Nicolina DiSpirito

That's a-some-a spicy meatball!

Mama Nicolina DiSpirito stepped up to the plates for her son, Rocco, serving 500 meatballs to TV critics. Talk about kissing up. Yeah! We love her. I ate two.

Rocco is the star of NBC's summer reality series "The Restaurant'' (Read more about it in my column in Monday's BayLife). Treats during afternoon breaks have become a tradition on the TCA tour. Networks ply us with Dove Bars, ice cream sandwiches, pop corn, pretzels, candy, Smoothies, and frozen coffee drinks.

Who doesn't need a sugar high at 3 in the afternoon?

posted by Walt Belcher on July 26, 2003

	Joe Jones will be featured on "Ripley's Believe It or Not"

Joe Jones kept an eye out for TV critics. He kept both eyes out in fact at a party in the Ripley's Believe It or Not attraction on Hollywood Blvd. Jones, who can pop-out his eyeballs, likes to scare kids and grown folks. Ouch! It hurts to look at him.

Jones will be featured on the upcoming season of "Ripley's Believe It or Not'' which is expanding from cable to syndication (five nights a week).

Host Dean "Superman'' Cain showed up but kept his eyes on the critics. The attraction is one of several Ripley museum scattered throughout the country.

Took a field trip Thursday to David E. Kelley's studios. It took an hour and four freeways to find it in Manhattan Beach, Calif. (which really isn't all that far away from the hotel).

Strolled the sets of ""Boston Public'' which looks like the interior of my old high school. The lockers in the hallways brought back memories.

Watched Jeri Ryan, who plays a sexy teacher, do a scene. Learned it takes a couple of hours of rehearsing, reshooting and setting up to get a few minutes of useable drama.

Went over to "The Practice'' to watch a courtroom scene. Cool. Had lunch with Stacey, the sharp publicist who handles promotion for all for Kelley's shows. Caught a glimpse of Kelley, a writing machine who cranks out scripts by the pound.

posted by Walt Belcher on July 24, 2003

	Tangling with the paparazzi is never a picture-perfect experience. Photo by Walt Belcher

I ducked inside, but they tracked me down. Luckily, I was able to prove that I am not a spy for the tabloids or a fan seeking to sell photos on eBay.

I didn't know I had to sign up as an official photographer. I'm not good at this paparazzi game. Those people are like sharks; they show up to feed outside the hotel every day and outside every party.

Funny thing is I didn't really want any photos of UPN stars - well, I would have taken one of Loni Anderson, who is coming back to sitcom TV as a mom in "The Mullets.'' I wanted to take a picture of the paparazzi taking pictures. UPN had the best party for working journalists (not too loud, good food, easy-to-get interviews) and I got to chat a long time with Loni.

posted by Walt Belcher on July 23, 2003

	A mob outside the premiere. Photos by Walt Belcher

Can't complain about the food here. Many meals are catered by Wolfgang Puck's restaurant. And while much of it is fancy, Pucky does make a mean pig-in-a-blanket (little cocktail weenies wrapped in baked bread with a splash of mustard).

	David McCallum

Chatted with David McCallum, who is a TV legend of sorts for his role on "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'' He's back this season as a forensics expert on ""Navy NCIS,'' (Naval Criminal Investigative Service). It stars Mark Harmon and is from the producers of "JAG.'' McCallum says he collects "Man From U.N.C.L.E.'' memorabilia and has bought some stuff off eBay.

Will Smith created a buzz in the hotel Tuesday. He's here to promote the UPN comedy, "All of Us,'' produced by his wife, Jada. The show is "loosely'' based on their life. It's about their "blended family.'' Actor Robert James Sr. (who resembles Smith) plays an entertainment reporter with a meddling ex-wife, a sexy fiancee and a cute kid. James is an old pal of Smith who introduced him to Jada.

	Reporters surround Will Smith.

Will was mobbed by reporters following a news conference. Movie stars are not used to getting so close to the critics. Movie critics are held at a safe distance from movie stars who are treated like royalty. On movie junkets, critics are discouraged from asking personal or hostile questions. TV critics will ask anything and never applaud when TV actors enter a room.

We still can ask some dumb questions - like the guy who asked Charlie Sheen what was his favorite Muppet movie and if he could be a Muppet in that movie which one would he like to be? Sheen just looked at the guy like he was nuts.

posted by Walt Belcher on July 22, 2003

No league play here. This place is just for giggles and gutter balls. By coincidence I had packed a bowling shirt.

Seen bowling in a weird little straw hat was Ted Danson, back this season on "Becker.'' At the bar was Charlie Sheen, star of an upcoming CBS sitcom, "Two and a Half Men'' in which he plays a swinging bachelor who takes in his divorced brother (Jon Cryer).

Charlie is proud that the commercial he made with his father (stuck in a video rental store waiting for a credit card clearance) is nominated for an Emmy.

posted by Walt Belcher on July 21, 2003

	Fox was encouraging critics to chill. Photos by Walt Belcher

I have noticed that martinis are no longer as in vogue as previous tours. Fruity colorful mixes with vodka as a base are trendy. I'm sticking to Diet Coke. As usual, the place was packed and the noise level was horrific.

	"24's'' Kiefer Sutherland faces the TV critics.

Getting the most attention was Kiefer Sutherland, of "24,'' who had so many tape recorders in his face he couldn't move for hours.

I stuck my arm into the fray but when I play back the tape, his answer to "What happens next season?'' sounds like "Nmmf, bruuugh, blafff, hurrapfh.''

