Fran Drescher's love life is heating up both on and off the tube. On her five-year-old CBS sitcom The Nanny, she and boss Maxwell Sheffield, played by Charles Shaughnessy, finally get engaged in an episode to air during the February sweeps. In real life, Drescher and her estranged husband, Peter Marc Jacobson, who's also an executive producer of The Nanny, vacationed together in Italy over the holidays and are close to reconciling. The couple, who separated in October 1996 after 18 years of marriage, even sent out joint Christmas cards. And that's not all. Their production company, High School Sweethearts (which the two once were), is making deals for new TV shows. "Things look good," confirms Drescher's publicist. "They're spending a lot of time together and really trying to work things out."...
Just as Good Will Hunting hit theaters nationwide came the news that the romance between two of its stars, Matt Damon and Minnie Driver, had fizzled. Location dating is nothing new in Hollywood, but Damon, who cowrote the well-received Hunting, seems to be making a practice of it. He also dated his Rainmaker costar Claire Danes during production, but, alas, that wasn't meant to be either. Take note, Linda Fiorentino. (She is set to costar with Damon in Dogma, a satire that is expected to begin shooting next month in Memphis.)...
Hank Azaria landed a recurring role on NBC's Mad About You as Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser's dog walker, just so he could spend more time with Hunt, his real-life love. So it's only fair that she appear on his show The Simpsons, where he does more than 30 voices, including Moe the Bartender. In an episode entitled "Dumbbell Indemnity" and airing March 1, Hunt supplies the voice of Moe's new girlfriend, Renee. The plot involves Moe's turning to illegal means to support this seductress in his life. Says Mike Scully, an executive producer of The Simpsons: "Hank and Helen got along so well, it's hard to believe they are a real couple." ...
Robert Downey Jr. may be serving 180 days for parole violation in a Los Angeles jail, but he's still a man on the move. According to an L.A. County Sheriff's spokesman, the actor began his sentence Dec. 8 in an isolated area, then moved to a 32-inmate pod and last weekend was transferred into a dormlike setting, where he sleeps in a general area with as many as 39 other men. Downey has access to a phone, TV and reading material. "Our goal is to group together all inmates whose safety needs are compatible," says the spokesman. A Downey rep denies the actor was ever isolated in any way.
Scream 2 is a hoot—and a holler—in more ways than one. In the horror flick, which has already grossed over $90 million, the character played by Jamie Kennedy tells Courteney Cox Arquette's ruthless TV reporter that he saw a nude picture of her on the Internet. Cox responds that it was her head "but Jennifer Aniston's body." Turns out Cox ad-libbed the line as a playful nod to her curvaceous Friends costar.
Mitchell Fink is on vacation
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