AND SMITHESCTHE ITY Furniture Brothers Aim for ‘Sex’ Appeal in Latest Quirky Commercial

THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2008 SECTION 4 A-list attrition? Movie studios fi nd that stars like Brad Pitt don’t necessarily pack ’em in anymore — Page 4 Out & About “The Musical of Musicals the Musical” opens Sunday at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre — Page 2 Suburban Life & Entertainment A AND SMITHESCTHE ITY Furniture brothers aim for ‘Sex’ appeal in latest quirky commercial B Y D EBORAH D ONOVAN raIN to cavort around Chicago icons. D AILY H ERALD H OMES W RITER [email protected] Without blocKIng streets and asKIng permission only at Navy he three Smithe Pier, the Smithes and a tiny brothers hoist crew rush from MiLLenNIum red “SMIthe-O- Park to the Wrigley BuILding, Politans” IN front North Avenue Beach, the Daley T of The Bean IN Center and the Art Institute. MiLLenNIum Park. The mornINg raIN is fi erce, “It’s been a Smithe faMIly tra- at one poINt forcINg the broth- dition for 50 years,” says Tim. ers to take a breaK and hud- “Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, dle around a covered table at Christmas.” MiLLenNIum Park. “Ever since cranberry juice An even greater blow to was INvented,” pipes IN Walt. Walt’s showbiz poise during “For Cinco de Mayo we the shoot’s early hours was switch out vodka for tequILa,” “aLMost gettINg KILLed IN an ac- adds Tim. cident” whILe drivINg IN from Then, the trio — owners of BarringtoN HiLLs. And we won’t Walter E. Smithe Furniture and even taLK about the hair jokes stars of their owN offbeat TV he endures during the shoot. ads — roLL up their suit pants The shorter coifs of his slightly and wade barefoot IN the park’s younger brothersTiM and Mark fountaIN. hold up better to the elements. It’s alL for “SMIthe and the But by the time the broth- City,” a new ad debutINg today ers get to Navy Pier, the suN is and a takeoff on the upcom- trying to peek through. And INg “Sex and the City” movie. Walt, a father of fi ve, chats eas- The latest kooky Smithe com- ILy with a group of juNIor high merciaL is modeled after the students from South suburban Sarah Jessica Parker montage Momence. of New York City monuments The youngsters — whose sog- that opened the popular HBO gy fi eld trip is a reward for work television show. IN honors classes — are recruit- “Instead of the girls from ed to waLK IN the background as ‘Sex and the City,’ we have the extras whILe director and cam- boys from Walter E. Smithe,” eraman BiLL O’NeIL shoots. says Tim, who’s IN charge of the “We’re expectINg a lot be- company’s marketINg. cause alL of you KIds are above BILL O’NEIL/WALTER E. SMITHE FURNITURE As nonchalant IN person as IN average,” says Walt. “TelL your Walter, Tim and Mark Smithe show off “Smithe-O-Politans” — which they swear are a family tradition — in front of their weLL-known coMMercials, teachers you learned more at The Bean in Chicago’s Millennium Park. the brothers defy thunder and Navy Pier than you would have IN honors physics.” The brothers have learned over eight years of coMMercials to be good sports. The danger of a LIghtnINg strike grounds a plan to take the students for a ride on the Navy Pier Ferris wheel, and O’NeIL jokes that he could get better angles if the brothers jumped IN Lake Michigan. “At least one would not come out — one of us would have a heart attack,” says Walt. “The old one. The water’s about 48 degrees.” The statues at the Pier pro- vide some of the day’s best IM- provisations. The brothers pose PHOTOS BY JOE LEWNARD/[email protected] with the bronze statue of danc- The designer handbags, left, are a joke and a thank-you for INg chILdren. Then IN a moment watching the commercial, says Tim Smithe. Karen Lynn, above, fi xes Walter Smithe’s hair during the Daley Center part of the See SMITHES on PAGE 4 commercial shoot. Top-rated WGN, ’GCI remain above radio fray The more thINgs change, personal- that’s without benefi t of the the campaign trail, which the more they stay the same ity-taLK WGN Cubs. SpIKe O’DeLL remaINs also did much to keep people — even IN an INdustry as tur- 720-AM and heir to the legacy of WaLLy tuned to WGN-AM. bulent as radio. urban-con- PhILLips and Bob CoLLINs as Yet radio contINues to be an The last dozeN years have temporary KIng of mornINg drive, but INdustry that defi es sweep- been a time of IMMense WGCI 107.5- just as clearly the swap of INg categorization. If the NIU changeforradio,eversincethe FM atop the MIdday and afternooN time shooting and the presidential 