As SAG begins its 38th day of negotiations with the majors today, the pro-AFTRA forces have added Alec Baldwin and Kevin Spacey to their list of several hundred endorsers, led by Tom Hanks and Sally Field. ...

SAG announced Tuesday it had added high-profile supporters including Jack Nicholson, Ben Stiller, Josh Brolin, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Viggo Mortensen, Nick Nolte and Martin Sheen. It's also amped up its PR campaign via print ads.

The SAG-AFTRA brawling also raises the key question of clout. SAG has blasted the notion of the AFTRA deal serving as a template, because AFTRA's last primetime contract generated $40 million for members while SAG's last three-year feature-primetime pact generated $4 billion over the same period. Observers say the argument makes little sense, because SAG has so many more members working in the primetime and film arena.

Elsewhere in the paper, the AMPTP gets the backhanded benefit of the doubt: "Studios could stop haggling over pennies, but that's sort of like telling an insurance company to quit low-balling you. That's just what they do — relying on any sane person to give up first." Which suggests to us there's only one solution — a fun, unscripted, winner-take-all slugfest that would conveniently circumvent any potential work stoppage following AFTRA's ratification vote next month: Ladies and gentlemen, let's play the Feud!

• SAG, AFTRA in Spin Cycle [Variety]
• SAG Misses its 'Norma Rae' Moment [Variety]

Ben Stiller and Reese Witherspoon will star in an untitled Cameron Crowe romantic comedy adventure at Columbia Pictures.

Columbia was the winning bidder, beating out four rival studios, in landing the fully developed project, which is being produced by Scott Rudin. Crowe, who wrote the screenplay, is also producing.

Studio is keeping the logline of the contemporary-set project under wraps.

Whatever this movie is about, the very fact that it romantically pairs two of the most tightly-coiled, type-A-list stars in Hollywood should guarantee at the very least some choice tantrum scenes, followed by an inevitable pouty break-up montage set to the The Smithereens' "Since You Went Away."

• Stiller, Witherspoon fly with Crowe [Variety]

There were even some conquering summer box office heroes on hand, in the guise of Tropic Thunder stars Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, and Ben Stiller, digitally inserted into a vintage Gladys Knight performance as her backing Pips. (Downey wisely decided to leave his black face makeup kit at home.) The entire video is available for purchase on iTunes—the profits also going to some (non DeBargeian) charity—but we've included a short clip above. In it, Black and Downey abandon their Pip-marks, leaving Stiller to handle the complex hand-spins and toe-taps of the legendary backing trio's choreography on his own. What follows is not exactly clear: Shortly thereafter, Black tumbles back into the frame with his pants around his ankles; a contented Downey soon follows. Are we to infer that the pair just rode an express Midnight Man-Train to Georgia? We'll just assume we are.

• American Idol

News of the move broke Friday night, and by Saturday afternoon Stiller was telling the Reporter's Gregg Kilday: "I think Nick Stevens is a unique entity in this business: an agent with integrity, a point of view and most of all humanity. ... I would be with him if he was working out of the Sunglass Hut at the Beverly Center." Of course, Stevens rep was for working out of anywhere but the UTA office, which was a nagging bone of contention with the board that was trying to edge him off while keeping him and his golden geese — whose creative partnerships and overlaps have earned over a billion dollars globally since 2000 — in the talent department fold he'd maintained since 1995.

Obviously, that could have gone better. UTA brass, who had in recent weeks seen high-profile client departures like Kate Bosworth and Vince Vaughn, limped through the weekend telling anyone who would listen that no, it's not merging with Paradigm, and no, it's not for sale. Chairman Jim Berkus went on the defensive to say that UTA allowed as much rope as it could before things became untenable. We don't doubt it, but in any case, Stevens is the Salinger of talent agents and won't be giving his side of the story anytime soon. Watch for the talent defections to continue as Stevens settles in across Wilshire; share your tips if you see any comics jaywalking.

• UTA partners move to Endeavor [THR]
• Shocker! UTA's Nick Stevens To Endeavor... [DHD]

Back at the 2006 Oscars, Ben was still showing off his longtime brown 'do, but two months later, began showing signs of salt here and there (and certainly didn't look happy about it). But come October of the same year, he'd seemingly settled into his new role of silver fox.

Then, in early 2007, Stiller showed up donning a blonde wig for an appearance at the Hasty Pudding Club's annual ceremony at Harvard. And though he was still somewhat proudly showing off the grays late last year, his appearance last night proves Stiller is either shaking things up to feel younger or he's pulling some kind of hair stunt. But stunts are usually...funny, right?

[Photo Credits: Getty]

• BECAUSE HE'S WORTH IT! GREYING BEN STILLER REVEALS HIS FRESHLY COLORED LOCKS [Daily Mail]

At an industry screening Tuesday night of the forthcoming comedy Tropic Thunder from Paramount Pictures and its unit DreamWorks, Tom Cruise brought down the house with his surprise portrayal of a bald, hairy-chested, foulmouthed, dirty-dancing movie mogul of the kind who is only too happy to throw an actor to the wolves when his popularity cools. ...

