practices to change radically in the next two years, but the Riff is trying to figure out just what those non-cable households are going to make of Mr. Big. But according to at least one top Wall Streeter, this "Sex" deal will pave the way for the broadcast syndication of other controversial HBO series, including "The Sopranos" and "Six Feet Under." Meanwhile, the Riff wonders if Wall Street shouldn't be curbing its enthusiasm.

The older the Riff gets, the more difficulty we seem to have figuring out which side of complex issues we actually stand on. Now we suddenly find ourselves torn over the debate surrounding the American Civil Liberties Union's new anti-White House campaign. The problem is the Riff still has this dated self-image of itself as a free loving, hippie, ACLU-supporting peacenik - not to mention a major fan of the celebrity and musical endorsers that are taking pot shots at our government. So it is with considerable discomfort that we find ourselves taking a hard-line stance in support of counter-terrorism initiatives, including some that appear to be treading on previously assumed civil rights. Don't get us wrong, it's not as if the Riff is clear-minded on this front. We definitely have problems with the blurring lines between national security and individual rights, but we also recognize that the rules of engagement have suddenly changed and that we may need to readjust some constitutional priorities. The way we see it, it's about "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" and it's pretty much in that order. Without life, you could forget about liberty and pursuing happiness, unless, of course, you believe there are 17 virgins waiting for you in heaven. So, when we see REM signer Michael Stipe in an ACLU ad reveling that he is "Not an American who wants to be shut up or have my neighbors shut up," we want to ask him if it matters at all to him who his neighbors are and what they may be up to. We'd also like to ask him if it's the end of the world, but "do you know it?" The Riff apologizes if it's getting a little carried away on this one, but we're still a little miffed about Stipe's dissing the Beatles as not being that significant a musical influence.