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Showbiz Tonight

Peter Jennings Announces He Has Cancer; Spears, Federline Plan to Star in Reality Show

Aired April 05, 2005 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST: Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon live.
KARYN BRYANT, CO-HOST: Plus, Britney`s brand-new reality. I`m Karyn Bryant.

HAMMER: I`m A.J. Hammer. This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

BRYANT: Stunning news about Peter Jennings and what it means for the future of ABC News.

HAMMER: Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon. Their new movie, "Fever Pitch," has comedy, romance and one major league miracle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, "FEVER PITCH": If we were have to put in the script that the Red Sox won the World Series, people would have said, yes, right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Drew and Jimmy right here live.

BRYANT: Britney gets real. We`ll tell you why you`re about to see a lot more of Mr. and Mrs. Federline.

HAMMER: Rob Thomas live on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. The Matchbox 20 singer strikes out on his own. We`ll hear about his new album and what it`s like to go solo.

BRYANT: Victoria tells a new secret. The supermodels were there, so was SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI KLUM, MODEL: Hi. I`m Heidi Klum. If it happened today, it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Hi. I`m A.J. Hammer, and you are at the top of the show.

BRYANT: I`m Karyn Bryant. We are live with you from Headline Prime studios in New York City for the next hour.

HAMMER: Well, the news tonight is about the ABC anchor who delivers the news.

BRYANT: Peter Jennings revealed today he`s battling lung cancer. For the very latest, let`s get right to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer.

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: Karyn and A.J., it`s been a very sad day at ABC News today and for the viewers who`ve gotten to know and trust Peter Jennings over the decades he`s been behind the anchor desk. Just minutes ago on "World News Tonight," Jennings talked to those viewers about his illness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER JENNINGS, ANCHOR, "WORLD NEWS TONIGHT": I have learned in the last couple of days that I have lung cancer. Yes, I was a smoker until about 20 years ago. And I was weak and I smoked over 9/11. But whatever the reason, the news does slow you down a bit. I`ve been reminding my colleagues today, who have all been incredibly supportive, but almost 10 million Americans are already living with cancer, and I have a lot to learn from them. And living is the key word.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAFFENREFFER: Jennings, who is 66 years old, plans to stay in the anchor chair during what will likely be a difficult battle for the veteran newsman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Jennings first informed his bosses immediately after he got the diagnosis yesterday. He then told the staff by e-mail this morning. "I begin chemotherapy next week. I will continue to do the broadcast. There will be good days and bad, which means that some days, I may be cranky, and some days really cranky." On a more serious note, he goes on to say, quote, "Hundreds of you have been like family. It feels good to have such a family right now."

"CBS Evening News" anchor Bob Schieffer has a unique perspective on Jennings`s situation. He`s also a cancer survivor. He was treated for bladder cancer in 2003.

BOB SCHIEFFER, ANCHOR, "CBS EVENING NEWS": I think the hardest thing for me was just saying out loud, I have cancer. And once you kind of get that out and come to terms with it, then you just have to focus on it and take it day by day.

HAFFENREFFER: Jennings has been the anchor on "World News Tonight" since 1983. And since he burst on the scene as a fresh-faced young reporter in the 1960s, he`s covered breaking stories throughout the world. But he hasn`t been able to do that lately. ABC says Jennings was too sick to cover the pope`s death this weekend. But it wasn`t until yesterday afternoon that he learned he had lung cancer, the No. 1 cancer killer in the U.s.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Six out of ten people within the first year or two will still die of lung cancer, even with therapy and even with treatment. So it`s obviously something that they`re going to be jumping on very quickly.

HAFFENREFFER: ABC says Jennings will continue to anchor "World News Tonight" while he`s being treated. "Good Morning America" anchor Charlie Gibson or "20/20" anchor Elizabeth Vargas will fill in as needed. But no one is counting out Jennings yet. In a statement, "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams said, quote, "Peter is a friend and the best of competitors. It will take more than this to scare the man I know. Our industry will not be the same until he has permanently returned to his broadcast." And former "NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw says, "Peter is an old friend. I`m heart-broken. But he`s also a tough guy. I`m counting on him getting through this very difficult passage."

CNN`s Jeff Greenfield worked with Jennings at ABC for 14 years. He says Jennings probably wouldn`t like all this attention.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I can`t imagine that he wants the focus to be kept on himself. I`m sure he recognizes a network news anchor is a highly visible person, but this is not a guy who`s going to be covering his own treatment and return, you know, as though this were the big story.

HAFFENREFFER: Still, Schieffer says, talking publicly about his own cancer scare helped him get through it, and he says Jennings should do the same. Schieffer also has one more bit of advice for his counterpart.

SCHIEFFER: I think if he just takes it day by day and tries to keep his spirit up, I think he can make his way through this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAFFENREFFER: And we just saw that Jennings is getting will wishes from his fellow journalists. He`s also getting them from fans. Both abc.com and aol.com say they`re getting tons of messages from those who wish Jennings a speedy recovery. We do, as well -- A.J.

HAMMER: OK, David. Tough story. Thanks very much.

Time now for "SHOWBIZ Shorts," a look at more stories that are making news tonight. And we start off with a "Desperate" edit. The producers of "Desperate Housewives" made a quick sound edit to Sunday`s show after the pope died. In the episode, Marcia Cross`s character says at a funeral, "You have to hand it to the Catholics. They do grief better than anyone." Here is the edited version.

Well, the edited version said -- the line was changed from "Catholics" to "Gabby and Carlos." The show`s executive producer said they were happy to make the last-second fix out of sensitivity.

Nirvana is going to the Library of Congress, of all places. It was announced today that the band`s 1991 album "Never Mind" is among 50 recordings being added to the national recording registry. Albums by the Beach Boys and Public Enemy also made the cut.

BRYANT: If you haven`t been getting your Britney Spears fix, things are about to change. Phew! Today, she and her husband, Kevin Federline, announced they`ll be starring in their very own reality show on UPN. That`s right, Britney is getting very real.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Britney Spears is fed up with the tabloids, sick of the gossip and ready to set the record straight. Britney and hubby Kevin Federline are calling their reality show on UPN a "documentation of love." And what they`d love to do is tell the Britney rumor mill to shut up. Spears said today in a statement ever since she and Kevin hooked up, there have been, quote, "constant rumors and inaccurate speculation about our lives together. I feel that last year, the tabloids ran my life, and I am really excited about showing my fans what really happens."

MARC PEYSER, "NEWSWEEK": Yes, she thinks it`s about setting the record straight. I really think it`s about getting attention for herself. My guess is that she really wants to be on television more than she is, and she is trying to, obviously, get the message out a little bit she really, really, really loves her husband. The problem is, the more you say it, the less people believe it.

BRYANT: UPN apparently believes it and says Britney is a perfect fit for its network. The show will give viewers an exclusive look at Britney and Kevin`s love story, complete with never-before-seen private home videos they shot themselves from the start of their canoodling to their trip down the aisle. But can the newlyweds, Britney and Kevin, match up to those other newlyweds, Nick and Jessica, or even the Osbournes? Reality check!

CRAIG THOMASHOFF, "TV GUIDE": When you watch the Osbournes, hey, there`s an edge. When you watch Nick and Jessica, you know, there`s an edge. The news that this is going to be Britney and Kevin`s home videos doesn`t exactly get people excited. I mean, if you`re going to show home videos, let`s see Tommy and Pamela Lee`s home videos.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRYANT: Britney`s new reality show doesn`t have a name yet or an official air date. UPN says they hope to premiere it before the season ends next month. And MTV networks also plans to pick up the show for a marathon special.

And all this brings us to the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Britney Spears`s reality show: Will you watch it? Keep voting -- or start voting at cnn.com/showbiztonight and send your e-mails our way at showbiztonight@cnn.com. We`ll share some of what you had to say at 55 past the hour.

HAMMER: Well, tonight, Natalie Portman is baring it all. In the new issue of "w" magazine, Portman speaks out about a controversial kiss at the Wailing Wall in Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): She says it wasn`t something she would have done in everyday life. While shooting her new movie, "Free Zone," Natalie Portman was caught kissing her co-star by the religious Wailing Wall in Israel. Outraged worshipers nearby lambasted her, causing the film to change locations. In this month`s "W" magazine, the Israeli-born Portman tells her side of the story to "W" senior editor Jenny Comita.

JENNY COMITA, SENIOR EDITOR, "W" MAGAZINE: The filming schedule was so hectic and she was running from shoot to shoot. And as soon as people around her started complaining, they moved. And she said that it sort of got blown out of proportion in the press.

HAMMER: The 23-year-old Golden Globe winner and Oscar-nominated actress for her role in "Closer" felt apologetic, but harsh words from the press haven`t stopped her from moving on. Madonna music livened up her "W" photo shoot, and as you can see, Portman`s not just a girl anymore. The Harvard grad manages her life and career like a woman beyond her years.

COMITA: Natalie`s sort of the anti-Paris Hilton. You`ll never see her out at a club, dancing on tables. You`re more likely to see her in a book store.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER: You can catch Portman in "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith," which finally opens next month. "W" magazine will hit stands on Friday.

BRYANT: The stars of "Fever Pitch" are on deck here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon will be here live on set to talk about love and baseball and more. Of course, that`s next.

HAMMER: Plus, Rob Thomas minus Matchbox 20. He`s got a new solo record, and he`ll also be here live. That`s coming up a bit later on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

BRYANT: First, though, tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly Great American Pop Culture Quiz." Which pop chanteuse made a cameo appearance at a party in the 2003 film "Mona Lisa Smile"? Was it A, Sarah McLachlan, B, Tori Amos, C, Madonna, or D, Bette Midler? We will be right back with the answer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRYANT: Welcome back. So again, tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly Great American Pop Culture Quiz." Which pop chanteuse made a cameo appearance at a party in the 2003 film "Mona Lisa Smile"? Was it Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, Madonna or Bette Midler? The answer is C, Tori Amos.

HAMMER: Well, of course, it made headlines across the country. The Boston Red Sox finally broke the "Curse of the Bambino" and won the World Series after 86 years. And wouldn`t you know it, the cast of "Fever Pitch," which opens up on Friday, were right there in the thick of it. Drew Barrymore plays Lindsey, who`s a woman who finds her career but not her soulmate, until she meets school teacher Ben, played by Jimmy Fallon, who seems like the one, until she finds out about a little -- or rather, large obsession that he has involving an entire baseball team.

