Hello,

Well here it is! Almost two years after I last hosted a radio show called
Saskatchewan Weekend I return to the Radio Airwaves this weekend with a show
called Saskatchewan Weekend on CBC Radio One.

Wooooooooo hooooooooooo!

Feel free to visit the Saskatchewan Weekend CBC Webpage

Airing from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. (Saskatchewan Time - that's 8 to 11 am Eastern
time) on Saturdays and Sundays, Saskatchewan Weekend is a mixture of music,
news, sports, weather, information and survival tips. The music is from all
formats – pop, rock, classical, easy listening, country, new age, world,
film soundtracks, jazz and blues. There are also interviews with newsmakers,
celebrities and the people who live next door to you.

Should you not live within the Saskatchewan area the show is also on the
internet at http://www.sask.cbc.ca/.

You can listen by:

1) Clicking on RADIO at the top left.
2) Clicking on RADIO again to get a pull down menu
3) Select LISTEN TO CBC RADIO
4) Click on REGINA in the Saskatchewan Region.
5) ENJOY!

Wish me luck!

Your friend,

Dan Reynish

PS - Yes I am very excited!

DECADE DAVE MARKS JUMP TO CBS

In a rare on-air acknowledgement, David Letterman will celebrate his 10th anniversary on CBS tonight.

But it appears Dave and the producers of "The Late Show" — who traditionally underplay things like anniversaries — are being dragged to the party.

"I really think that CBS is acknowledging what an accomplishment it is to be on the air for 10 years," says executive producer Rob Burnett. "Obviously in Dave's case it's really 22 years."

As various landmarks for Letterman have come and gone — such as his 20th anniversary hosting a TV show (including his old NBC gig) — he rarely acknowledges them on the air with more than a wink and a nod, much less devote portions of his show to it.

Letterman joined CBS as the host of "The Late Show" in 1993 after a tumultuous battle with NBC management over who would become the host of the "Tonight" show when Johnny Carson retired.

Tonight's broadcast will feature one of Letterman's favorite guests, actress Bonnie Hunt, standup comedian Don Gavin, a special 10th anniversary edition of the running sketch "Know Your Current Events" and a 10th anniversary-themed Top Ten List.

"The anniversary will be mentioned, but it's not exactly like we have a gigantic extravaganza planned," Burnett said.

Barenaked Ladies Will Show 'Everything' This Fall

The Barenaked Ladies have completed their sixth full-length studio album, "Everything to Everyone." Due Oct. 21 via Reprise, the 14-track set was recorded in Los Angeles, produced by Ron Aniello (Lifehouse, Days Of The New) and mixed by Mike Shipley (Aerosmith, Andrew W.K.). The album will be preceded by the radio single "Another Postcard."

Chris Bowen, Matt Goldman, Brian Scott, Phil Stanton and Chris Wink of Blue Man Group fame contribute their PVC tube percussion to the song "Shopping," which is one of four songs featuring strings arranged by bassist Jim Creegan. Along with producing, Aniello adds percussion, guitar and banjo to the set.

Over the past few months, fans of the Canadian band have been kept up to date on the recording process through the Bnlblog.com. Along with text updates -- mostly from singer/guitarists Steven Page and Ed Robertson -- the blog has been populated with candid pictures and behind-the-scenes video clips of the notoriously comical band.

The album has been described as "intimate" and to properly present it to their rabid fanbase, the Ladies are believed to be planning a small venue tour. The "town hall meeting"-style outing will give the band a chance to explain the nuances and details behind the new material. A full-scale North American tour is in the works for winter.

The album is the follow-up to 2000's Don Was-produced "Maroon." That set debuted at No. 5 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 1.1 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album spawned the singles "Pinch Me," which reached No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Too Little Too Late," which reached No. 13 on the Adult Top 40 tally.

A 2001 best of collection, "Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits," debuted at No. 38 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 572,000 copies.

Here is the "Everything to Everybody" track list:

"Celebrity"
"Maybe Katie"
"Another Postcard"
"Next Time"
"For You"
"Shopping"
"Testing 1,2,3"
"Upside Down"
"War on Drugs"
"Aluminum"
"Unfinished"
"Second Best"
"Take It Outside"
"Have You Seen My Love"

'The Wind': It's Zevon, positively

By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY

Warren Zevon's struggle with terminal cancer seems to resonate in the opening line of his new album, The Wind, out this week.

"Some days I feel like my shadow's casting me," he sings in Dirty Life and Times.

Later, he beseeches in the fragile Please Stay, "Will you stay with me to the end?"

What may surprise listeners is that Zevon composed these candid swan songs before his diagnosis and that The Wind carries more hope than despair. The singer/songwriter, 56, spent much of his career mocking mortality, most recently in 2000's Life'll Kill Ya and 2002's My Ride's Here (referring to a hearse).

After a dentist sent him to a cardiologist, Zevon learned a year ago this week that his shortness of breath was from mesothelioma, a rare lung cancer usually linked to asbestos.

Despite Zevon's carousing history of cigarettes, booze and drugs, the news "came as an absolute shock," says his son, Jordan, 33. "He hadn't smoked in five years and hadn't drank in years and years. His biggest vice was Popsicles at midnight. When he had trouble breathing, we all assumed it had to do with pushing himself too hard in workouts."

The author of such wry tunes as I'll Sleep When I'm Dead decided to devote his remaining days to making music. Rather than a monochromatic rumination on dying, The Wind probes a wealth of moods and emotions that find Zevon more an excitable boy than the poor-poor-pitiful-me type. Tunes range from an irascible Disorder in the House and fuming Prison Grove to the heart-tugging El Amor de Mi Vida and prayerful Keep Me in Your Heart.

"It's hard not to feel the sadness, but the whole experience has been a celebration of life," says Jordan, who spent the past year helping his father realize his final career goal. The 11-song farewell drew admiring pals and peers, including Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne and Emmylou Harris.

"Those studio moments were lighthearted and joyous," Jordan says. "There was a lot of laughter and love in the room. When something like this happens, you can't return every phone call or address every fan and friend one-on-one. This album covers the gamut of things that needed to be said."

Zevon, housebound since January, recorded his last session at his apartment in April. After recently agreeing to a USA TODAY interview by e-mail, he was too ill to respond to queries and has been unable to promote The Wind. Last August, doctors estimated Zevon would die in three months. Jordan is certain his dad's commitment to the album extended his life.

"It's hard to argue with that theory nine months after he wasn't supposed to be around anymore," he says. "It's so improper to put timelines on how long someone will live. My dad knew what he wanted to do, and you couldn't stop him. During Christmas, everything shut down. Once the momentum dropped and he didn't have that pure focus, you could see (the disease) catch up with him. He got past that hurdle, and I knew he'd finish. The final vocal tracks came out gorgeous."

Recording ended with "one big exhale," and Zevon retreated to spend time with his two children. He was at the hospital when daughter Ariel gave birth to twin boys in June. And he has outlasted his prognosis long enough to witness The Wind's arrival in the marketplace.

"It's great that he's seeing the reaction, but it's not something he's obsessed with," Jordan says.

The past year has been bittersweet for Jordan, whose anguish over his father's plight was tempered by the challenge of completing The Wind and the healing comforts of family ties.

"We both took great pride in realizing there wasn't a laundry list of things that needed to be said to each other," Jordan says. "We always had a close relationship, and we didn't need a tragedy to get heartfelt and sentimental.

"The image of him as reckless or wild was true early in his career," Jordan says, "but for quite some time, he's been a real solid father figure. I learned a lot about dignity and respect from him. Musically, I've learned how much you have to work and stress and rehearse."

Zevon's medical crisis taught Jordan hard facts about self-preservation.

"I have no qualms about going to the doctor," he says, noting that his father ducked check-ups for 20 years.

He hopes fans will look past the tobacco smoke and remember Zevon for his warmth and the witty charm of his music.

Jordan recalls, "One of the first pieces of advice he gave me was, 'Do what makes you happy. It doesn't have to make sense to other people.' Whether you're a sculptor or bricklayer, your passion for what you do can sustain you."

THE LATEST CASTAWAYS

A mortician, a scout troop leader and a massage therapist among the 16 castaways stranded in CBS' Survivor: Pearl Islands. The seventh installment of the hit reality series, set off the coast of Panama, premieres with a special 90-minute episode at 8 p.m. on September 18.

Texas Man Wakes Up After Operation, Penis Missing

DALLAS (Reuters) - An out-of-court settlement has been reached in the case of a North Texas man who woke up from bladder surgery only to find that doctors had amputated his penis without permission, lawyers said on Thursday.

Terms of the out-of-court settlement were not disclosed but Hurshell Ralls, 67, had been seeking over $5 million in a civil suit he filed in Wichita Falls, Texas, against the two doctors who removed his penis. They did not admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement.

The hospital where the surgery was performed was also named in the suit.

Ralls' attorney Steve Briley said that his client was having surgery in 1999 to remove a cancerous bladder, which would likely include the removal of his prostate gland.

He contends that doctors removed Ralls' penis after they mistakenly thought the cancer had spread to the male sex organ. He charged the doctors -- John S. Dryden and Farid Khoury -- with not seeking consent for the penis amputation and negligence.

He also said a pathology test indicated that Ralls' penile tissue was not cancerous.

Joel Steed, the attorney who represented the doctors, said Dryden had informed Ralls that his penis might have to be removed to treat the cancer he had in his bladder. He also questioned the results of the pathology tests on the amputated penis.

Steed said during surgery the two doctors saw tissue indicating the cancer spread from the bladder to the urethra, and they felt removing the penis would provide the best chance for Ralls' survival.

Hearings in the case before a jury of eight men and four women had started earlier this week and were underway when the out-of-court settlement was reached.

Ralls and his wife have not been able to recover from the anger and shock they felt after the surgery, his attorney said.

"Mr. Ralls was not informed that he was going to wake up and not have a penis," Briley said.

CD Set Offers 35 Years of Sesame Street Music

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oscar the Grouch has plans for a new CD set celebrating 35 years of "Sesame Street" music: He intends to beat on the discs and sling them about until they look and sound like the rest of his music collection.

"I like the ones that have a chunk missing," the irascible, trashcan-dwelling Muppet told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"It makes a nice sound every time the needle hits the missing part. It just sort of jumps when it hits the broken edge and drops into a new track every time, so it makes the song more interesting."

Oscar's musical preferences are not those of most people, or most puppets, either. Most children, parents and former children will find "Songs from the Street -- 35 Years: The Ultimate Sesame Street Music Collection" plenty interesting when it hits stores on Sept. 2, even without Oscar's crude remastering.

The discs offer digitally remastered songs from the classic children's show performed not only by some of television's most beloved characters -- Big Bird, Kermit the Frog and even Oscar himself -- but by a flock of famous guest musicians.

LONG LIST OF STARS

From Cab Calloway and Lena Horne to Dixie Chicks and Destiny's Child; Johnny Cash, Tony Bennett and B.B. King to R.E.M., Los Lobos and Diane Schuur; from James Taylor and Paul Simon to Billy Joel and Pete Seeger; Gloria Estefan and Celine Dion to Goo Goo Dolls and *NSYNC; from Stevie Wonder to Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the list of superstar singers is as long and varied as any television show can boast.

Thirty-two guest performances are among the 63 songs, or 2-1/2 hours of music, on three CDs, with a 68-page booklet.

Many of the stars have said appearing on "Sesame Street" was a highlight of their careers.

"All of us were very excited to be on the set, period, because we've all been fans of Sesame Street since we were kids," said Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child. "When we saw Elmo, when we saw everybody on set, we were just like, wow!"

Chuckling quietly, then roaring with laughter, she said: "It was great. It was weird at first, definitely."

Some of the songs were already hits by the guest artists, rewritten for Sesame Street. One such is Joel's "Just the Way You Are," reworked to salute Oscar's grouchiness. By the end, though, Joel's original message of love and acceptance is resurfacing. Oscar complains: "This is the mushiest thing I ever heard" and "You really know how to hurt a grouch."

