The Cos disses Oz

Bill Cosby says Ozzy Osbourne and his bizarre clan are giving TV families a bad name.

"This is a sad, sad family," Cosby tells Access Hollywood on tonight's show. "The children are sad and the parents are sad. And this is not entertainment."

The dean of TV dads went on to say that watching the burnt-out goth rocker shuffling about his L.A,. mansion was "like laughing at Tiny Tim. It's the kind of entertainment that you look at, but you wouldn't want it in your home."

The Osbournes currently airs on the digital network MTV Canada Tuesday and Friday nights. CTV has bought the U.S. cable hit and plans to air it this fall.

This Is A True Story

If you like to eat, get ready to have to buy another airline seat.

Street Date Alert

Columbia has just announced a 9/17 street date for last winter's smash thriller PANIC ROOM, starring the one and only Jodie Foster. Although no specs have yet been revealed, this one is slated to be a special edition, so watch for the full details in the next couple of weeks...

See It In Order!

Since the movie 'Memento' can be bit confusing to certain viewers with its constant out-of-order flashbacks, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment has decided to include a version of the film on the Limited Edition release that is sorted in chronological order, allowing you to watch all the movie's events unfold from beginning to end.

In order to get to this version of the movie, insert the second disc of the 2-disc set and wait until the main menu in the form of a psychological test appears. Once you see all the different images of the test on the screen, select the clock. This will present you with a series of multiple-choice questions. Answer each of the questions with 'C' and you will be taken to another test in which you will have to put a series of images of a woman changing a car tire in the right order.

To get to the hidden feature, the key here is to put them in reverse chronological order by selecting 3, 4, 1 and 2. Once you have done that the movie’s credits will begin to run backwards and then the film will start to run in the proper chronological order.

A FRIENDS writer speaks out a bit about the direction of the last season of the show.

The "Friends" writers return to work this week to map out the adventures in which the sextet of characters will be involved during the show's final season.

One thing is for sure, insists the series' co-creator/executive producer/writer David Crane: Fall will definitely mark the swan song season of the landmark show.

"We're all approaching this as our last, the studio and network included. We all want it to go out on top. We all feel that very strongly."

He'd also, most naturally, like to see the oft-imitated show receive the one thing that has thus far eluded it: an Emmy.

Crane says he's trying not even to think of the odds that the show will be Emmy-honored as it approaches its final season, just focusing on pre-production of season No. 9.

Will the six friends leave the air as three couples?

"I don't see that happening," says Crane. "That would be a little too tidy."

Will Monica and Chandler join Rachel and Ross as parents?

The latter is possible, says Crane, "But at this point, we sincerely don't know which way we're going. It's all just an exciting question mark."

New M&M Color Chosen

The results are in: Purple reigns.

The maker of M&M's said Wednesday that purple will be the latest color for the little chocolate candies. The decision came after more than 10 million people in 200 countries voted on the Internet and over the phone on whether to add purple, pink or aqua to the mix.

"Our consumers have spoken. Purple it is," said Paul Michaels, president of Masterfoods USA in Hackettstown.

Purple received 41% of the vote. Aqua had 37% and pink had 19%. Purple will join the existing mix of red, blue, brown, green, orange and yellow in August.

Eminem Still Untouchable On North American Pop Charts

Rapper Eminem easily held off a sub-par debut by hard rock band Korn to rule the U.S. pop charts for a fourth consecutive week, according to sales data issued on Wednesday.

"The Eminem Show" sold about 530,000 copies in the week ended June 16, as its total rose to 2.9 million copies, the best-selling release of 2002, according to sales tracker Nielsen SoundScan. Eminem records for Interscope Records, a unit of Vivendi Universal .

California band Korn's "Untouchables" proved to be optimistically titled as it sold 434,000 copies in its first week to open at No. 2. Korn's previous album, "Issues," debuted at No. 1 in November 1999 with sales of more than 570,000 copies.

Elsewhere, edgy veteran David Bowie's new album "Heathen" opened at No. 14, his best performance since 1984's "Tonight" peaked at No. 11. "Heathen" is Bowie's first album for Columbia Records after he left EMI Group Plc's Virgin Records last December complaining about "bumping heads with corporate structure." Columbia is a unit of Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp.

Bowie's publicist said in a statement that "Heathen" debuted in the top 10 in 11 countries: Denmark (No. 1), Norway (No. 2), France (No. 3), Germany (No. 4), Austria (No. 4), the U.K. (No. 5), Italy (No. 6), Ireland (No. 6), Sweden (No. 6) Canada (No. 9) and Japan (No. 10).

Sony's Epic label released the Korn album, as well as another new entry at No. 13, a soundtrack tied to MTV's reality phenomenon, "The Osbournes." The album features a few songs from addled paterfamilias Ozzy Osbourne, as well as a cover version of Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" from his youngest daughter, Kelly.

The top 10 contained one other new release, Florida punk quintet New Found Glory's "Sticks & Stones" at No. 4. The group records for Vivendi Universal's MCA Records unit.

The Wait Is Almost Over!

For the first time anywhere you can top by brucespringsteen.net for a look at the cover of Bruce's new album, 'The Rising,' due on July 30, 2002.

Me excited!! Me very excited!