The Fix

California recall a game show? Sharon Stone kisses a woman for money, and "Sex and the City" hunk lets his hair down. Plus: Elvis' daughter rocks with Chris Isaak.

Published August 12, 2003 2:16PM (EDT)

The Game Show Network just announced an Oct. 1 special spoofing the California recall election titled "Who Wants to be Governor of California? The Debating Game." The show will feature a political debate in the form of a game show and the winner will walk away with the maximum allowable corporate donation: $21,200. The way this will differ from the actual campaign is summed up by a spokesperson for the show: "If the winning candidate/contestant is actually elected governor, Game Show Network promises not to ask for any political favors in exchange for the money." (Associated Press via Washington Post)

Whether or not Sharon Stone ever has a film career again may be a moot point. The gal can raise money for charity just by kissing a woman in front of a crowd. Joni Rimm had pledged $40,000 to Project Angel Foods, an L.A.-based group that provides meals to the homeless, but then Stone persuaded her to up the donation by $10,000 by offering a kiss -- which lasted, according to some reports, 45 seconds. You do the math. (IMDB)

In a kind of perfect blend of image and reality Lisa Marie Presley opened for Chris Isaak in Chicago the other night. Isaak, who unabashedly echoes Elvis and imitated the pout and pompadour perfectly on the cover of his first album, must have been thrilled to be onstage with his inspiration's daughter. And she opened for him. (Chicago Sun Times)

"Sex and the City" hunk of the season Smith Jarrod is played by newcomer Jason Lewis and is he ever a good sport. "Today Show" hostess with the mostest Katie Couric cornered him this morning and asked all kinds of cute questions -- supposedly from the show's staff -- such as "do you have a girlfriend and if not do you want one?" and "can you take the elastic out of your hair?" He said he didn't have a girlfriend, that he thought you should just let yourself be hit by lightning in that department and then he obligingly let his hair down while the audience swooned. He said his family supported his naked bum being shown on HBO but his sister doesn't watch. "She doesn't like to see me popping up all over" he explained. And pop he does.

-- Karen Croft

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If Al Franken's goal with his new book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right," was to piss off the Fox News Channel suits, he appears to have succeeded. The network has filed suit against Franken and the book's publisher, the Penguin Group, accusing them of trademark infringement for using the phrase "Fair and Balanced," to which it says it laid legal claim in the mid 90s, and demanding that the book's title be changed.

In the suit, Fox calls Franken a "parasite," a "C-level" talking head and "increasingly unfunny" and says he is "commonly perceived as having to trade off the name recognition of others in order to make money." It also alleges that, back in April, Franken "physically accosted" Fox talent at a White House correspondents' dinner and was "either intoxicated or deranged as he flew into a rage." A spokeswoman for the publisher called the lawsuit "un-American" and "contrary to everything this country stands for."

If Spike Lee thought "Stripperella" was bad, how about a cartoon about Howard Stern's teenage years? The New York Post says "Howard Stern: the High School Years" is headed to the newly renamed Spike TV. Stern promises that the show, which is in "the very early stages," is going to be "very funny."

Money Quote
Ben Affleck on the tameness of his night out a Vancouver strip club, which he claims Jennifer Lopez knew about in advance: "It would have been like a brunch for Colin Farrell."

Best of the Rest
Page Six: Guy Ritchie, under wife Madonna's influence, said to have refused to sweep away kabbalah references in script for new film, "Revolver"; hip hop mogul Damon Dash splashes out $8.3 million for 5,500-square-foot TriBeCa duplex; Lenny Kravitz and Denzel Washington to launch new NYC club, Kos, in September; Steven Spielberg predicts settlement in Kobe Bryant trial; starlet Brittany Murphy gushes to Rudy Giuliani on "Uptown Girls" red carpet: "Thank you for making all of our lives better. You are the real star here tonight. I love you."

Rush and Molloy: Roc-a-Fella cofounders Damon Dash and Jay-Z may be divvying up the biz. Also: Dash rumored to have had liposuction ... twice, which his rep denies; Drew Barrymore and Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti caught mid-canoodle, ("There was even a love bite on Drew's neck," a snitch reports); Rudy Giuliani's bride Judith Nathan credited with turning former mayor into man of style, but he refuses to let his crepe-sole shoes go the way of his comb-over; Gisele Bundchen boasts that, when she and boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio go out to dinner, "Ninety-nine percent of the time I pay the bill," adds "I am the man of the relationship. But I can afford it."

Cindy Adams: Richard Dreyfuss heads to Broadway in "Sly Fox," said to be taking role refused by Burt Reynolds; "Sopranos" star Jamie-Lynn Sigler changes name to Jamie-Lynn DeScala to reflect recent marriage; Ann Coulter on Schwarzenegger's allegedly shrunken schlong: "I've seen photos of Arnold naked. Trust me, it's true what they say about steroids. Matt Drudge has them. I think he'll release them just before the election."

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