Then there are the classic Sesame Street songs for which the Muppets needed no outside help to teach generations of kids to spell, count and enjoy life: "Bein' Green," "Sing," "C Is For Cookie" " Rubber Duckie," "Everybody Sleeps," "People in Your Neighborhood" and others.

NO COMPROMISES

Christopher Cerf, a songwriter/producer who says he is "62 going on 8," said the show has never compromised its preschool curriculum, overseen by academics, but "the teachers are not allowed to compromise the entertainment, either."

Cerf -- who has been with the show since its first season, and who did the liner notes for the new compilation -- said that while the songs must have a basic meaning that children 3 to 6 can understand, "Sesame Street" has always enjoyed making sure older children and grown-ups can enjoy the songs, too, whether for their humor, charm or emotional sympathy.

The songs have to be listenable, Cerf said, but not too simple. "I think writing down to kids, just as in books, is a terrible mistake."

For Cerf, who wrote rock music and rock parodies at Harvard and then the National Lampoon humor group, "Sesame Street" fulfills some longtime fantasies. "As long as you're willing to have 4-year-olds be your audience, I'm a rock star. I always dreamed of that, but I never thought it would happen," Cerf said.

Even Oscar (who was called to the telephone by Muppeteer Caroll Spinney) can sound almost bubbly. The Muppet who rates himself "probably the best rotten singer going," who says "I hate music" and who admits "I love to be negative" felt a little apologetic as he ended his interview.

"I'm sorry I made it pleasant," he said.

Blood and Guts Rule at Holiday Box Office

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Ahh, the last official week of summer. According to Hollywood, nothing says summer more than two horror movies goring it out for the top spot.

New release "Jeepers Creepers 2" will fight for the No. 1 slot held for the last two weeks by New Line's "Freddy vs. Jason."

Two years after the original "Jeepers Creepers" debuted on Labor Day weekend, MGM's United Artists banner returns with a sequel it hopes will surpass the original, which earned $15.8 million over the opening four-day period. Helmer Victor Salva returns, this time throwing a pack of high school basketball players, cheerleaders and coaches to the Creeper, whose insatiable appetite for flesh can only be sated through a massive eating orgy. The R-rated film may have a harder time reaping the dough of its predecessor, considering that horror fans who haven't already endured the carnage of "Freddy vs. Jason" might be drawn to that film's campy feel and nostalgia for the creepers of days gone by.

Considering the lack of new product entering the marketplace this weekend, Paramount Pictures is expanding its summer hit "The Italian Job" from 64 theaters to 1,964 in an effort to claim some box office returns the studio believes were left on the table because of the crowded marketplace. Offering an alternative to the teen thrillers dominating the frame, "Job," which has generated close to $98 million since its May 30 release, has a chance to cross the $100 million mark this weekend.

The rest of the top 10 should be filled out by well-performing holdovers, including Sony's "S.W.A.T.," which has held onto the second spot for the past two weeks and could do some significant business that would get it close to the $100 million mark. As well, Disney's "Open Range," which has earned $29 million in three weeks, and "Freaky Friday," the recipient of $74 million in its four weeks of release, are likely to maintain a position in the top five. Sony's Jackie Chan starrer "The Medallion," which earned $8.2 million in its opening weekend, is not likely to generate much spark at the box office, though, as it is likely to decline at least 50% in its sophomore frame.

On the limited-release front, several films will by vying for some playability in their select markets.

Lions Gate will debut "Civil Brand" from director Neema Barnette. The film co-starring LisaRaye and Mos Def tells the tale of young black women behind bars who are forced to unite against a corrupt penal system. The R-rated film, bowing in 35 locations, could have a chance of doing some business considering its cast of top-selling rappers, including MC Lyte and Da Brat.

Sony Pictures Classics releases the R-rated "Once Upon a Time in the Midlands" in New York and Los Angeles. Written and directed by Shane Meadows ("A Room for Romeo Brass"), the quirky British comedy tale -- done in a fashion resembling Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns -- centers on a man who proposes to his live-in girlfriend on national television only to be turned down in front of everyone he knows.

Innovation Film Group's "The Legend of Johnny Lingo" debuts today in Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. The unrated family film centers on the stories a father tells his son about the Polynesian cultures of the South Pacific.

Miramax's "The Battle of Shaker Heights" -- in effect, the final installment of the "Project Greenlight" documentary series that just concluded on HBO -- will expand to the top 20 markets nationwide after bowing last weekend to a respectable $9,538 per-screen opening in five theaters for a box office total of $47,690.

In New York, Empire Pictures will release the Argentinean film "Suddenly," which centers on a lonely, overweight girl who doesn't begin to see the world until she is kidnapped by two lesbian punkettes. The unrated film is written and directed by first-timer Diego Lerman.

Rapper Missy Elliott Takes Top Honor at MTV Awards

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rapper Missy Elliott, teen heart throb Justin Timberlake, singer Beyonce Knowles and rapper 50 Cent were the big winners on Thursday at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.

Elliott took the evening's top honor, Best Video of the Year, and also won Best Hip-Hop Video for her song "Work It." Knowles won Best Female Video, Best R&B Video and Best Choreography while rapper 50 Cent won for Best Rap Video and Best New Artist.

Timberlake won Best Pop Video, Best Dance Video and Best Male Video -- a category in which he beat out Johnny Cash, a rock and roll legend old enough to be his grandfather.

"This is a travesty, I demand a recount," Timberlake said when accepting the Best Male Video award. "My grandfather raised me on Johnny Cash ... and I think he deserves this better than any of us here tonight."

British band Coldplay, who won Best Group Video, Best Direction in a Video and Breakthrough Video gave one of the highlight performances and dedicated it to Cash.

Cash, 71, was not at the Radio City Music Hall ceremony but was in a Nashville hospital, where he was in stable condition. He has been in declining health in recent years because of a nervous system disorder, autonomic neuropathy, which makes him prone to pulmonary problems.

Cash, who rose to fame in the 1950s when Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis (news) were the hottest things in music, was nominated for six awards but only won Best Cinematography for "Hurt." In the video, a frail Cash sings a haunting Nine Inch Nails song about death, decay and regret.

Among other winners in the ceremony, hosted by comedian Chris Rock were punk band Linkin Park for Best Rock Video, rockers Good Charlotte for the Viewers' Choice award and rapper Eminem for Best Video from a Film. British pop band Duran Duran, which began making videos even before MTV started broadcasts 20 years ago, won a Lifetime Achievement Award.

British experimental rock group Radiohead won the award for Best Art Direction in a Video while band The White Stripes won for Best Editing in a Video.

The awards were voted on by a pool of music industry executives, producers and journalists.

Perhaps the highlight of the show was the opening segment where Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera sang Madonna's seminal hit "Like a Virgin," before the Material Girl herself joined them in an act symbolic of her handing the torch to the younger stars. The trio were then joined onstage by Elliott.

That opening performance ended with Madonna and Spears kissing on the lips.

The cable station made its name in the 1980s playing wall-to-wall videos. These days it shows fewer videos, instead winning viewers with such shows as "Real World," and "The Osbournes" -- the quirky reality show that transformed heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne into a modern day Archie Bunker.

Scroll Down!

There is a new trailer for THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS which is only available online.

And you will only find a link to it here. Well not here, but below. Scroll down and enjoy!

DREAM LOVERS

By RUSSELL SCOTT SMITH

What a weird summer for movie romance.

The hottest couple of the season was Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres - playing fish, for goodness sake, in a G-rated movie.

Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson were a cute idea, but in the wrong film, the lackluster "Alex and Emma."

Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor never really were "Down With Love."

And the less said about Jen and Ben, the better.

But now that "Gigli" and the rest of the summer duds are gone, it's time to move on to fall movies and some on-screen couples with truly sparkling chemistry.

Here are the ones we're most excited about:

* JASON BIGGS & CHRISTINA RICCI "Anything Else" (Sept. 19)

No, Woody Allen does not romance the 23-year-old Ricci in his newest romantic comedy, contrary to rumor.

Instead, Woody's latest features a romance between Ricci - who plays a flaky Annie Hall type - and "American Pie" guy Biggs, 25. This wasn't the first time the pair got in bed together; Ricci and Biggs also have sex scenes in the yet-to-be-released "Prozac Nation."

"Jason is really sweet," Ricci tells USA Today. "I could say to him, 'Don't move that arm. See that nipple over there? Cover it.' "

* BEN STILLER & DREW BARRYMORE "Duplex" (Sept. 26)

This odd couple made the gossip pages last March while they were filming this dark comedy with director Danny DeVito in Brooklyn.

During a night out at Lotus, recently divorced Drew got out on the dance floor with the very married Stiller - even tearing off her cardigan.

It was all in fun, but test audiences say some of that goofy electricity translates to the screen. Barrymore and Stiller play a young NYC couple who plot to kill their upstairs tenant, a seemingly sweet old lady who's actually the neighbor from hell.

* GEORGE CLOONEY & CATHERINE ZETA-JONES "Intolerable Cruelty" (Oct. 10)

In this new comedy from the Coen brothers ("O Brother, Where Art Thou?"), Clooney plays a bulldog divorce attorney who meets his match in champion gold digger Zeta-Jones. She marries him, then they divorce and a heavyweight battle of the sexes occurs.

"We're very similar," Zeta-Jones recently said of Clooney, who became a pal during filming in Las Vegas last summer. "There's some movie magic there."

* MEG RYAN & MARK RUFFALO "In the Cut" (Oct. 24)

Remember that fake-orgasm scene in "When Harry Met Sally"?

Get ready for some real ones in this intense erotic thriller about an NYU English professor who falls for a tough homicide detective.

Test audiences are raving about Ruffalo and Ryan's explicit sex scenes - and not only because Ryan gets naked on screen for the first time.

Oscar-winning director Jane Campion has a way with non-exploitative but very realistic love scenes (Harvey Keitel and Holly Hunter in "The Piano" come to mind), and "In the Cut" has given many a new-found respect for Ryan.

"It's like when Michelle Pfeiffer took it to that next level in 'Dangerous Liaisons,' " says "In the Cut" producer Laurie Parker. "Meg finally shows us what she can do."

* NICOLE KIDMAN & JUDE LAW "Cold Mountain" (Dec. 25)

We're not so sure about Nicole's sweaty clinch with Anthony Hopkins in "The Human Stain," opening Sept. 26.

But we're excited to see Kidman with Law in this Civil War love story directed by Anthony Minghella ("The English Patient").

They play sweethearts from a Southern mountain village who must patch up their love after Law, a Confederate soldier, is wounded in the war.

Kidman won a libel suit last month against a British tabloid that ran a story about an alleged canoodle between them.

But we really want to see their on-screen chemistry, which has already sparked some Oscar buzz.

Beck To Start Work On Next Album

Next week, Beck plans to start working on his eighth album, the follow-up to last year's Sea Change. The new material is going to be louder and more rock-oriented than his last LP. Beck told RollingStone.com the upcoming release is "pretty aggressive. I've been working on it for a while, but I ended up doing Sea Change first. I've been wanting to do a record with loud guitars for a long time."

The new recordings will likely be a blend of some older material Beck wrote around the time of 1999's Midnite Vultures and songs that sound similar to his earliest recordings. Beck said, "My early stuff was a lot more punked out and noisy. I didn't really let myself use big guitars for a lot of years. The early '90s was so saturated by big guitars that I became really interested by what I could do if you took all the guitars out--with the space that was left."

Beck will record the tracks at multiple studios and plans to work with the Dust Brothers, Dan The Automator, and Timbaland on the production of the new album.

As David Letterman celebrates his 10th year on CBS, he might be thinking of moving on

A few weeks before David Letterman went on an extended vacation he conducted an interview on "Late Show" with a young man by the name of Aron Ralston.

