The Rivers are ready to again run their course

THERE’S JUST NO KEEPING fashion critics Joan and Melissa Rivers off Hollywood’s red carpets. The mother-daughter tandem, shut out of this year’s Emmy Awards because of a contractual tangle, will return starting with next month’s Golden Globe Awards.

“I think it will be notched up just because the energy is going to be so amazing,” Joan said.

Will the stars be more carefully dressed knowing they’ll again be facing the sharp-tongued Rivers women?

“They better be,” said Melissa.

The pair missed covering this year’s Emmy Awards after jumping to the TV Guide Channel from E! Entertainment Television, which had an exclusive agreement with Emmy organizers.

Now, says Joan, “It’s going to be a fabulous run through this awards season. I just want to do it. I have dresses being made, shoes. Let’s go.”

You go for the gold, Star

Meanwhile, Star Jones Reynolds, who replaced the Rivers duo as the Emmy red-carpet commentator for E!, will be back on the beat for the Golden Globes.

“I have watched (the show) for years as a fan,” she says. “To be able to participate in all the fun and excitement now as the host is a dream come true.”

The co-host of ABC’s “The View” married banker Al Reynolds in a star-studded ceremony last month.

Royally impressive

John Hurt was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire – and chatted with Queen Elizabeth II about the life of an actor.

“The queen insinuated that it was an interesting profession and that I’d been at it for some time. She said how fascinating it was,” he told reporters after Thursday’s ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Hurt, 64, said his CBE, given for services to drama, was “like a very high compliment. I’m very grateful and delighted.”

Hurt, who trained at the Royal Academy for Dramatic Arts, has appeared in more than 60 films including “The Elephant Man,” “Midnight Express” and “A Man for All Seasons.”

You will, if you stay up too late

Craig Ferguson spent the first night after finding out he’d been selected as the new host of CBS’ “The Late Late Show” sleeping in his car.

The Scottish actor, who played the boss on “The Drew Carey Show,” will become Craig Kilborn‘s permanent replacement beginning Jan, 3.

Ferguson was in Vancouver, B.C., filming a movie when he got the word and immediately began driving toward his Los Angeles home. Near Grant’s Pass in Oregon, he searched for a hotel room but couldn’t find one, so he slept in a parking lot.

“It made me laugh,” he said. “I should probably do that every now and again.”

Come on, she’s not that desperate

Nicollette Sheridan, one of the stars of ABC’s breakout hit “Desperate Housewives,” is refuting the “malicious and patently false rumors” in gossip columns that claim she’s had a face lift.

Says Sheridan: “I’d be very interested to know who is feeding the rumors or whether they sprung whole cloth from their feverish, overactive and inaccurate imaginations.”

The birthday bunch

Actor Tommy Kirk is 63. Actress-singer Gloria Loring is 58. Actress Susan Dey is 52. Actor-director Kenneth Branagh is 44. Actor Michael Clarke Duncan (“The Green Mile”) is 41.