Jimmy and Drew joining us live in our SHOWBIZ dugout. We created the SHOWBIZ dugout just...

JIMMY FALLON, "FEVER PITCH": (UNINTELLIGIBLE) conversation pit!

HAMMER: ... as a thematic thing...

DREW BARRYMORE, "FEVER PITCH": (UNINTELLIGIBLE) conversation pit.

HAMMER: ... for this movie.

(CROSSTALK)

HAMMER: That`s very, very good.

FALLON: Thanks, pal.

HAMMER: A trained professional. So the movie opens up on Friday. Baseball season opened up this week. The Yankees and the Red Sox kicked it all off.

BARRYMORE: Yes.

HAMMER: Please tell me you planned all of that out and that was the master scheme of this.

BARRYMORE: Well, I mean, you know what the most amazing thing for us is, is that there was talk of doing this film next year. There were other directors. This film was set to go in different times with different people. And the serendipitous...

FALLON: They just happened to pick this year. Like, this will never happen again in the history of sports, I don`t think.

BARRYMORE: It wouldn`t be the same movie, in a lot of senses, last year or next year. It was just a culmination of so many magical things coming together. And so...

HAMMER: True serendipity.

BARRYMORE: True serendipity.

FALLON: Yes.

HAMMER: True serendipity.

(CROSSTALK)

FALLON: We`re trying to -- I`m going to try to film a Cubs movie every year for the next 10 years.

(LAUGHTER)

FALLON: I have it in my schedule...

HAMMER: And see if that works something along...

FALLON: Hopefully, one of them will click, yes.

HAMMER: I don`t know if that`s going to happen. Well, as I mentioned, Drew, of course, you play a woman who thinks she`s found her guy. And Jimmy, you play a guy who`s really obsessed with the Boston Red Sox.

FALLON: Yes, I mean...

HAMMER: To see how obsessed, let`s take a look at this clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "FEVER PITCH")

BARRYMORE: OK, OK, OK.

FALLON: La, la, la, la, la, la, la!

(CROSSTALK)

BARRYMORE: OK, it`s stopped. It`s stopped. Stop it. Stop it!

FALLON: Thank you.

BARRYMORE: Yes. Ben tapes the Red Sox games, so he doesn`t want to know the score and he can`t cover his own ears because he`s got lobster fingers, so I do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Do you do that in real life? Do you ever...

FALLON: Well, yes. I mean, yes. I mean, if you`re taping the game, you don`t want to know what happened, yes.

HAMMER: Well, now, did you tape...

FALLON: How rude!

HAMMER: ... this afternoon? Because I`m going to tell you what happened.

FALLON: La, la, la, la, la, la, la!

HAMMER: So you know the Sox lost again.

FALLON: I heard, yes.

HAMMER: The second game 4 to 3.

FALLON: Yes. But it was a beautiful day today. I saw a little bit because I was (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I was glancing at the TV, and it was, like, a gorgeous -- this is, like, a real opening day because...

HAMMER: Perfect baseball day.

FALLON: It was a perfect baseball day. It was green grass and it was cool. It was, like -- you know, there`s nothing (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the best rivalry in sports is, you know, Boston-Yankees. I mean, like, you see all these sports fans now in New York walking around because it`s opening day, it`s baseball season. It`s, like, this movie is about those fans. This movie is about you.

HAMMER: And you got to experience the fans firsthand. You had, of course, to shoot at a Red Sox game, but you only got one to shoot at. It just happened to be the winning game of the World Series.

BARRYMORE: Well, actually, no, we shot at -- all the games in our film are live games. And we sat there with just the two of us and a walkie-talkie to Peter Farrelly and Bobby and...

FALLON: Five or six games.

BARRYMORE: And yes. But then we would stop, and then when they weren`t playing, do some of the dialogue so we didn`t distract the players and the fans.

HAMMER: OK, but you were...

(CROSSTALK)

HAMMER: ... when they won.

FALLON: Yes, game four...

BARRYMORE: That was the real game.

FALLON: Yes, game four. We actually decided at the last minute, Peter Farrelly and Bobby were, like -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the Farrelly brothers. Sorry. I keep saying Pete and Bobby, but the Farrelly brothers directed us, and they were, like, All right, last minute, you guys are going to St. Louis just in case they win. I want you to act like, you know, the biggest -- I mean, Red Sox fans wait their whole life for this to happen. And we`re, like, OK, and we just went, drinking some beers...

(CROSSTALK)

BARRYMORE: I was just so excited to put it out on film and capture that moment and make it authentic...

(CROSSTALK)

FALLON: It`s, like, the actual win.

BARRYMORE: ... and not have it be a dramatization of the moment, you know?

HAMMER: And the obsessiveness that must have been contagious, and you probably, at that point, were not even acting. It just kind of came upon you.

BARRYMORE: It was an overwhelming historical moment that we were able to capture for the end of our film and give it back as a love letter to people who really are crazy about their teams. And whether you root for the Sox or someone else, all around this world, people have a sport and a team that affects them emotionally, affects their schedules, you know, affects their lifestyles, affects their relationships.

HAMMER: Right.

BARRYMORE: And you know, to become aware of that world and explore it in this film was just a total joyful revelation for us.

FALLON: Yes. It`s like a really feel-good romantic comedy that`s, like -- actually has some real moments in it -- in fact, a real comedy. People actually (UNINTELLIGIBLE) guys, if they date girls, eventually, they have to root for your team.

HAMMER: Right.

FALLON: You got to, like, say, Look, honey...

HAMMER: This is part of the package.

FALLON: ... here`s the jersey. Here`s the hat. That`s Kobe. Now you`re a Laker fan.

BARRYMORE: And for girls who, like, don`t -- you know, aren`t into sports, like I was, you know, now when I see -- I was playing craps the other night in Vegas, and I look up and there`s this guy with a Cubs shirt on. And I immediately wanted to be, like, You got to go see this movie...

(CROSSTALK)

BARRYMORE: ... you know, because it`s, like, when I see the people in the paraphernalia, I have an insight into their lifestyle. And I am so endeared and understanding now.

HAMMER: Yes, you understand it...

(CROSSTALK)

HAMMER: ... a real experience. Were you ever with a guy in a relationship with somebody so obsessed with something that you had to kind of put the kibosh on either the guy or that thing?

BARRYMORE: No, but I think that of all thing, sports would be, like, a completely tolerable one, you know? And I`m certainly passionate about my job, and I don`t mind spending, you know, months and weeks and days of my years of my life at my job. And I`m very passionate about it. So I think you can also trade the metaphor of baseball for something that`s in your own life, if it isn`t sports, and say, yes, when you`re in a relationship and you`re trying to meet in the middle and compromise, how much of your self do you get to keep? And it`s a very interesting question. It`s what we go through.

FALLON: Yes, it`s almost, like, if -- if your girlfriend or whatever is really, like, into, like, Headline News...

(LAUGHTER)

HAMMER: Exactly! Exactly. Like...

FALLON: And then you have to...

HAMMER: We`re very obsessed with it around here.

FALLON: You have to make it work somehow.

HAMMER: Well, the movie looks like a tremendous amount of fun. And Drew and Jimmy, I appreciate you stopping by and hanging out in our little dugout.

(CROSSTALK)

HAMMER: It`s a conversation pit, the old CP on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. And of course, "Fever Pitch" will open up on Friday -- Karyn.

BARRYMORE: Yay!

BRYANT: Well, literature and bikinis together at last. We`ll tell you Victoria`s newest secret. That is coming up. Plus: a star`s best friend. We`ll take a look at celebrity puppy love. So sit. Stay. Good boy! We`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAMMER: Rob Thomas may be going it alone, but his first single as a solo artist is called "Lonely No More." We`ll hear about his new CD without Matchbox 20 when Rob joins us live. That`s coming up.

BRYANT: Time for more "SHOWBIZ Shorts." Sean Connery shaking and stirring things up again. We learned today that Connery will reprise his role as James Bond for an upcoming videogame version of "From Russia With Love." The game will be released in the fall for Playstation II, X-Box and Game Cube.

Well, it is a Green Day kind of weekend. Green Day performs on "Saturday Night Live" this Saturday. And tickets go on sale this weekend for three arena shows that were announced today, including Giants Stadium in New Jersey and arenas in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Other dates for a major North American tour have yet to be announced.

HAMMER: It is time now for "Tuesday In Style." Now, tonight: They are some of the most loyal friends a celebrity will ever have. That`s because they`re all about unconditional love -- puppy love, that is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUBIRA SHAW, "IN STYLE" MAGAZINE: Courtney Cox and David Arquette actually have three dogs. They are two Cavalier King Charles spaniels. There`s Harley (ph) and Hopper (ph). Harley`s the one that loves to cuddle. And then they`ve got a Bernese mountain dog named Ella. And Ella, as David says, loves to sit at the feet of people she loves.

Tori Spelling has two adorable dogs. There`s a pug named Mimi Larue (ph) and a Chihuaha/Jack Russell terrier mix named Ferris (ph) that she likes to dress up in these adorable outfits, a la Shirley Temple from Doggy Styles (ph), retailing for $48 each.

Nicolette Sheridan has a new white golden retriever that was a gift from her fiance. His name is Oscar, and she says he even looks a little bit like her. And the trick she`s trying to teach him at the moment is how to fetch tissue when she sneezes.

Hillary Swank has a mixed breed named Karu (ph). And Karu likes to suit up in these boots by Queechee Bo (ph), retailing for $65 for a set of four. They`re very luxurious but sporty at the same time. Rebecca Romijn has a miniature poodle whose full name is Better Business Kisses Galore, but it`s Better for short because she says that when she got him, her life got better.

Christina Aguilera likes to tote around her dog in a quilted pampered puppy carrier by The World According to Jess (ph). It retails for $275. Kristen Davis has a golden retriever named Calle (ph), and she says that Calle actually inspires her to enjoy the simple things in life because she`s really so easy to please.

