Thursday, Aug. 5, 2004 | 10:43 a.m.
OK, everyone. Here's your chance to put your money where your mouth is.
Probably the only TV genre where Las Vegas is not represented is the situation comedy.
So, in an effort to change that, the cable channel Bravo is reaching out to Dicetown-- and elsewhere -- to find its next great comedy hit.
"With beloved sitcoms departing from network schedules and few surefire hits waiting in the wings, we find ourselves on the brink of a potential comedy crisis," NBC Universal spokesman James French said.
"But we at Bravo are no longer content to sit on the sidelines while the art of the sitcom is left to languish. Instead, we are putting the power in your hands, as writers and viewers, with a bold new program we're calling 'Situation: Comedy.' "
Just go to the Web site Bravotv.com and click on the "Situation: Comedy" link.
The writers of the five best scripts will be flown to Los Angeles for in-person pitch meetings, and the best two pitches will be developed into 15-minute presentations that will air on Bravo.
Viewers will then vote for their favorite, and the top vote-getter will pocket a $25,000 cash prize and get representation for one year from CAA (Creative Artists Agency).
Sean Hayes of "Will & Grace" is one of the producers of the project.
Deadline for submissions is Sept 18.
Show go?
As one of my editors said, maybe they ought to call the show "Havana Might," instead of "Havana Nights."
The Cuban-themed stage show that was supposed to open last week at the Stardust is now slated to open Sunday. But if and when it will open is truly anyone's guess at this point.
Hotel execs met Tuesday night with producer Nicole Durr, who reported that there is still uncertainty as to when the cast will depart Cuba.
Visa issues with the Cuban government have prevented the 53 performers from leaving the island nation.
Officially, "Our hope is to open the show on Sunday," hotel spokesman Jim Seagrave told us.
Kobe connection
It took awhile, but there is now a solid Las Vegas connection to the Kobe Bryant case.
A Sports Illustrated story this week tells how prosecutors reportedly have a 22-year-old Florida waitress ready to testify that she was groped by Bryant while working at a private Thanksgiving 2002 party in Shaquille O'Neal's Orlando, Fla., mansion.
Seems that Colorado prosecutors contacted O'Neal through his agent, Perry Rogers, and told him that O'Neal could become a witness in Bryant's case.
Within hours, reports SI, they heard back from David Chesnoff, a criminal defense lawyer who said he represented O'Neal.
Rogers is best known in these parts as Andre Agassi's longtime friend and manager, and Chesnoff was a law partner of Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman. Chesnoff also was a consultant to Martha Stewart during her recent trial and obtained an annulment for Britney Spears after her Vegas nuptials in January.
Fan club
One of our favorite local news anchors, Rachel Smith of the WB News at 10 on KVWB Channel 12, seems to have other fans as well.
On Wednesday night's broadcast, she spoke to "Collateral" star Jamie Foxx and then Matthew Lillard and Dax Shepard from the new Paramount flick "Without a Paddle."
Seems that Foxx suggested to Smith that they get together sometime, Lillard told her she was "super-duper cute" and Shepard (who is also a regular on MTV's "Punk'd") proposed a new reality show where he and Smith fall for one another and "make sweet love."
On tonight's broadcast, she sits down with the other "Collateral" star, Tom Cruise, who is very single these days.
A flustered Smith told us that Foxx was indeed "very friendly and asked for my card -- mostly because he lives in Vegas and he was just being nice, saying I had to keep him posted on the hot places in town."
Smith also added that she has a boyfriend that she is very, very happy with.
VegasBits
Kid tricks: Billed as the youngest professional performing illusionist in Las Vegas, "The Prince of Magic" Mark Bennick just started an open-ended gig at Bourbon Street. The 18-year-old, who is 6 feet 6 inches tall, performs at 7 nightly except Friday ...
One: The club ICE celebrates its first year with a big party Friday night. DJ AM (Nicole Richie's boyfriend) and New York society spinner Mark Ronson man the turntables ...
Honor: Rodri Rodriguez, the producer of the "M ... Mariachi Passion & Tradition" show (Desert Passage), was just awarded the 2004 Hispanic Magazine Achievement Award for her efforts as a Latin entertainment entrepreneur. Previous honorees include Anthony Quinn, Gloria Estefan and Henry Cisneros ...
From Sun wires
Filmmaker marries: Silent Bob has spoken up and said "I do" -- for the second time.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith, who often casts himself as the verbally challenged stoner in his raunchy comedies, renewed his wedding vows on Monday in a surprise ceremony arranged by his wife as a birthday present.
Smith turned 34 while visiting Las Vegas to shoot one of his regular "Roadside Attraction" comedy segments for "The Tonight Show," and found himself at the Little White Chapel (where Spears initiated her famously short-lived marriage) for some unexpected nuptials.
The first time Smith married his wife, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, was in April 1999.
Fiennes to play nemesis: He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has been named.
Ralph Fiennes, who played memorable evil guys in "Red Dragon" and "Schindler's List," has signed on to portray the wicked warlock Voldemort in the next "Harry Potter" movie, Warner Bros. announced Wednesday.
Voldemort is so bad that the magical characters in J.K. Rowling's stories do their best not to speak his name aloud.
Hepburn home sold: Katharine Hepburn's childhood summer house in Fenwick, Conn., has been sold to a neighbor for $6 million.
The buyer, Frank Sciame, has owned a smaller house in this borough for 10 years. He said he planned to renovate the Hepburn place, which was built in 1938, but has not decided if he will move there himself. The purchase and the plan to leave the old home intact brought relief to this summer colony, where the Hepburn family had summered since 1912.
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