[T]he performance is likely to draw attention, since Paramount is weighing a plan in which it would build buzz with extensive screenings of Tropic Thunder before its Aug. 15 release, much as 20th Century Fox did in 2006 with Borat... At Tuesday's screening Mr. Stiller told attendees that his new film was still in rough form. "If you have any suggestions, feel free to post them directly on the Internet," he said.

More specifically, please post them directly in our inbox. Presuming Redstone has already seen his nemesis' handiwork, we'd like to know if, say, any morning coffee was spit out, how far, what it was chased with and, of course, whether or not Tropic Thunder is either the surest signal or the certain ruin of a Cruise/Redstone rapprochement. Operators are standing by!

• Tom Cruise, in Bit Role, Nips Studio's Top Gun [NYT]

And while Owen Wilson pulled out of the production due to, uh, the incident, his enabler Steve Coogan appears to be relishing the opportunity to play the director of a runaway production. And we haven't yet even touched about the (Jack) Black confusingly alluded to above-the-title. (We're now honestly beginning to question if Downey Jr. relinquished second billing just to get that visual joke on the promotional material.)

• www.tropicthunder.com

In today's episode: Jake Gyllenhaal, Reese Witherspoon, and Jamie Lee Curtis; Michael Douglas and Michelle Rodriguez; Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor; Mark McGrath; Dustin Hoffman; Billy Joel; Romany Malco; Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Dennis Rodman; Zachary Quinto; John Legend; Danny Masterson; Dina Meyer; Louie Anderson; Robert Wisdom; Jocelyn Wildenstein; Jim Jones; and Constantine Maroulis.

· March 12th, lunchtime. On my inaugural visit to Mozza on Highland and Melrose, I spotted a gaggle of celebs while stuffing my face with their signature pizza. Up from a table rose lanky Jamie Lee Curtis, wearing all blacks and greys and her signature spunky haircut. As my eyes traveled down to resume pizza-eating, I noticed two of the four sitting at the table that I presume she was sitting at - of all folks, Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon. JG was scruffy and terribly attractive, much more so in person than I expected, and stared at RW adoringly, snapping a few candids of her throughout the lunch with his digital camera. Cute couple.

· Michael Douglas inciting a near-riot among the 15 (I counted) paparazzi camped in front of Il Sole on Sat night (3/8). No sign of his 38-year old wife. Michelle Rodriguez was there too but I'm pretty sure we've all stopped caring about her.

· Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor dining at Katsuya in Studio City on Friday, 03/07. They were with another couple.

03/07 - Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray at Hotel Figueroa in downtown LA.

· 2/9- Billy Joel at the Village Idiot on Melrose... low key in requisite celeb-staple baseball hat squeezed into a booth with industry types. took a second to decide it was really him, until it dawned on my group that the Grammy's were indeed the next day.

· 2/27- Romany Malco of 40 Year-Old virgin and Weeds fame at the Grove. Had to do a quick double take considering the 'wow he's not much taller than me' surprise that 90% of privacywatches seem to recognize. Hugging a girlfriend type and quite handsome in a t-shirt and jeans.

· 3/8- Dustin Hoffman walking down the insufferably crowded 3rd St. Promenade in Santa Monica arm and arm with wife (I assume?). Seemed to be enjoying the beautiful evening despite the sea of humanity. Looks exactly like he does on film with a well-deserved and friendly 'it's good to be me!' grin.

· Joseph Gordon Levitt at the Rufus Wainwright show at USC on Wednesday (3/5). He was up in the balcony with us common folk, he looked like a cute hipster in glasses, striped sweater and an Obama 08 pin, he seemed to be really enjoying the show. Rufus was amazing as usual, he dedicated one song to Heath Ledger, which made me think of how adorable he and JGL were in 10 Things I Hate About You.

· march 1st... dennis rodman walking into koi wasted... a few drinks later, he got kicked out for shoving a kid at a birthday dinner one table over from him...

· Stardage 2008-03-08 Silver Lake Star System
spotted the rebooted Spock (and everyone's faves super villain, Seiler), Zachary Quinto, leaving the gayster hangout, Akbar. he was usual hot self, but was sporting the vulcan eyebrows. Also saw Jesse Tyler Ferguson of the me sitcom, The Class. i'm a sucker for cute redheads, what can i say

· 1ish on Saturday night. John Legend with a toffee-skinned model at the In and Out on Sunset and Orange. Took pictures and signed autographs for a mob of film school types.

· Danny Masterson at the Coffee Bean on Sunset Blvd, but not the one by the DGA building. Very nice to the staff and handed a drink off to a
mysterious individual in his Range Rover. (march 12)

· Last night (03/09) I was standing in line at the ticket window buying tix to Married Life at the Monica 4-Plex (Santa Monica) and caught my husband checking out a hottie in front of us. When she turned around after getting her tickets I realized it was none other than Starship Trooper, Dina Meyer! I was shocked and said "it's Dizzy Flores" a bit too loud. She gave me a smile and nod of acknowledgment (I guess she gets that a lot!) as she wandered into the theater with a female friend who rudely laughed in my face (and looked exactly like Camryn Manheim, but wasn't). She's not as tall as she looks on screen and was looking a bit glassy-eyed and pale but still very striking. And she was sporting long wavy dark hair too. No sign of those frizzy dizzy curls!