Halle Berry has two Malteses, Willie (ph) and Polly (ph). And after a bath, they like to wrap up in a waffle weave bathrobe by Queechee Bo. It retails for $59. Sheryl Crow has three mixed-breed dogs. There`s Oscar, Lucy and Scout. And what she loves about dogs is that they`re wonderfully uncomplicated. She actually says that they are all about unconditional love.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: For more information on celebrities and their pooches, plus, of course, where you can pick up some of those great outfits, you can pick up a copy of this month`s "In Style" magazine. It is on newsstands now.

BARRYMORE: We`re going to let you in on a little secret. Victoria`s Secret is out with a new project, and we`ll show you all the pretty pictures. That`s coming up.

HAMMER: Plus, Martha Stewart is under house arrest. So why does she say that she`s spending a little too much time in her car? We`re going to be taking that to the "Buzz Bench" coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

HAMMER: Rob Thomas is in good company. The Matchbox 20 lead singer is climbing the charts on his own and he`s live with us.

BRYANT: And a sexy anniversary, Heidi and Gisele share a Victoria`s Secret with us and we`ll share it with you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GISELE BUNDCHEN: Hi. I`m Gisele and if it happens today, it happens in SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It`s 30 minutes past the hour. I`m Karyn Bryant.

HAMMER: I`m AJ Hammer. Here are tonight`s hot headlines.

BRYANT: Jennings has cancer. ABC News anchor Peter Jennings revealed today that he has lung cancer. He`s expected to continue anchoring his world news tonight broadcast while undergoing chemotherapy. The 66-year-old Jennings will begin outpatient treatment next week.

HAMMER: Britney bites back. Fed up with all of the tabloid gossip about her, today she says she wants to set the record straight with a reality show. Among other things, we`ll get to see never-before-seen home video of her wedding to Kevin Federline. The show will run on UPN, which hopes to get it on the air next month.

And we have been asking you to vote on tonight`s SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Britney Spears reality show, will you watch it? You can continue to vote at cnn.com/showbiztonight. You got more to say, send us your e-mail at showbiztonight@cnn.com and we will share some of what you had to say at 55 past the hour.

BRYANT: Lots of eye candy in New York today. Some of the world`s best known super models got together to introduce a Victoria`s Secret book called "Sexy Volume Three," a tribute to a decade of sexy swimwear. Well, what`s in it? Exotic locations, skimpy swimwear and oh, yeah, those super hot supermodels. But as Gisele Bundchen tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, skin is certainly in for her and being sexy can even be a little bit dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUNDCHEN: The least amount of clothes you can wear without being naked so I guess that`s what it is. No, it is a -- a swimsuit -- I`m joking. I`m sorry. Actually, I`m not. I`m a dork a little bit. I`m a little goofy girl. I`m always like -- I almost broke my foot because I was in the rocks (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the shoes like this big thinking, like, I`m in Rio.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: Well, it may or it may not surprise you to know that even though she`s celebrating a decade of Victoria`s Secret swimwear, Heidi Klum`s idea of a great swimsuit has very little to do with the suit part.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI KLUM, MODEL: You know, we figured, you know, let`s leave the swimsuit for the catalog, for Victoria`s Secret catalog and let`s go naked for the pictures instead. It is so much more fun without it. I like the one piece but only on the bottom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: And if you`ve ever wondered what the secret in Victoria`s Secret is, supermodel Oluchi says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLUCHI, SUPERMODEL: What is the secret? It is underwear. It is sexy swimsuit. That`s the secret.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: If you`re hoping to pick up Victoria`s Secret, "Sexy Volume Three", you may be out of luck. The book of photos will only be available in limited edition to the store`s angel card customers and VIPs.

HAMMER: The VIPs were certainly out in full force at the "Sahara" premier last night in Hollywood. Time for more showbiz shorts. Penelope Cruz had an interesting date, a camel. Also there, but camel-less, co-stars Matthew McConaughey, William H. Macy and Steve Zahn. "Sahara" follows McConaughey`s Dirk Pitt character on the search for a lost civil war battle ship. The film will open this weekend.

If you want to see this year`s MTV video music video awards, you better hop your camel to Miami, Florida. The 22nd annual awards show will return to the American Airlines arena this year. They were there last year as you see right here. You can catch all of the awards and antics on August 28th and we`ve got more showbiz shorts coming up throughout the show.

BRYANT: He is the front man of the multi-platinum selling band Matchbox 20, but now Grammy award winner Rob Thomas is making music on his own. His debut solo album "Something to Be" hits stores on April 19th. Rob Thomas is here with us live at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Thank you very much everybody. It`s hearing the single now, "Lonely No More." Are you still writing songs about being lonely and angry?

ROB THOMAS, MUSICIAN: Sometimes. You`re happy because you go through something awful and you come out on the other side a better person. So as a writer, you just kind of write about those times when you`re not happy. You don`t have to live it 24 hours a day.

BRYANT: Because people don`t really respond to songs about happy people as well as they do people going through things.

THOMAS: I don`t think as many people write when they`re happy. Your best songs are brought out of uncertainty and not liking yourself sometimes. Those are where the good songs come from.

BRYANT: What is it though that you can do as Rob Thomas solo artist that you can`t do with Matchbox 20?

THOMAS: I think any band that is a real band, -- you always make concessions because everybody has to be happy. So no matter how much you love a record, it is not going to be something that everybody in the band loves. There`s going to be something, a song, a way that you did a song, some sort of an idea that you`re not happy with. And so I think it is just we all wanted a chance to go off for a year or so and do things that we were completely happy with.

BRYANT: All right. Well, you did work with John Mayer, I know that I was watching some of the behind the scenes footage of you making a record. How did that come about? Because John Mayer, I mean, popular guy, everyone loves him. Do all you musicians just sort of get on like the musician hot line, like, dude --

THOMAS: As soon as I got my record deal, I got a rock star card in the mail and everybody famous is addressing the number on it. I call them up anytime.

BRYANT: I`ve seen that.

THOMAS: George Clooney loved Batman.

BRYANT: I know that after the Grammys, you guys all - you get that.

THOMAS: Yes, it was in the Grammy gift bag (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in the gift bag, yeah.

BRYANT: No, but seriously, how did that come about?

THOMAS: I think it`s just one of the perks of living in New York. The two of us had some downtime. We kept running into each other at these kind of functions and I was a big fan. And one day I just accosted him. I was like I love if you play my own record and he said yes.

BRYANT: He`s cool and.

THOMAS: He`s 12 feet tall, a lot of people don`t know that. He`s a really tall guy, at least 14, 15 feet, 20 feet tall.

BRYANT: Because on TV, he only looks about 12 feet.

THOMAS: It`s all tricks. It`s mirrors. But he really is 25 feet tall.

BRYANT: Smoke and mirrors. You worked obviously with Carlos Santana. I know you`ve written for Marc Anthony before. This song that you just put out, it has this little feeling in it. What is going on with that?

THOMAS: It wasn`t intentional. It doesn`t fit the rest of the record in that sense. But I do believe -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it is like an E minor with a B and a G and you put it together and it just feels kind of - and I like it so much, I have to put it on at least one of every album that I make.

BRYANT: It`s great because I had it in today and some people were walking by my office and I don`t think they realized that it was a little white boy singing it. Do you know what I`m saying?

THOMAS: Some songs -- also like you have songs in there for your head or they`re for your heart and this song is for.

BRYANT: We can see booty here. All right. Cool. So I wanted to ask one last quick question. You put out a dual disc which has a lot of information on both sides. Is this a reaction to the downloading and the stealing of records? Are you trying to give your fans something more for their dollar?

THOMAS: I think so. You can`t complain about downloading without understanding that on this side of the fence you have some responsibility for it. You got to make your CDs have to be a little more available. You have to make them cost a little less. You have to make your tickets per show cost a little less and at the same time, you have to give them a little bit more. So I think it is at least an answer, saying that we realize that there is a problem with the new - with the way the model is working right now and we want to try and give you something more.

BRYANT: All right. Well, I`m sure they`ll appreciate it. Thanks for joining us here, Rob Thomas. Again, the album called "Something to Be" is in stores April 19th.

HAMMER: Nice to see Rob and we learn something about John Mayer, 18 feet tall, who knew? Well, Martha Stewart thinks there`s something to be said about the terms of her house arrest.

And Al Gore`s got a new job. Does our buzz bench think it`s a good thing? You`ll find out coming up next.

BRYANT: And can you see me now? TV comes to cell phones -- so will users tune in? That`s in the show`s biz.

HAMMER: And now to see what you tuned into, Nielsen ratings just out today for last week`s shows. As we will be doing every Tuesday, here`s your first look at the network`s top 10. CBS` crime scene drama "CSI" at the top, followed by Tuesday and Wednesday night`s "American Idol," which tied ABC`s "Desperate Housewives." It was the first new episode in more than a month. "Without a Trace" rounded out the top five. "Survivor" came in at six, Fox`s medical drama "House" at seven, and "Gray`s Anatomy," which airs after "Desperate Housewives" at eight. The NCAA semifinal basketball game between North Carolina and Michigan State was at nine. North Carolina won the national championship last night and finally, "Lost," the show, rounded out the top 10.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAMMER: It`s time now for the buzz bench, where today`s entertainment chatter takes center stage.

BRYANT: Tonight, Britney and Kevin have a new reality series, Martha has a new complaint and Al Gore has a new cable channel.

HAMMER: Joining the buzz bench is "The New York Times`" Lola Ogunnaike, "Rolling Stones`" Joe Levy and "Entertainment Weekly`s" Jessica Shaw.

BRYANT: As we told you earlier, Britney Spears and her husband Kevin Federline are going to tell their love story their way. They`re going to be putting out a six-episode reality show featuring their own video, their own home movies, everything from the dating to the wedding. What do you think of it?

JESSICA SHAW, ENTERTAINMENT WEEEKLY: Finally we get to see Britney and Kevin`s home videos. Are you psyched? She was -- they claim they were really worried, they felt like people were invading their privacy and there were all these misleading stories about them. But my feeling is, if people are invading your privacy, the best solution is not to go on a reality show.

BRYANT: Right. You might just want to power down, pull back a little instead of going more forward.

