Degeneres

Richardson family attends viewing Liam Neeson looked distraught yesterday as he greeted grieving family members and friends who attended a private viewing for his wife, actress Natasha Richardson. Neeson and sons Micheal, 13, and Daniel, 12, attended the viewing at New York's American Irish Historical Society, as well as Richardson's mother, Vanessa Redgrave, and her sister Joely Richardson. The viewing followed Thursday night's tribute on Broadway, when theaters dimmed their lights for the Tony Award-winning actress, who died from bleeding in the skull caused by the fall she took on a ski slope.

What a mess.Despite trying so hard to be equal parts "Fargo" and "Double Indemnity," "Goodbye Lover" succeeds only in being leaden. It's an unfunny black comedy and an unmoody film noir featuring one of the least enjoyable casts of characters in recent memory. And it's directed with great solemnity by Roland Joffe, who seems under the impression he's still making "The Killing Fields."Patricia Arquette is Sandra, the movie's fatal femme, a blond dynamo with a wicked pair of legs and an even more wicked disposition.

PASADENA, Calif. -- In an effort to brake a ratings slide that has taken it to third place this fall behind NBC and CBS, ABC yesterday announced major changes in its prime-time lineup. Affected are such big-ticket series as "Ellen," "NYPD Blue," "Murder One" and "Relativity."Starting March 5, "Ellen" will go on hiatus for seven weeks with an as-yet-untitled sitcom starring Arsenio Hall taking its Wednesday night time period, ABC Entertainment President Jamie Tarses said yesterday.While a hiatus so soon after a time-period change like the one "Ellen" underwent last month often indicates a show is on its way to cancellation, Tarses guaranteed the show's return in May. "It's a given she will return," she said.

NO ONE CAN PREDICT how the 21st century will regard tomorrow's episode of "Ellen," in which actress Ellen DeGeneres "comes out" as a lesbian in fiction, as she did recently in fact.Will the situation comedy be remembered as a cultural watershed that begat a greater acceptance of homosexuality? Or will it amount to fleeting ratings gimmickry relegated years from now to a trivia question?This much we know: On prime-time TV, trivia comes much more easily than watersheds. When Captain Kirk kissed Lieutenant Uhura on "Star Trek" 30 years ago, it did nothing to smooth the path for interracial relationships.

An estimated 42 million viewers tuned in to see Ellen Morgan come out, making Wednesday's episode of ABC's "Ellen" one of the highest-rated shows of the season.The audience, which was three times as large as normal for the sitcom starring Ellen DeGeneres, will probably make "Ellen" the most-watched show of the week.In comparison, "ER" was No. 1 last week with an audience of about 37 million viewers. January's Super Bowl XXXI was seen by just under 129 million American viewers. And the last episode of "M*A*S*H" -- broadcast in 1983, when there were fewer people and fewer televisions -- had an audience of more than 50 million.

'Ellen' will be breaking ground for TV familiesIn his April 27 column, "Ellen breaks with the past,'' TV critic David Zurawik writes that the character of Ellen Morgan coming out on television is important because, "It is the test case for moving gays and lesbians to full membership in our television families."

At least at this year's Grammys, neither A Taste of Honey nor Milli Vanilli is up for anything.* "Ellen" (8 p.m.-8:30 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- Ellen has no problem accepting a marriage proposal from Matt (Dan Gauthier) but thinks the ring is a bit on the small side. ABC.* "Grammy Awards" (8 p.m.-whenever, WJZ, Channel 13) -- Ellen DeGeneres is the host for this year's annual attempt by the music industry to show it knows what talent is. Past years have often proved more embarrassing than not, but this year the Grammy folks swear they'll get it right.

Country music has gotten pretty cool on TV, as evidenced by NBC's three-hour commitment to the annual "Country Music Awards," which includes a retrospective of 30 years of No. 1 country hits. And ABC's comedy lineup has some interesting developments.* "The 30th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards" (8 p.m.-11 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11) -- Clint Black, Tanya Tucker and comedian Jeff Foxworthy are hosts of the live broadcast. Scheduled performers include Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Alabama, John Anderson, Brooks & Dunn, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Tracy Lawrence, Barbara Mandrell, Willie Nelson and Pam Tillis.

Cybill Shepherd is back in a new series that's mainly going to remind viewers of what a terrific comic actor Bruce Willis was in "Moonlighting."Left to her own devices in the new CBS sitcom "Cybill," La Shepherd seems a little lost."