Ralston is an extreme mountaineer (unlike Dave) and Indiana native (like Dave), who - with the aid of a pocketknife - severed his lower right arm, which had been pinned beneath an 800-pound boulder in a remote Utah canyon for five days. After rappelling down, he walked three hours, was spotted by a helicopter and three months later was on national TV explaining all of this to a profoundly moved TV host.

With the interview wrapping up, Letterman wondered, "Could everybody have done this?" Ralston, 27, replied, "If you had a choice to go through an hour of pain to live another 60 years, you'd do the same thing."

Letterman didn't even bother to respond with a quip, the usual antidote to an interview that's suddenly veered into uncertain terrain. He instead leaned on his elbow, settled himself into his chair, peered at Ralston through those primly professorial spectacles and asked, sotto voce: "Is that what you know about life that I don't know necessarily?"

Some members of the audience tittered, unsure whether they'd just heard a joke or whether they had actually heard television's most deeply serious funnyman ask the least funny question of them all. As in: What's the meaning of life? What's it all about? Why are we here and where are we going? You have some answers, Aron? You've been to the brink and back, so lemme have 'em.

Letterman has broken his neck twice in car accidents in years past, so maybe he just wanted some practical advice about how to deal with chronic pain. But more likely he was talking about something else, like this thing called life and how to make the best of it.

And for some reason, a contemplative David Letterman - a rare bird, to be sure, when he's on the air - is an especially provocative Letterman. At least in popular imagination he remains TV's Everest of insecurities: the self-loathing comic (an old cliche that just won't die) who is rarely satisfied with his performance and who is never truly happy except when the little red light on the camera is on (OK, likely still true). He is arguably our most gifted and most human TV performer - the guy who was ravaged by shingles and felled by heart disease and exhausted by the grind and tormented by sometimes mediocre ratings and soulless networks. You prick him, he bleeds. Admirers have long cherished the quaint notion that maybe there's a little bit of Dave in each of them, but God forbid, not too much.

And now, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of CBS's "Late Show With David Letterman" (it premiered Aug. 30, 1993, in a deluge of media overkill that rivaled, then surpassed, the sinking of the Titanic), the stark humanity of Dave is sprawled out before us once again. Big anniversaries tend to force some people to think big thoughts, to make dramatic gestures. In 1972, on the eve of his 10th anniversary hosting "The Tonight Show," Johnny Carson married his second wife, Joanna Holland.

Et tu, Dave? What are your cosmic thoughts these days, your grand designs?

This has been a challenging year for Letterman and for "Late Show." He lost his closest friend, George Miller, the veteran comic (and a regular on "Late Night With David Letterman," which ran on NBC from February 1982 to June 1993), to leukemia in March. The shingles then cost him nearly five weeks on the air, the longest hiatus for Letterman since early 2000 when he was sidelined a full five weeks after heart bypass surgery. After the shingles episode in April, he returned to acclaim; the show predictably enjoyed a brief ratings spike and then lost steam - big-time. "Late Show" is averaging 3.5 million viewers this summer, or 2 million below Jay Leno's "Tonight Show," which means that for all practical purposes, the late-night race (such as it is) is over.

Meanwhile, Letterman, who turns 57 in April, is weary, very weary, from the intense grind of a daily show. In an attempt to stanch the fatigue, he impulsively decided to add a series of Friday guest hosts in June. Because of the taping schedule, it was a ridiculous move that effectively spelled Letterman only one hour per week. He still ended up working essentially a full schedule. Worse, he never bothered to tell CBS, which watched helplessly as ratings crumbled (about 500,000 viewers on average were lost for each guest-hosted show). Letterman dumped the idea after only four attempts, but the damage was done. The relationship with CBS - still tenuous a year and half after ABC's abortive raid to attract the host - got only shakier (both Letterman and CBS declined comment).

And here's the punch line: There's now widespread speculation among Letterman observers that he is contemplating retirement. When? There are plenty of guesses out there, but Letterman's two-year contract ends in March, and then he goes to a year-to-year arrangement, which could tie him to CBS through 2007. This essentially means that by early spring, Letterman could say "adios" - or stick around another year. Tellingly, his idol and mentor, Johnny Carson, did precisely the same thing. After a series of multiyear deals, Carson went to a series of year-to-year contracts, and then officially gave NBC notice during a dramatic announcement at Carnegie Hall in May 1991.

Famously private, Letterman, of course, is saying nothing and has said nothing to the press in five years. He's also instructed his staff to keep quiet, which just feeds the speculation monster. But there's also a logical explanation for the silence: CBS tentatively has scheduled a 10th anniversary special for November, and that's when Letterman, et al, want to pretend the real 10th anniversary arrives.

But divining Letterman is an old and notoriously error-prone sport. Perhaps the only reliable guidepost is what went on in Carson's head. Steve O'Donnell, head writer for "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and "Late Night" head writer for nearly a decade, says, "In terms of your conduct as a host and as someone who is responsible for a show and franchise, he looks to Carson."

This is problematic, too. Foremost, Carson lasted 30 years on "Tonight." Letterman, who's spent 21 years on late-night TV, said in an interview five years ago: "Even if I wanted to [do 30], I'd be kidding myself that I could achieve that. I understand why [Carson] was working three days a week [toward the end]. I mean, if you can have the luxury of doing that kind of schedule, it's easier to do 30. But 30? Heavens, that's like two generations of people. Thirty!"

Carson mulled retirement for more than two decades, though apparently never gave it serious thought. And as Ed McMahon now recalls: "It was like a running gag with him. ... He was teasing the audience, measuring the crowd [and] what they thought might work and what might not. He was having fun with them." Carson was also teasing NBC, which desperately wanted to hold on to the man who brought in 17 million viewers a night during "Tonight's" heyday in the mid-'70s.

Few believe Letterman has any real intention of leaving, and while there may not be any hard reasons why this may be so, there is a sound reason of the heart. O'Donnell says retirement speculation is "definitely fascinating," because Letterman has "all the contradictions and complexities of a Hamlet or Winston Churchill, [but] I really do think [the show] is the purest satisfaction he gets." He also cites a "subcategory" to Letterman's thinking: "When we were in New York, he had had several opportunities to socialize with Jack Paar, and as much as he admired him, I think he was a little disappointed that he had done so little with the decades of his life following the early retirement [from 'Tonight']."

O'Donnell, who adds that he's speaks only occasionally with Letterman these days, says he's probably "collecting all the information and feelings that he has to collect to make a decision, and he's not going to make his decision until he's ready. And it may be that he has conflicting impulses. But the larger one is to stay the course. He's also seen where unexpected things have been for him great opportunities to show what he has, and you think not only of his personal health problems, but also [after] 9/11, where he did such a fine and unpretentious job."

"I don't think he knows, but one day he'll wake up and say, 'I've done this, and [now] I'll do something else," says Hal Gurnee, "Late Night/Late Show's" longtime director, who himself retired from "Late Show" several years ago after a decade and a half with Letterman.

There is, naturally, another point to be made. What else would Letterman do with his life? Yes, he has far-flung business interests (his production company, Worldwide Pants, and a management interest in Bobby Rahal's motorsport racing team, among many others) and far-flung estates (including one jewel hidden on Martha's Vineyard). But for Letterman, the tautology is simple: The show is his life, and his life is the show.

At the end of his classic profile of Carson published in the New Yorker in 1978, Kenneth Tynan wrote that Carson "is the grand master of the one show-business art that leads nowhere. He has painted himself not into a corner but onto the top of a mountain. Long - or at least as long as the air at the summit continues to nourish and elate him - may he stay there."

And long may Dave also stay.

Top 10 Moments in the Last 10 Years

So many moments - more than 100,000 minutes, or thereabouts - on "Late Show With David Letterman" these last 10 years. How to select the most memorable?

Here's Newsweek's Top 10 list (in chronological order).

1. Aug. 30, 1993. The show premieres on CBS, with first guest Bill Murray spray-painting "Dave" on the host's desk. Billy Joel also appears, and so do Tom Brokaw and Paul Newman.

2. Sept. 8, 1993. Vice President Al Gore wears goggles, smashes ashtrays. Very odd.

3. March 31, 1994. Madonna becomes "Late Show's" most notorious guest, using expletives a half-dozen times and offering Dave her panties. (A couple of days later guest Elvis Costello gives Dave one of his socks.)

4. May 13, 1994. Johnny Carson makes his only late-show appearance after retirement (and does a Top 10 list). Music group Traffic reunites for this broadcast.

5. April 12, 1995. Dave gets unsual birthday gift from Drew Barrymore, who hops on desk, dances and flashes her breasts.

6. Oct. 28, 1996. A salute to manager Joe Torre and the Yankees after their first World Series win in 15 years.

7. June 6, 1997. Second-most notorious guest appearance, when a disoriented Farrah Fawcett chats somewhat incoherently for about 17 minutes.

8. Jan. 12, 2000. After years of Dave's bugging her, Hillary Rodham Clinton finally gives in to his invitations and appears to talk about her decision to run for the U.S. Senate.

9. Feb. 21, 2000. Dave makes a big return, hosting perhaps his best show in 10 years, after recovering from Jan. 14 heart surgery.

10. Sept. 17, 2001. "Late Show" returns to the air for the first time after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Arguably the host's finest moment in nearly 20 years on the air.

MTV gets 20th-anniversary party started

It may seem like only yesterday that the moon-man trophy made its bow. But tonight, MTV's Video Music Awards will celebrate its 20th birthday.

An appearance by Eminem and a performance by Metallica, described by an MTV spokesman as "a medley of classic VMA songs by other artists," are among the attractions scheduled for this year's ceremony, which airs from New York's Radio City Music Hall at 8 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT). The VMAs are a perennial MTV ratings champ; last year the show hit a high of nearly 12 million viewers.

Chris Rock, who emceed in 1997 and 1999, will return to host the anniversary party. Guests are set to include Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Avril Lavigne, Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, Good Charlotte, Coldplay, Sean Paul, Mya, Missy Elliott, DMX, Nelly, Ashanti, P. Diddy, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg and Iggy Pop.

Other stars expected to appear include 2002 host Jimmy Fallon, Ben Stiller, Jason Biggs, Pamela Anderson, Hilary Duff, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, LeBron James and Serena Williams, as well as cast members from Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

If few of those celebs were familiar names back in 1984 — indeed, several were not yet born — that's in keeping with the philosophy espoused by Van Toffler, president of MTV and offshoot channel MTV2.

"MTV's tradition is to be in the moment, looking forward, and we take our connection to our youthful audience very seriously," says Toffler, who defines MTV viewers as generally 12 to 34 years old but primarily 18 to 24. "They go to more movies and consume more music and pop culture than any other segment of the population.

"We made a decision early on not to grow old with our audience, so we've probably alienated some of the folks who got turned on to MTV when it launched back in 1981. ... In some ways, we were happy to see the freaky hair-metal fanatics grow out of us and to embrace what's current in music and pop culture."

So the 2003 VMAs "will for the most part reflect what has happened this past year in music. But there will be some unique performances acknowledging prior classic moments on the VMAs."

Though Toffler is keeping mum about exactly what those moments will entail, he suggests that they may reflect connections between MTV's past and present.

"You don't have a Britney Spears without a Madonna or Good Charlotte without Green Day. And we have a host who has done the show twice before, who has definitely added an immense amount of volatility.

"It's a live, unpredictable, train-wreck kind of show. I mean, it's safe to say I didn't have an ulcer before I started working here."

NEW MATRIX TRAILER NOW ONLINE!!!

Enjoy!

Friends, Family Share Bob Hope Memories in L.A.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former President Gerald Ford and former first lady Nancy Reagan were among hundreds of friends and family who attended a memorial Mass for comedian Bob Hope on Wednesday as Hollywood said farewell to its "king of jesters."

Eulogies at St. Charles Borromeo Church, where Hope regularly worshiped until his death of pneumonia at age 100 on July 27, were delivered by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and TV producer Larry Gelbart, one of Hope's long-time writers.

