NBC couldn’t care less about the DeLay reaction

HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER Tom DeLay is upset that NBC’s “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” invoked his name in a story line about the shooting of a federal judge. “Maybe we should put out an APB for somebody in a Tom DeLay T-shirt,” a fictional police officer said in Wednesday’s episode.

DeLay, who’s embroiled in an ethics controversy, criticized the federal judiciary after courts refused to stop the death of Terri Schiavo.

“This manipulation of my name and trivialization of the sensitive issue of judicial security represents a reckless disregard for the suffering initiated by recent tragedies and a great disservice to public discourse,” DeLay wrote to NBC.

Entertainment President Kevin Reilly replied that “L&O” often uses real names in its stories, saying: “We’re confident in our viewers’ ability to distinguish between the two.”

Added series creator Dick Wolf: “But I do congratulate Congressman DeLay for switching the spotlight from his own problems to an episode of a television show.”

Minding her peas and clues

If the coroner on “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” ever retires, Ashanti would probably love to replace him.

Before becoming a singer, she wanted to study forensic science, and she remains fascinated by autopsies.

“If you can cut someone’s stomach open and see the peas and they haven’t digested and that can tell you what time they died, I’m amazed by that,” she says.

Maybe Paula should have slapped first

Bo Bice might have lost out to Carrie Underwood on Wednesday’s “American Idol” finale, but the one who’s really upset is Corey Clark.

Clark, the former contestant who claims he had an affair with judge Paula Abdul, didn’t like a satirical skit about judge Simon Cowell‘s “secret relationship” – which turned out to be a love affair with himself.

“It’s simply baffling to me that Fox would actually resurrect this controversy by doing something like that,” said a Clark spokesman, calling it a “slap in the face.”

Just one of the folks

Rosie O’Donnell will make a three-episode appearance on Showtime’s “Queer as Folk” starting Sunday.

O’Donnell, long a fan of the gay-themed drama, called producers to request a role on the show, the cable channel said. She will play an abused woman who works at the local diner and falls for her mentor, played by Sharon Gless.

The former talk-show host, who married partner Kelli Carpenter O’Donnell in a civil ceremony Feb. 26 in San Francisco, has been busy writing a blog and running a cruise business geared to gays and lesbians.

Winfrey trips, right here

Speaking of talk hosts and exotic destinations, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of her show, Oprah Winfrey gave her staff all-expenses-paid vacations to Hawaii.

The trips to Maui for employees and their families include chartered flights and lodging at a five-star resort.

Quoteworthy

Ellen DeGeneres, on signing up to do her daytime talk show for six more years: “At some point the dancing isn’t going to be cute anymore. Like, when I have a walker.”

The birthday bunch

Actress Carroll Baker is 74. Singer Gladys Knight is 61. Singer John Fogerty is 60. Actress Sondra Locke is 58. Actor Brandon Cruz (“The Courtship of Eddie’s Father”) is 43. Country singer Phil Vassar is 43. Singer Chris Ballew (Presidents of the United States of America) is 40. Singer Kylie Minogue is 37. Actress Monica Keena (“Dawson’s Creek,” “Undeclared”) is 26.