· On my way to the car rental desk at the Burbank Airport on 3/7 I notice a familiar face talking on his cellphone, dressed in clothes too heavy for the weather and looking rather slept in. I know he's a comedian but I can't come up with the name of this rather heavy man with a gap in his front teeth. Using those descriptors as my Google reference didn't help, but then I remembered Family Feud and I realized I had seen Louie Anderson. And sadly, he was my only celebrating sighting on my short visit.

· On Saturday, March 8, saw everyone's favorite cat woman, Jocelyn Wildenstein, at The Ivy. I guess what was so remarkable, well, other than THAT, was her ginormous boobs. I mean, the pics always just show her face. But, she was standing there, with what I assumed was her boyfriend, looking like she could release the hounds at any minute. It was a rather fascinating site as the tourists weren't quite sure what to make of this special occasion. The only thing that could possible top that was if Angelyne popped out of her pink Corvette and challenged JW to a cat fight. Sunday was much more tame. Had beers, and a pretty in depth political discussion, with Robert Wisdom at the Village Idiot. Who is that you ask? Major "Bunny" Colvin from The Wire. I guess what made it so remarkable was that the end of the series was about to air in a few hours and he was just throwing back a few pints on Melrose. I hate to say it, but a really nice guy and a lucid thinker.

· Rapper Jim Jones getting his swoll on at Equinox West Hollywood. Balllllllllllin'!

· Went bowling Friday afternoon (3/7) with the coworkers at Pinz in Studio City and spotted Constantine Maroulis bowling with a blonde chick, older guy with stringy hair, and a kid who looked to be in his early teens. Odd group. They were just starting to bowl as we walked out so the most I saw was his first shot down the alley... he was using a hot pink ball.

Robert Downey Jr. plays Kirk Lazarus, a very serious Oscar-winning actor cast in the most expensive Vietnam war epic ever filmed. Problem is, Lazarus's character, Sgt. Osiris, was originally written as black. So Lazarus decides to dye his skin and play Osiris, um, authentically.

'At the end of the day, it's always about how well you commit to the character,'' [Downey] says. ''I dove in with both feet. If I didn't feel it was morally sound, or that it would be easily misinterpreted that I'm just C. Thomas Howell in [Soul Man], I would've stayed home.''

Ignoring for a moment that cheap shot at Howell's fine work in one of the seminal minstrel comedies of the 1980s, we actually think we get what Downey is trying to say: Making blackface work is all about establishing that the actor's—or in this case, the actor within the actor's—intentions are true. Angelina Jolie's beafro'd depiction of the biracial Mariane Pearl in A Mighty Heart, for example, received only positive notices. Even Jack Black, who plays a comedic actor in Tropic who insists on playing all the parts in his movies (see: Murphy, Eddie), dabbled recently in blackface in Be Kind Rewind—yet another tale of movies-within-movies that required of him to take on multiple roles. In that case, his own admirable commitment to sweding to the best of his ability, and his seeming obliviousness to the taboo, paid off in laughs. Downey should take note.

• First Look: 'Tropic Thunder' [EW.com]

What industry watchers are interpreting as a self-lampooning and uncredited cameo done as a favor to his longtime friend and frequent caricaturist Stiller we fear is something far more foreboding: Realizing his days of selling himself as a viable action-hero draw are winding down, Cruise is now set on closing in on the same middle-aged, body-hair-heavy roles that typically go to Robin Williams.

• Cruise is fat & bald [joblo.com]

· Skillfully employing adorable babies, enough famous faces to fill an entire supermarket checkout aisle's worth of celebrity weeklies, and colorful, signage-based attacks on their opponents in their publicity-attracting picketing efforts, the WGA seems to be winning the PR war against the studios; a pair of surveys reveals the striking writers are eliciting much more public sympathy than the faceless multimedia conglomerates that may never find an infant cute enough to sell the idea that there's no money to be made on the internet. [Variety]

· The head of IATSE gives the WGA a tongue-lashing over its handling of the negotiations, claiming the the Guild was hellbent on walking off the job just so it could throw totally sweet Rage Against the Machine concerts in Rupert Murdoch's backyard and eat yummy pizzas with Eva Longoria. Unsurprisingly, WGA president Patric Verrone takes issue with this characterization of the union's strategy. [THR]
· Money must be getting tight at NBC, as they're starting to auction off props from popular shows shut down by the strike. [Reuters/THR]
· Executive expense accounts are the latest victims of the Companies' belt-tightening measures, with many networks cutting back expenditures on travel and car services—unless trips utilizing pricey chauffeured coaches can somehow include the mowing down of a couple of picketers as they drive to their meetings on studio lots. [Variety]
· In an unscientific poll, it is revealed that words-loving Scrabble enthusiasts overwhelmingly support the writers' position. [DHD]
· Frustrated by stalled contract talks, Gollum has taken it upon himself to coax key executives from the AMPTP back to the bargaining table. [Scribe Vibe]

[Photo: Getty Images]

Once the actor befriended Wilson on the set of A Night of the Museum—the two men played warring diorama figurines—it was only a matter of time, Love suspected, before they mounted their miniature horses and galloped off into the dark abyss. Now Coogan, who was set to have a cameo in the same Ben Stiller-directed movie from which Wilson just pulled out, has rushed back to town for what will likely be the greatest damage control performance of his life. From Page Six:

Our source reports, "Coogan was in Hawaii when the news [of Wilson's suicide try] hit, but he came back Wednesday night and is trying to get in touch with Owen, Luke [Wilson] and Ben [Stiller]. He's trying to make sure that the movie ['Tropic Thunder'] doesn't fall through now."

