Penthouse gets Jones to show all and tell all
Paula Jones, the former Arkansas state employee who said President Bill Clinton exposed himself while making a pass at her when he was governor has finally stopped hedging and will bare her nose job and much more in the December issue of Penthouse, the New York Daily News says. The unappetizing sight is part of a nine-page layout accompanied by an article, “Paula Jones Uncovered! She Shows All, She Tells All: How the Far Right Used and Abused Her to Destroy Clinton.” Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the publisher promised a “new and improved Paula Jones It’s a Paula Jones who feels so good about herself that she wants to share the truth of what (the right-wingers) did to her.”
TORCHED BY A PROGRAMMER: Not everyone was thrilled when CBS pulled a reverse Heidi Bowl of sorts Sunday, yanking the season premiere of “Touched by an Angel” in favor of the Raiders-49ers football game. The move resulted in a flood of e-mail and telephone complaints. On Monday, CBS reassured fans that the inspirational show would air. The season premiere has been rescheduled for Oct. 15.
“Make no mistake, CBS loves Touched By an Angel,’ ” network spokesman Chris Ender said.
The popular program was kept off the air when the Oakland Raiders-San Francisco 49ers game ran nearly an hour longer than expected. Messages from anxious fans of the show, which stars Della Reese and Roma Downey, came flooding into CBS by one account, more than 1,000 e-mail messages alone.
CBS officials believe it was partly fueled by a long-running Internet hoax that the network has been forced to discontinue the program, because the word “God” is used in every program.
HONORABLE WOMEN: In the hometown of the first known suffragist convention, 19 women were inducted Saturday into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, N.Y. Among the eight living honorees attending were Janet Reno, the first female U.S. attorney general; Leontine Kelly, the nation’s first black female bishop in the African Methodist Church; Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey, a medical researcher whose refusal to approve thalidomide in the 1960s averted the horror of birth deformities that had occurred among pregnant women who took the drug in Europe; and acclaimed marine biologist and author Sylvia Earle, who co-founded a company that builds deep submersibles. Earle is also a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence based in Oakland.
The one surviving honoree who couldn’t make the ceremony was 91-year-old author Eudora Welty, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for “The Optimist’s Daughter.” Complete details on the Women’s Hall of Fame can be found at www.greatwomen.org.
HONORABLE WOMEN DISSED: “Everybody Loves Raymond,” but only because he’s not old. Co-star Doris Roberts says older people aren’t allowed to thrive in youth-oriented, nip-and-tuck Hollywood. “The image that is representing the older generation in this country is disgusting,” said the 69-year-old actress, who says older people are “the last group it’s still OK to ridicule.”
The Emmy-nominee spoke last Thursday during a panel comprising older writers, directors and actors. The others agreed that they were being ignored by a teen-obsessed industry. Roberts mentioned there were so few good parts for women her age that 160 mature actresses auditioned for her “Raymond” role.
LESSONS FROM THE STOCK MARKET: When stocks are low, sell. When stocks are high, buy. That seems to be the operating philosophy of advertisers who think the upcoming “Survivor: The Australian Outback” will dominate the pop culture scene as much as its predecessor did this past summer. Visa, General Motors and Anheuser-Busch are lining up to pay about $12 million in advertisements, according to USA Today. That makes it about $450,000 for a 30-second ad which is about the rate for time on “Friends” and “Monday Night Football.”
CBS wants to sell eight or nine total sponsorships, which means a potential bidding war. The show is set to premiere after the Super Bowl on Jan. 28.
Today’s People Column was compiled by Vera H-C Chan from staff and wire reports. Comments? Write to us c/o the Times, P.O. Box 8099, Walnut Creek, CA 94596-8099. Or call 925-943-8262, fax 925-943-8362, or e-mail spin@cctimes.com.