1996 TelecoMMunications raNKINgs, slots INvolvINg John WiLLiams campaign were benefi cial (so-called) Reform Act took just as it has and Steve CochraN has to be to WGN-AM and ’BBM-AM, effect. That triggered a fre- Ted Cox been for al- considered a success. StatioN they couldn’t keep all-taLK quency land grab by major most every execs reportedly credited WLS 890-AM from droppINg media conglomerates, lead- TV & Radio quarterly snow days and the Northern to 10th. A media maveN LIke INg to downsizing and copy- booK since IlLInois University shooting myself can’t resist the IM- cat cookie-cutter formats. I’ve been doINg this job (13¨ for keepINg people tuned IN, pulse to poINt out that comes More recently, radio has been years, for the record) and but snow days would fi gure hot on the heels of the statioN as shakeN as any other elec- long before that. And all- to have an effect only IN the sackINg much of its critical tronic medium by the chang- news WBBM 780-AM IN third mornINg, and it’s not as if news staff. es wrought by the Internet, has held that position as weLL NIU was the taLK of the town Radio remaINs a treacher- for INstance having to fi ght more ofteN than not over the for three months. ous business, and it’s not as if off the IMpact of the ubiqui- years. That probably had more there isn’t abundant change tous iPod. In fact, taLK about stabILity: of an IMpact on ’BBM-AM, represented IN the ratings. Yet look at the winter WGN-AM swept fi rst place IN along with the endless rush Minority representation is Arbitron radio ratings re- alL weekday time slots among of news — both IMportant Spike O’Dell anchors WGN 720-AM’s stable, consistent week- leased recently, and it’s stILL LIsteners 12 and older, and and INconsequentiaL — from See COX on PAGE 4 day lineup. PAGE 4 SECTION 4 DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2008 CLF12M Different perspective of celebrities A-list stars stumble at box office affecting today’s moviegoers B Y S TEVEN Z EITEVEN AND interference.” When star power does still exist, it Many of these shifts stem from the B ORYS K IT For the most part, stars and their seems to be narrowing. At the height way most studio movies are now The Hollywood Reporter reps have warded off financial adjust- of stars’ drawing potential in the made. ments that should follow from these 1990s, you could drop such then-A- While a number of studios — Anyone glancing at 2007 box office box office shifts. But there’s growing listers as Kevin Costner or Arnold Warner Bros., and to some extent, numbers might have noticed a strik- sentiment that star salaries are out of Schwarzenegger into pretty much Paramount — still seek to build pro- ing absence of star power. Only four proportion with star influence. Roll- any movie and expect to gross $100 jects around stars, others, such as Fox of the top 25 highest-grossing pic- backs, or at least a rethink, could be million stateside. (How else to and Disney, are relying much more tures domestically were driven coming. explain “Robin Hood: Prince of on concepts. When newly minted primarily by movie stars — the lowest There’s a sense now that the inter- Thieves” or “Kindergarten Cop”?) MGM executive Mary Parent number in history. play among consumers, celebrities Today’s top-paid stars, on the other addressed a group of agents recently, The data captures what is becom- and entertainment dollars is chang- hand, need to be paired much more she said the studio was looking for ing a seismic and industry-reshaping ing. The new dynamics are a carefully with material to score a run- title-driven projects, not star-driven phenomenon: A-list talent is having challenge the next generation of up- away hit. ones. trouble packing multiplexes based on and-comers — Shia LaBeouf, Seth Matt Damon has been a key part of Meanwhile, stars are seeing their star wattage alone. Rogen, Emile Hirsch and Katherine two of the most lucrative contempo- stock devalued by the rise of Wall With the exception of Will Smith — Heigl often are cited — could face. rary franchises (“Ocean’s” and Street slate financing because source sixth on the 2007 list with “I Am “As audiences get younger, they “Bourne”), but his box office mojo material often is regarded as a more Legend” — it’s increasingly clear that don’t care about movie stars in the has stalled in other turns (“The Good reliable predictor of box office than a other elements, from established same way,” Sony Screen Gems presi- Shepherd”: $51 million domestic).

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