Forget those orchestra seats at the Oscars. President Clinton is not ready to thank the Academy just yet.
Despite the recent revival of persistent rumors that the president may step into the top spot at the Motion Picture Association of America when he leaves the White House, his closest friends pooh-pooh the very idea.
So what if some Hollywood insiders say there's a multimillion-dollar offer on the table?
"Do you know how many multimillion dollar job offers the President has received?" TV producer Harry Thomason, a longtime Clinton crony, asks Entertainment Weekly online. "I think he has more benevolent plans for his future than the MPAA."
Such as ...?
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Don't have a cow
"I think I am pretty normal. I'm a mom. I've got two kids. They are not being raised by Bart Simpson!"
-- Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson, on the woman behind the boy.
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Moore's moolah
Ex-Bond man Roger Moore was probably shaken and stirred to discover that his address, Swiss bank account numbers and detailed credit information were posted on the Web by mistake.
The Credit Suisse Bank was alerted to what it is calling a "technical glitch" by a Swiss newspaper last week. Moore's information, as well as that of several other account holders, had apparently been accessible for an entire week.
Bank spokesman George Soendgerat apologized for the error and told the paper the glitch was likely a test gone wrong. "In principle, only fictional data is transmitted in the test mode," he said.
So much for "For Your Eyes Only."
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Stare at it long enough, and it starts to make sense
"I am stepping back from the table to write books, including an autobiography. Also, I am leaving to give back to my wifely friend, Linda, her husband and to our adult daughter and son, their father. Their sacrifices have kept me here this long."
-- CNN anchor Bernard Shaw announcing his retirement from TV on "Inside Politics" on Friday. Hope he's got a good editor for that book.
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Big things 'N small packages?
As Britney Spears and her mom shop around their new book (a fictional "Mother's Day parable," according to Inside.com), someone else may be doing a little shopping on the belly-flashing popster's behalf.
The New York Daily News reports that Spears' beau Justin Timberlake was heard telling lurkers in "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" greenroom that he'd planned to make a trip to Tiffany's to buy some pearls as a Christmas gift for "my girl."
The necklace, he said, would not be his only gift for Spears. It would be, he said, "part of a whole package." This has, of course, set off a whole new round of speculation that the two may soon become 'Ngaged.
Oops!
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Juicy bits
The Jennifer Aniston workout? Lug your husband's fan mail around. According to the Scottish Daily Record, Aniston's hubby Brad Pitt has been getting five times as much fan mail at the "Friends" production office as any of the show's actual stars. "The guys all think Brad's a really nice guy. But they're pretty peeved that he's getting more fan mail on their show!" one "insider" told the tabloid. "Jennifer is carting home bags of mail each week -- and it's all for Brad. She thinks it's hilarious." Um ... right. I can just see her schlepping large mailbags around with a big, happy grin on her face, can't you?
Big honors for Babs: The Amercan Film Institute has announced that it will award Barbra Streisand its 2001 Life Achievement Award at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Feb. 22. "Barbra Streisand is a living legend who epitomizes the essence of American film," AFI board member Howard Stringer told Variety. "She is a pioneer in everything she does, whether it's acting, directing, writing, producing or singing." Talk amongst yourselves. I'm getting verklempt.
And while I'm channeling Mike Myers ... The SNL alumnus is reportedly in talks to star in an adaptation of "Gong Show" host Chuck Barris' autobiography, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind." Charlie Kaufman, the pen behind "Being John Malkovich," is responsible for the screenplay, and Brian Singer, of "X-Men" fame, will direct. Barris' 1984 autobiography asserts that he secretly worked as a CIA hitman. It's his happening, baby, and it freaks him out.
More blasts from the past: Larry Hagman is writing a tell-all biography. Variety reports that Simon & Schuster has snapped up the rights to "Hello, Darlin': Tall (and Absolutely True) Tales About My Life" for a sum in the low six figures. The book, which the former "Dallas" and "I Dream of Jeannie" star will write with Us Weekly writer Todd Gold, promises to detail the actor's experimentation with LSD and his recent liver transplant. Hagman plans to support the book with a travelling stage show based on his life. Some people do Oprah ...
HAL and Dave: Together again for the first time! Variety reports that a remastered version of Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" will be re-released in theaters and for home video/DVD next year. No, I don't think you'll understand the end any better without the hallucinogenic drugs.
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