Stacked Tv Tome

Provincetown treasure hunter Barry Clifford, whose life is one big fat Adventure, is the inspiration for a new TV series called, "The Ultimate Adventure Company."

The syndicated series, which is about to begin filming in Toronto, follows a band of "young renegades" led by swashbuckling explorer Judson Cross.

"It's kind of like `Raiders of the Lost Ark' meets `The X-Files,' " Clifford told the Track. "It's big-budget Hollywood. I heard they're spending like $22 million."

The series is produced by Gale Anne Hurd aka the ex-Mrs. James Cameron, who co-produced "Terminator" and "Terminator 2" with her former mate and "Armageddon" and the upcoming "The Hulk" since she unloaded him.

"We worked together on a script for Disney about underwater cave exploration," Clifford said. "And she always talked about doing a series with me, so here we are."

Clifford will act as a consultant to the project, which will begin shooting 22 episodes as soon as casting is finalized.

"They are talking to a pretty big name for the lead," Clifford said. "And there's a Lara Croft-type girl in it. The deal is that this guy supposedly can find anything. He's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. He has his enemies, which I think is pretty good."

Pretty familiar too for Clifford, who is probably best known for finding the long-lost pirate ship The Wydah and her booty off Cape Cod. He also uncovered the Adventure Galley, Capt. Kidd's wreck off Madagascar, and has tangled with rival treasure hunters over the years.

Clifford said his fictional counterpart will have his own version of Barry's treasure-hunting ship, the Vast Explorer, although his base of operations will be the Florida Keys, not the Cape.

The first show is scheduled to air in October and Tribune TV is planning a big announcement later this week.

File under: Booty Call.

Ethel K: Hair and gone

So where was Auntie Ethel Kennedy whilst her nephew, Michael Skakel, was being hauled off to the hoosegow? Getting out of Dodge!

We hear Ethel, whose brother's son was found guilty Friday of murdering 15-year-old Martha Moxley, was being coiffed in her suite at the fab Four Seasons by stylist to the stars Scotty Fontana before beating feet to Greece.

Now, it comes as no surprise that Auntie Ethel would rather be getting a blow dry than shedding any tears for her nephew. After all, Skakel snitched on her favorite son, the late Michael Kennedy, to the authorities in 1997 when he found out Kennedy bedded the family babysitter when she was 14 years old. The sordid scandal forced her other son, Joe II, out of the governor's race and Skakel's proposal for a tell-all tome blamed his aunt for the death of her other son, David, from a drug overdose in 1984.

File under: The Big Blow Off.

Mitt ready for grilling

GOP gubernatorial guy Mitt Romney has stacked cherry soda in Worcester, tested his bedside manner in Springfield (bet it was fab!) and sorted through the catch of a New Bedford fishing trawler. But tonight, he'll take a grilling from Red Sox fans when he fires up a sausage cart outside Fenway Park!

The wannabe gov will grill sausages, onions and peppers at "Sausage Guy" Dave Littlefield's cart on Lansdowne Street beginning at 5:30 p.m. Now, if we could only lure hunky Matt Damon, who is tossing out the first pitch tonight, to pop by for a sub. But wethinks the Cambridge homeboy is a Democrat. . . .

Anyway, the grill gig is part of Mitt's "work days" program to show that in order to talk about job creation, you should roll up your sleeves and see what's already available. Even if your Brooks Brothers casuals will reek of fried onions!

But we hear Mitt will be doing Dave a BIG favor with his two-hour turn at the grill. Apparently, the Sausage Gal is thisclose to delivering a new voter and the Sausage Guy needs experienced back up!

Vineyard mourns chef

Martha's Vineyardites are mourning the tragic death the other night of Keith Korn, 38, the chef and co-owner of The Icehouse in West Tisbury.

Korn died when the Porsche Boxter he was driving at high speed, according to police, ran off State Road into the woods, hitting a thick oak tree and breaking the trunk in half. His passenger, Erich Luening, was air-lifted to Boston Medical Center.

"The Icehouse was the quiet epicenter of the island," said West Tisbury summer res Patrick Lyons. "Keith was a great guy, very personable. He was a chef that was always cooking and always working the dining room. It was the hottest table in town."

Korn opened the popular eatery, formerly The Red Cat, with his lady love, Suzanne Provost, one year ago last week.

Side Tracks

Monday missives:

Yes, that WAS horrormeister Stephen King devouring a paperback between innings at the Red Sox-Arizona Diamondbacks debacle the other night. Maine's scary scribe, dressed in a red leather jacket with "Bangor" emblazoned on it, wouldn't sign autographs for fans, but we hear "he couldn't have been nicer."

-- But Sox fans who couldn't score a thing from King got autographs and posed for pictures with owner John Henry and ex-team titan John Harrington, who were seated together in front of the author. Harrington handing out his John Hancock and mugging for pics? Now, THAT'S scary!

-- The Boy Scouts' local Minuteman Council probably won't get any merit badges from the national troops for inviting WBZ-AM blabmaster David Brudnoy to speak at their 26th Annual Scout Salute tonight. As you well know, Bruds is gay and wears his battle with AIDS as a badge of honor. So salute that, Boy Scouts of America! The event, which will honor local business biggies, takes place at The Westin Copley Place. Do be prepared.

-- Hey, we hear the WNBA is hot for Aerosmith's new "Girls of Summer" song that debuts on the band's "Ultimate Hits" album due out June 25. Apparently, it's already a Hit with the lady hoopsters!

-- And finally, word from our foodie spies is that ubiquitous chef Todd English will open a restaurant aboard the new Queen Mary 2, the longest, tallest, widest and most-expensive cruise ship ever built. It launches in 2004. Stay tuned.

Caption: BLAST FROM PAST: Treasure hunter - and Ultimate Adventurer - Barry Clifford shows off a one-ton cannon he recovered in 1985 from long-lost pirate ship, The Wydah. Fast forward to 2002: Clifford is now consulting on a new syndicated TV series, `The Ultimate Adventure Company,' which soon begins filming in Toronto. HERALD FILE PHOTO BY REN NORTON

Copyright 2002
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

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