For Show-Biz Celebrities, Truth Can Be A Liability

So, you already know that Connie Chung is playing coy with us about her chances of replacing Joan Lunden on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

But what nixed the deal for her to star with husband Maury Povich in a planned syndicated newsmagazine put together by DreamWorks?

According to Povich, who is one of several daytime talk-show hosts, he opted out because of scheduling conflicts. “I have for some time been talking to DreamWorks about being able to do both shows,” Povich told the Hollywood Reporter. “But they felt this would be a creative conflict. I had to make a decision.”

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, though, not enough local stations bought the proposed show, which would have begun in fall 1998.

Loose talk

Larry King, 63, on moving up his scheduled wedding date to Shawn Southwick, 37, from December to September (in USA Today): “Why wait?”

No, no, this one is lead singer of the Psychedelic Furs

Richard Butler turns 41 today.

They must have heard about his exaggerated golf scores

Will the world never forgive O.J. Simpson? The former celebrity, now pretty much full-time golfer, had been set to fly into Santiago, Chile, for a television interview. The chat would have earned him $75,000. Then the state-owned network canceled out. Why? Because of a policy that, Newsweek reports, prohibits paying “criminals, convicts or miscreants.”

But now he’s big Hollywood star, eh?

So what obstacles did Mike Myers face in wanting to become a famous comedian? “Eight years ago I lived above a grocery store in Toronto,” the former “Saturday Night Live” star told TV Guide. “My dad sold encyclopedias. I came here with a Canadian dollar and a dream - which is basically 67 cents and a dream. It’s amazing.”

The show always benefits from good Grammer

So what does Kelsey Grammer want to do as the millenium approaches? He wants to continue making “Frasier,” to which end he just signed a three-year, multi-million-dollar contract. “It’s the best job in the world,” Grammer says.”You don’t work many hours, the rewards are sizable. The only real casualty of my life, having had this much success, is the privacy thing.”

Roseanne and Dan heartily second the motion

After political adviser James Carville called presidential accuser Paula Jones “trailer park trash,” he received a letter of complaint from Maryland Delegate John Leopold, on behalf of the Anne Arundel Mobile Homeowners’ Association. “We have become the innocent victims of a personal problem between President Clinton and Paula Jones,” Leopold said. “All hard-working, responsible mobile-home owners have been needlessly insulted.”

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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by staff writer Dan Webster