Candice Bergen

A movie about June weddings - why open it in the depths of January? The studio probably hopes that the bloom of New York (actually, Boston) in fair weather would lift moviegoers' hearts. Nothing else in this desperately unfunny farce would do it. Bride Wars has possibly the worst comedy idea since Springtime for Hitler, with almost no room for redeeming camp. Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway play Liv and Emma, inseparable friends for 20 years who've also fantasized about getting married at the Plaza Hotel for 20 years.

THIS MAY come as quite a shock, but a recent survey shows that the overwhelming majority of American women 84 percent enjoy shopping for clothes.OK, OK, so I wasn't exactly stunned by this revelation, either. The survey, conducted for Express stores, also revealed that more than half (55 percent, to be exact) said they hoped to find clothing inside some of those gift-wrapped boxes.I guess it's time to say it out loud.My name is Pat, and I'm Hard To Please.My husband says shopping for me is the most agonizingly difficult thing he does all year.

What to do if you are not a fan of the "Summer Olympic Games," continuing on NBC (Channel 2) at 7:30 tonight? Try some trips through TV time.At 8:30, for example, ABC (Channel 13) repeats its nostalgic spring special, "The Happy Days Reunion," bringing together Ron Howard, Henry Winkler and other principals of the 1974-84 nostalgia series about '60s teens attending Jefferson High School in Milwaukee.And at 10 p.m., ABC also repeats "MTV 10," its November anniversary salute to the 10-year-old cable service that popularized the music video format, with George Michael, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Aerosmith and R.E.M.

If you know any 8-year-olds who are into Robert Bly and the men's movement, have them tune in to "Home Improvement" in the weeks ahead. It's the perfect show for them.That's not meant as a total put-down of the new ABC sitcom, which stars Tim Allen as the manly male host of "Tool Time," a TV show aimed at do-it-yourselfers. Allen's a very funny guy and tonight's premiere (8:30, Channel 13) is very funny as well.The problem is that ABC doesn't know what it wants this show to be. The producers handed the network a pilot that was both yuk-yuk funny and spiced with smart satire on male-female relationships and the men's movement.

Come on, you didn't really think the new job at the White House that Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen) accepted at the end of last season was going to work out, did you?Of course not. But who would have thought she'd last less than an hour with the Clintons and have to come crawling back to "FYI" and executive producer Kay Carter-Shepley (Lily Tomlin)?"So what happened, Murph? Was it something you stole, something you spilled or something you said?" Frank (Joe Regalbuto) asks her gleefully."Wow, the trifecta," he shouts in response to Murphy's uncharacteristic silence.

ON AND OFF THE AIR:* The late actress Colleen Dewhurst made perfectly clear the source of the abrasive, aggressive character of "Murphy Brown" (Candice Bergen) with her guest-star portrayal last season of Avery Brown, Murphy's mother.And in tonight's episode (9 p.m., Channel 11), the series pays tribute to Dewhurst and integrates her passing into the show. Murphy tries to cope with her mom's death, anticipating that she TTC will be haunted. Darren McGavin also appears as Murphy's father.Dewhurst, 65, died in August from cancer.

Poor Gracie Hart. She's spent her life trying to be one of the boys, learning to swear, drink and fight like the brother you wish you'd had around for protection. Now, as an FBI agent, she gets to put all that training to good use. And the undercover assignment the bureau figures she's perfect for? Beauty pageant contestant. Sandra Bullock gets to try her hand at slapstick in "Miss Congeniality," a lightweight and generally amusing farce that skewers the world of both beauty shows and those who ridicule them.

CBS has a long and rich history of comedic leading ladies. Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett and Mary Tyler Moore are TV Hall of Famers on the strength of shows bearing their names. Bea Arthur (Maude) and Candice Bergen (Murphy Brown) had long-running CBS hits driven by their title characters. Lately, though, women have been in the passenger seats on CBS' few remaining sitcoms. King of Queens and Still Standing are built around tubby Dads, How I Met Your Mother is male-centric and the title of Two and a Half Men speaks for itself.

What it cost Fox Television to produce last Sunday's Emmy Award broadcast should be counted against Federal Election Commission spending limits for the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign.In addition to bashing President Bush and their favorite target, Vice President Dan Quayle, the Hollywood elite even got in some retroactive bashing of former President Ronald Reagan, whom they hate because his ratings were higher than theirs.By far the most ludicrous line came backstage from Candice Bergen (aka Murphy Brown)

Generally speaking, I grew up among adults who told me as little as possible about sex and where babies come from.In fact, most of what I knew about the subject came from an out-of-date health manual my mother kept semi-hidden in a dining room cabinet. Behind the wine glasses.But one thing I did know as a child -- from just observing the world around me -- was this: All babies had a mother. And a father.This didn't mean I had the sexual mechanics of what happened between mothers and fathers pinned down.