Issue Date: October 12, 2008
Geena Davis played the first female president on ABC's "Commander in Chief." What happened to it?
Audrey Covello, Prescott, Ariz.
The one and only season is available on DVD. But I can't help wondering: If "CIC" had debuted now, instead of 2005, would it have drawn enough viewers to last longer? Davis played a surprise vice presidential pick, like Sarah Palin, who became president after her boss's untimely death. What a difference three years makes.
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Does Howie Mandel make millions for hosting "Deal or No Deal?"
Jacquelyn Jones, Hot Springs, Ark.
Yes. And now Mandel, 52, is hosting a syndicated "Deal," too. He's glad for the work. After 30 years in showbiz, "I've spent more time looking for work than actually working," Mandel tells us. Longer hours are "a great problem to have."
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J. August Richards says his parents hoped he'd become a lawyer or a priest. As an actor, he's often played the former, and he's at it again on TNT's new drama "Raising the Bar." Richards, 35, likes that the series "shows all sides, from the flaws in the system to how the system fails people who are not [in positions of power]." "Three's Company" made a young Richards take notice of acting. He tells us, "I just wanted to be Jack Tripper, go to the Regal Beagle, live with two girls ... and the way they made California seem, I knew it was the place to live."
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What new projects has my favorite actress, Amy Adams, been working on?
Jessi Maduro, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Adams, 34, has been lovely in all her movies, and she has two good ones coming, both with Meryl Streep. First is "Doubt," out Dec. 12, about two nuns grappling with suspicions about a priest abusing a student. Next is April's "Julie & Julia," based on a best-selling memoir of the same name. Adams plays Julie Powell, a novice cook who decides to tackle in one year all 524 recipes in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Streep plays Child.
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Is it true that the success of "Sex and the City: The Movie" means a sequel may be in store?
Jared Scott Tesler Rochester, N.Y.
Maybe is the operative word, Jared. There's lots of talk, but no script or deals with the stars. Keep your fingers crossed.
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Tell me more about the actor in the title role of ABC's "Eli Stone."
Maryann Heide, Little Egg Harbor, N.J.
One of the most interesting things about Jonny Lee Miller is that he was Angelina Jolie's first husband. They co-starred in the 1995 film "Hackers," married the next year and divorced in 1999. But Miller doesn't want to talk about that, so no interview for us. The exes are reportedly still friends, and he's now married to another actress. As for "Stone," it returns Tuesday, and next week Katie Holmes guest stars. Exec producer Marc Guggenheim tells us she plays a non-profit attorney with whom Miller's Eli connects.
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Amanda Bynes is getting serious. The millennial generation's Lucille Ball, Bynes, 22, is ready for different challenges. Next weekend we'll see her in Lifetime's movie "Living Proof," about a doctor who developed the drug Herceptin to fight breast cancer. Bynes tells me her grandmother battled breast cancer, which was part of the reason she said yes to the project. Bynes also shares that she looks at Reese Witherspoon as a model for having a versatile career and a happy life. "She knows how to keep her private life private and do the kind of work she wants to do."
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BIRTHDAYS
October 12: Hugh Jackman, 40
October 13: Kate Walsh, 41; Marie Osmond, 49; Paul Simon, 67
October 14: Usher, 30
October 15: Emeril Lagasse, 49
October 16: John Mayer, 31; Tim Robbins, 50
October 17: Wyclef Jean, 36; Alan Jackson, 50
October 18: Wynton Marsalis, 47
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Contributing: Gayle Jo Carter, Kathy Rowings, Jon Tollestrup
 Ask Lorrie Lynch a question about a celeb!
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