Hung with Jeri Ryan of "Boston Public'' for a few minutes. No real questions there. Just thought it was cool to say hello, like we were old friends. She was down with that.

posted by Walt Belcher on July 21, 2003

	Paul Hogan

"If I told you what I know, I'd have to kill you,'' he said. By the way, he's sometimes confused for Paul Hogan, the Crocodile Dundee dude. Yeah, I can see the resemblance.

The networks used to send all kinds of trinkets to our rooms - T-shirts, towels, tote bags, coffe mugs, etc. It was shameless attempt to get our attention. These "gifts'' got out of hand and so TV critics asked to stop the bribes. We've got to be pure. Things still come.

So far I've got a water bottle, a mug, a basket of snacks, a cheap toy watch, a fountain pen. I give it all away.

My favorite cheap bribe this time are some chocolate handcuffs, promoting an ABC series "Karen Sisco,'' about a female federal marshal. I don't know whether to eat them or wear them.

posted by Walt Belcher on July 18, 2003

	Lara Flynn Boyle

The poor girl's head looked really big with that alien hair-do. She's very bitter over being fired from "The Practice'' and says she no longer has money for food. Get that woman a meal before she fades away completely.

In sharp contrast was Serena Williams, who came back stage, towering and voluptuous in a outfit she designed herself. She was almost falling out of it.

	Serena Williams

She's a really sweet woman.

And guess who was taking her to the ESPY post awards party? Tampa Bay Buc Keyshawn Johnson! Host Jamie Foxx joked that they were an item, looks as if he's right.

No Bucs came back stage to chat with the media but I did meet the Best Bowler and the Best Bass Fisherman! Wow! The celebrity beat doesn't get any better than this.

So every day from 9 a.m. to about 5:30 p.m. I am sitting in the ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel watching the parade of stars and producers who come in for 45-minute news conferences, followed by 15 minutes of informal interviews.

It can get ridiculous when there's six producers and eight or more stars on the same panel.

ABC's drama "Threat Matrix'' featured one of the biggest panels so far. And no one even likes that show enough to ask questions. It's a bomb about America's home land security force.

During these sessions some of the lesser actors get no questions and sit there squirming in their chairs or nodding off. I have to fight not to nod off myself. This is a lot like being back in school where you take notes in every class and the day never seems to end.

Hey I made the local TV news out here. The ABC station sent a reporter out to an ABC media party. He did a stand-up on the event and I was in the background interviewing Jim Belushi.

Thankfully, I was holding a tape recorder and not a bottle of Corona!

Belushi seemed a little weird, unable to focus and he was very, very loud. He's having the last laugh on the critics who snubbed his "According to Jim'' sitcom which has become a hit for ABC.

posted by Walt Belcher on July 17, 2003

Every day hundreds of tourists are milling around and every day sad-looking characters, dressed as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Frankenstein and whatever, show up and offered to pose for a couple of bucks.

This would be the bottom of the acting pool. But one dude dressed as a demon from "Lord of the Rings'' was making about $50 an hour. Meanwhile, a skinny Captain America was getting no takers.

Across Hollywood Boulevard, "Pirates of the Caribbean'' is playing at the renovated El Captain where center row VIP seating is $20 a ticket.

The cheap seats are $10. Inside a guy plays pirate songs on an organ, a giant pirate skull hangs over the screen and cannons blow smoke rings from the balcony.

I interviewed Roseanne (see Thursday's column in BayLife for the whole story) and Kelly Ripa. Ripa's playing a washed-up soap star who moves in with her sister (Faith Ford) on an ABC sitcom.

She's keeping her day job with Regis but has left the soap "All My Children'' for now. "You can always come back 'cause a soap character is never dead until the actor dies,'' she says.

posted by Walt Belcher on July 15, 2003

	Travis Fimmel

So I'm at the bar in a posh club called The White Lotus on Sunday night and we're packed in like sardines.

The WB has invited the stars of all its new TV series, and their friends, and all the network PR people and all the network executives, plus 150 visiting TV critics.

It's so loud you can't hear. And I'm trying to figure out why there's a bowl of warm, raw string beans on the bar instead of peanuts.

I try to eat one whole and nearly choke before I see a couple of thin women (is there a size 1?) possibly starlets or dates of stars, popping open the skins with their teeth to eat the beans inside.

Uncultured fool that I am, I'm not aware that soy beans - a k a endamame - are a trendy bar snack out here. God, please get me a pretzel.

On day two of the annual trip to Hollywood to sample the fall line of new TV shows, I'm fairly fresh.

	JoAnna Garcia, left, and Hilary Duff

The day has been filled from 9 to 6 p.m. with interviews in a ballroom at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel.

Most memorable was meeting the new Tarzan, an Australian male model named Travis Fimmel (with a name like that you need to be a hunk).

He's only 23 and he's on the cover of TV Guide. I hear he's a Guinness man. I say what's wrong with Fosters, the Aussie ale, and he says "Mate, it's trash. Only Americans drink it.''

At the party I meet Hilary Duff teen star ("Lizzie McGuire") who has left Disney and will have a couple of specials on The WB (one on her 16th birthday in September and one at Christmas).

She's short, cute and well tanned. Also excited to meet her is JoAnna Garcia, formerly of Tampa who now is a big WB star on "Reba." JoAnna shows Hilary the paint-on "Bad Girl'' tattoo she got earlier in the party.

The WB had a tattoo booth set up but I passed on getting one.

Also talked to Alexis Bledel, who plays Rory on "Gilmore Girls." She's really shy, soft spoken and didn't really have anything to say.

I give up trying to do interviews and go back to the bar to make a stab at those soy bean treats.

posted by Walt Belcher on July 14, 2003