"His impeccable timing, on stage, backstage or on no stage at all, he was always at the top of his game," Gelbart said, saluting Hope as "a king of jesters .... Like the best of his breed, Bob knew that life without laughter was life without parole."

During a mostly somber service punctuated with lighter moments recalling some of Hope's best lines, Gelbart drew the biggest laugh by recalling a telegram Hope once sent to one of his secretaries on her wedding night, containing just two words of advice: "Act surprised."

Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, who presided over the two-hour Mass, said Hope lived up to his name.

"Through the humor that led to inner joy and peacefulness, he brought hope," Mahony said. "He brought hope in the midst of turmoil, anxiety and uncertainty ... His name is another element of who this great man was."

Mahony said many stand-up comics come and go, but Hope's legacy will endure. The cardinal recalled telling the one-time Protestant Hope that he should join the Catholic church, to which Hope replied: "I don't need to become a Catholic because (wife) Dolores does enough praying for both of us."

The British-born Hope converted to Catholicism in 1996, according to Hope's longtime spokesman Ward Grant.

Myers spoke at length about Hope's patriotism, saying the comedian was beloved by the military because it was clear that "he honestly and sincerely appreciated" the millions of troops he entertained.

"Bob Hope is an American hero ... a hero to those who serve our nation. Bob hope is a hero to America's heroes."

Among the more than 500 people attending the Mass were close friends Phyllis Diller, who appeared in three of Hope's movies, and Barbara Eden, who joined Hope on his last overseas show for U.S. troops during the 1991 Gulf War.

"To work with him was wonderful, to know him was truly wonderful, and I'm not just saying that because he's dead. He was truly special and we'll miss him," Eden told reporters outside the church before the service.

Among other show business figures attending the Mass were Lonnie Anderson, Brooke Shields, Ed McMahon, Tom Selleck, Connie Stevens, and Raquel Welch.

Later on Wednesday, Hope was remembered at a special tribute at the nearby Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences, where a parade of celebrities delivered tributes and recalled memories and some of the entertainer's greatest quips. Comedian Diller recounted two jokes that Hope liked to tell about her: "A peeping Tom threw up on my window sill" and "He was asked what my bra size was and he said '34 long."'

Sid Caesar delivered a gibberish tribute to Hope in four "faux" languages and later many of the celebrities gathered on stage to sing Hope's theme song, "Thanks for the Memory."

Selleck told reporters he thought Hope would be most remembered for the "personal sacrifices" he made for his country.

"This guy worked every Christmas. Bob did it out of a sense of duty, and that may turn out to be his greatest contribution."

CIA Recruiting TV Spy Garner for Promo Video

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The CIA keeps a lot of secrets, but its opinion of ABC's "Alias" is not one of them.

The spy show's star, Jennifer Garner, said she has been asked to contribute to an official video promoting the government agency.

"It's not a commercial," she said. "It's a recruitment video (to show) university graduate students."

Chase Brandon, film industry liaison for the CIA, confirmed that the project was in the works.

"We very much would like to continue our discussions with Miss Garner and possibly other cast members to work with us on a recruitment video," he said. "We feel that Miss Garner, both in character as agent Sydney Bristow and as herself, embodies the intelligence, enthusiasm and dedication that we're looking for. Our continuing efforts to enlist the best and the brightest would be admirably served by having her support."

Garner would provide an introduction to the video that the CIA shows to prospective agents. "It talks about the nature of the work, the context and the qualities we're looking for," Brandon said. "Her participation would add a human touch to the message we're trying to convey."

Producers on "Alias" worked with Brandon in the early stages of the show, and the writers still occasionally contact him to check facts and details. Beyond that, Brandon said, "Miss Garner has a standing invitation to come by the agency, where she is guaranteed to meet a vast number of fans."

Dennis Miller Joins 'Boston Public,' Babe

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Comedian Dennis Miller will make his first entree into TV drama with a guest stint on "Boston Public."

Miller, late of "Monday Night Football" and HBO's "Dennis Miller Live," has signed on for a three-episode arc that will begin Friday, Oct. 24. The king of arcane cultural references will play an investment banker convicted of securities fraud.

Rather than go to prison, though, he accepts a sentence of community service -- teaching math at Winslow High. (Is it us, or does that sound like a sentence that would be handed out in another David E. Kelley show, "Ally McBeal"?)

Miller, who won five Emmys for "Dennis Miller Live," has done some dramatic work in the past, playing cops or business types in movies like "Disclosure" and "Murder at 1600." He's never appeared in a TV drama, however.

He recently joined the Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" as a weekly commentator and also contributes to other shows on the network.

Eagles Fly High On 'Best Of'

Legendary California rock act the Eagles will be celebrated with a two-disc retrospective, "Eagles -- The Very Best Of," due Oct. 21 from Warner Strategic Marketing. The 33-track set will include a newly recorded single, "Hole in the World," which is No. 71 in its fifth week on the Billboard Hot 100.

The collection will draw songs from the group's three-decade career, with well-known cuts such as "Hotel California," "The Best of My Love," "Lyin' Eyes" and "Heartache Tonight" as well as a live version of "Seven Bridges Road."

Also included is "Please Come Home for Christmas," which was previously only available as a commercial single. Limited editions of "The Very Best Of" will also include a bonus DVD with a video clip for "Hole in the World" and behind-the-scenes footage of the group's latest tour.

The set will be the first two-disc collection of the band's work, complementing such releases as "Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)" (Asylum), which, having been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America for U.S. shipments of 28 million copies, is one of the biggest-selling albums of all time.

The Eagles are working on their first new studio album since 1979's "The Long Run."

Here is the track listing for "Eagles -- The Very Best Of":

Disc One:
"Take It Easy"
"Witchy Woman"
"Peaceful Easy Feeling"
"Desperado"
"Tequila Sunrise"
"Doolin-Dalton"
"Already Gone"
"The Best of My Love"
"James Dean"
"Ol' '55"
"Midnight Flyer"
"On the Border"
"Lyin' Eyes"
"One of These Nights"
"Take It to the Limit"
"After the Thrill Is Gone"
"Hotel California""

Disc Two:
"Life in the Fast Lane"
"Wasted Time"
"Victim of Love"
"The Last Resort"
"New Kid in Town"
"Please Come Home for Christmas"
"Heartache Tonight"
"The Sad Cafe"
"I Can't Tell You Why"
"The Long Run"
"In the City"
"Those Shoes"
"Seven Bridges Road (Live)"
"Love Will Keep Us Alive"
"Get Over It"
"Hole in the World"

Even Though The Remaining People Are Horrible Humans...

...CBS is adding two more episodes to its ongoing reality hit Big Brother 4, delaying its season finale from September 17 to September 24.

Do Video Games Now Draw More Women Than Boys??

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Challenging the stereotype that video gaming is the domain of teenage boys, an industry group on Tuesday reported that more women over 18 than young boys are playing games and the average age of players has risen to 29.

A poll released by the Entertainment Software Association and conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates found 26 percent of game players are women 18 or older, while 21 percent are boys 6 to 17.

Video gaming has traditionally been seen as the province of teenage boys locked in dark rooms and twitching away at their game consoles, although in recent years the industry has worked to publish games catering to kids, women and older gamers.

In line with that trend, adults over 50 now make up 17 percent of the gaming population, the ESA said, compared with 13 percent three years ago.

The largest group of gamers, at 38 percent, is men 18 and up, while girls 6 to 17 account for 12 percent of game players, the poll found.

"I think that what used to be the standard in games, which was the female character in distress and the big macho man saving the day, is no longer the case," said Vikki Hrody, a faculty member at the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago, who teaches art for game design.

"I do see a lot more girls, especially the students that I'm teaching, that want to play games," she said.

A random national sample of 806 adults, covering a total of 1,048 game players including kids, was used in the poll, the ESA said.

The average gamer spends 6.5 hours a week playing games, the ESA said, while boys 6 to 17 average 7.3 hours per week of game time.

As the age of gamers has risen, so has the number of games for adults. Of all games sold in 2002, the ESA said 13.2 percent carried a "Mature" or "M" rating, up from 9.9 percent in 2001 and under 8 percent in 2000.

Hrody said she and her friends much prefer many of those mature games, like war titles, to the games specially designed and targeted by game companies at the female market, such as dancing themes or Barbie.

"They don't hear enough about what the market is. I think they just assume that it's boys that are playing these games," she said. "(Girls' games are) very boring, there's no story line, it's almost like they play it down for girls."

The poll found little difference in the relationship between game play and income, with 39 percent of gamers reporting total household income of less than $50,000 a year and 41 percent reporting an income of more than $50,000.

Toby Keith Leads Pack in Country Music Nominations

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Reuters) - Toby Keith, with a chart-topping album and hit single "Beer for My Horses," led the list of nominations for this year's Country Music Association awards announced Tuesday.

Country pop and rock acts were also in the running along with traditional country artists, including veteran performersJohnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.

The awards will be presented at the 37th annual CMA Awards show Nov. 5 at the Grand Ole Opry.

Keith snared seven nominations. His album "Unleashed" opened at No. 1 on both Billboard Country and Top 200 album charts and has been certified triple platinum.

This year's nominations are a mix that reflect Nashville's trend away from its main identity as a country music mecca. While several old-timers earned nominations this year, including Cash, Parton and Nelson, none from that group made it into the top "Entertainer of the Year" category.

The nominees:

Entertainer of the Year: Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith and Tim McGraw.

Female Vocalist of the Year: Terri Clark, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Martina McBride and Dolly Parton.

Male Vocalist of the Year: Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley and George Strait.

Horizon Award (promising new entertainer): Gary Allan, Buddy Jewell, Joe Nichols, Blake Shelton and Darryl Worley.

Vocal Group of the Year: Alabama, Diamond Rio, DixieChicks, Lonestar and Rascal Flatts.

Vocal Duo of the Year: Bellamy Brothers, Brooks & Dunn, Montgomery Gentry, Sons of the Desert and the Warren Brothers.

Single of the Year: "Beer For My Horses," a Toby Keith duet with Willie Nelson; "Celebrity" by Brad Paisley; "Have You Forgotten" by Darryl Worley; "Hurt" by Johnny Cash; "Three Wooden Crosses" by Randy Travis.

Musician of the Year: Jerry Douglas, Paul Franklin, Aubrie Haynie, Brent Mason and Randy Scruggs.

Album of the Year: "American IV: The Man Comes Around" by Johnny Cash; "Home" by the Dixie Chicks; Man With a Memory" by Joe Nichols; "Tim McGraw & the Dancehall Doctors" by Tim McGraw; "Unleashed" by Toby Keith.

Music Video of the Year: "Beer For My Horses" with Toby Keith and Willie Nelson; "Celebrity" with Brad Paisley; "Concrete Angel" with Martina McBride; "Hurt" with Johnny Cash; "Red Dirt Road" with Brooks & Dunn.

Vocal Event: Toby Keith with Willie Nelson singing "Beer For My Horses;" Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett in "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere;" Kid Rock featuring Sheryl Crow in "Picture;" Nitty Gritty Dirt Band featuring Johnny Cash in "Tears in the Holston River;" Tracy Byrd with Andy Griggs, Montgomery Gentry and Blake Shelton in "The Truth About Men."
 
Song of the Year: "Beer For My Horses," "Celebrity," "Have You Forgotten?," "Red Dirt Road" and "Three Wooden Crosses."

'Raymond' Co-Star Garrett Ends Salary Strike

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Now that they've all gotten raises, everybody loves Raymond again.

Ending a salary revolt that stymied production for the upcoming eighth season of CBS television's top comedy, actor Brad Garrett will return to the set of "Everybody Loves Raymond" on Wednesday, more than two weeks after he walked off the job demanding more money, the network said on Tuesday.

His return comes after CBS and other profit participants in the show, including star-producer Ray Romano, agreed to give up a portion of their own "backend" shares in the series to sweeten the deals of his four disgruntled co-stars.

Three of the supporting players -- Patricia Heaton, Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts -- had accepted the multimillion-dollar profit-sharing offer and returned to work last week in time to film the sitcom's season-opening episode without Garrett, according to a source close to the situation.

