Who's in

Waterston eyeing Law & Order promotion

Sam Waterston may be getting a Law & Order promotion. The actor is negotiating to step in as the show's New York district attorney, replacing co-star Fred Thompson, a source close to the production said on Monday. Thompson, a former US senator, is weighing a presidential run and asked to be released from the NBC drama. The source was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Waterston, who's been with Law & Order for 13 years, plays Executive Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy. His character would take over from District Attorney Arthur Branch (Thompson) when the show returns in midseason, the source said.

The storyline and McCoy's replacement have yet to be determined. NBC and series creator and executive producer Dick Wolf declined comment on Monday, as did Waterston's representative.

Seacrest a laugh-maker in Knocked Up

Ryan Seacrest is known as a lot of things - slick American Idol ringmaster, hotshot radio deejay, ubiquitous E! channel host - but funny guy's not one of them. Which makes his scene-stealing cameo in Knocked Up such an amusing surprise - even more so because he's the butt of the joke.

Seacrest sends up his pompous image in the Judd Apatow-directed comedy about an ambitious entertainment reporter (Katherine Heigl). Seacrest, whose poker-faced demeanor during those ominous Idol elimination shows was spoofed recently on Saturday Night Live, said he relished exposing his not-so-serious side in Knocked Up.

Lawyer: Hilton well after night in jail

Paris Hilton was doing well after spending her first night of her probation sentence in solitary confinement at a Los Angeles County jail, her lawyer said on Monday.

"She's using this time to reflect on her life, to see what she can do to make the world better and hopefully, in my opinion, to change the attitudes that exist about her among many people," attorney Richard A. Hutton told reporters after visiting Hilton.

The 26-year-old hotel heiress checked into the Century Regional Detention Facility in suburban Los Angeles just after 11:30 pm on Sunday to serve 23 days for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.

Hilton surrendered after a surprise appearance earlier that day at the MTV Movie Awards, where she walked the red carpet in a strapless designer gown. Now in jail-issued clothes, Hilton was being housed in a special unit where she was spending 23 hours a day in a solitary cell, Hutton said.

"If she was an ordinary citizen, she would have been placed in the general population. ... She'd be living in a dorm with 30, 40, 50 other women, and the time would pass pretty quick," Hutton said. "She is really being punished because of her celebrity."

Agencies

(China Daily 06/06/2007 page18)