Coogan fired back on "Access Hollywood," saying, "I do want to set the record straight and say that the allegations . . . are completely and utterly false." [...]

Love hasn't had contact with Coogan in months, except for an e-mail she sent him after Wilson's suicide attempt. It read, "You must feel really great right now. Does this feel life-affirming?" Love has said on her Web site she'll have no further comment.

There would, of course, be more comment—lots more—including this choice one from an interview with The Sun: "Hopefully the guy will leave us alone in this town and go back to Brighton or wherever the hell he's from...and stay there." If Coogan does manage to salvage his Thunder cameo, we suspect the production will quickly become The Most Awkward Set in Hollywood, marked by excruciating moments in which the actor idles up to the craft services table to see what Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr. are laughing so heartily about, only to have the three stars fall deadly silent, before ringleader Downey Jr. pipes in, "At least I never took anyone down with me, you fish n' chips-eating enabler."

• OWEN BUDDY: DON'T BLAME ME [NY Post]
• Love: Coogan should go home [The Sun]

In today's episode: Jeremy Piven; Jennifer Aniston; Val Kilmer; Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor; Elton John, David Furnish, Fergie, Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, Naomi Campbell, Joe Pesci and Rashida Jones; James Woods; Kiefer Sutherland; Nick Nolte; Stephen Hawking; Aimee Mann and Michael Penn; Matthew Fox; Kal Penn; Tim Daly; Jeremy Sisto; Giovanni Ribisi; Hilary Duff; Ian Ziering; Sean Hayes; Amy Smart; Tim Gunn; Dr. Phil; Kevin Weisman; Kyle Howard; Matthew Lawrence and Cheryl Burke; Wilson Cruz, John Ameche and Tiffany Fallon. In Vegas: Warren Beatty and Annette Bening.

· I saw Jeremy Piven dressed to the nines Friday (3/30) night outside of Citizen Smith. He was wearing man jewelry, a fedora, and he was holding an unlit cigar. He went to the valet, changed his mind, and went strolling up Cahuenga instead. He was—no shock here—with a very tall brunette model type.

· Another Friday night of strong cocktails at the Tower Bar. Tonight, the view from the stool is enhanced by a casually-dressed Jennifer Aniston celebrating something with The Gays, a somewhat dumpy female manager/publicist type and (what looked like) Orlando Bloom (no promise there). Lots of red wine, lots of gift bags, lots of attention from Dimitri and really frequent and long ciggie breaks on the patio (like the whole table smoked).

· So, I'm in Zuma Jay surf shop on main street in Santa Monica. I see this kid who looks like one of the kids in Dogtown and Z boys and sitting there talking to him about surfwear is a guy that appears to be his father. I'm thinking to myself kid, with that burned out, beer bellied, sunburned loser as your dad, you are really up against it. Then I heard the guy talking loud and my god if he didn't sound just like Val Kilmer. But he looked like hell, I mean he looked worse than Jim Morrison after he Od'd. Completely unrecognizable. Like I said, Fat, beer bellied and sunburned. Think Val Kilmer mixed with Jim Morrison in the summer of 1971 then devoured in a Chocalate Sundae by Marlon Brando. Bad.

· While idling just south of Sunset near Beverly Hills, spotted Ben Stiller getting out of a black car-service car. The driver gave me a look like "OMGZBenStiller" and I was happy for him. Stiller, who is surprisingly broadshouldered for a little guy, then greeted wife Christine Taylor who was waiting further down the street. I can't figure out why they meet in the middle of the city instead of, like, at home, but they got in Christine's black Benz—Ben took the wheel—and rolled off in the direction of B.H.

· Major celeb cluster at the GQ party at the Beverly HIlls Hotel, 2nd April. (Note this was the British edition of GQ, so bad teeth, smoking on the patio and Brit atti-tood.) Elton John was there with life-partner David Furnish. (Elton was wearing black ankle booty things, like comfy granny shoes from a catalogue.) Fergie arrived in stilettos with a gal pal. Jason 'Crank' Statham dragged his 'bird' around, looking short but densely buff with cartoonlike dark stubble and gulping the champagne. Saffron Burrows swanned in with big blond hair and gold lamé dress. No acting career as such, but supermodel hot in the flesh. And then the capper - in marches Naomi Campbell dragging Joe Pesci by the hand. Random! He's a homunculus with so much nip and tuck and tan, he looks like a Mayan petrified head. She's a total Amazonian - big and tall. Can you imagine the angry sex that goes behind the blinds. Back down to earth, Rashida "The Office" Jones and her model waif sister Kidada. Rashida were there being normal, but apparently my wife says Rashida has long arms.