LOLA OGUNNAIKE, NEW YORK TIMES: Imagine all the amazing tidbits we`re going to see. We`re going to get to watch Britney walk through nasty gas stations barefoot, watch her take pregnancy tests.

JOE LEVY, ROLLING STONE: Oh, God, you really cut to the chase there. That is something I want to see.

OGUNNAIKE: The baby`s momma might come by with an attitude. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

LEVY: There are no catfights, except in my mind. We`re not going to get to see anything racy or dicey or embarrassing because they shot all of this. And they control all of it and they`re executive producers on the show. This is Britney and Kevin`s story according to Britney. I don`t think that`s the way we`re most interested. I think this is a little terrifying and sad.

SHAW: It is also on UPN and I kind of feel like either that`s really good news for UPN or really bad news for Britney.

LEVY: They it shopped around.

OGUNNAIKE: UPN is the home of the starlet and America`s next top model. It gets catty on that network. They`re not afraid to go there.

BRYANT: . is going to also be picking them up and there will be new things shot Joe as well, not just the video that they had already filmed.

LEVY: It`s true. There will be new things shot and Britney and Kevin will be hosting some of those new things. They have too much control on this. We`re interested in Nick and Jessica because it is embarrassing. Jessica says something stupid and she doesn`t have the right to say, y`all, I didn`t mean that. Let`s take that out.

SHAW: Also it hasn`t been proven yet that Kevin can actually speak.

BRYANT: True.

SHAW: We know what he is capable of doing.

HAMMER: From one reality show to another impending reality show, of course Martha Stewart begged the judge to end her punishment immediately so she can begin to help rebuild her struggling company. First she wanted the ankle bracelet off and now she says that the 48 hours she is allowed out of the house just not enough time to do all the things she has to do.

LEVY: And those things include by the way, shopping for essentials. Look in here defense, one of the things she says is I didn`t know the commuting time was going to count on my time out of the house. Huh? If you`re out of the house it counts on your time out of the house. On the one hand, if Martha Stewart ends up doing more hard time than the criminals who ran Enron and WorldCom, that would be an injustice. On the other hand, if somebody takes her ankle bracelet off now that she`s been found guilty and has done five months of soft time and has to stay home for five months, that would be an injustice too. This is bogus. She wants the ankle bracelet off so she has more time to run her company and film the next season of THE APPRENTICE.

OGUNNAIKE: I love that Martha was nice for a day and now she`s back to being demanding again. It is just so genius. She`s like I`m going have the poncho, I`m going to wave. I`m going to bring cupcakes out to my fans and then two days later she`s like get this damn thing off.

BRYANT: I thought she would have had a helicopter anyway to cut down on the commute time.

LEVY: I was starting to like her. Like I felt bad for her.

HAMMER: But aren`t her lawyers doing their job and really anybody in her position, they`re going to try to get it shot down. It is not doing anything -- there is nothing wrong happening by doing this.

LEVY: Anything wrong by making a request? There is nothing wrong with making the request except that part of the request is that she needs more time to shop for essentials.

OGUNNAIKE: And needs more time to work. And she wants to visit her ailing mother.

(CROSSTALK)

LEVY: She has 48 hours a week to hang out with her mom and go to church. That`s plenty.

BRYANT: All right. We`re moving on.

SHAW: Also like -- invite mommy over for breakfast.

OGUNNAIKE: She`s 90. She`s not like running around town.

BRYANT: We`re moving on. Former vice president Al Gore will have his own television channel. It`s going to start up in August. It`s called Current, targeting 18 to 49 years olds.

LEVY: This is 24 hour a day footage of Al Gore, isn`t it?

BRYANT: No it`s going to have pop culture. It`s going to have news, but it`s also going to have input from the viewers. People are going to be able to upload their own footage to air in these segments on these shows. What do you think of that?

OGUNNAIKE: Don`t we already have that show? Isn`t it called "American`s Funniest Home Video." I don`t get it.

LEVY: I also have this channel on my computer already. Look, this does not sound like that much of an innovation or that exciting. I say leave the amateur stuff online and leave the television on television.

SHAW: And also Al Gore, boring. If it is Bill Clinton`s channel, bring it on!

OGUNNAIKE: I think Paris Hilton and Pamela Anderson should do their damnedest to help get this off the ground.

BRYANT: With that, we`ll end the buzz bench. Lola, Joe and Jessica, thank you so much for joining us.

It`s a digital match, but we`re not talking online dating here. Something that will change the way you watch TV. We`re dialing up the show`s biz, next.

HAMMER: And Fran Drescher sticks it to Matthew McConaughey. That`s coming up in laughter dark.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAMMER: Well, tonight in the show`s biz, TV on your cell phone. Yes, if you thought you had seen it all on your cell, you`re wrong, because now you can not only dial in, but also tune in. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT contributor Julia Boorstin, who covers the entertainment industry for "Fortune" magazine, joins us live. Julia, it seems like this is an idea whose time has come. Give us an overview of the situation.

JULIA BOORSTIN, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT CONTRIBUTOR: Well, as you know, you can now get pretty much everything on your cell phone. You can send e- mails. You can read the news. You can even get streaming radio and now you can get streaming video as well. I think probably can get, in Japan this technology has already been out there for a while. Japanese cell phone technology is way ahead of what we have here in the U.S. and even in Europe, in London, you could already get a lot of this technology. But recently we`re starting to get streaming video technology on our phones here in the United States. And companies such as Sprint and Verizon, Nokia, with these phones, if you have a special kind of phone you can get streaming video. You can get the weather channel. You can get sports, major league baseball, and you can actually see streaming video on your phone. It is pretty amazing.

HAMMER: How good is the video quality at this point with where technology is at, at least here in the United States?

BOORSTIN: It is not fantastic here in the United States. It is pretty jittery. It`s maybe 15 frames per second, which might sound like a lot, but it looks kind of shaky. The good news is that when you`re thinking about a phone, you know, cell phone screens are really small. Cell phones are just so small and you might think that that might be a huge detractor. But what some of these companies are doing is they`re coming out with slide out screens. So you could actually have a cell phone where you can get a larger screen than the regular cell phone face. But the new technology will be introduced in the next couple of months and eventually, we`ll have broadband streaming video that`s just like watching TV.

HAMMER: So now it`s probably a little closer to like dialup when the Internet was first getting going.

BOORSTIN: Or even maybe a little bit slower than that.

HAMMER: So are there companies already out there that are specifically designing this kind of content?

BOORSTIN: There are. There`s a company called MobiTV, which has teamed up with Cingular and also with Sprint and they`re providing TV for your cell phone. They`ve teamed up with the weather channel and all these various other different channels to provide content specifically for your cell phone. And as you might guess, you`re not going want to watch a half hour show on your cell phone.

HAMMER: I was going to say, are people really going to sit there whether it be on the train or wherever, watching videos on the cell?

BOORSTIN: No one`s going to be able to sit for that long and the truth is, this is for when you`re sitting in traffic or when you`re commuting. This is not -- people are not expected to actually sit there and watch a whole show. So what MobiTV is doing is they`re creating specially tailored programs whether it is a minute long segment or a trailer for a movie that`s made to be watched on your cell phone.

HAMMER: All right. I see it as just another thing to run the battery down. But I`m sure technology will improve upon that as well. Julia, thanks for stopping by. Julia Boorstin of course from "Fortune" magazine and a SHOWBIZ TONIGHT contributor.

BRYANT: Thanks AJ. Jimmy Kimmel in search of some Latin love. That`s in laughter dark.

And there is still time for you to sound off on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Britney Spears reality show, will you watch it? You can vote at cnn.com/showbiztonight or e-mail us what`s on your mind at showbiztonight@cnn.com. We`ll read some of your thoughts live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRYANT: Reba is saying hello Dolly. Here is a just released look at Dolly Parton`s guest starring role on "Reba." The country star will show up on the WD (ph) comedy on Friday, April 15th. Dolly plays a real estate agent.

Yo, Brooklyn. Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr. are paying a visit. Today we found out that their movie "Fur" will be shot at the Steiner Studios in Brooklyn, New York. Shooting will begin this May. "Fur" of course is based on the life of photographer Diane Arbus.

HAMMER: I know you`re from the Boston area but that was pretty good. That was a pretty good Brooklyn thing. Time now to get your laugh on in laughter dark. As we do every night, we bring you the late-night laughs you might have missed.

BRYANT: First on THE TONIGHT SHOW, Fran Drescher - of course you remember her from "The Nanny." She dished about her love life and she also didn`t hold back on fellow guest Matthew McConaughey`s new romance with Penelope Cruz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRAN DRESCHER: We were together for four years. We have been apart for two years now. I`m ready. Where as Penelope is really rebounding.

MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY: Hey, gotta crash the boards, baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: The stars give each other a little helpful advice, that`s all. Fran gets to laugh. And on Jimmy Kimmel live, Jimmy delivers a pizza to the set of a Spanish dating show.

BRYANT: And he winds up as one of the bachelors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL: $22.70. What`s going on here? What kind of show are you guys doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s like a dating game.

KIMMEL: Can I be on it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can if you speak Spanish.

KIMMEL: Si, I do. [ speaking Spanish ] let me try again. Let me try again. Is that good?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: Nice dance moves, Jimmy.

HAMMER: Throughout our show, we`ve been asking you to vote online on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Britney Spears reality show -- will you watch it? Let`s see how the voting is going so far. Thirteen percent of you say yes, you will watch it, which means 87 percent of you said no, you will not watch a reality show. Among the e-mails, we got one from Jason in Newark, Delaware, you said, isn`t her 15 minutes of fame up yet? Maybe if her show flops, she`s go away. Remember, you can continue to vote at cnn.com/showbiztonight.

BRYANT: I say a good 50 percent of those 87 percent are lying. They`re going to watch.

It`s time to see what`s playing on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT tomorrow. Let`s take a look at the showbiz marquee. Marquee guy.

ANNOUNCER: 1979 comes to 2005. The Smashing Pumpkins are simply smashing the limits of music in a whole new way. Former lead singer Billy Corgan tells us how tomorrow on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

The children, well, they go to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "All My Children." Susan Lucci shows us around Pine Valley and it looks like someone gets a little fresh with her. That`s AJ.`s behind the scenes look at 15 years of "All My Children" tomorrow. This is the marquee guy saying, why? Why? How could you do this to me?

