Where were they when I needed them? My first home was decorated in the Late College style.
You know the one, the traditional block-and-board bookcase, a couch that logged too many naps, one pot and one pan.
I could have used the help of “My First Place,” yet another spin-off of the home-decorator craze that has spawned whole channels devoted to fixing up your dump.
The basic idea of “My First Place”: A designer with a $3,000 budget comes in and, like Mary Poppins, transforms your living space into a theme park.
On the first episode (7 p.m. Saturday, HGTV), Denverite T.R. Tenarodriguez and his fiancée Melissa Provost get help from designer Carriann Arkowski to produce “an island oasis with a sophisticated edge” in their extra-large living room.
Other episodes of the one-hour show will feature re-do’s in Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia and Seattle, plus six more from the Denver area.
Ex-anchor killed himself
The Oct. 7 death in Farmington, Conn., of actor Charles Rocket, whose real name was Charles Claverie, has been ruled a suicide.
Claverie, 56, was found dead in a field near his home with his throat cut. “An investigation determined there was no criminal aspect to this case,” a police spokesman told The Associated Press.
Claverie, who worked as an anchorman for less than a year at KOAA-TV in Pueblo in 1976, dropped the f-bomb on-air on “Saturday Night Live” and was fired, along with other cast members, after the 1981 season.
He later had an active career in TV and movies, including roles in “Dumb and Dumber” and “Dances With Wolves.”
Sing out
Mark it down. The 75th season of live broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera begins with “Rigoletto” on Dec. 17 (11:30 a.m. Saturdays, KVOD 90.1-FM).
The Met series, which includes “Cosi fan Tutte,” “Aida” and “Manon,” runs 19 weeks through May 6. A complete broadcast schedule is available on-line at operainfo.org.
Around the dial
Community service: Two hundred volunteers and staff from KMGG 95.7-FM (“Mega”) slaved away Saturday to build a new playground for Ashley Elementary School. Meanwhile, Dan Mitchell at KXKL 105.1-FM parks himself atop a 24-foot truck starting at 6 a.m. Thursday at Media Play, West 92nd Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard, to raise supplies for Hearts Across the Miles, a volunteer support group for the military. … Jennifer Wilde joins BJ and Howie on the “Morning Show” on KALC 105.9-FM (“Alice”) today. She was previously at KDJM 92.5-FM with Dave Otto. … Quotable: “Sometimes every working stiff needs to watch a good old-fashioned TV train wreck to remind us how fabulous we are by comparison.” – “TV Therapy”
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-820-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