· 4/1 - Saw a guy walking a dog down Burton Way, and when I was about to shout, "Hey, cute doggy!" I see that it was James Woods near the Hermitage where I always see him and I didn't say anything. He did check me out on my bike though.

· 3/29/07 at around 3pm saw Kiefer Sutherland at the Mayfair on Franklin. He looked trim and relaxed, wearing what looked like paint-spattered Adidas.

· very unsettling sighting yesterday 4/2. had to go to a doctor's appointment in Santa Monica (at St. Johns) in the afternoon. got off the elevator and headed towards my doctor's office. as i was walking up to the door, this really disheveled guy was coming out. his hair was ratty, face was beat down. it's at the end of a narrow hallway, so we came quite close as we passed each other. as i looked up at him, i realized it was NICK NOLTE. the really sad part? he looked just like that crazy mugshot that was making the rounds a few years back.

· Saturday, March 31st, Denny's at Sunset and Gower: Brian fucking Wilson.

· Perhaps some will disagree, but I think my Friday (3/30) sighting kicks butt on the traditional "Tara Reid chugging everclear in the Ralph's parking lot" sort of thing. The husband and I were at the Getty Center around 3:30pm and found ourselves standing next to Stephen Hawking, right under that flatulent art organ thing of Tim Hawkinson's that's hanging overhead in the lobby. Hawking was in his tricked-out wheelchair of course, with the communication device and whatnot, and was dressed casually. He appeared to be there on pleasure instead of any super-brainy physicist business, and was with some folks who could have been family, aside from one dude who looked like a bit too bleach blonde, black-clad and rico sua-ve for the rest of the group assembled. Perhaps he was an escort of some kind or just a well-manscaped relative. We didn't bother them, but was very cool to see Hawking in person. I mean how often does that happen on the space-time continuum?

And later that evening, stoic indie music power couple Aimee Mann and Michael Penn sat near us at the UCB theatre for the Doug Benson Interruption (sans Benson but still hilarious). Apparently they do laugh sometimes. It looked like they came to see Andy Kindler, as they were chatting it up with him outside on the sidewalk after the show. He's never been my particular cup of geek, but was funnier than expected in person, who knew?

· 3/30 - Matthew Fox + entourage (including big bald bodyguard in a black Killers tshirt) came out for tv on the radio at Fonda tonight. He met up there with "Nikki," (Kiele Sanchez) the new chick on Lost. I don't know her real name. He was very tall and fucking HOT in some tight dark gray long sleeved thin material shirt. He even had a Jack-esque black necklace on. And she was very skinny of course. I think he came with his wife, but maybe not, now that I think about it. She was some very pretty asian woman but I think his wife is hispanic. He was rocking the fuck out and singing along to all the old TVOTR songs, and left before the encore dripping with sweat. I love this guy so much. But I was too shy to say anything to him even tho he's on my favorite TV show.

· 3/30 - Friday night at the Century City food court saw Kal Penn with a bunch of hipsters. He actually locked eyes with me and smiled as I made my way up the escalator towards him. Flirting perhaps? Worth considering if there are some free White Castles involved.

· 4/1 - Tim Daly getting a few coffees to go at the Starbucks at Santa Monica and Wilshire. He looked good. Not terribly exciting, but there you have it.

· Wednesday the 28th: Elton/Billy Chenowith hotness Jeremy Sisto at Jeffrey Sebelia's fashion week show. He's super tall, and I tried to brush by him, but our bodies never met. I cried myself to sleep and cut off my tattoo.

· Saturday 31st: Prince of Scientology Giovanni Ribisi in a motorcycle jacket at Alcove in Los Feliz, 10am ish. No dark vultures circling overhead. No voice of Satan. Very pleasant and adorable. Perhaps worshipping across the street?

· Tuesday morning, 12:30am - Burbank Bob's Big Boy

Hilary Duff and a few equally (frightfully) skinny loud girls stumbled into Bob's. Seriously - if you are going to pick an establishment to come into, and be loud enough to guarantee you get noticed, your first choice is Bob's!?!

A few people even shushed her and her posse of skeletons before they sat in a large booth in the back, and sipped milkshakes.

I sat and tried to enjoy my Chili Spaghetti, while other customers were not-so-quietly mocking her with phrases like "you tell them, Hilary", and "What?"...clearly mocking how loud they were all being.

They left in an ugly white Range Rover with equally ugly white wheels, after being snapped by the Paparazzi.

I liked her better with the blonde hair...and the original teeth.

· Saw Ian "Twinkletoes" Ziering at the Griddle Sunday 8 AM, where I've seen him a bunch of times before, but this time is different! Because he's hot hot hot again! Ride that wave, Sanders! He was with an older man I assume was his lover/provider, and was eating something healthy-ish, despite the pancakey temptations all around him.

· i went to house of blues last night (thursday) to have a drink with my cousin from nashville, the tour manager for jeremy camp. apparently he is a very popular christian singer, the show was sold out, and there was no parking on the strip. we were in the balcony vip shouting conversation to each other when my wife pointed out sean hayes eating ribs with two people in the foundation room, right up against the glass partition. it seemed strange for a gay advocate to be around so many christians shouting "hallelujah" with their hands in the air. lucky for him, i don't think anyone else noticed . . . or did he want to be noticed? pretty weird.