END


Aired April 5, 2005 - 19:00:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST: Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon live.
KARYN BRYANT, CO-HOST: Plus, Britney`s brand-new reality. I`m Karyn Bryant.

HAMMER: I`m A.J. Hammer. This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

BRYANT: Stunning news about Peter Jennings and what it means for the future of ABC News.

HAMMER: Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon. Their new movie, "Fever Pitch," has comedy, romance and one major league miracle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, "FEVER PITCH": If we were have to put in the script that the Red Sox won the World Series, people would have said, yes, right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Drew and Jimmy right here live.

BRYANT: Britney gets real. We`ll tell you why you`re about to see a lot more of Mr. and Mrs. Federline.

HAMMER: Rob Thomas live on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. The Matchbox 20 singer strikes out on his own. We`ll hear about his new album and what it`s like to go solo.

BRYANT: Victoria tells a new secret. The supermodels were there, so was SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI KLUM, MODEL: Hi. I`m Heidi Klum. If it happened today, it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Hi. I`m A.J. Hammer, and you are at the top of the show.

BRYANT: I`m Karyn Bryant. We are live with you from Headline Prime studios in New York City for the next hour.

HAMMER: Well, the news tonight is about the ABC anchor who delivers the news.

BRYANT: Peter Jennings revealed today he`s battling lung cancer. For the very latest, let`s get right to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer.

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: Karyn and A.J., it`s been a very sad day at ABC News today and for the viewers who`ve gotten to know and trust Peter Jennings over the decades he`s been behind the anchor desk. Just minutes ago on "World News Tonight," Jennings talked to those viewers about his illness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER JENNINGS, ANCHOR, "WORLD NEWS TONIGHT": I have learned in the last couple of days that I have lung cancer. Yes, I was a smoker until about 20 years ago. And I was weak and I smoked over 9/11. But whatever the reason, the news does slow you down a bit. I`ve been reminding my colleagues today, who have all been incredibly supportive, but almost 10 million Americans are already living with cancer, and I have a lot to learn from them. And living is the key word.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAFFENREFFER: Jennings, who is 66 years old, plans to stay in the anchor chair during what will likely be a difficult battle for the veteran newsman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Jennings first informed his bosses immediately after he got the diagnosis yesterday. He then told the staff by e-mail this morning. "I begin chemotherapy next week. I will continue to do the broadcast. There will be good days and bad, which means that some days, I may be cranky, and some days really cranky." On a more serious note, he goes on to say, quote, "Hundreds of you have been like family. It feels good to have such a family right now."

"CBS Evening News" anchor Bob Schieffer has a unique perspective on Jennings`s situation. He`s also a cancer survivor. He was treated for bladder cancer in 2003.

BOB SCHIEFFER, ANCHOR, "CBS EVENING NEWS": I think the hardest thing for me was just saying out loud, I have cancer. And once you kind of get that out and come to terms with it, then you just have to focus on it and take it day by day.

HAFFENREFFER: Jennings has been the anchor on "World News Tonight" since 1983. And since he burst on the scene as a fresh-faced young reporter in the 1960s, he`s covered breaking stories throughout the world. But he hasn`t been able to do that lately. ABC says Jennings was too sick to cover the pope`s death this weekend. But it wasn`t until yesterday afternoon that he learned he had lung cancer, the No. 1 cancer killer in the U.s.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Six out of ten people within the first year or two will still die of lung cancer, even with therapy and even with treatment. So it`s obviously something that they`re going to be jumping on very quickly.

HAFFENREFFER: ABC says Jennings will continue to anchor "World News Tonight" while he`s being treated. "Good Morning America" anchor Charlie Gibson or "20/20" anchor Elizabeth Vargas will fill in as needed. But no one is counting out Jennings yet. In a statement, "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams said, quote, "Peter is a friend and the best of competitors. It will take more than this to scare the man I know. Our industry will not be the same until he has permanently returned to his broadcast." And former "NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw says, "Peter is an old friend. I`m heart-broken. But he`s also a tough guy. I`m counting on him getting through this very difficult passage."

CNN`s Jeff Greenfield worked with Jennings at ABC for 14 years. He says Jennings probably wouldn`t like all this attention.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I can`t imagine that he wants the focus to be kept on himself. I`m sure he recognizes a network news anchor is a highly visible person, but this is not a guy who`s going to be covering his own treatment and return, you know, as though this were the big story.

HAFFENREFFER: Still, Schieffer says, talking publicly about his own cancer scare helped him get through it, and he says Jennings should do the same. Schieffer also has one more bit of advice for his counterpart.

SCHIEFFER: I think if he just takes it day by day and tries to keep his spirit up, I think he can make his way through this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAFFENREFFER: And we just saw that Jennings is getting will wishes from his fellow journalists. He`s also getting them from fans. Both abc.com and aol.com say they`re getting tons of messages from those who wish Jennings a speedy recovery. We do, as well -- A.J.

HAMMER: OK, David. Tough story. Thanks very much.

Time now for "SHOWBIZ Shorts," a look at more stories that are making news tonight. And we start off with a "Desperate" edit. The producers of "Desperate Housewives" made a quick sound edit to Sunday`s show after the pope died. In the episode, Marcia Cross`s character says at a funeral, "You have to hand it to the Catholics. They do grief better than anyone." Here is the edited version.

Well, the edited version said -- the line was changed from "Catholics" to "Gabby and Carlos." The show`s executive producer said they were happy to make the last-second fix out of sensitivity.

Nirvana is going to the Library of Congress, of all places. It was announced today that the band`s 1991 album "Never Mind" is among 50 recordings being added to the national recording registry. Albums by the Beach Boys and Public Enemy also made the cut.

BRYANT: If you haven`t been getting your Britney Spears fix, things are about to change. Phew! Today, she and her husband, Kevin Federline, announced they`ll be starring in their very own reality show on UPN. That`s right, Britney is getting very real.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Britney Spears is fed up with the tabloids, sick of the gossip and ready to set the record straight. Britney and hubby Kevin Federline are calling their reality show on UPN a "documentation of love." And what they`d love to do is tell the Britney rumor mill to shut up. Spears said today in a statement ever since she and Kevin hooked up, there have been, quote, "constant rumors and inaccurate speculation about our lives together. I feel that last year, the tabloids ran my life, and I am really excited about showing my fans what really happens."

MARC PEYSER, "NEWSWEEK": Yes, she thinks it`s about setting the record straight. I really think it`s about getting attention for herself. My guess is that she really wants to be on television more than she is, and she is trying to, obviously, get the message out a little bit she really, really, really loves her husband. The problem is, the more you say it, the less people believe it.

BRYANT: UPN apparently believes it and says Britney is a perfect fit for its network. The show will give viewers an exclusive look at Britney and Kevin`s love story, complete with never-before-seen private home videos they shot themselves from the start of their canoodling to their trip down the aisle. But can the newlyweds, Britney and Kevin, match up to those other newlyweds, Nick and Jessica, or even the Osbournes? Reality check!

CRAIG THOMASHOFF, "TV GUIDE": When you watch the Osbournes, hey, there`s an edge. When you watch Nick and Jessica, you know, there`s an edge. The news that this is going to be Britney and Kevin`s home videos doesn`t exactly get people excited. I mean, if you`re going to show home videos, let`s see Tommy and Pamela Lee`s home videos.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRYANT: Britney`s new reality show doesn`t have a name yet or an official air date. UPN says they hope to premiere it before the season ends next month. And MTV networks also plans to pick up the show for a marathon special.

And all this brings us to the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Britney Spears`s reality show: Will you watch it? Keep voting -- or start voting at cnn.com/showbiztonight and send your e-mails our way at showbiztonight@cnn.com. We`ll share some of what you had to say at 55 past the hour.

HAMMER: Well, tonight, Natalie Portman is baring it all. In the new issue of "w" magazine, Portman speaks out about a controversial kiss at the Wailing Wall in Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): She says it wasn`t something she would have done in everyday life. While shooting her new movie, "Free Zone," Natalie Portman was caught kissing her co-star by the religious Wailing Wall in Israel. Outraged worshipers nearby lambasted her, causing the film to change locations. In this month`s "W" magazine, the Israeli-born Portman tells her side of the story to "W" senior editor Jenny Comita.

JENNY COMITA, SENIOR EDITOR, "W" MAGAZINE: The filming schedule was so hectic and she was running from shoot to shoot. And as soon as people around her started complaining, they moved. And she said that it sort of got blown out of proportion in the press.

HAMMER: The 23-year-old Golden Globe winner and Oscar-nominated actress for her role in "Closer" felt apologetic, but harsh words from the press haven`t stopped her from moving on. Madonna music livened up her "W" photo shoot, and as you can see, Portman`s not just a girl anymore. The Harvard grad manages her life and career like a woman beyond her years.

COMITA: Natalie`s sort of the anti-Paris Hilton. You`ll never see her out at a club, dancing on tables. You`re more likely to see her in a book store.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER: You can catch Portman in "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith," which finally opens next month. "W" magazine will hit stands on Friday.

BRYANT: The stars of "Fever Pitch" are on deck here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon will be here live on set to talk about love and baseball and more. Of course, that`s next.

HAMMER: Plus, Rob Thomas minus Matchbox 20. He`s got a new solo record, and he`ll also be here live. That`s coming up a bit later on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

BRYANT: First, though, tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly Great American Pop Culture Quiz." Which pop chanteuse made a cameo appearance at a party in the 2003 film "Mona Lisa Smile"? Was it A, Sarah McLachlan, B, Tori Amos, C, Madonna, or D, Bette Midler? We will be right back with the answer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRYANT: Welcome back. So again, tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly Great American Pop Culture Quiz." Which pop chanteuse made a cameo appearance at a party in the 2003 film "Mona Lisa Smile"? Was it Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, Madonna or Bette Midler? The answer is C, Tori Amos.

HAMMER: Well, of course, it made headlines across the country. The Boston Red Sox finally broke the "Curse of the Bambino" and won the World Series after 86 years. And wouldn`t you know it, the cast of "Fever Pitch," which opens up on Friday, were right there in the thick of it. Drew Barrymore plays Lindsey, who`s a woman who finds her career but not her soulmate, until she meets school teacher Ben, played by Jimmy Fallon, who seems like the one, until she finds out about a little -- or rather, large obsession that he has involving an entire baseball team.

