Hollywood Digest

WHAT'S IN THE BAG?

If the presenters on the Academy Awards telecast Sunday seem especially happy, it might be because of the loot in the gift package they receive for appearing on the show.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has put together baskets of luxury stuff that -- by some estimates -- could be worth as much as $20,000. The academy doesn't disclose all the swag that's in those baskets, but companies that contribute to the largesse are free to go public with their generosity -- and it's fair to wonder if they would fork over all that stuff if they were sworn to secrecy.

One of the items in the gift baskets is JOY Perfume ($400). There's also a pair of TAG Heuer sunglasses ($250), and a $300 voucher for Birkenstock shoes -- perhaps for those who want to buff up Hollywood's image as a bastion of liberalism?

ROSIE AND THE CULT

Only Oscars host Whoopi Goldberg and head writer Bruce Vilanch know for sure, but expect some jokes on the telecast Sunday about Rosie O'Donnell and the Oscar-nominated documentary that features her voiceover.

O'Donnell has asked that her name and voice be removed from "Artists and Orphans: A True Drama," after finding out that it was produced by members of what has been described in media reports as a homophobic cult.

Known as "The Queen of Nice," O'Donnell came out recently as a lesbian.

The documentary focuses on the work of a New York theater group helping orphaned and homeless children in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. The theater group has been associated with a group call the Fourth Way School.

"If Rosie had known the truth about this organization," said O'Donnell's publicist, Cindi Berger, "she never would have consented to lend her name and voice."

Spokesmen for the Fourth Way School rejected suggestions that the group is "some kind of nefarious cult."

MEDIA WATCHDOG GIVES TV IMPROVING GRADE

According to a new by a non-partisan Washington-based media watchdog group, TV has less sex and violence than it did in recent years but filmmakers are still laying on the sex and violence.

The report, issued by the Center for Media and Public Affairs, looked at both cable and over-the-air TV -- including premium cable outlets, which have developed a reputation for pushing the envelope on content.

"There is evidence that television has started to clean up its act," said the report.

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) called the report "a victory of sorts for an industry that has been criticized on this score for some time."

The center said, however, that basic cable networks actually showed more violent content, and about the same amount of sex, since the last time the center measured that sort of material.

Researchers reported that the top 50 U.S. box-office hits of 2000 featured about the same amount of sexual and violent content as the top 50 of 1999. Mel Gibson's "The Patriot" and Russell Crowe's "Gladiator" were rated as the two most violent movies of 2000.

COURT DATE

NBC has picked May 12 as the date for its telecast of "L.A. Law: The Movie" -- formerly titled "L.A. Law: Return to Justice."

The two-hour TV movie will reunite may of the original cast members of the long-running, Emmy-winning legal drama -- including Corbin Bernsen, Golden Globe-winner Susan Dey, two-time Emmy Award-winner Larry Drake, Emmy-winner Richard Dysart, Golden Globe-winner Jill Eikenberry, Michele Greene, Harry Hamlin, Alan Rachins, Susan Ruttan and Michael Tucker.

The telecast is part of the network's look back, as it celebrates its 75th anniversary.

"L.A. Law" won 15 Emmys during its eight-year run on NBC (1986-94). The reunion movie was written by William Finkelstein, a former executive producer on the series, who won a Peabody, an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his work on the show.

WAITING IS OVER FOR YOUNG 'STAR WARS' STAR

Australian actress Bonnie Maree Piesse, 19, is about to gain worldwide exposure in "Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones" -- just six years after a pal of hers talked her into getting an agent to see if she could find work in entertainment.

Piesse's first major role was as a circus performer in the Australian kids TV show "High Flyers" (1999). Along the way, she has recorded a CD of her music -- she sings and plays guitar -- and worked on the Australian TV series "Horace & Tina" (2001).

She has been quoted as saying she's pretty sure she came by her "Star Wars" role as the young Beru Whitesun because the casting director saw her photo on an actor's database.

"It was a long, long time ago now," said Piesse in an item on the movie's official Web site (starwars.com). "I still have pretty vivid memories of the whole thing, because it was such a dream-time for me. When I see it, I'll probably look really young.

"I've had a lot of time to think about it and have a normal life and finish my school and just hang out with my friends and contemplate what it's going to be like," she said.

Piesse got a peek at her performance recently, when she saw trailers for the movie in theaters.

"It's pretty exciting, seeing it all put together," she said. "I hadn't read the full script or anything -- I had only seen my script -- so it will be really interesting to see what the actual movie is like."

WHO WILL THEY REPLACE HIM WITH -- GARRY SHANDLING?

Louis Rukeyser is being replaced as host of "Wall $treet Week With Louis Rukeyser," 32 years after launching the show on PBS.

Unlike ABC, which had eyes for David Letterman as a replacement for "Nightline" host Ted Koppel, PBS said the idea is not to dump the whole show -- just the host. The show is a joint production of Maryland Public Television and Fortune magazine.

Beginning this fall, it will be called "Wall $treet Week With Fortune."

CHER RETURNS TO 'WILL & GRACE'

NBC has announced that Cher will make a return engagement to the hit comedy "Will & Grace," playing herself in the May 16 episode -- a special, one-hour season finale.

In a cameo appearance last season, Cher had a run-in with Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) -- her biggest, and possibly most obsessive, fan.