• August 26, 1996
• Vol. 46
• No. 9

The Insider

By Tom Cunneff

Just call him the Joker. A source close to Dennis Miller tells me the comic received $300,000 for "punching up" the script for the latest in the Batman series, Batman and Robin, which begins shooting next month. "Dennis was laughing his [rear] off at the money he was getting," says the source. Batman director Joel Schumacher denies that Miller, currently in the horror spoof Bordello of Blood, doctored the script. He says that Miller, a pal and Batman fanatic, just "gave me two jokes after I gave him an old Batman relic. We're not even sure if we're going to use them." Asked what really gives, Miller's rep had only a terse "no comment."...

NBC's very own Ming-Na Wen was among the handful of offended viewers who complained to the network about a promo for Brooke Shields's new sitcom, Suddenly Susan. In the ad, Shields, dressed in karate togs, squinted her eyes and chop-chopped like Jackie Chan. NBC yanked the ad after airing it just once during the Olympics. The Chinese-American actress, formerly of ER and now on The Single Guy, registered her displeasure to NBC through her publicist Troy Nankin. "Karate-movie stereotypes are not funny," says Nankin. "Ming applauds NBC's decision."...

A couple of my East Coast spies recently saw sweethearts Kyle MacLachlan and Linda Evangelista registering their choices of linen and towels at the ABC Carpet & Home store in Manhattan. Might a wedding date be imminent for the engaged ex-Twin Peaks star and the supermodel? The store says it has no registration for the two, at least not under their own names. The couple's reps also deny there's a wedding date, with Evangelista's spokesperson adding, "Maybe they're just moving to a new apartment."...

My West Coast scouts, also busy, noticed the newly outed Primary Colors author Joe Klein, né Anonymous, signing his political satire at a bookstore in Studio City, Calif. Klein had just been browsing when the manager recognized him, and then customers asked for an autograph—a new experience for Klein, no doubt....

Although producer David Permut (Eddie) will give cameo roles to the cast of TV's The Love Boat (1977-86) in the film version he's planning for next year, he's hoping to land bigger stars for his leads. In trying to sell the movie to studios, Permut took an old cast photo and digitally substituted new faces: Patrick Stewart as captain, rap star Coolio as bartender, David Spade as purser, Lauren Holly as cruise director and Michael Caine as the M.D. Permut's other big change? He wants the love doctor, Barry White himself, to croon the theme song, thereby making it "The Luuuvvvv Boat."

Mitchell Fink is on vacation

• Contributors:
• Erik K. Meers.