Jimmy and Drew joining us live in our SHOWBIZ dugout. We created the SHOWBIZ dugout just...

JIMMY FALLON, "FEVER PITCH": (UNINTELLIGIBLE) conversation pit!

HAMMER: ... as a thematic thing...

DREW BARRYMORE, "FEVER PITCH": (UNINTELLIGIBLE) conversation pit.

HAMMER: ... for this movie.

(CROSSTALK)

HAMMER: That`s very, very good.

FALLON: Thanks, pal.

HAMMER: A trained professional. So the movie opens up on Friday. Baseball season opened up this week. The Yankees and the Red Sox kicked it all off.

BARRYMORE: Yes.

HAMMER: Please tell me you planned all of that out and that was the master scheme of this.

BARRYMORE: Well, I mean, you know what the most amazing thing for us is, is that there was talk of doing this film next year. There were other directors. This film was set to go in different times with different people. And the serendipitous...

FALLON: They just happened to pick this year. Like, this will never happen again in the history of sports, I don`t think.

BARRYMORE: It wouldn`t be the same movie, in a lot of senses, last year or next year. It was just a culmination of so many magical things coming together. And so...

HAMMER: True serendipity.

BARRYMORE: True serendipity.

FALLON: Yes.

HAMMER: True serendipity.

(CROSSTALK)

FALLON: We`re trying to -- I`m going to try to film a Cubs movie every year for the next 10 years.

(LAUGHTER)

FALLON: I have it in my schedule...

HAMMER: And see if that works something along...

FALLON: Hopefully, one of them will click, yes.

HAMMER: I don`t know if that`s going to happen. Well, as I mentioned, Drew, of course, you play a woman who thinks she`s found her guy. And Jimmy, you play a guy who`s really obsessed with the Boston Red Sox.

FALLON: Yes, I mean...

HAMMER: To see how obsessed, let`s take a look at this clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "FEVER PITCH")

BARRYMORE: OK, OK, OK.

FALLON: La, la, la, la, la, la, la!

(CROSSTALK)

BARRYMORE: OK, it`s stopped. It`s stopped. Stop it. Stop it!

FALLON: Thank you.

BARRYMORE: Yes. Ben tapes the Red Sox games, so he doesn`t want to know the score and he can`t cover his own ears because he`s got lobster fingers, so I do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Do you do that in real life? Do you ever...

FALLON: Well, yes. I mean, yes. I mean, if you`re taping the game, you don`t want to know what happened, yes.

HAMMER: Well, now, did you tape...

FALLON: How rude!

HAMMER: ... this afternoon? Because I`m going to tell you what happened.

FALLON: La, la, la, la, la, la, la!

HAMMER: So you know the Sox lost again.

FALLON: I heard, yes.

HAMMER: The second game 4 to 3.

FALLON: Yes. But it was a beautiful day today. I saw a little bit because I was (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I was glancing at the TV, and it was, like, a gorgeous -- this is, like, a real opening day because...

HAMMER: Perfect baseball day.

FALLON: It was a perfect baseball day. It was green grass and it was cool. It was, like -- you know, there`s nothing (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the best rivalry in sports is, you know, Boston-Yankees. I mean, like, you see all these sports fans now in New York walking around because it`s opening day, it`s baseball season. It`s, like, this movie is about those fans. This movie is about you.

HAMMER: And you got to experience the fans firsthand. You had, of course, to shoot at a Red Sox game, but you only got one to shoot at. It just happened to be the winning game of the World Series.

BARRYMORE: Well, actually, no, we shot at -- all the games in our film are live games. And we sat there with just the two of us and a walkie-talkie to Peter Farrelly and Bobby and...

FALLON: Five or six games.

BARRYMORE: And yes. But then we would stop, and then when they weren`t playing, do some of the dialogue so we didn`t distract the players and the fans.

HAMMER: OK, but you were...

(CROSSTALK)

HAMMER: ... when they won.

FALLON: Yes, game four...

BARRYMORE: That was the real game.

FALLON: Yes, game four. We actually decided at the last minute, Peter Farrelly and Bobby were, like -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the Farrelly brothers. Sorry. I keep saying Pete and Bobby, but the Farrelly brothers directed us, and they were, like, All right, last minute, you guys are going to St. Louis just in case they win. I want you to act like, you know, the biggest -- I mean, Red Sox fans wait their whole life for this to happen. And we`re, like, OK, and we just went, drinking some beers...

(CROSSTALK)

BARRYMORE: I was just so excited to put it out on film and capture that moment and make it authentic...

(CROSSTALK)

FALLON: It`s, like, the actual win.

BARRYMORE: ... and not have it be a dramatization of the moment, you know?

HAMMER: And the obsessiveness that must have been contagious, and you probably, at that point, were not even acting. It just kind of came upon you.

BARRYMORE: It was an overwhelming historical moment that we were able to capture for the end of our film and give it back as a love letter to people who really are crazy about their teams. And whether you root for the Sox or someone else, all around this world, people have a sport and a team that affects them emotionally, affects their schedules, you know, affects their lifestyles, affects their relationships.

HAMMER: Right.

BARRYMORE: And you know, to become aware of that world and explore it in this film was just a total joyful revelation for us.

FALLON: Yes. It`s like a really feel-good romantic comedy that`s, like -- actually has some real moments in it -- in fact, a real comedy. People actually (UNINTELLIGIBLE) guys, if they date girls, eventually, they have to root for your team.

HAMMER: Right.

FALLON: You got to, like, say, Look, honey...

HAMMER: This is part of the package.

FALLON: ... here`s the jersey. Here`s the hat. That`s Kobe. Now you`re a Laker fan.

BARRYMORE: And for girls who, like, don`t -- you know, aren`t into sports, like I was, you know, now when I see -- I was playing craps the other night in Vegas, and I look up and there`s this guy with a Cubs shirt on. And I immediately wanted to be, like, You got to go see this movie...

(CROSSTALK)

BARRYMORE: ... you know, because it`s, like, when I see the people in the paraphernalia, I have an insight into their lifestyle. And I am so endeared and understanding now.

HAMMER: Yes, you understand it...

(CROSSTALK)

HAMMER: ... a real experience. Were you ever with a guy in a relationship with somebody so obsessed with something that you had to kind of put the kibosh on either the guy or that thing?

BARRYMORE: No, but I think that of all thing, sports would be, like, a completely tolerable one, you know? And I`m certainly passionate about my job, and I don`t mind spending, you know, months and weeks and days of my years of my life at my job. And I`m very passionate about it. So I think you can also trade the metaphor of baseball for something that`s in your own life, if it isn`t sports, and say, yes, when you`re in a relationship and you`re trying to meet in the middle and compromise, how much of your self do you get to keep? And it`s a very interesting question. It`s what we go through.

FALLON: Yes, it`s almost, like, if -- if your girlfriend or whatever is really, like, into, like, Headline News...

(LAUGHTER)

HAMMER: Exactly! Exactly. Like...

FALLON: And then you have to...

HAMMER: We`re very obsessed with it around here.

FALLON: You have to make it work somehow.

HAMMER: Well, the movie looks like a tremendous amount of fun. And Drew and Jimmy, I appreciate you stopping by and hanging out in our little dugout.

(CROSSTALK)

HAMMER: It`s a conversation pit, the old CP on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. And of course, "Fever Pitch" will open up on Friday -- Karyn.

BARRYMORE: Yay!

BRYANT: Well, literature and bikinis together at last. We`ll tell you Victoria`s newest secret. That is coming up. Plus: a star`s best friend. We`ll take a look at celebrity puppy love. So sit. Stay. Good boy! We`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAMMER: Rob Thomas may be going it alone, but his first single as a solo artist is called "Lonely No More." We`ll hear about his new CD without Matchbox 20 when Rob joins us live. That`s coming up.

BRYANT: Time for more "SHOWBIZ Shorts." Sean Connery shaking and stirring things up again. We learned today that Connery will reprise his role as James Bond for an upcoming videogame version of "From Russia With Love." The game will be released in the fall for Playstation II, X-Box and Game Cube.

Well, it is a Green Day kind of weekend. Green Day performs on "Saturday Night Live" this Saturday. And tickets go on sale this weekend for three arena shows that were announced today, including Giants Stadium in New Jersey and arenas in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Other dates for a major North American tour have yet to be announced.

HAMMER: It is time now for "Tuesday In Style." Now, tonight: They are some of the most loyal friends a celebrity will ever have. That`s because they`re all about unconditional love -- puppy love, that is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUBIRA SHAW, "IN STYLE" MAGAZINE: Courtney Cox and David Arquette actually have three dogs. They are two Cavalier King Charles spaniels. There`s Harley (ph) and Hopper (ph). Harley`s the one that loves to cuddle. And then they`ve got a Bernese mountain dog named Ella. And Ella, as David says, loves to sit at the feet of people she loves.

Tori Spelling has two adorable dogs. There`s a pug named Mimi Larue (ph) and a Chihuaha/Jack Russell terrier mix named Ferris (ph) that she likes to dress up in these adorable outfits, a la Shirley Temple from Doggy Styles (ph), retailing for $48 each.

Nicolette Sheridan has a new white golden retriever that was a gift from her fiance. His name is Oscar, and she says he even looks a little bit like her. And the trick she`s trying to teach him at the moment is how to fetch tissue when she sneezes.

Hillary Swank has a mixed breed named Karu (ph). And Karu likes to suit up in these boots by Queechee Bo (ph), retailing for $65 for a set of four. They`re very luxurious but sporty at the same time. Rebecca Romijn has a miniature poodle whose full name is Better Business Kisses Galore, but it`s Better for short because she says that when she got him, her life got better.

Christina Aguilera likes to tote around her dog in a quilted pampered puppy carrier by The World According to Jess (ph). It retails for $275. Kristen Davis has a golden retriever named Calle (ph), and she says that Calle actually inspires her to enjoy the simple things in life because she`s really so easy to please.

