Last month, singer Barry Manilow was famously inserted into a 2012 World Series telecast by analyst Tim McCarver, who blanked on a Joe Buck reference about old-day cheers for Barry Bonds and meandered into foul pop culture territory. Now comes an equally hilarious Copaca-doozy involving actor James Marsden.

During a panel discussion at the Napa Valley Film Festival, moderator Billy Bush (Access Hollywood) picked up on the actor’s IMDb bio-trivia page, which stated that Marsden is a huge Manilow fan. Wrong. Per The Hollywood Reporter magazine item by Merle Ginsberg and Gary Baum:

“I have a famous actor friend of mine – I won’t tell you who he is – but he likes to go into other people’s [IMDb] bios and add things,” Marsden explained.

Read more

Matt Kemp had a career 2011 season (.324 BA, 39 HR, 126 RBI, 40 SB) despite a disappointing 82-79 record for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

However, his outstanding play on the field didn’t go unnoticed, as Sports Illustrated writer Ben Reiter has nominated the Gold Glove center fielder for their “Sportsman of the Year” award:

According to Baseball Reference’s Wins Above Replacement metric, Kemp completed the best season for any player, of any ilk, since Barry Bonds in 2004. His statistics alone should make him a strong contender to be named SI’s Sportsman of the Year. But the circumstances in which Kemp produced his historic season — the unrelenting way in which he brought pride to a legendary franchise that had been all but strip-mined of the stuff — should make him the award winner.

Sports Illustrated will announce its winner on Dec. 6. If Kemp is selected, he would be the third Dodger to win the honor, joining Sandy Koufax (1965) and Orel Hershiser (1988).

Paul Barresi is a former porn star turned private eye who has worked on Hollywood cases involving Michael Jackson, Eddie Murphy, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Barry Bonds, among other celebrities.

Barresi, who formerly worked for private detective Anthony Pellicano, was interested in commenting on Pellicano’s pending sentence for illegal wiretapping. Now working for Backstreet Investigations, he had plenty of other things to say about other Hollywood types what goes on behind the closed doors in an interview with FBLA.

FBLA: How long did you work for Anthony Pellicano.

Barresi: Off and on for almost ten years.

FBLA: Pellicano dealt with a lot of high profile Hollywood cases. Did you assist him with any involving celebrity?

Barresi: Yes, starting in 1993, with Michael Jackson and ending, on the day of his arrest, with a fire we were putting out for Tom Cruise.

FBLA: And in between?

Barresi: Let’s see, in between, there was Eddie Murphy, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Barry Bonds, to name a few.

FBLA: What did you do on Schwarzenegger?

Barresi: Searched for the names and addresses of his detractors. Anyone who may want to harm him, should he run for office.

FBLA: This was obviously before he was Governor.

Barresi: Yes.

FBLA: Did you make a list?

Barresi: A mile long.

FBLA: And, Stallone?

Barresi: I’m not at liberty to talk about that one.

FBLA: How about, Barry Bonds?

Barresi: The same song you always hear in Hollywood, but sung to a different tune. Some gold digger tried to shake him down by claiming that she was carrying his baby. It turned out not to be true.

Read more

Ben Mankiewicz and Ben Lyons are apt to do a serviceable job taking over “At the Movies,” but perhaps the most alarming element (for any moviegoer worth their weight) is that neither has been a film critic before (well actually, Ben 2 was called a critic on E!, that repository of journalistic and critical integrity).

But the two of them are related to film critics or film screenwriters. Granted they’re pretty good screenwriters (Citizen Kane) and critics (Jeffrey Lyons of WNBC in New York). But is it like baseball where Bobby Bonds can produce a Barry Bonds? I’m not sure either of these guys can hit 762 home runs, steroids or not.

So we’ll all just have to rely on Harry Knowles to figure out the movie business.

(image via Variety)

Hal Fishman Obit
KTLA’s erudite anchor Hal Fishman died at 75 after nearly 50 years in television. Dennis McClellan’s obit explains why Fishman was significant and relevant.On-line only.

Baby Brain Drain
Excessive viewing of baby videos may hinder language development in infants, or something like that. Amber Dance is back on the scare science beat.

We Need to Stalk
Google maps– a boon to paparazzi? That’s the takeaway from the piece written by Alex Pham and Joseph Menn.

Immoral Equivalence
Kurt Streeter defends Barry Bonds, comparing the use of prescription drugs and Red Bull to illegal steroid use. Online commenter says it best: “We should stop eating Wheaties as well.”

Best Paragraph Of The Day Award: Goes to E. Scott Reckard and Kim Christensen, who write about troubled former Broadcom Corp. chief executive/alleged fetishist Henry T. Nicholas III:

But in a marathon interview that began Tuesday evening and stretched to 3 a.m. Wednesday, Nicholas talked enthusiastically about his eclectic interests — including his efforts to develop military vehicles that can withstand rocket-propelled grenades, his work to keep California’s three-strikes law intact, his attempt to keep his sister’s killer behind bars and his venture into the music business.

We can smell the crazy wafting right up off the page.

Hard Sell: Comedian Jack Oakie’s widow, Victoria, bequeathed the couple’s historic Northridge home to USC because she couldn’t bear the thought of it being torn down. To honor her dying wishes, USC is now planning to sell the house to a developer who will likely tear it down.

“Cow-hide Covered Lottery Ticket”: Reporter Dylan Hernandez writes that the prospect of catching the 775th Barry Bonds home run ball has turned ordinary people into baseball fans. The ball, which would mark the occasion in which Bonds ties Hank Aaron’s home run record could be worth from $50,000 to $75,000 and record-breaking No. 756 $400,000 to $500,000.