· I saw Amy Smart (currently a brunette) at Yu-N-Mi sushi in Beverly Hills Thursday night when I was leaving after my dinner. The restaurant is small and was crowded, so she and her fellow diner were sitting on a bench waiting to be seated. so yes, even celebrities must wait sometimes....

· saw tim gunn stride through the lobby of the standard, downtown. looking dapper, dressed in a comfortable suit sans tie, he was on his way to the parking lot to wait for a car to pick him up, but took time out to stop and chat w/ crew people unloading equipment out of a van for the project runway auditions scheduled the next day. tim couldn't have been more nice, genuine, and warm to the workers. he seemed so pleasant, in fact, i dropped all semblance of blase l.a. star sighting cool and actually went over to the man and introduced myself. i blurted out what a big fan i was of him and he smiled, took my hand, shook it, listened ever so graciously as i babbled how given his courteous, diplomatic skills at negotiating conflict he should run for president. he only chuckled, thanked me again, as i walked away. what a nice man!

· Last night (4/1) as my friends and I were dining on some fine Italian
cuisine at the Rainbow, in walks Dr. Phil and some friends, who were then seated at the table behind us. Of course we all considered asking him for advice, but didn't want to interupt him as he was knee deep in chicken parm.

· It was supporting tv character night on Franklin tonight (4/1) - Kevin Weisman (Marshall from Alias) was at the next table tonight at the fabulous Pimai Thai, with a large group of people. He spent a lot of time outside pushing a baby around in a stroller. Next door at Mayfair, Liza Weil (Paris on Gilmore Girls) was in the next checkout line waiting to purchase her yogurt.

· thursday - starbucks at beverly and charleville, just an assistants throw from william morris, i saw the cute-as-hell Kyle Howard, currently of tbs' "my boys" and formerly of the hideously underrated "grosse pointe." he looks good and at about 6' tall is considerably taller than i imagined. however, the thrill of the sighting was undermined by some tedious dressed-all-in-black agent assistants ordering their lattes, blabbering about a whole lotta pretentious nothing, at a decibel level usually reserved for a judas priest or iron maiden concert.

· Lesser Lawrence brother Matthew Lawrence and the girl dancer who won Dancing with the Stars with Emmet Smith (my lady informed me her name is Cheryl Burke) waiting patiently for a table at Casa Vega in Studio City on Sat night (3/31). They were holding hands, definitely a couple — wasn't Joey on that show? I guess that was his brother's window of opportunity. Seemed normal, I guess. She's not that cute. They were bitching about having to wait more than 45 minutes for average Mexican food in the valley — but then again, so was I.

· Leatherfest was this weekend, so no surprise that there was an inordinate amount of hot homo guys at Marix in Weho on Sunday, but who would have predicted the high (homo) celebrity factor? First, John Ameche ( Mr. Out NBA) walks in towering above everybody. Looking a little shabby - just jeans and a t-shirt - but cute nonetheless. Had arms around some cute (and much shorter) guy. Then, among all the testosterone and steroid enhancees, walks in Wilson Cruz - from TV's pathetic Noah's Ark. Again, tight T-Shirt and tight jeans. Someone should tell him that the gym has other machines, than the one that works the chest.... just a (bitchy) suggestion. And, seated front and center, surrounded by all this man-flesh was former Playmate of the Year, Tiffany Fallon at a table of more hot guys. (The only straight guy at our table identified her) Unfortunately, with this crowd, her brand spanking new hard-to-get Louis Vuitton "Runway Bag" got more attention than she did. What can I say? I work in retail.

Special Warren and Annette Vegas Magic Edition:

· Not sure if this counts since it was Las Vegas but... last Wednesday I
was at MGM's David Copperfield show (you know you want to see it) and in walks Warren Beatty sporting a black leather jacket and a well-teased hairdo. He had a strange yet serene surprised look on his face as he looked around. (The look read: Yes, it's me - in the flesh.) Later after the show he emerged from the theatre with Annette Bening who look beautiful but with what seemed like ratty hair. When a fan stopped to shake Warren's hand the older daughter (?) seemed to yell something at the fan and Annette shushed her. Warren still had the surprised expression on his face.

In today's episode: Ben Stiller, Laura Dern and Ben Harper; Sacha Baron Cohen and Dustin Hoffman; Alanis Morissette; Mark Ruffalo, Fab Moretti and Danny Masterson; Emily Blunt, Courteney Cox and John Glover; Ellen Pompeo, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr.; Gwen Stefani; Tony Hale; Jason Lee, Adam Goldberg, and Giovanni Ribisi; Rebecca Gayheart; Sharon and Kelly Osbourne; Whitney Houston and Ray-J; Busta Rhymes; Tony Shaloub; Mischa Barton; Christina Ricci; Verne Troyer; Scott Bakula; Jonathan Tucker; Robert Best and Nyabel.