Garrett, meanwhile, had held out until he clinched his own deal on Tuesday.

"We've been told that Brad is returning to work (Wednesday), and we look forward to welcoming him back," CBS spokesman Chris Ender said. He declined to comment on details of how Garrett and the Viacom Inc.-owned network had come to terms.

But the source told Reuters that Garrett negotiated a significant increase in his per-episode salary as well as a small stake in the series' backend profits. The deal was first reported on the Web site of entertainment trade paper The Hollywood Reporter.

Garrett, who plays jealous big brother Robert opposite Romano's lead character, Ray Barone, had previously been the lowest paid of the supporting cast members with a salary pegged at $4 million a year, or about $166,000 per episode.

That's a fraction of Romano's earnings, reportedly valued at nearly $2 million per episode under a renewal deal he struck in May that made him the highest-paid actor on U.S. television.

The Hollywood Reporter earlier said the network had offered to raise Garrett's per-episode salary to $250,000, on top of a newly granted stake in the show's profits. It said the half-percentage point given to each of the three other co-stars would be worth at least $5 million over the next few years.

Both sides in the salary squabble started out playing hardball, with Garrett, who won an Emmy last year, refusing to return to work without a new deal, and CBS ordering him written out of the script for the season premiere.

The situation was further clouded when Heaton, who co-stars as Raymond's tart-tongued wife, forced a delay in shooting the season premiere by calling in sick for several days earlier this month. Boyle and Roberts, who play her in-laws, reportedly did the same last week.

But production on the second episode was said to be back on track this week with a small part left in the script for Garrett in case he returned in time for Thursday's taping.

"Raymond" is a major cash cow for CBS and its producers, reportedly expected to generate upward of $500 million during its first five years of syndicated reruns. Last season, the show ranked as the fourth most watched scripted series on prime-time TV and the No. 2 comedy behind NBC's "Friends." It was the No. 1 sitcom on CBS.

Today's New Releases (Tuesday, August 26th, 2003)

There are so many great new releases on video and DVD this week that I may have to get a second job just so I can afford to buy half of the ones I want.

There is also one new release that is worth avoiding like the plague. But I'll get to the bad and the ugly in just a minute. Let me tell you about the good first.

Topping the list of good is THE SIMPSONS: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON.

Broadcast in 1991, the third season of The Simpsons contains a host of candidates for "Best Simpsons Episode Ever." The opening episode features a guest appearance by an uncredited Michael Jackson, who plays an obese white inmate whom Homer meets while confined to a mental institution. "Flaming Moe's" features Aerosmith and "Radio Bart" is another demonstration of the series' knack for cultural references, parodying the Billy Wilder movie Ace in the Hole. This DVD box set and its special features are immensely enjoyable at any level. This third year demonstrates conclusively that The Simpsons is quite simply, and by a large margin, one of the greatest television show ever.

Two other former TV programs are released today on video and DVD. Much like The Simpsons they are kids shows that adults love as well.

JOHN DENVER & THE MUPPETS: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOLIDAY is a musical variety special that sees the late John Denver and Jim Henson's Muppets go on a summer camping trip to the Rocky Mountains. It features 16 classic songs.

Jim Henson was also the driving force behind THE STORYTELLER. The nine episodes of the TV show on THE STORYTELLER COLLECTION see Henson fill the screen with wonderful creatures that have a wisp of J.R.R. Tolkein fantasy.

The second chapter of Tolkein's actual fantasy world THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS is finally being released today, almost seven months after it debuted in theatres. The story sees Hobbits Frodo and Sam continue their journey to Mordor. The Two Towers movie has more action than literature, but if its literature you want there's always the book.

Many a TV viewer still books time on Thursday nights so they can watch ER. Now they can catch up with the medical drama anytime they want with the DVD release of ER: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON.

I'm not going to say anything about the connection between ER and STITCH! - THE MOVIE. Hopefully you will think I'm a cut up and connect the two yourself.

While you are doing that, I will tell you that STITCH! - THE MOVIE is the direct to video sequel for the fun kids movie from last year called LILO & STITCH. Even though it is a direct to video release, which normally means it isn't worthy of theatrical release, it is very good. It will definitely keep the kids interested while you're listening to Saskatchewan Weekend.

No one will even use the word good to describe FROM JUSTIN TO KELLY. This dreadful waste of time features American Idol "winners" Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini in a musical romance story that takes place during Spring Break in Florida. The songs are forgetful, the acting isn't worth mentioning, frankly this movie is both BAD and UGLY.

So enjoy the movies and I'll see you on the couch.

Warren Zevon Keeps His Sense Of Humour Till The End

Warren Zevon is dying. According to doctors he should be dead already.

His new disc "The Wind" is like an X-ray with a dark shadow that shouldn’t be there and can’t be ignored. Recorded after Zevon was diagnosed in 2002 with inoperable lung cancer, it sounds like the work of a guy who's still fighting, but also starting to wrap things up. Although Zevon is best known for his poison-dart wit, he’s always been a bit of a softie, too. It’s no surprise, then, that The Wind leans heavily on irony-free ballads such as "She’s Too Good for Me," "El Amor de mi Vida," and "Please Stay." But there’s also a dose of defiant blues ("Rub Me Raw") and plenty of dirty slide guitar, courtesy of Ry Cooder and David Lindley. (Other guests include Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, and Dwight Yoakam).

If the lyrics generally lack the literary precision of Zevon’s best work, the songs take on greater weight given the circumstance under which they were recorded. Heard in 1983, a party-hearty anthem like "The Rest of the Night" would’ve sounded like yet another dumb argument for hedonism, and "Numb as a Statue" might have come off as the self-lacerating joke of an alcoholic unable to deal with his emotions directly. However, on The Wind, these songs are genuinely touching, the work of a guy deadened by meds but unwilling to surrender to The Big Sleep just yet. A cover of Dylan’s "Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door" is the album’s most direct comment on Zevon’s fragile health, but the most touching song is the album-closing acoustic ballad "Keep Me in Your Heart," recorded by Zevon at home after the star-studded studio work was complete. Clearly, Zevon survived one hell of a farewell party last night, but now it's morning again and there’s no telling what the rest of the day might bring.

And no matter how long he stands on this mortal coil, his music will stand forever.

...these are also coming out today.

* BIG SUGAR Hit And Run (Universal)
* BOUNCING SOULS Anchors Aweigh (Epitaph)
* HILARY DUFF Metamorphosis (Buena Vista)
* JESSICA SIMPSON In This Skin (Sony)
* MARY J. BLIGE Love & Life (MCA)
* PENNYWISE TBA (Pennywise) (Epitaph)
* RANCID Indestructable (Hellcat)
* SIMPLY RED Home (Universal)
* THE WEAKERTHANS Reconstruction Site (Epitaph)

POSTHUMOUS RELEASE

Streetcore, a new album from the Clash's late frontman Joe Strummer and his new band the Mescaleros, to be released October 21. Stummer passed away last December of a heart attack.

New York Story

It's 1997. New York City is a maximum security prison. And Snake Plissken is your man. On December 16th, MGM Home entertainment will at last release John Carpenter's cult classic Escape From New York in a new two-disc special edition. Remastered in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, extras include the full 10-minute deleted "Robbery Sequence" restored and with optional commentary with Carpenter and star Kurt Russell, two additional full-length audio commentaries with Carpenter and Russell and producer Debra Hill and production designer Joe Alves, the new "Return to Escape From New York" documentary, the "Making of John Carpenter's Snake Plissken Chronicles" comic featurette, a still gallery, trailers, and an exclusive full-color mini-comic inside the package.

To Live And Die On DVD

Also making its DVD debut in December on the 2nd is - at last - the highly-anticipated new collector's edition of William Friedkin's To Live and Die in L.A. Newly remastered in anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1, extras include audio commentary with Friedkin, a deleted scenes and alternate ending featurette, the "Counterfeit World: The Making of To Live and Die in L.A." documentary, a still gallery and trailers.

Other new MGM December catalog titles include the classics Darling, Crime of Passion, He Walked by Night, Lord Love a Duck and Odds Against Tomorrow. All are presented in anamorphic widescreen except Odds Against Tomorrow and He Walked by Night, which get the full frame treatment. Extras include trailers, and retail is $14.95 a pop.

Rounding out MGM's holiday lineup are a batch of 80's comedies, all presented in full frame only unless otherwise noted: Once Upon a Crime (anamorphic widescreen), the Phil Collins caper Buster (non-anamorphic widescreen), Car 54, Where Are You?, How to Get Ahead in Advertising (anamorphic widescreen), Real Men, Cops and Robbers, Checking Out and Livin' Large!.

California Court Rules for DVD Industry

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that courts may block Internet users from posting codes that could be used to illegally copy DVD movies, in a case that pitted trade secret rights against free speech.

The justices did not resolve whether the code was in fact a trade secret, leaving that for a lower court to determine. They did rule, however, that they would not tolerate the posting of legitimate trade secrets online and reversed a lower court that said disseminating trade secrets was protected free speech.

The case centered on San Francisco computer programmer Andrew Bunner, who in 1999 posted the code to crack the encryption technology and, according to the movie industry, helped users replicate thousands of copyright movies per day.

The DVD Copy Control Association, an arm of Hollywood studios, said it controls the encryption system, which scrambles data to prevent unauthorized copying of a movie sold in the DVD format. The association sued Bunner and others under California's Uniform Trade Secrets Act.

A San Jose judge ordered Bunner to remove the encryption-cracking code from the Internet. But the 6th District Court of Appeal in San Jose lifted that injunction, a move the DVD Copy Control Association said was akin to giving crooks the technology to reproduce protected material such as movies on a large scale.

The court of appeal ruled that protecting trade secrets is not as important as "the First Amendment right to freedom of speech."

A unanimous Supreme Court, however, ruled otherwise Monday.

Justice Janice Rogers Brown, in reversing the appeals court on a 7-0 vote, said an order to remove the code "does not violate the free speech clauses of the United States and California constitutions."

The case is not fully resolved, however, because the Supreme Court also ordered the San Jose appeals court to analyze whether the code is still a protected trade secret given its widespread exposure.

The DVD association hailed Monday's decision.

"This opinion has wide applications to trade secret law," said association attorney Robert G. Sugerman. "Owners of trade secrets can now protect those trade secrets through injunctive relief, which is clearly now available."

During oral arguments three months ago, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer joined the group in arguing that industry secrets would be plundered if computer users could post them without court intervention. Companies including Boeing Co., Ford Motor Co. and AOL Time Warner Inc. urged the justices to side with the DVD association, arguing that trade secret protections trump First Amendment speech protections.

Bunner did not devise the decryption code, but instead posted it on one of his Web sites. The Norwegian teen who cracked the code, Jon Johansen, was acquitted in Norway in January of charges he stole trade secrets.

Bunner, 26, said he has removed any reference to it from the Internet and is fighting the case to stand up for free speech rights. He is one of dozens of people throughout the United States that the association is suing for posting the code.

He said Monday he believed his actions were lawful, and said he posted the code to let others play DVDs on their computers.

"The idea was to get it out there for an open-source DVD player," Bunner said.

His attorney, David A. Greene, said the appeals court could still ultimately support Bunner's actions because the code's global dissemination may not grant it status as a trade secret anymore.

Hendrix, Allman, King Ranked as Top Guitarists

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Late rock musicians Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman lead the list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time in the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

Hendrix, who invariably tops such polls, received a glowing tribute from Who guitarist Pete Townshend, who wrote that he "made the electric guitar beautiful."

Townshend recalled that one of Hendrix's shows was "so profoundly powerful" that he found himself holding hands with fellow devotee and guitarist Eric Clapton.

Allman was hailed by the magazine for transforming "the poetry of jamming" with the Allman Brothers Band, the Atlanta rock group he founded with younger brother Gregg in 1969.

