Issue Date: December 15, 2002
What is "Once and Again" star Sela Ward doing now? Will her canceled ABC family drama be seen in reruns? How about a possible DVD or video release?
Markisha Rollerson, Lincoln, Neb.
The first season of Ward's much-mourned series has just been released on DVD. And Ward, 46, is plenty busy. She's now in Montreal shooting "The Day After Tomorrow" with comeback kid Dennis Quaid. The movie is based on a book by syndicated radio host and noted conspiracy theorist Art Bell. She's also been traveling to promote her new memoir, "Homesick". It recounts Ward's journey to reconnect with Meridian, Miss., where she learned humble virtues "forged in the hearth of a loving home." The book focuses on how she adapted those lessons to big-city life -- and now passes them down to her own kids, Austin, 8, and Anabella, 4.
Nia Vardalos' phenomenal movie, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", keeps making more and more money. You've said it will become a TV show, too -- but how can the story of one wedding be retold every week?
Diane Garner, Louisville
The show will begin as Vardalos' character, Toula, starts dating her non-Greek beau. Although the CBS midseason replacement series (to begin in January or March) has yet to be titled, expect to see most of the same colorful characters, except for John Corbett. As for a title, Vardalos has said, "My choice is 'My Big Fat Greek Family'."
I always enjoy "finding" William Fichtner in films. How many did he make before landing at ABC with "MDs"?
Pam Heilman, Loves Park, Ill.
He owns up to 16 or 17. His most memorable roles were in "The Perfect Storm" and "Black Hawk Down", but playing a blind man in "Contact" was especially gratifying. For that part, Fichtner, 46, spent time with a man who trains people to work with the blind. For "MDs", he went on rounds with a surgeon and viewed tapes of open-heart surgery. "MDs", on hiatus at press time, is his first "regular job" since he worked summers during college at a Pepsi plant in Buffalo. It's also the first time since childhood he has lived in a house with a back yard. "My wife will yell out, 'Go to bed!' And I'm like, 'That's all right, honey. I'm gonna sit out here awhile.' "
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Being the son of an American icon doesn't necessarily mean following in parental footsteps. In fact, when Jakob Dylan, 33, son of '60s folk-rock singer-songwriter Bob, put together the Wallflowers 15 years ago, he says, "I was happy to be the guitar player, but someone had to write the songs." Comparisons to Dad notwithstanding, the young Dylan tells us his music is different. "I don't really object to how anybody describes the music, but I've been uncomfortable with people [thinking] we're intending to be an Americana rock band or any kind of revivalist in that area. I don't appreciate that kind of music any more than other kinds." In fact, Dylan, a married father of three boys, says it was the Clash, Elvis Costello and other '80s acts that "made me want to learn how to do this myself." He's still doing it well. As the band tours this winter to promote its fourth CD, "Red Letter Days", Dylan will be at work on a fifth.
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Andy Richter may think he controls the universe, but no one controls the volatile world of TV programming. Still, Richter's Fox comedy, "Andy Richter Controls the Universe", began its second season Dec. 1 -- an accomplishment in itself, considering his one prior claim to fame was being Conan O'Brien's late-night sidekick. A guy who appreciates the offbeat on TV, Richter, 36, is perfect as the narrator of the documentary "Brilliant but Cancelled", about critically acclaimed shows that got axed. To air several times on the cable channel Trio this month, it includes never-before-seen footage and interviews with producers of short-lived series. As for his own brilliant career, Richter tells me he was naive to think he was a familiar commodity after "Late Night". "I thought, 'Everybody knows Conan.' [Soon,] I realized, no, they don't. People would say, 'That show's on too late.' "
Rita Cosby of Fox News Channel's "Fox Wire" is involved in reporting all the big stories. What's her background?
Luke Geisler, Rocklin, Calif.
Raised in Greenwich, Conn., this self-declared workaholic first turned heads when Fox News plucked her from a CBS affiliate in Charlotte, N.C. Now living in New York, the Emmy-winning "Fox Wire" anchor is a journalist to be reckoned with, scooping other networks on big stories like the Washington-area sniper shootings (she was first to report the alleged killers' identities). "It's safe to say my Rolodex is my most prized possession," Cosby says of the key to her success, "and my most prized attribute is that I don't need a lot of sleep."
Does Ted Danson, whose title character in the popular CBS sitcom "Becker" often is seen smoking, smoke off the set, too?
James Hughes, Winn, Mich.
No. The cigarettes used on "Becker" are fake. The smoking plays to the irascible doctor's contrary nature. "I love that he genuinely cares about people's health, and he smokes," Danson says.
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BIRTHDAYS
December 15: Tim Conway, 69
December 16: Benjamin Bratt, 39
December 17: Milla Jovovich, 27; Giovanni Ribisi, 28
December 18: Christina Aguilera, 22; Katie Holmes, 24; Steven Spielberg, 56; Keith Richards, 59
December 19: Jake Gyllenhaal, 22; Alyssa Milano, 30
December 20: Anita Baker, 45
December 21: Kiefer Sutherland, 36; Ray Romano, 45; Samuel L. Jackson, 54; Jane Fonda, 65
 Ask Lorrie Lynch a question about a celeb!
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