Halle Berry has two Malteses, Willie (ph) and Polly (ph). And after a bath, they like to wrap up in a waffle weave bathrobe by Queechee Bo. It retails for $59. Sheryl Crow has three mixed-breed dogs. There`s Oscar, Lucy and Scout. And what she loves about dogs is that they`re wonderfully uncomplicated. She actually says that they are all about unconditional love.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: For more information on celebrities and their pooches, plus, of course, where you can pick up some of those great outfits, you can pick up a copy of this month`s "In Style" magazine. It is on newsstands now.

BARRYMORE: We`re going to let you in on a little secret. Victoria`s Secret is out with a new project, and we`ll show you all the pretty pictures. That`s coming up.

HAMMER: Plus, Martha Stewart is under house arrest. So why does she say that she`s spending a little too much time in her car? We`re going to be taking that to the "Buzz Bench" coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

HAMMER: Rob Thomas is in good company. The Matchbox 20 lead singer is climbing the charts on his own and he`s live with us.

BRYANT: And a sexy anniversary, Heidi and Gisele share a Victoria`s Secret with us and we`ll share it with you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GISELE BUNDCHEN: Hi. I`m Gisele and if it happens today, it happens in SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It`s 30 minutes past the hour. I`m Karyn Bryant.

HAMMER: I`m AJ Hammer. Here are tonight`s hot headlines.

BRYANT: Jennings has cancer. ABC News anchor Peter Jennings revealed today that he has lung cancer. He`s expected to continue anchoring his world news tonight broadcast while undergoing chemotherapy. The 66-year-old Jennings will begin outpatient treatment next week.

HAMMER: Britney bites back. Fed up with all of the tabloid gossip about her, today she says she wants to set the record straight with a reality show. Among other things, we`ll get to see never-before-seen home video of her wedding to Kevin Federline. The show will run on UPN, which hopes to get it on the air next month.

And we have been asking you to vote on tonight`s SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Britney Spears reality show, will you watch it? You can continue to vote at cnn.com/showbiztonight. You got more to say, send us your e-mail at showbiztonight@cnn.com and we will share some of what you had to say at 55 past the hour.

BRYANT: Lots of eye candy in New York today. Some of the world`s best known super models got together to introduce a Victoria`s Secret book called "Sexy Volume Three," a tribute to a decade of sexy swimwear. Well, what`s in it? Exotic locations, skimpy swimwear and oh, yeah, those super hot supermodels. But as Gisele Bundchen tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, skin is certainly in for her and being sexy can even be a little bit dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUNDCHEN: The least amount of clothes you can wear without being naked so I guess that`s what it is. No, it is a -- a swimsuit -- I`m joking. I`m sorry. Actually, I`m not. I`m a dork a little bit. I`m a little goofy girl. I`m always like -- I almost broke my foot because I was in the rocks (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the shoes like this big thinking, like, I`m in Rio.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: Well, it may or it may not surprise you to know that even though she`s celebrating a decade of Victoria`s Secret swimwear, Heidi Klum`s idea of a great swimsuit has very little to do with the suit part.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI KLUM, MODEL: You know, we figured, you know, let`s leave the swimsuit for the catalog, for Victoria`s Secret catalog and let`s go naked for the pictures instead. It is so much more fun without it. I like the one piece but only on the bottom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: And if you`ve ever wondered what the secret in Victoria`s Secret is, supermodel Oluchi says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLUCHI, SUPERMODEL: What is the secret? It is underwear. It is sexy swimsuit. That`s the secret.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: If you`re hoping to pick up Victoria`s Secret, "Sexy Volume Three", you may be out of luck. The book of photos will only be available in limited edition to the store`s angel card customers and VIPs.

HAMMER: The VIPs were certainly out in full force at the "Sahara" premier last night in Hollywood. Time for more showbiz shorts. Penelope Cruz had an interesting date, a camel. Also there, but camel-less, co-stars Matthew McConaughey, William H. Macy and Steve Zahn. "Sahara" follows McConaughey`s Dirk Pitt character on the search for a lost civil war battle ship. The film will open this weekend.

If you want to see this year`s MTV video music video awards, you better hop your camel to Miami, Florida. The 22nd annual awards show will return to the American Airlines arena this year. They were there last year as you see right here. You can catch all of the awards and antics on August 28th and we`ve got more showbiz shorts coming up throughout the show.

BRYANT: He is the front man of the multi-platinum selling band Matchbox 20, but now Grammy award winner Rob Thomas is making music on his own. His debut solo album "Something to Be" hits stores on April 19th. Rob Thomas is here with us live at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Thank you very much everybody. It`s hearing the single now, "Lonely No More." Are you still writing songs about being lonely and angry?

ROB THOMAS, MUSICIAN: Sometimes. You`re happy because you go through something awful and you come out on the other side a better person. So as a writer, you just kind of write about those times when you`re not happy. You don`t have to live it 24 hours a day.

BRYANT: Because people don`t really respond to songs about happy people as well as they do people going through things.

THOMAS: I don`t think as many people write when they`re happy. Your best songs are brought out of uncertainty and not liking yourself sometimes. Those are where the good songs come from.

BRYANT: What is it though that you can do as Rob Thomas solo artist that you can`t do with Matchbox 20?

THOMAS: I think any band that is a real band, -- you always make concessions because everybody has to be happy. So no matter how much you love a record, it is not going to be something that everybody in the band loves. There`s going to be something, a song, a way that you did a song, some sort of an idea that you`re not happy with. And so I think it is just we all wanted a chance to go off for a year or so and do things that we were completely happy with.

BRYANT: All right. Well, you did work with John Mayer, I know that I was watching some of the behind the scenes footage of you making a record. How did that come about? Because John Mayer, I mean, popular guy, everyone loves him. Do all you musicians just sort of get on like the musician hot line, like, dude --

THOMAS: As soon as I got my record deal, I got a rock star card in the mail and everybody famous is addressing the number on it. I call them up anytime.

BRYANT: I`ve seen that.

THOMAS: George Clooney loved Batman.

BRYANT: I know that after the Grammys, you guys all - you get that.

THOMAS: Yes, it was in the Grammy gift bag (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in the gift bag, yeah.

BRYANT: No, but seriously, how did that come about?

THOMAS: I think it`s just one of the perks of living in New York. The two of us had some downtime. We kept running into each other at these kind of functions and I was a big fan. And one day I just accosted him. I was like I love if you play my own record and he said yes.

BRYANT: He`s cool and.

THOMAS: He`s 12 feet tall, a lot of people don`t know that. He`s a really tall guy, at least 14, 15 feet, 20 feet tall.

BRYANT: Because on TV, he only looks about 12 feet.

THOMAS: It`s all tricks. It`s mirrors. But he really is 25 feet tall.

BRYANT: Smoke and mirrors. You worked obviously with Carlos Santana. I know you`ve written for Marc Anthony before. This song that you just put out, it has this little feeling in it. What is going on with that?

THOMAS: It wasn`t intentional. It doesn`t fit the rest of the record in that sense. But I do believe -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it is like an E minor with a B and a G and you put it together and it just feels kind of - and I like it so much, I have to put it on at least one of every album that I make.

BRYANT: It`s great because I had it in today and some people were walking by my office and I don`t think they realized that it was a little white boy singing it. Do you know what I`m saying?

THOMAS: Some songs -- also like you have songs in there for your head or they`re for your heart and this song is for.

BRYANT: We can see booty here. All right. Cool. So I wanted to ask one last quick question. You put out a dual disc which has a lot of information on both sides. Is this a reaction to the downloading and the stealing of records? Are you trying to give your fans something more for their dollar?

THOMAS: I think so. You can`t complain about downloading without understanding that on this side of the fence you have some responsibility for it. You got to make your CDs have to be a little more available. You have to make them cost a little less. You have to make your tickets per show cost a little less and at the same time, you have to give them a little bit more. So I think it is at least an answer, saying that we realize that there is a problem with the new - with the way the model is working right now and we want to try and give you something more.

BRYANT: All right. Well, I`m sure they`ll appreciate it. Thanks for joining us here, Rob Thomas. Again, the album called "Something to Be" is in stores April 19th.

HAMMER: Nice to see Rob and we learn something about John Mayer, 18 feet tall, who knew? Well, Martha Stewart thinks there`s something to be said about the terms of her house arrest.

And Al Gore`s got a new job. Does our buzz bench think it`s a good thing? You`ll find out coming up next.

BRYANT: And can you see me now? TV comes to cell phones -- so will users tune in? That`s in the show`s biz.

HAMMER: And now to see what you tuned into, Nielsen ratings just out today for last week`s shows. As we will be doing every Tuesday, here`s your first look at the network`s top 10. CBS` crime scene drama "CSI" at the top, followed by Tuesday and Wednesday night`s "American Idol," which tied ABC`s "Desperate Housewives." It was the first new episode in more than a month. "Without a Trace" rounded out the top five. "Survivor" came in at six, Fox`s medical drama "House" at seven, and "Gray`s Anatomy," which airs after "Desperate Housewives" at eight. The NCAA semifinal basketball game between North Carolina and Michigan State was at nine. North Carolina won the national championship last night and finally, "Lost," the show, rounded out the top 10.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAMMER: It`s time now for the buzz bench, where today`s entertainment chatter takes center stage.

BRYANT: Tonight, Britney and Kevin have a new reality series, Martha has a new complaint and Al Gore has a new cable channel.

HAMMER: Joining the buzz bench is "The New York Times`" Lola Ogunnaike, "Rolling Stones`" Joe Levy and "Entertainment Weekly`s" Jessica Shaw.

BRYANT: As we told you earlier, Britney Spears and her husband Kevin Federline are going to tell their love story their way. They`re going to be putting out a six-episode reality show featuring their own video, their own home movies, everything from the dating to the wedding. What do you think of it?

JESSICA SHAW, ENTERTAINMENT WEEEKLY: Finally we get to see Britney and Kevin`s home videos. Are you psyched? She was -- they claim they were really worried, they felt like people were invading their privacy and there were all these misleading stories about them. But my feeling is, if people are invading your privacy, the best solution is not to go on a reality show.

BRYANT: Right. You might just want to power down, pull back a little instead of going more forward.

LOLA OGUNNAIKE, NEW YORK TIMES: Imagine all the amazing tidbits we`re going to see. We`re going to get to watch Britney walk through nasty gas stations barefoot, watch her take pregnancy tests.