B.B. King, who turns 78 next month, came in at No. 3. "His string-bending and vibrato made his famous guitar, Lucille, weep like a woman," the magazine said.

Clapton landed at No. 4, followed by Delta bluesman Robert Johnson. Rounding out the top 10 were Chuck Berry, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ry Cooder, Jimmy Page and Keith Richards.

The survey is featured in the next issue, which hits streets on Friday.

The No. 100 spot went to Kim Thayil of defunct Seattle rock band Soundgarden. Townshend himself was No. 50. Two women made the list: Joni Mitchell at No. 72 and Joan Jett at No. 87.

Stax session guitarist Steve Cropper, who was judged the No. 2 guitarist in a Mojo magazine survey in 1996, was good enough for only No. 36 in Rolling Stone's estimation. Two spots behind him was Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green, who had been No. 3 on the Mojo list.

Simpson: Cash Helped Murder Acquittal

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- O.J. Simpson says that without the money to pay for a "dream team" of lawyers, he would not have been acquitted of murder charges.

In an interview with Playboy magazine nine years after his trial, Simpson repeatedly vowed he was innocent of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman.

"I didn't commit the crime. That is why I got off," he said. "I feel in my heart that I got off because I was innocent. But I don't know if I could have proven my innocence if I didn't have the money. And that's a shame. Yes, it is a shame that in this country it costs so much to get good representation."

In the wide-ranging interview published in the current issue of the magazine, Simpson also disclosed that after his acquittal he smoked marijuana in order to get to sleep.

"My drug of choice now is Vioxx," said Simpson, who suffers from arthritis. "When I got out of jail, I kind of appreciated pot more than I ever had in my life."

Simpson was acquitted of murder charges in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife and Goldman. A civil jury later held Simpson liable for the killings and ordered him to pay the victims' survivors $33.5 million.

BLOCKBUSTERS & BUSTS

This has been the wacky summer that Hollywood slept with the fishes, and pirates plundered the box-office gold.

It isn't just that bottom-feeders Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres - in the animated smash "Finding Nemo" - turned out to be a hotter team than Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in the megabomb "Gigli," which disproved the adage that there's no such thing as bad publicity.

Who would have thought Johnny Depp - a critics' fave but never hugely popular - in something called "Pirates of the Caribbean" would outdraw everyone from Jim Carrey to Harrison Ford, even giving Keanu Reeves' Neo and the much-hyped "The Matrix: Reloaded" a run for the money?

Some of the summer's other notable winners and losers:

WINNERS

* IF YOU FILM IT, THEY WILL COME: Kevin Costner came back from the dead by giving Robert Duvall top billing - and most of the dialogue - in "Open Range," an old-fashioned western that abandoned the New Agey-schmaltz that had turned off even Kevin's remaining fans.

* HASTA LA VISTA, BABY: "Terminator 3" gave the waning Arnold Schwarzenegger his biggest paycheck ($30 million) and biggest opening in a decade - so he decides to run for governor. Well, that's California for you.

* MAYBE NOW HUBBY CHRISTOPHER GUEST WILL HIRE HER: Jamie Lee Curtis, relegated of late to cameos in "Halloween" sequels, scored a critical and box-office success stepping into "Freaky Friday" when Annette Bening bowed out during shooting.

* MOVIEGOERS WITH HORSE SENSE: "Seabiscuit" turned out to have some of the season's longest legs at the box office - dispelling nagging doubts that moviegoers don't have the patience for well-told stories.

* NOT IN THE MOOD FOR "BAD BOYS II"?: Audiences disgusted with vile mainstream schlock flocked to art-house hits like "28 Days Later," "Capturing the Friedmans," "Whale Rider," "Swimming Pool," "Dirty Pretty Things," "Camp" and "The Secret Lives of Dentists."

LOSERS

* THERE'S ALWAYS ASHTON: Demi Moore tried to parlay a barely-legal romance into a comeback, but "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" tanked despite, or maybe due to, her tabloid notoriety.

* ODE TO BILLY BOB: Angelina Jolie attempted to hype the sequel "Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life" by trashing her husband and the first movie, as well as turning U.N. ambassador. Didn't work, didn't work, didn't work.

* JULIA ROBERTS CAN RELAX: The disappointing numbers for "Legally Blonde 2" proved we might have been too quick to crown Reese Witherspoon the new queen of romantic comedy.

* JULIA ROBERTS CAN RELAX (II & III): Ditto for Kate Hudson, who did even worse with "Alex and Emma," which also extended the once-hot Rob Reiner's losing streak as a director. Don't even mention Renée Zellweger and "Down With Love" to the folks at Fox.

* LET'S HAVE THE INDIANA JONES SEQUEL SOON: Harrison Ford stumbled badly with "Hollywood Homicide," while one-time screen dad Sean Connery didn't fare much better with the extraordinarily awful "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen."

* DON'T GIVE UP YOUR DAY JOB: Bob Dylan resorted to the pseudonym Sergei Petrov for the screenplay of the appalling "Masked & Anonymous." He should have tried the witness protection program.

Seinfeld Hits the CURB

Jerry Seinfeld has filmed a guest appearance on HBO's CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM. Seinfeld's appearance will occur in the season finale of next season; it will air sometime in 2004. "[Seinfeld] stopped by the set to visit," says an HBO spokeswoman, "and they decided to put him in the audience." In the episode, Larry David is making is Broadway debut.

Sting Takes 'Sacred Love' To Paris

Sting will unveil the material from his new A&M album, "Sacred Love," during a Sept. 22 concert at Paris' L'Olympia. The show will be open only to members of Sting's fan club, although the general public can register for tickets and membership for a limited time. "Sacred Love" arrives Sept. 23 internationally and Sept. 30 in North America.

Additional details have come to light about the set's companion DVD, to be released Oct. 6 internationally and a day later in North America. "Inside the Songs of Sacred Love" was taped in mid-May at Los Angeles' Mayan Theatre in front of invited guests and contest winners. As she does on "Sacred Love," Mary J. Blige joined Sting for the duet "Whenever I Say Your Name."

Material filmed at the Mayan will also be shown on the special "Sting: Sacred Love," airing in October on A&E. The video for the first single from the new album, "Send Your Love," premiered earlier this week on VH1.

Jones, Lang, Grant, McBride And Others On 'Remembering Patsy Cline'

Norah Jones, K.D. Lang, Amy Grant, Martina McBride, and Michelle Branch are just a few of the artists appearing on the upcoming tribute album Remembering Patsy Cline. The 12-track collection comes out September 9, one day after what would have been Cline's seventh-first birthday. Other artists appearing on the effort include Natalie Cole, Diana Krall, and Lee Ann Womack.

Cline died in a plane crash in 1963, at the age of 30.

Tracklisting for Remembering Patsy Cline:

Natalie Cole - "I Fall To Pieces"
Norah Jones - "Why Can't He Be You"
Amy Grant - "Back In My Baby's Arms"
Diana Krall - "Crazy"
Michelle Branch - "Strange"
Lee Ann Womack - "She's Got You"
K.D. Lang - "Leavin' On Your Mind"
Terri Clark - "Walking After Midnight"
Rebecca Lynn Howard - "You're Stronger Than Me"
Patty Griffin - "Faded Love"
Jessie Alexander - "So Wrong"
Martina McBride - "Sweet Dreams (Of You)"

No ID4 2 for Smith?

Dean Devlin and Rolan Emmerich's plans to resurrect ID4 for a sequel may hit a slight problem in the absence of the film's star. Will Smith insists that talks for a sequel to the 1996 film have fallen through and are unlikely to be resurrected. "I think that will never happen," he told Radio One. "It's Hollywood so you never know, you can never say never, but I'm pretty doggone sure that will never happen." Similarly pessimistic about sequel possibilities is Ashton Kutcher, who seems to think that Dude, Where's My Car follow up Seriously Dude, Where's My Car isn't high on his schedule. "Well, if Seann's in it, I'd do it," he said. "And Brad Pitt. And Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro and Tom Cruise - and then only if it's directed by Martin Scorsese and Cameron Crowe." That'll be a 'no' then will it?

IN CASE YOU FORGOT

New Line rereleasing extended editions of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers two weeks before the December 17 release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to refresh filmgoers' memories, reports Variety.

'Freddy Vs. Jason' Remains No. 1 Flick

LOS ANGELES - A weak batch of new movies made easy prey for "Freddy vs. Jason," which took in $13.45 million to remain the No. 1 weekend flick, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Freddy vs. Jason," a blood feud between the villains of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Friday the 13th," was the first movie to retain the top spot for two straight weekends since "X2: X-Men United" in early May.

Years ago, big hits could linger at the top of the box office for weeks, but studios today focus on marketing blitzes to guarantee huge opening weekends before crowds drift on to the next blockbuster.

"This summer in particular we saw weekend after weekend with a new No. 1 film," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "That really speaks to the transitory nature of the business and audience habits. The shelf life of a movie is very short."

The year's top-grossing movie, "Finding Nemo," debuted at No. 1 in late May, slipped to second place the next weekend, then regained the top box-office spot in its third weekend.

"Finding Nemo" took in $1 million this past weekend, pushing its total domestic gross to $329.8 million. It has surpassed "The Lion King" ($328.5 million) as the top-grossing animated movie ever.

The weekend haul for "Freddy vs. Jason" raised its 10-day total to $61.5 million.

The best debut among new movies was for Jackie Chan's action comedy "The Medallion," which opened in fifth place with $8.2 million. Ashton Kutcher's romantic comedy "My Boss's Daughter" opened in 10th place with $5 million.

Executives of "The Medallion" distributor Sony and of "My Boss's Daughter" distributor Dimension Films said the movies were cheap enough that they still will turn small profits.

The Lisa Kudrow-Damon Wayans comedy "Marci X," which sat for more than a year on Paramount's shelves, opened with a dismal $865,000. The studio dumped it into a modest 1,200 theaters to boost its eventual home-video prospects.

Even with the weak slate of new movies, overall revenues were up sharply. The top 12 movies took in $86.2 million, up 33 percent from the same weekend last year, when box-office receipts petered out in a late-summer swoon.

This summer has closed with a surge of hits such as "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over," "Seabiscuit," "American Wedding," "S.W.A.T." and "Freaky Friday."

Revenues this year from early May through Labor Day should wind up squeaking past Hollywood's record $3.8 billion haul in summer 2002, Dergarabedian said. But that reflects higher ticket prices and actual admissions this summer will be 3 to 4 percent lower, he said.

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Freddy vs. Jason," $13.45 million.
2. "S.W.A.T." $10.8 million.
3 (tie). "Freaky Friday," $9.4 million.
3 (tie). "Open Range," $9.4 million.
5. "The Medallion," $8.2 million.
6. "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," $7.3 million.
7. "Seabiscuit," $6.3 million.
8. "Uptown Girls," $5.6 million
9. "American Wedding," $5.58 million.
10. "My Boss's Daughter," $5 million.

Cult Band Ween Tries Indie Route with 'Quebec'

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Ween spent most of the previous decade as one of the strangest bands on a major-label roster, recording a series of unclassifiable records for Elektra that included elements of country, rock, psychedelia and classic pop.

But while the duo of Aaron "Gene Ween" Freeman and Mickey "Dean Ween" Melchiondo has achieved cult status around the world, its Elektra tenure came and went without a major commercial breakthrough.

If you ask Ween's members, that's just fine. "We held up our end of that dysfunctional relationship," Melchiondo says. "We never contacted them, and we never kissed anybody's ass. We probably could have done better if we had, but it's just not our style."

Band and label mutually parted ways after the 2000 release of Ween's fifth studio album for the label, "White Pepper," which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and sold 77,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. Ween's best seller for Elektra, 1994's "Chocolate and Cheese," sold 203,000 copies.

Lifelong friends Freeman and Melchiondo spent more than two years writing the material that would make up their new album, "Quebec."

Ween considered several label options, including releasing the disc on its own Chocodog imprint, but ultimately inked a worldwide deal with Sanctuary, which released "Quebec" Aug. 5. The album debuted last issue at a career high of No. 81 on the Billboard 200.

