Columnist Kate Maddox: TV types go channel surfing

Kate Maddox

Friday, April 13, 2001 | 3:31 a.m.

Kate Maddox's column also appears in the Las Vegas Sun on Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach her at 259-2309 or kmaddox@lasvegassun.com.

This week's shake-up at KTNV Channel 13 might have a trickle-down effect on another local station. On Monday 13's General Sales Manager John Dalrymple flew the coop for KVVU Channel 5, and most of his co-workers decided to join him.

On Tuesday another Channel 13 salesperson split, followed by two more on Wednesday and a third on Thursday -- bringing the grand total of newcomers to KVVU to five. Bad news for 13; possibly worse news for Channel 5.

One insider says the sales suits at KVVU are up in arms over the hirings and have turned the place into "a hotbed of rumor."

"The tension over there is so thick. Everyone thinks they're going to clear out the old to make way for the new," said the source.

As for Kris Foate, Channel 13's former general manager who laid off on-air and behind-the-camera talent just a couple of weeks ago, she reportedly got the boot just after Dalrymple abandoned ship on Monday. One source said Foate was let go due to "poor decisions" and "the sorry shape of revenue" at 13.

KTNV brass is now actively scouring competing local stations, looking for a new GM.

The "Ocean's 11" scene at the Crazy Horse Too made at least one club neighbor a tad disgruntled. Buffalo Jim Barrier, owner and operator of Allstate Auto & Marine, shares strip mall space with the Crazy Horse Too. Barrier, a professional wrestling promoter who has had an ongoing, all-out legal feud with Crazy Horse Too owner Rick Rizzolo, disputes Rizzolo's account of how much he was offered and was paid to let the movie crew film at the strip spot.

"He made $30,000 on it. Not $100,000. And he got to keep all the props and stuff they built inside for the movie." Barrier claims. "And I don't think he waived the fee (as Rizzolo claimed)." Buffalo Jim says he got the dirt from reputable Crazy Horse Too insiders. Club reps insist Rizzolo allowed "Ocean's" producer Jerry Weintraub to use the space for free as a gesture of friendship. Rizzolo couldn't be reached for comment before press time.

Barrier doesn't deny that he made a little green on the day's shoot himself. "(The movie people) wanted to have me clean out my space to make room and I thought I should be paid for it," he explained. "I asked for $2,000. They countered with $1,200 and we settled on $1,750."

If the crews can work fast enough, Rita Rudner is slated to open at the new Cabaret Theatre at New York-New York on Friday. The former Cabaret Theatre at the MGM Grand will soon be renamed for the Crazy Horse topless revue being imported from Paris.

Speaking of bare-breasted showgirls, Bill Acosta has decided to cover up. His topless impressionist production (again, Acosta clothed, dancers not) at the Flamingo Las Vegas will be nudity-free on Tuesdays. The 7:30 p.m. show will be more family-friendly in an attempt to boost ticket sales, which I hear aren't going so well.

Look for Ricky Martin and his gal-pal, Ines Misan, to be part of a post-"Storm" fete at the House of Blues Foundation Room on Wednesday night. Martin and friends have arranged for a private party in the club and will forgo the formal celebratory bash at Mandalay Bay's rumjungle for cast, crew and VIPs following the world premiere.