People in the News for June 3, 1998

Wednesday, June 3, 1998 | 9:35 a.m.

Hell hath no fury like a network scorned. If Norm Macdonald thought his dysfunctional relationship with NBC was settled with his firing from "Saturday Night Live," he was mistaken. They still have issues. NBC has banned ads for Macdonald's new movie, "Dirty Work." The network has also reportedly canceled affiliates interviews the comedian had set up to flack his soon-to-be-video effort. Why? NBC wasn't saying Tuesday, other than to confirm the ad ban. But it seems obvious: Since his dismissal, Macdonald has been poking merciless fun at NBC brass -- particularly big cheese Don Ohlmeyer, who personally handled Macdonald's sacking. Macdonald apparently thought they could take it like a big network. "I thought it was over," he told David Letterman Tuesday. "And then I keep reading 'feud.' There's no feud because I never did anything to harm him. For a feud, I have to be going 'Arrgh!' I don't know what it is." He's not sure what he did to land on Ohlmeyer's bad side, noting that the NBC boss is "best friends with O.J. Simpson ... how could he not like me?" Letterman, a former NBC employee, was sympathetic. "I'll tell you what it is," he said. "They are scared. They're afraid because they fired you, that you're going to come back and bite them." Well, sure, the thought of Norm Macdonald coming at you with teeth bared should be enough to frighten anyone!

Miscellany

Nothing makes you feel old like actually being old, but here's a close second: The Beaver turned 50 Tuesday. Pardon us, we have to be going Arrgh ! But the Beav, or, as his mailman knows him, Jerry Mathers, is OK with it. "Right now I feel like I could do 50 more," he chirps. However, just a year ago, he could sense the snapping dentures of decrepit old age coming, Norm Macdonald-like, to bite him. "The doctor told me I was badly out of shape," Mathers says. "If I didn't take care of myself I wouldn't be here in another three to five years." So he's lost 36 pounds and says he's fitter than ever. Gosh, Beav! That's swell!

Compiled by Scott Dickensheets