· Saw Ben Stiller Monday Morning 3/5 at The Brentwood Market. He was meeting with two industry guys, one flowing locks, one a fat bald producer looking type, wearing sprocket glasses. He was late to see them and totally apologetic. The guy acts genuine like a successful actor. Then moments later laura dern walked in with her Ben(Hey aren't you Lenny Kravitz?) Harper, husband. Well, Ben Stiller was SO glad to see them. He gave Laura's Ben a total soul brother handshake(Is this guy always on?) Then Laura Dern acted like she'd never been as happy as she was the moment she laid eyes on the fat, bald producer. She must've thought he might offer her a part. Has she worked since Jurassic Park?

· 3/2 - Alanis Morisette getting drunk and rocking out to UK singer/songwriter Alexi Murdoch at the El Rey

3.6 - dustin hoffman & son buddying up with sacha baron cohen & friends in a private booth during albert hammond, jr.'s gig at the el rey. sasha was actually pretty hot.

· celebrity trifecta. checking out the mooney suzuki / albert hammond jr. show @ the el rey, last night (3/6/07), when about halfway through the mooney's set, danny masterson strolls in. full beard, rolled up sleeves on his western shirt, looking good. he's with a small group of friends and alternating between doing the dude rock head bob thing and blackberrying furiously. slight titters of recognition travel through the crowd. funny because i was so transfixed by his bushyheaded hotness, that when my friend tapped my shoulder i turned around (annoyed) and noticed another bearded beauty. mark ruffalo and pretty blond and two male buds. no one seemed to notice the guy. not surprising since the average age of the crowd was 12. right before albert hammond jr. came on, their were a few girly shrieks and then there was fab. fab moretti obviously there to support his fellow stroke, graciously stopped for every fan with a camera phone and posed for pix. swell guy.

· last night at orzo 3.6 dinner inside at 7ish watching the door, my dinner compagion was dull meal was great..... 1st john glover straight to the patio after hugs with the staff, then emily blunt blew kisses then to the patio....then as we were leaving courteney cox, very tall to a table inside with 2 gal pals. 3 in about 15 minutes what fun!

· 3-7 Ellen Pompeo(alone and VERY THIN), Sarah Michelle Gellar(not as thin) and Freddie Prinze Jr. (together), at Whole Foods, at about 330pm today, Riverside and Coldwater Canyon, in the Valley(oh my God), all intently shopping, no eye contact

· 3-7 I was at Barneys (the store, not the Beanery) hoping that the bagels were flown in today so that I could take care of my rancid hangover, when who should I see, but Gwen Stefani and the beautiful little baby and the rest of Gwennie's pack. I really don't care for her music so much. She is much more angular in person. Really quite striking, not that it means I will buy her music.

· At the Sunset/Vine Borders, 3/5, 8pm-ish, I saw Tony Hale searching the DVD New Release aisle. He was dressed like every film school nerd I know, cords, oversized-non-descript shirt, baseball cap - but still adorable. After seeking help from an employee he found what he was looking for - a copy of Stranger Than Fiction.

· saturday march 3rd - midlake show at the troubadour. jason lee, complete with 'earl' stache and what looked like a knit hat he stole from the set of 'almost famous.' was whisked upstairs to the lounge, but came down a couple seconds later to rock out with the rest of the plebes. on the way out pushed to the exit with adam goldberg who stopped to talk to Giovanni ribisi. apparently the entire contents of silverlake/los feliz emptied out and carpooled to weho for the show.

· Monday, March 5, midday, Los Feliz:

was coming out of Soap Plant/Wacko on Hollywood, walking towards Vermont, when Giovanni Ribisi came swaggering past me in the opposite direction - we passed each other in front of the second hand store next door. That's right, he was *swaggering*. And wearing a motocross leather jacket despite the very warm weather. He's short. We stared at each other: I was trying to remember his name, and he may have been intrigued by the t-shirt from my employer I was wearing, which said "film crew" on it. I didn't turn around to see if he went into Wacko; I was too annoyed that it was the last day of my first trip to LA, and my only celebrity sighting the whole time had been a bloody Scientologist. What a gyp.

· Saw Rebecca Gayheart at the Peet's Coffee in Larchmont yesterday (3/8). She looked thin and trim but her famed noxema-caressed skin looked a tad leathery, perhaps from one too many cigs. She sat outside a friend. She laughed, smoked, talked on her cell, and smoked some more.

· Saturday 3/3/07 - Sharon and Kelly Osbourne shopping on Robertson. Same night spotted The Office's BJ Novak (Ryan the temp) having a late night meal at the 101. He looks exactly like he does on TV. 3/4/07 - Busta Ryhmes with 3 HUGE dudes looking for some shoes at Sportie LA on Melrose. He is tall and was sporting a lot of ice. 3/7/07 - I was having dinner at Crustacean in Beverly Hills - I saw Whitney Houston and her young love Ray-J walk by my table. It seemed that people in the restaurant weren't paying attention to them until they were outside and a ton a camera flashes went off.

· 3-8 I saw Tony Shaloub at Cafe du Village on Larchmont, sitting in a corner, back to the rest of the patrons, very scruffy, with another Lebanese looking dude. I restrained myself from going up to inform him that I haven't watched his show since Bitty Schramm got canned............

· What kind of losers photograph Mischa fucking Barton? Paparazzi morons, that's who. Today. (3-8) Through the window of a nail salon in thestrip mall at Wilshire and San Vincente. I can't believe I saw the gaggle and thought they were photographing a celebrity. So lame.

