• January 24, 1994
• Vol. 41
• No. 3

Winter Games

NBC Stars Meet the Press, While Aspenites Forsake the Slopes for Another Planet

NEITHER AN DIVISION OF CRITICS on the West Coast nor 10°F weather on the Colorado slopes could keep celebs at home on Jan. 8. In Pasadena, Calif., it was stretch-limo gridlock as Seinfeld's Michael Richards (Kramer), Cafe Americain's Valerie Bertinelli and 86 other NBC stars schmoozed with members of the Television Critics Association at the Huntington Ritz-Carlton. John Larroquette spent much of the night bemoaning the time slot of his eponymous show opposite ABC's Roseanne. "People set their pacemakers by her show," he joked about the tattooed star's faithful—and very large—audience.

Sampling the smoked turkey and grilled vegetables, Frasier's Kelsey Grammer kidded that he had prepared for meeting the critics by going to the gym. "I wanted to pump iron a little so I wouldn't seem easily cowed," he said. "I won't beat anyone up. I just want to look like I could."

Meanwhile, in Aspen, Melanie Griffith and Patrick Swayze were among the 300 first-nighters who sipped champagne at the opening of the eighth and latest Planet Hollywood. (The restaurant features wall-to-wall tiger-paw-print carpeting surrounded by three stories of macho movie memorabilia, including Jack Nicholson's ax from The Shining, Mel Gibson's Mad Max motorcycle and a life-size Schwarzenegger cyborg from Terminator 2.) Roseanne, who apparently wasn't worried about those TV critics back in Pasadena, called the low-key party "perfect for Aspen." Don Johnson and Sly Stallone found it perfect for swapping some friendly barbs. "Don is actually in charge of the antler-buffing here," insisted Sly, a club shareholder.