People in the News for February 19, 1998

Thursday, Feb. 19, 1998 | 2:05 a.m.

We were about to pass along the full scoop on UPN renewing "Malcolm & Eddie" into 1999 -- clearly the top news of the day -- when we received a bit of airy fluff about Tom Cruise. Honey, get us rewrite! Dateline: Santa Monica, Calif. One-hundred-point headline: "Cruise uncontrol!" Tom Cruise, three-fisted man of acting -- who on Wednesday told a no-doubt profusely sweating Rosie O'Donnell that he longs to tackle Mount Everest -- called police the other day to report that three cars were following him. Cruise, who was picking up his son at school, suspected the vehicles were full of paparazzi. Bring the big batons, officer! The big star had no comment; "it's a police matter," his spokeswoman says. Not really -- the cars kept going when Cruise stopped. "There was really no crime," police say. Anyway, what's important here is not the cop time wasted catering to a star's fear of an uncontrolled photo op, nor even the perpetuation of anti-paparazzi sentiment, just in time to bolster Cruise-backed legislation curtailing paparazzi practices. No, what matters is that Cruise, sensing danger, reacted instantly, every bit as manfully as a movie character, reaching decisively for his cell phone ... Meanwhile, Everest trembles.

Briefly

Jerry-rigged bonanza

More "Seinfeld"-iana? Someone, please get us rewrite! Alas, as the show's May 14 plug-pulling approaches, we'll be overrun by thundering herds of "Seinfeld" trivia. Pop culture trembles! At least NBC is getting rich from it: The network has reportedly sold a pair of $2 million commercials for the final episode, shattering the record for a 30-second spot set just last month during the Super Bowl ($1.3 million). Word has it the two ads were bought by film companies. Says one industry observer, "Any (advertiser) who has anything to say that's important knows this is the time to say it." Perhaps; informed speculation is that NBC won't be able to snare such big bucks for the remaining nine minutes of national ad time. Nonetheless, a huge windfall is in the offing. In fact, we here at People in the News are considering a splashy, heavily promoted Final Installment. Honey, get me ad sales on the line!

Compiled by Scott Dickensheets