Monday, Oct. 13, 2003 | 10:39 a.m.
"Fox NFL Sunday" seems to be a breeding ground for bad-taste comics.
Last week "Fox NFL Sunday" grad and Las Vegas native Jimmy Kimmel was criticized for doing a puppet skit on his late-night ABC show, "Jimmy Kimmel Live," that satirized the serious tiger-mauling injuries suffered onstage by Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy.
On Sunday, Kimmel's replacement on Fox, Frank Caliendo, went Kimmel one better. Or worse.
As he was doing a lousy impersonation of fellow broadcaster Jim Rome, Caliendo offered his take on the Carolina Panthers-Indianapolis Colts game: "I look for Indy to do what Siegfried & Roy couldn't -- tame the big cats."
We spit out our cereal when we heard that one. Then switched to CBS.
The attack and its aftermath continues to be water-cooler talk around the world.
Siegfried & Roy are on the cover of this week's People magazine. The article extensively quotes Steve Wynn, Robin Leach and KLAS Channel 8 entertainment reporter Kate Maddox, our predecessor as the Sun's gossip columnist.
US Weekly, in its latest issue, has loving words to Roy from Michael Jackson, among other celebs.
And talk about global appeal: The attack on Roy and his continuing recovery were prominently featured over the weekend on the al-Jazeera website, Aljazeera.net.
Magic man
Rumor of the day: David Copperfield is at the top of the list of acts that MGM MIRAGE officials are looking at as they consider what to do with the suddenly vacant 1,504-seat Siegfried & Roy Theatre at The Mirage.
One source points out that the illusionist already performs on a company property -- he is a rotating headliner at the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre -- and is an established international star.
Lord of Vegas
"Las Vegas has been quite a ride," Michael Flatley told us Saturday before the fifth anniversary performance and afterparty for "Lord of the Dance" at The Venetian.
"Five years is a real milestone and I am delighted to still be here," he said. Flatley added that he has spoken to hotel honchos Sheldon Adelson and Rob Goldstein and has "every intention" of remaining at The Venetian as the resort adds more theaters.
"We have several other suitors, but I am very happy here."
Flatley also confirmed recent reports that he is planning to build an Irish-themed casino in Las Vegas, which he described as an "All-American city."
Shari Belafonte and Ben Vereen were invited onstage after the show and presented proclamations to Flatley.
Meaty place
Busy Friday night at Charlie Palmer Steak (Four Seasons). We stopped in to have a late-night cup of coffee with hot Hollywood stars -- and sisters -- Courtney and Ashley Peldon.
But we had to sit in a side room. Seems that Sen. Harry Reid and 62 of his most affluent supporters had filled most of the main room for a fund-raiser.
And actress Tisha Campbell and a gaggle of friends were celebrating a birthday at another large table.
And scores of pro golfers in town for the Las Vegas Invitational PGA event were at the bar and all over the lounge area watching another thrilling extra-inning baseball playoff game.
But we finally had our coffee. The sisters were in town with their mom and had taken her to "Thunder From Down Under" (Excalibur) for her birthday earlier in the evening.
Courtney plays recurring character Becky Emerson on the Fox series "Boston Public." Her younger sister, who has a list of professional credits as long as VegasBeat's arm, is a regular on "That '70s Show" and appeared in the movie "Ghost World."
Mom and daughters also took in the anniversary performance of "Lord of the Dance" on Saturday night.
Brides, grooms
The KVVU Channel 5 Fox morning news show expanded to a four-hour format this morning, airing from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. But weather forecaster Ted Pretty and reporter Heidi Hayes were not there. The couple announced their engagement to friends late last week and are taking a short vacation.
In other nuptial news, Misty Buchanan, Las Vegas attorney James "Bucky" Buchanan's daughter, was married Saturday to software salesman Joseph Wykes at Reflection Bay Golf Club at Lake Las Vegas.
After a wedding trip to Bali, the couple plan to settle in London.
VegasBits
Bachelor: George Clooney was in Las Vegas over the weekend for a bachelor party, but not his own. He and pals camped out most of the time in the new penthouse suite at Hard Rock Hotel, which features a bowling alley among the amenities. The group also hit Prana (Aladdin) late Saturday night ...
New love: "Dark Angel" star Jessica Alba told a fan who saw her at Drai's on Saturday night that her cuddly companion, PGA star Sergio Garcia, was her new fiance. Could be. Her fiance from last month, her television co-star Michael Weatherly, was nowhere to be seen ...
Next: A camera crew from "Access Hollywood" was at the Saturday night performance of "Shock!" at Bourbon Street. They are taping a segment on Vegas entertainment, post-Siegfried & Roy. "Shock!" now features a man who hangs from the ceiling by meat hooks sunk into his back.
From Sun wires
Five-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong joined a team of cyclists Saturday as they kicked off a nationwide ride in an effort to encourage more participation in cancer research trials.
Armstrong was on hand when the 26 participants in the "Tour of Hope" left from the CityWalk shopping and entertainment district in Universal City, Calif., for a 3,200-mile ride that is to end next Saturday in Washington, D.C.
Rapper arrested: A popular rapper was arrested after police said they found drugs in his vehicle during a routine traffic stop in Macon, Ga.
James E. Maxwell, 30, known in the hip-hop scene as Sonny Spoon, was stopped Saturday afternoon for a seat-belt violation, a Macon police spokeswoman said.
She said Maxwell consented to a search of his 1985 Suburban, which led police to illegal drugs with a street value of about $6,600. He was charged with felony possession of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute Ecstasy and trafficking in cocaine, she said.
Kilmer denies quote: Actor Val Kilmer has taken out a newspaper ad thanking friends from New Mexico for standing by him in a controversy over an article Kilmer says inaccurately depicted him as being anti-New Mexico.
Kilmer, 43, who lives in Pecos -- a village of about 1,400 in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains outside of Santa Fe -- denied telling Rolling Stone magazine he lived in the "homicide capital of the United States," and said he does not carry a gun.
"I love my state and Pecos where I live," he said in the advertisement in The Santa Fe New Mexican, which featured two open letters -- one to his friends and the other to the editors of Rolling Stone.
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