PASSAGES: 'NYPD Blue' Gets Green Light

By Stephen M. Silverman

02/15/2002 at 11:14 AM EST

RENEWED: Dennis Franz and the rest of the cast of "NYPD Blue" got picked up for another year, its 10th, on Thursday, ABC told the Associated Press. The show, despite being in a new timeslot (9 p.m. Tuesday, against NBC's "Frasier" and "Scrubs"), has been one of the network's few shining stars this season . . . EXPECTING: Actress and former Playboy Playmate Jenny McCarthy, 29, and her husband since 1999, director John Asher, 31, are expecting their first child in June. "We are thrilled to bring a bundle of love into our family," McCarthy told the AP . . . ENGAGED: Pop stars Jessica Simpson, 21, and Nick Lachey , 28, of 98 Degrees have announced their engagement, reports USA Today. No wedding date has been set . . . SCHEDULED: Just a week after playing host to first lady Laura Bush, Jay Leno will welcome Vice President Dick Cheney next Tuesday on NBC's "Tonight" show, though the host, 51, vows he is not showing any partisanship. "You book who you can get," he told Reuters Thursday. "I defy anyone to figure out my politics by watching the monologue" . . . DIED: Fashion grande dame Pauline Trigere, 93, whose wit was as refined as her tailoring, died at her Manhattan home Wednesday, reports The New York Times. Though she retired in 1994, the Paris-born Hitler refugee maintained her legend on the fashion circuit. Thursday she was to have attended Bob Mackie's fashion show, says New York's Daily News . . . SUED: The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday that it wants to shut down Access Resource Services Inc. and Psychic Readers Network, Florida-based companies behind a telephone psychic reading service, reports the AP. Florida authorities announced a separate lawsuit, challenging the service's spokeswoman, Youree Dell Harris, known as "Miss Cleo," to prove that she really is a renowned shaman from Jamaica. There has been no comment from any of the challenged parties, though clearly they should have foreseen this coming.