"At this point, we don't need a major-label push," Freeman says. "We just need a company that is going to stick around, and if something does get big, they can handle it."

The group is using its newly independent status to develop its own proprietary software, WeenAmp, which will allow fans one-click access to a streaming radio station, chat and message boards and a peer-to-peer service for trading live concerts. Ween manager Greg Frey says WeenAmp will be available as a free download from ween.com.

"It will be everything in one little icon, just constantly updated," Freeman enthuses. "One day, there may be a message from us with a free demo. Or, if we want to sell something, we can do that."

As a teaser to this new world of possibilities, Ween played an all-request live Webcast July 22 via weenradio.com, after having taken submissions from its online fan community. "Quebec" was streamed on that site Aug. 1 and again the day the album went on sale.

"They wanted to keep it all about the fans," Sanctuary senior director of marketing Meg Harkins says. "They know their fan base better than anyone, and it's a pleasure to work with a group with such a strong artistic vision."

On "Quebec," that vision manifests itself as a tour through Ween's multiple musical personalities. Working with longtime producer Andrew Weiss for the first time since 1997's nautical-themed "The Mollusk," the group pushed itself "to be more experimental," Melchiondo says.

"The last record we did with a band, so we were a little bit more organized. On this one, it's just about trying things out, because it's mostly Aaron and I playing all the instruments," he adds.

Although the set opens with the speed-rock assault "It's Gonna Be a Long Night," a number of tunes spotlight the more serious, tender side of Ween, including the wistful "Chocolate Town" and "I Don't Want It." Elsewhere, the group returns to its signature psychedelic sound on "The Argus," "Among His Tribe" and the pitch-modulated "Tried and True."

A seven-inch single with "Tried and True" and the B-side "Mountains and Buffalo" was shipped to independent retailers July 28.

Ween traditionally takes things to the extreme onstage, as evidenced by its two Chocodog-released live albums and an avid fan-taping community. It's common for the band to extend a tune's length in a live setting, as well as to incorporate infrequently performed songs in its set lists.

The group began a North American tour July 25 in Pittsburgh and will be on the road in the U.S. through November. European dates are on tap for later this year, followed by visits to Australia, New Zealand and Japan in early 2004.

Reflecting on this new chapter in the band's history, Freeman says he's proud that Ween recorded "Quebec" on its own terms. "We pulled some money together and worked on this record knowing we weren't on Elektra. Now, we're signed with Sanctuary, and we just gave them a full, completed album. That is a good thing."

'Reloaded' Hits $730 Million Worldwide

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "The Matrix Reloaded," the second installment in the mind-bending Keanu Reeves trilogy, has hit $730 million at the worldwide box office.

The tally for the Wachowski brothers' film consists of $450 million in ticket sales overseas and $280 million domestically, Warner Bros. said Friday.

The film, which rolled out in nearly all foreign territories, except for Japan and Russia, in May following a gala screening at Cannes on May 15, currently ranks 13th on the all-time worldwide box office chart, according to the Internet Movie Database. With its international rollout nearly completed, it is lodged between 1982's "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial," in 12th place with $757 million, and 1994's "Forrest Gump," in 14th with $679 million.

The film's 1999 predecessor, "The Matrix," did $456 million worldwide. The final installment, "The Matrix: Revolutions," opens domestically on Nov. 5.

"Reloaded" was the first film in history to gross more than $100 million in a single weekend internationally. It is also the biggest-grossing R-rated movie on both the domestic and international charts.

Among 2003 releases, its nearest competitor is the Jim Carrey comedy "Bruce Almighty," whose worldwide take stands at $427 million. Among all-time champs, "Reloaded" falls far below top-ranked "Titanic," which earned $1.8 billion worldwide following its Dec. 1997 release.

Johnny Cash could sweep MTV Awards

NEW YORK -- This week's MTV Video Music Awards, celebrating a medium that usually oozes youth and invincibility, would seem like the last place to celebrate a somber video with a frail, 71-year-old Johnny Cash.

Yet the extraordinary clip for "Hurt" -- one that its creator feared would never be seen on television-- is up for six awards, making Cash third only to Missy Elliott and Justin Timberlake in nominations.

The country legend, who suffers from the nervous system disease autonomic neuropathy, has been working with doctors in the hope of traveling to New York for the show.

"He's planning on it," said singer Rosanne Cash, his daughter.

The video depicts a white-haired Cash, his gnarled hands occasionally shaking, in his home singing a song popularized by the rock band Nine Inch Nails. The images are interspersed with clips of a younger, more vital Cash.

The wrenching song is about the damage done by a life of drug abuse. "What have I become?" he sings. "My sweetest friend. Everyone I know goes away in the end."

A camera cuts to a picture of Cash's late mother on the wall of his Tennessee home after he sings the lyric.

The video is made even more heartbreaking in retrospect by the presence of Cash's wife, June Carter Cash, who looks at her husband with a mixture of pride and concern. She died on June 12, a few months after filming.

Warned by her sister that it may be tough to watch, Rosanne Cash avoided popping the video in her VCR. On a visit to Tennessee, her father asked if she had seen it.

"I watched it with him and June and I was weeping and weeping through the whole thing," she said. "My dad was completely clear-eyed and focused on the merits of the video, which is so much like him. He's able to focus on the most awful truths with an artist's eye."

It was only through director Mark Romanek's nagging that the video was even made.

A Cash fan, Romanek begged producer Rick Rubin for years to make a video of his hero. He and Rubin expected no airplay. They figured they would sell copies in stores.

Memorable music videos are much rarer now than when MTV started the Video Music Awards in 1984. MTV plays videos infrequently and outlets like MTV2 and Fuse don't have the same cultural impact.

"If you watch what's on MTV, you don't see anything like this," Rubin said. "You won't see anything from any artist in Johnny's age range and you won't see anything with this kind of serious content. It really sticks out like a sore thumb."
MTV won't say how many times the video actually aired on the network; Rubin said he's heard it was played six times -- one for each video music award nomination.

It has, however, gotten much more exposure than Romanek expected on outlets like CMT and MTV2.

Romanek's original idea was to film Cash on a Los Angeles soundstage packed with memorabilia from the singer's career. The artifacts would gradually disappear until Cash appeared alone at the song's end.

Yet Cash wasn't healthy enough to make the trip, so the director brought his crew to Cash's home, not knowing what he'd find. One stroke of luck was finding the shuttered and decaying House of Cash Museum five minutes from the singer's home. It was used in the video, too.

He never expected to make such a powerful reflection on aging and mortality.
"You really get an inside feeling of the human experience of growing up in a family and all the trials and tribulations that come up for everyone," Rubin said. "It's such a common thing but it's so rarely touched upon."

The veteran producer, a pioneer in rap music who has helped Cash to a creative rebirth with a series of intimate recordings, said he's heard more people talking about the video than anything he'd ever worked on.

"If you were moved to that kind of emotion in the course of a two-hour movie, it would be a great accomplishment," he said. "To do it in a four-minute music video is shocking."

Romanek said that as a fan, he's always appreciated the candor in Cash's music and thought the video should reflect that.

"I certainly didn't want the piece to appear like a premature obituary," he said. "That wasn't the intention, and I hope the piece doesn't come across that way."
Cash may have been clear-eyed when watching with Rosanne, but was quite taken aback when he first saw it, Rubin said. It was only with his family's encouragement that he agreed to release it.

Now, he said, Cash is quite proud and excited that it has gotten recognition.
Tom Calderone, MTV's executive vice president of music and talent, is hoping to see Cash at Thursday's awards show. He'll provide some heft for an event that even Calderone admits usually has its share of here-today-gone-tomorrow artists.

"Back in the day, he had edge," Calderone said. "He was kind of a rebel."
Cash continues to work despite his health problems and the emotional blow of becoming a widower. He and Rubin are recording their fifth disc together, and are also preparing a box set of unreleased material from their sessions over the past decade.

Romanek said he doesn't want his video confused with real life. Cash's life isn't that bleak, he said.

"It's a very somber song, but when we yelled 'cut,' there was a very different Johnny Cash that emerged, who was a lot more lively and a lot more sprightly and funny and frisky with June. (He was) having a good time."

'Nemo' Bests 'Lion King' as Top Animated Film

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The fishy father and son heroes of summer movie hit "Finding Nemo" have bested "The Lion King" at the box office, breaking the long-held animated film record for U.S. ticket sales, tracking firm Exhibitor Relations reported on Friday.

"'Nemo' is the biggest film of the summer, the biggest film of the year, and now it is the biggest animated feature of all time," said Exhibitor Relations chief Paul Dergarabedian.

"Nemo" had sold $328.7 million in tickets in the United States by the end of Thursday, topping the $328.5 million that "The Lion King" sold in its original release and a more recent large-format Imax reissue.

"Nemo," a computer animated tale of a cowardly father fish who plucks up his courage to hunt for his lost son off -- and on -- the coast of Australia was created by Pixar Animation Studios Inc. and has been closing in for weeks on the heels of the Walt Disney Co. 1994 musical set in Africa.

Disney is also Pixar's partner on "Nemo."

"The Lion King" still reigns over the worldwide box office for animated films, with more than $780 million in tickets sold, and since ticket prices were lower when "The Lion King" came out, Nemo still has a way to go before it can claim more a bigger audience, even in the United States.

"But 'Nemo' is still playing," said Dergarabedian.

Newhart Sets Sights on 'ER' for Guest Arc

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Comedy great Bob Newhart is embarking on a rare venture into drama with a recurring role on NBC's "ER."

He will play Ben Hollander, an architect suffering with macular degeneration. As his progressive loss of sight increasingly affects his ability to work, Hollander also begins to lose interest in the world. He befriends Dr. Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield), who develops an odd attachment to him.

The first episode of Newhart's three-episode arc is slated to air Oct. 30.

Newhart won four Emmys -- one for his work on the NBC comedy series "The Bob Newhart Show" and three for his CBS sitcom "Newhart." He also has three Grammys, all from 1961, including the album of the year prize.

Newhart most recently co-starred on the big screen in "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde" and will next be seen opposite Will Ferrell and Ed Asner in the holiday comedy "Elf," which New Line will release in November.

'CSI' rated worst show by TV watchdog

NEW YORK (AP) -- Television's most popular program, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, is also its least family-friendly, a TV watchdog group said Thursday.

The Parents Television Council criticized the CBS drama, carried in Canada by CTV, for stories about cannibalism, S&M sex clubs and snuff films.

What's worse is that CBS occasionally reruns the show at the 8 p.m. hour when more children are likely to be watching, said Melissa Caldwell, research director for the 800,000-member organization that monitors sex and violence on TV. The group released its annual list of the best and worst prime-time shows.

The Thursday night drama usually tops the Nielsen Media Research weekly prime-time ratings and has already been responsible for one spinoff series, CSI: Miami.

As forensics investigators, the lead CSI characters might be expected to bear witness to some seedy situations. But Caldwell said, "There are ways you can deal with these issues without having to be as graphic."

A CBS spokesman didn't immediately return a call for comment.

The organization saluted CBS's Touched By an Angel, which ended its nine-year run last spring, as TV best show.

"Every episode emphasized the power of goodness over evil, the need to strengthen familial relationships, the importance of individual responsibility and an encouragement to maintain faith in God," the PTC said.

The organization's 10 best shows: Touched By an Angel, CBS; Doc, Pax; Sue Thomas F. B. Eye, Pax; 7th Heaven, WB; Life with Bonnie, ABC; Smallville, WB; Reba, WB; Star Search, CBS; George Lopez, ABC and 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teen-age Daughter, ABC.

The PTC's 10 worst: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS; Kingpin, NBC; Fastlane, Fox; NYPD Blue, ABC; Fear Factor, NBC; Angel, WB; Girlfriends, UPN; Will & Grace, NBC; Friends, NBC and Big Brother 3, CBS.