· 3-8 I thought I was in a celebrity safe zone at my new favorite sushi joint, Ike, on Hollywood and Gower. Turns out I was right. However, that still didn't stop east side somewhats like crazy-eyes-wannabe-killah Adam Goldberg and his little daughter, I mean woman, Christina Ricci, from barging into the peaceful space this past Monday night. Goldberg would be creepy, perhaps, if it wasn't so obvious that he wants to be thought of that way. Now please don't go to Ike! It is my haven, and clearly not a true celebrity peep zone.

· 3-9 Was doing some shopping at the Ralphs on Ventura and Vineland (where it's not unusual to spot that guy/girl from that TV/reality show you've never actually watched but know from the promos running in for some cigarettes after wrapping at Warner Bros./Universal Studios) when suddenly Verne Troyer rounded the corner and came rolling down the cereal aisle right towards me. He was in his own little Rascal, while a buddy (bodyguard?) pushed the cart behind him. I was highly amused as the 3 year-old in the cart next to me leaned down to say hi, and Verne gave him a high-five and a big smile as he rolled by. Unfortunately, the little Rascal wasn't as pimped as his custom Mercedes.

· 03/07/07 — VCA Animal Hospital at Melrose & Robertson — 7:40 a.m.

Necessary Roughness's Scott Bakula. His dog, "Cooper", was going in for surgery. Pray for Cooper. Pray for us all.

· Monday 3/5
Jonathan Tucker (from The Black Donnellys) at Truly Vegan in Hollywood with two cute girls. Wouldn't have recognized him if it weren't for the building-sized poster of his face down the block. Gotta say, vegan food sure is working for him - kid showed off some damn fine abs last episode. I still can't believe that Haggis melodrama took Studio 60's slot tho!

· My theater buddy and I randomly bumped into friends at the bottom of the escalators of Laemmle Sunset 5 Theater this past Sunday night. They had just finished a workout at Crunch. We were deciding where to go for diner after catching Forest Whitakers's Oscar Winning performance in the Last King of Scotland. Totally went for the performance- ended up loving the entire movie. Anyway, we caught auf'd season three Project Runway contestant Robert Best's tightly toned ass walking into CPK. I still say he's a fat boy trapped in a muscle queen's body.

We also noticed Nyabel from Janice Dickinson's Modeling Agency ordering up what I hope is a calorie deprived caffeine concoction from Buzz Coffee. Okay, I hate myself a little for the last sentence but girlfriend needs to lose another 15 pounds if she wants to be the poor man's Alek Wek. Oh and we choose Bossa Nova on Sunset.

The news may seem somewhat anticlimactic after word surfaced last week that Tom Cruise was talking to longtime friend and occasional impersonator Ben Stiller about bolstering Cruise Industries' comedy brand (which had languished since the actor's slapstick turn as a hapless hitman unable to kill a single cab driver in Collateral) by teaming up on the kind of buddy picture for which Stiller is well known, but today the trades are ablaze with word that the two actors will indeed join forces for Fox's Hardy Men.

The plot: after years of not speaking to one another, the now-grown, legendary Hardy siblings, once hotshot coverboys for Teen Sleuth magazine, are forced by comedically expedient circumstances to reunite for One Last Case, during which a contractually mandated level of Wackiness will Ensue, demonstrating to a Cruise-weary public that the actor has, in fact, not lost his sense of humor since abducting Katie Holmes and suspiciously knocking her up. Should this initial effort fail, the two pals are also reportedly in talks for Tropic Thunder, in which Cruise might be given an even more direct way to take a playful poke at his humorless action star persona. And should that project fall through and set back Cruise's attempts to soften his image, he and producing partner Paula Wagner plan on a radical realignment of the development slate at their United Artists studio, abandoning all in-progress features to devote the entirety of their resources to remaking every film on universally beloved movie personality Will Smith's resume since 1996, a hugely expensive, last-ditch effort at making the public once again embrace Cruise.

• Cruise, Stiller party 'Hardy' [Variety]
• 'Hardy Men': Cruise, Stiller take on 'Boys' [THR]
• Previously: Tom Cruise Exploring Possibility Of Being Ben Stiller's Next Owen Wilson [Defamer]

Insiders tell TMZ that Tom Cruise has been talking with Ben Stiller about starring in an updated version of "The Hardy Boys" at Twentieth Century Fox. Tentatively titled "The Hardy Men" — a comedy that would be directed by Stiller's director on "A Night At the Museum," Shawn Levy ("The Pink Panther," "Cheaper By the Dozen").

While the pair has demonstrated crackling chemistry in a previous artistic collaboration, the buddy formula might implode under the weight of the rewrite required to make Cruise into the obligatory freewheeling foil to the high-strung Hardy Man Stiller would surely play; a screenwriter might score some easy laughs if Cruise would consent to play a Wilsonesque stoner hooked on dangerous street-drugs, but in the end, audiences wouldn't be able to suspend their disbelief that the actor's mind was altered by anything stronger than a handful of vitamins and a dangerously long stint in a sauna.

• Hardy Boys II Men: Cruise & Stiller at Fox? [TMZ.com]