People in the News for October 20, 1997

Monday, Oct. 20, 1997 | 11:07 a.m.

It's another Monday here at People in the News, where we're not afraid to look straight into the teeth of the day's big issues -- international affairs, the ozone problem -- and wonder instead, Has Jerry Seinfeld lost a little something off his screwball? "Seinfeld" is going stale, according to that most reliable of pop culture seismographs: the readership of the New York Post. Fifty-two percent of respondents to a recent fax-in poll told the paper they are dissatisfied with the first few weeks of the new season. Post readers may not know who the secretary of state is, what greenhouse gases are, or where to find Bosnia on a map -- or even Kansas -- but, by God, they know Jer, and they don't like what they're seeing. Which must mean that, in a series purportedly about "nothing," the shows in question must have been about "something." Red alert! Since Post fans also possess the one quality you most want in a "Seinfeld" viewer -- the willingness to choke down anything you're fed and like it, regardless of quality -- Seinfeld scrambled to get them back. You shouldn't judge a whole season by four episodes, he told the paper, apres-poll. "It takes a few weeks to kind of get back on track, get back into it and get groovy again." So what if the first few shows are a bad Sein? Jer says the three they've just taped are killer ! "I feel like we've totally taken off -- they're so totally unique and original." They'll go from something to nothing in no time!

Facial expression

At some point in his career, Jon Voight took a hard look at himself, squinted thoughtfully, and mused, Damn, I'm ugly! "But I just determined that I wasn't going through face-lifts," he says. "I decided to use my jowls and wrinkles." Which explains his shift from leading-man status, a la his Oscar-winning role in "Coming Home," to his recent turns as malevolent creeps in "Heat," "Anaconda" and "U-Turn." For "Heat," he tried to achieve a "fungal quality" to his skin. "A guy went up to my makeup artist and said, 'I used to drive for Jon. What happened -- drugs?"'

Writing wrongs?

What happened -- drugs? Sarah Ferguson has reportedly written long, rambling, emotional letters to members of the royal family, begging their forgiveness for her past indiscretions. It's not fair to judge a princess by a few lavish shopping sprees and a much-photographed topless toe-sucking session! The addressees -- Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Princess Anne -- were apparently quite shocked by the letter bombs. Says an unidentified source, "She makes it very clear she wants to put the past behind her." Or put the future ahead of her: The letters are widely seen as an attempt to snuggle back into the royal good graces. It ain't working, cupcake. "It can only be seen as a terrible step backwards," says a royal aide. "We have to be seen to move on." And so ends another wobbly Monday here at People in the News, where it's clearly taking us a while to get back into it, to get groovy again. Next time: Something totally unique and original!

Compiled by Scott Dickensheets