Bizkit album finally gets name

After five tries, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst has finally settled on a name for the band's new album.

"Results May Vary," the follow-up to 2001's quintuple platinum "Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water," is set for release on September 23, Rolling Stone reports.

Explaining his choice for the title, Durst wrote via the band's official website, "like a perscription drug, each person's reaction to the ingredients will be different. Get it?"

Album titles previously making the rounds were "Bipolar," "Less Is More," "Fetus More," "The Search For Teddy Swoes" and "Panty Sniffer."

A limited run of CDs will include a 35-minute DVD highlighting Bizkit's upcoming four-hour DVD, called "Poop," due this winter.

Sharon Stone may battle Catwoman

Sharon Stone is clawing her way towards the villainous role in "Catwoman," according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Stone has been offered the part - which she is expected to accept - pitting her opposite Halle Berry, who has already signed on for the title role.

The film tells the story of a woman out to avenge the murder of her father.

Stone's character, Laurel, runs a cosmetics company and also controls an evil empire with her husband.

Josh Lucas ("Sweet Home Alabama," "Hulk") has been approached to play the role of Catwoman's love interest.

There is no word on a production date as yet.

HEAD CASE

Frasier producers attempting to woo Emma Thompson to the show for sweeps, reports TV Guide--she would reprise her role as the shrink's first wife, children's singer Nanny Gee, a character she originated on Cheers in 1992.

Clay's Album to Go Public Before Ruben's

NEW YORK - "American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken's album will arrive in record stores about a month before that of winner Ruben Studdard's "Soulful."
 
Aiken's album, not yet titled, will hit stores on Oct. 14. Studdard's album will arrive on Nov. 11.

Studdard told The Associated Press on Thursday that Aiken's disc is already finished, while he's still working on his.

"He got his album done fairly quickly; with me, I had my own press junket, so studio time was very limited," said Studdard, who is on the "American Idol" national tour along with Aiken and other stars of the Fox television talent show.

"It just don't make no sense for Clay to have his album chillin' when he could just do his thing," he said.

Studdard said it's been difficult juggling the schedules of his producers with his own. But he said he wasn't worried about the delay.

"I just want to be able to do the best possible project I possibly can. I don't want to just come out with an `American Idol' souvenir album, you know what I'm saying?"

Studdard narrowly beat out Aiken in May to win the "American Idol" contest. Since then, the 24-year-old Aiken has gotten plenty of attention. He got a Rolling Stone cover before Studdard, and his first single, "This Is the Night," sold more copies than Studdard's "Flying Without Wings." Both songs were released in June.

And ABC television announced Wednesday that Aiken will sing his signature song at the "Miss America" pageant in Atlantic City, N.J., on Sept. 20.

Studdard downplayed the competition with Aiken, whom he called his friend.

"When you think about it, both of us have sold upward of 900,000 (copies of) singles. Should I be upset that I sold 951,000 singles, and he sold 961,000 singles?" Studdard said. "I can't be anything but happy with that."

Studdard is working with hit-makers such as R. Kelly and Missy Elliot on his disc, which also will include guest appearances by rapper Fat Joe and gospel star Fred Hammond. It will be released on J Records, while Aiken's will be released on RCA Records. Both are part of the conglomerate BMG.

The 24-year-old Birmingham, Ala., native is the second winner of the "American Idol" competition. Kelly Clarkson won it last year, and her debut album, "Thankful," released in April, has sold more than 1 million copies.

'Animal House' Cast Reunites for Parade

LOS ANGELES - A class reunion of the rowdy "Animal House" gang shut down Hollywood Boulevard on Thursday with a parade featuring a live elephant, an ROTC contingent, a cheerleading squad and an interruption by the "Deathmobile."

Actors Tim Matheson, Karen Allen and Stephen Furst rode on a cake float in the procession, which recreated the 1978 comedy's catastrophic climax.

The event, organized by Universal Pictures to promote the 25th anniversary DVD set for release next Tuesday, culminated in a faux-foodfight between scores of extras sporting generic "College" sweat shirts worn by the late John Belushi in the film.

Otis Day And The Knights performed the song "Shout," getting a little bit louder, a little bit LOUDER now, and then a little bit softer before wrapping up the parade.

The film, which became a surprise blockbuster and launched the careers of many of its young stars, chronicled the antics of the disreputable Delta House frat as it uses lust and alcohol to fuel a revolt against authority in the early 1960s.

What made the film an enduring hit? "I think it's about wild rebellion and it's about kind of conventional conservative oppression up against rule-breaking," said Allen, who played Katy, the movie's comely voice of reason.

Other cast members at the parade were Matheson, who played slickster Otto; Furst, the chunky newbie Flounder; Martha Smith, who was the sexpot Babs; Mark Metcalf, the uptight Neidermeyer; and John Vernon the blustery villain Dean Wormer.

Belushi's widow, Judy Belushi Pisano, also participated in the event. In the movie, she played an extra who danced with Belushi and laughed at him smashing a guitar in the film's famous toga party scene.

"I'm here at my college reunion," joked Peter Riegert, who played the morally lax frat brother Boon. Asked if shooting the movie in 1977 was a crazy time, he responded: "Oh my God! Look at what we made! ... You can't be stoned or drunk and act, but you're done acting at the end of the day.

'Medallion' Set to Shine at Lackluster Box Office

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Statistically speaking, the summer box office season doesn't end until the end of Labor Day weekend, but summer is effectively over.

The studios are readying themselves for the fall with a massive housecleaning that will give moviegoers a sampling of overstocked merchandise. Three studios will release pictures this weekend, with only one looking like it will do any significant business.

Sony Pictures enters the fray with the best odds. The studio's "The Medallion" stars America's favorite Asian action hero, Jackie Chan, in yet another crime caper with a twist: he plays a Chinese immigration officer who returns from the dead with supernatural powers. The PG-13 film, directed by Gordon Chan, co-stars Claire Forlani as the beautiful sidekick, but it is unlikely to generate sales comparable to Chan's previous action caper co-starring a young woman, DreamWorks' "The Tuxedo," which opened to $15 million last year. Most industry insiders don't expect "Medallion" to cross the $10 million mark this weekend.

Consequently, the No. 1 movie is likely to be last week's champ, "Freddy vs. Jason" from New Line Cinema. A 60% drop during "Freddy's" sophomore session would put the film in the $15 million range, but with horror movies' tendency to fall fast after opening weekend, a 70% drop might be more likely. Duking it out for the remaining spots in the top five will be other well-performing holdovers, including Sony's "S.W.A.T." and Disney's "Freaky Friday" and "Open Range."

The two other new films of the session, Paramount Pictures' "Marci X" and Dimension Films' "My Boss's Daughter," will likely fall into the bottom half of the top 10.

"Marci X," starring Lisa Kudrow as a spoiled girl forced to take control of her father's hard-core rap label and its controversial star (Damon Wayans), is luring the same audience -- males under 25 -- as "Medallion" but with a lot less interest. Subsequently, the Richard Benjamin-directed R-rated movie, which has shifted release dates several times, is unlikely to cross the $5 million mark and may land in the $2 million-$3 million range.

The PG-13 "Daughter," starring Ashton Kutcher and Tara Reid and directed by David Zucker, also is likely to bow with less than $5 million. Even the rising star power of Kutcher, who usually attracts the under-25 female audience in droves -- his "Just Married" opened to $17.5 million in January -- will not be enough to power this comedy's opening frame.

The limited-release front looks a lot more playable, with both Miramax and Fox Searchlight opening films that have received a significant amount of buzz in recent months. For Miramax, "The Battle of Shaker Heights" could play as the final installment of HBO's documentary series "Project Greenlight." After watching weeks of footage documenting two first-time directors, Kyle Rankin and Efram Potelle, putting together a movie from first-time screenwriter Erica Beeney, curious audiences should propel the specialized release to decent numbers.

The film, which will open in New York and Los Angeles on five screens, could surpass "Greenlight's" first film, "Stolen Summer," which opened to $61,613 on 13 screens in March 2002. "Shaker Heights" will expand Aug. 29 to eight other markets. Rated PG-13, the film stars Shia LaBeouf, Elden Henson, Kathleen Quinlan and Amy Smart in a coming-of-age story about a teenage boy from a troubled home.

Fox Searchlight released the much-talked-about "Thirteen" on Wednesday on two screens in New York. The R-rated film was co-written by 13-year-old Nikki Reed, who also stars in the film. Director-writer Catherine Hardwick captures the life of a straight-A student seduced by the world of sex, drugs and self-mutilation. The low-budget film looks directly at some serious family issues and received acclaim at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Also being released this weekend is First Look's R-rated Spanish film "Don't Tempt Me," starring Penelope Cruz and Gael Garcia Bernal. In New York, First Run will bow "Venus Boyz," an unrated documentary about people who create intermediate sexual identities.

All that Green and no girl

Tom Green turns to Internet to find a date in la-la land

Ottawa's favourite jokester is looking for a date, possibly even a committed girlfriend and, admittedly, some fodder for his new television show.

Tom Green has posted an online profile at Yahoo! Personals, along with a picture of himself and sidekick Glenn Humplik on the set of his critically acclaimed television program The New Tom Green Show. The show is shot in California and has been airing on MTV since June.

Dubbing himself "L8 Nite Talker Looking," Green writes he's a "quirky late night talk show host seeking female companionship for good conversation, playing, and just having fun."

Green announced he'd put his profile online during an episode of his show earlier this month, saying he's having a hard time getting dates.

Last week slick Blind Date host Roger Lodge, a guest of Green's, pledged to hook him up. Lodge even brought along a couple of buxom young ladies for Green and Humplik -- who has a long-term girlfriend -- to squire.

Green's profile also nods to the inevitable role any woman he goes out with will play on his show.

"Must agree to have photos taken on dates (not nude) for use in wacky talk show banter," says his profile. "I enjoy quiet moonlit walks, romantic dinners, and heavy drinking."

The 31-year-old, 6-foot-4 Aries with hazel eyes, light brown hair and average build, who says he smokes and drinks occasionally, can be seen in Canada on the Comedy Channel on Saturday nights. An hour-long montage of his show's highlights airs at 10 p.m.

Green first began pulling outrageous pranks and honing his hosting skills back in Ottawa on Rogers Cable in the early 1990s. After he became famous through a previous MTV show and several movie roles -- including the almost universally reviled Freddy Got Fingered -- he beat testicular cancer and had a short marriage to actress Drew Barrymore which ended in divorce. Last week he joked with an excitable UFO expert who appeared on his show by asking him not to say the letters "E.T." because it "hurt."

Green is now looking for a woman between the ages of 22 and 35 who lives within 80 km. of Studio City, Calif., and has some college or post-graduate education.

"Fun, open minded, willing to date talk show host," reads his wish list. "Likes to travel, party and have romantic dinners."

Green lists his profession as "Entertainment/Media" and responded "no answer" to queries on his income, political leanings or whether he attends any religious services.

He also lists every interest there is to choose from, including arts and crafts.

Ailing Zevon Gives Lesson With His Exit

NEW YORK (AP) -- Terminally ill with cancer, Warren Zevon told producer Jorge Calderon that he wanted to record Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."

Calderon groaned. Anything but that, please. He still can't listen to it without tears.

Dylan's tale of a doomed gunslinger reaches a new emotional level coming from the voice of a man who's really dying. The choice also - let's be frank - reflects the 56-year-old singer's well-known twisted sense of humor.

Given a death sentence by doctors, Zevon hasn't retreated. He wrote and recorded a final album at a furious pace and opened his life to VH1 cameras for an intimate diary. The VH1 special premieres 10 p.m. EDT Sunday, then "The Wind" CD comes out Tuesday.

And Aug. 28 marks exactly one year since Zevon was told he had inoperable lung cancer and three months to live.

Jordan Zevon, Warren's 34-year-old son, was happy the prognosis proved incorrect and his father was around for the birth of twin grandchildren, but he doesn't hide his disgust at the doctors.