JOE LEVY, ROLLING STONE: Oh, God, you really cut to the chase there. That is something I want to see.

OGUNNAIKE: The baby`s momma might come by with an attitude. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

LEVY: There are no catfights, except in my mind. We`re not going to get to see anything racy or dicey or embarrassing because they shot all of this. And they control all of it and they`re executive producers on the show. This is Britney and Kevin`s story according to Britney. I don`t think that`s the way we`re most interested. I think this is a little terrifying and sad.

SHAW: It is also on UPN and I kind of feel like either that`s really good news for UPN or really bad news for Britney.

LEVY: They it shopped around.

OGUNNAIKE: UPN is the home of the starlet and America`s next top model. It gets catty on that network. They`re not afraid to go there.

BRYANT: . is going to also be picking them up and there will be new things shot Joe as well, not just the video that they had already filmed.

LEVY: It`s true. There will be new things shot and Britney and Kevin will be hosting some of those new things. They have too much control on this. We`re interested in Nick and Jessica because it is embarrassing. Jessica says something stupid and she doesn`t have the right to say, y`all, I didn`t mean that. Let`s take that out.

SHAW: Also it hasn`t been proven yet that Kevin can actually speak.

BRYANT: True.

SHAW: We know what he is capable of doing.

HAMMER: From one reality show to another impending reality show, of course Martha Stewart begged the judge to end her punishment immediately so she can begin to help rebuild her struggling company. First she wanted the ankle bracelet off and now she says that the 48 hours she is allowed out of the house just not enough time to do all the things she has to do.

LEVY: And those things include by the way, shopping for essentials. Look in here defense, one of the things she says is I didn`t know the commuting time was going to count on my time out of the house. Huh? If you`re out of the house it counts on your time out of the house. On the one hand, if Martha Stewart ends up doing more hard time than the criminals who ran Enron and WorldCom, that would be an injustice. On the other hand, if somebody takes her ankle bracelet off now that she`s been found guilty and has done five months of soft time and has to stay home for five months, that would be an injustice too. This is bogus. She wants the ankle bracelet off so she has more time to run her company and film the next season of THE APPRENTICE.

OGUNNAIKE: I love that Martha was nice for a day and now she`s back to being demanding again. It is just so genius. She`s like I`m going have the poncho, I`m going to wave. I`m going to bring cupcakes out to my fans and then two days later she`s like get this damn thing off.

BRYANT: I thought she would have had a helicopter anyway to cut down on the commute time.

LEVY: I was starting to like her. Like I felt bad for her.

HAMMER: But aren`t her lawyers doing their job and really anybody in her position, they`re going to try to get it shot down. It is not doing anything -- there is nothing wrong happening by doing this.

LEVY: Anything wrong by making a request? There is nothing wrong with making the request except that part of the request is that she needs more time to shop for essentials.

OGUNNAIKE: And needs more time to work. And she wants to visit her ailing mother.

(CROSSTALK)

LEVY: She has 48 hours a week to hang out with her mom and go to church. That`s plenty.

BRYANT: All right. We`re moving on.

SHAW: Also like -- invite mommy over for breakfast.

OGUNNAIKE: She`s 90. She`s not like running around town.

BRYANT: We`re moving on. Former vice president Al Gore will have his own television channel. It`s going to start up in August. It`s called Current, targeting 18 to 49 years olds.

LEVY: This is 24 hour a day footage of Al Gore, isn`t it?

BRYANT: No it`s going to have pop culture. It`s going to have news, but it`s also going to have input from the viewers. People are going to be able to upload their own footage to air in these segments on these shows. What do you think of that?

OGUNNAIKE: Don`t we already have that show? Isn`t it called "American`s Funniest Home Video." I don`t get it.

LEVY: I also have this channel on my computer already. Look, this does not sound like that much of an innovation or that exciting. I say leave the amateur stuff online and leave the television on television.

SHAW: And also Al Gore, boring. If it is Bill Clinton`s channel, bring it on!

OGUNNAIKE: I think Paris Hilton and Pamela Anderson should do their damnedest to help get this off the ground.

BRYANT: With that, we`ll end the buzz bench. Lola, Joe and Jessica, thank you so much for joining us.

It`s a digital match, but we`re not talking online dating here. Something that will change the way you watch TV. We`re dialing up the show`s biz, next.

HAMMER: And Fran Drescher sticks it to Matthew McConaughey. That`s coming up in laughter dark.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAMMER: Well, tonight in the show`s biz, TV on your cell phone. Yes, if you thought you had seen it all on your cell, you`re wrong, because now you can not only dial in, but also tune in. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT contributor Julia Boorstin, who covers the entertainment industry for "Fortune" magazine, joins us live. Julia, it seems like this is an idea whose time has come. Give us an overview of the situation.

JULIA BOORSTIN, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT CONTRIBUTOR: Well, as you know, you can now get pretty much everything on your cell phone. You can send e- mails. You can read the news. You can even get streaming radio and now you can get streaming video as well. I think probably can get, in Japan this technology has already been out there for a while. Japanese cell phone technology is way ahead of what we have here in the U.S. and even in Europe, in London, you could already get a lot of this technology. But recently we`re starting to get streaming video technology on our phones here in the United States. And companies such as Sprint and Verizon, Nokia, with these phones, if you have a special kind of phone you can get streaming video. You can get the weather channel. You can get sports, major league baseball, and you can actually see streaming video on your phone. It is pretty amazing.

HAMMER: How good is the video quality at this point with where technology is at, at least here in the United States?

BOORSTIN: It is not fantastic here in the United States. It is pretty jittery. It`s maybe 15 frames per second, which might sound like a lot, but it looks kind of shaky. The good news is that when you`re thinking about a phone, you know, cell phone screens are really small. Cell phones are just so small and you might think that that might be a huge detractor. But what some of these companies are doing is they`re coming out with slide out screens. So you could actually have a cell phone where you can get a larger screen than the regular cell phone face. But the new technology will be introduced in the next couple of months and eventually, we`ll have broadband streaming video that`s just like watching TV.

HAMMER: So now it`s probably a little closer to like dialup when the Internet was first getting going.

BOORSTIN: Or even maybe a little bit slower than that.

HAMMER: So are there companies already out there that are specifically designing this kind of content?

BOORSTIN: There are. There`s a company called MobiTV, which has teamed up with Cingular and also with Sprint and they`re providing TV for your cell phone. They`ve teamed up with the weather channel and all these various other different channels to provide content specifically for your cell phone. And as you might guess, you`re not going want to watch a half hour show on your cell phone.

HAMMER: I was going to say, are people really going to sit there whether it be on the train or wherever, watching videos on the cell?

BOORSTIN: No one`s going to be able to sit for that long and the truth is, this is for when you`re sitting in traffic or when you`re commuting. This is not -- people are not expected to actually sit there and watch a whole show. So what MobiTV is doing is they`re creating specially tailored programs whether it is a minute long segment or a trailer for a movie that`s made to be watched on your cell phone.

HAMMER: All right. I see it as just another thing to run the battery down. But I`m sure technology will improve upon that as well. Julia, thanks for stopping by. Julia Boorstin of course from "Fortune" magazine and a SHOWBIZ TONIGHT contributor.

BRYANT: Thanks AJ. Jimmy Kimmel in search of some Latin love. That`s in laughter dark.

And there is still time for you to sound off on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Britney Spears reality show, will you watch it? You can vote at cnn.com/showbiztonight or e-mail us what`s on your mind at showbiztonight@cnn.com. We`ll read some of your thoughts live next.

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BRYANT: Reba is saying hello Dolly. Here is a just released look at Dolly Parton`s guest starring role on "Reba." The country star will show up on the WD (ph) comedy on Friday, April 15th. Dolly plays a real estate agent.

Yo, Brooklyn. Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr. are paying a visit. Today we found out that their movie "Fur" will be shot at the Steiner Studios in Brooklyn, New York. Shooting will begin this May. "Fur" of course is based on the life of photographer Diane Arbus.

HAMMER: I know you`re from the Boston area but that was pretty good. That was a pretty good Brooklyn thing. Time now to get your laugh on in laughter dark. As we do every night, we bring you the late-night laughs you might have missed.

BRYANT: First on THE TONIGHT SHOW, Fran Drescher - of course you remember her from "The Nanny." She dished about her love life and she also didn`t hold back on fellow guest Matthew McConaughey`s new romance with Penelope Cruz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRAN DRESCHER: We were together for four years. We have been apart for two years now. I`m ready. Where as Penelope is really rebounding.

MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY: Hey, gotta crash the boards, baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: The stars give each other a little helpful advice, that`s all. Fran gets to laugh. And on Jimmy Kimmel live, Jimmy delivers a pizza to the set of a Spanish dating show.

BRYANT: And he winds up as one of the bachelors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL: $22.70. What`s going on here? What kind of show are you guys doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s like a dating game.

KIMMEL: Can I be on it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can if you speak Spanish.

KIMMEL: Si, I do. [ speaking Spanish ] let me try again. Let me try again. Is that good?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: Nice dance moves, Jimmy.

HAMMER: Throughout our show, we`ve been asking you to vote online on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Britney Spears reality show -- will you watch it? Let`s see how the voting is going so far. Thirteen percent of you say yes, you will watch it, which means 87 percent of you said no, you will not watch a reality show. Among the e-mails, we got one from Jason in Newark, Delaware, you said, isn`t her 15 minutes of fame up yet? Maybe if her show flops, she`s go away. Remember, you can continue to vote at cnn.com/showbiztonight.

BRYANT: I say a good 50 percent of those 87 percent are lying. They`re going to watch.

It`s time to see what`s playing on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT tomorrow. Let`s take a look at the showbiz marquee. Marquee guy.

ANNOUNCER: 1979 comes to 2005. The Smashing Pumpkins are simply smashing the limits of music in a whole new way. Former lead singer Billy Corgan tells us how tomorrow on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

The children, well, they go to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "All My Children." Susan Lucci shows us around Pine Valley and it looks like someone gets a little fresh with her. That`s AJ.`s behind the scenes look at 15 years of "All My Children" tomorrow. This is the marquee guy saying, why? Why? How could you do this to me?

END