Thank goodness for small favors, and for brief delays: Today was the day Fox had set aside for the prime-time premiere of its controversial docudrama "The O. J. Simpson Story," but the network decided it would be in poor taste to present the movie before the jury in the double homicide case had been selected.(The mere act of making it is poor taste in itself, but that's another matter.)* "Deadly Vows" (8-10 p.m., Channel 45) -- So what does Fox scrape up to use as a last-minute substitution for its unauthorized O. J. telemovie?

Richardson family attends viewing Liam Neeson looked distraught yesterday as he greeted grieving family members and friends who attended a private viewing for his wife, actress Natasha Richardson. Neeson and sons Micheal, 13, and Daniel, 12, attended the viewing at New York's American Irish Historical Society, as well as Richardson's mother, Vanessa Redgrave, and her sister Joely Richardson. The viewing followed Thursday night's tribute on Broadway, when theaters dimmed their lights for the Tony Award-winning actress, who died from bleeding in the skull caused by the fall she took on a ski slope.

The losses continue to mount. A baseball nation laughs as a baseball clubhouse weeps. Fans can't eat, players can't sleep and the Orioles just can't win. There is hope, though. There is reason for optimism. As the Orioles take their nine-game losing streak on the road, I've figured out how to snap them out of this funk. I've found the secret! Or more accurately, The Secret. You've heard about The Secret, right? It has been featured on Oprah and spoofed on Saturday Night Live. Wikipedia calls it a cultural phenomenon, which sounds pretty legit to me. It's a school of positive thinking built around the Law of Attraction - yes, we're getting technical here, so roll up your intellectual new-age sleeves - wherein one's thoughts can control the entire universe.

When his car breaks down, a U.S. marshal stumbles upon a town where the government has been secretly stockpiling geniuses. As you'd expect, it's a pretty kooky place. Joe Morton stars in Eureka (9 p.m.-11 p.m., Sci Fi). Network VERONICA MARS -- 8 p.m.-9 p.m., WUTB, Channel 24 / Her boyfriend dumps her, kidnaps a baby and runs. Then things get worse for Veronica. UPN. HOUSE -- 8 p.m.-9 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45 / After the Baltimore "thing," Stacy and House try to act normally. Fox. GILMORE GIRLS -- 8 p.m.-9 p.m., WNUV, Channel 54 / Sure, Luke likely would have hated the recital, but he's mad Lorelai didn't invite him. WB. ACCORDING TO JIM -- 8 p.m.-8:30 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2 / The more Cheryl says he reminds her of Jim, the less Dana likes her new beau.

Realizing that her husband (Kevin Kline) is a no-good cheater but unable to divorce him because the church won't allow it, a wife takes steps to bump him off. It's an odd logic. Anyway, the murder attempts are so lame that the guy's seemingly in little danger in I Love You to Death (8 p.m.-9:45 p.m., Flix). Network WILL & GRACE -- 8 p.m.-8:30 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11 / The last time Will saw his dad alive, they had a fight. Now Will's guilt is killing him. NBC. THE O.C. -- 9 p.m.-10 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45 / Prom night piles on the angst as Ryan spies on Marissa's date and Seth pines for the unavailable Summer.

Having graduated from college with zero clue what's next, a son (Josh Dean) moves back home in Free Ride (9:30 p.m.-10 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45). There, he pines for an old girlfriend, hangs with a guy who hasn't moved on from high school and tries to deal with his parents' therapy. Network STILL STANDING -- 8 p.m.-8:30 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13 / Bill tries to "help" Tina's basketball team miss the playoffs, so he can watch the real thing on TV. CBS. LOST -- 9 p.m.-10:03 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2 / Claire searches desperately for her son's cure.

CBS yesterday named Ellen DeGeneres host of The 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards telecast to be broadcast at 8 p.m. Sept. 18 on CBS. "We are thrilled," said Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment. "She's an incredibly multi-talented performer whose comedic skills and energy promise to deliver an Emmy Awards broadcast to remember." DeGeneres emceed The 53rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on CBS in 2001. "Ellen has demonstrated her extraordinary ability to connect with the television viewing audience," said Dick Askins, chairman of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

If it truly is more blessed to give than to receive, there must be a special place in heaven for TV hosts. First in line at the Pearly Gates? Has to be Oprah Winfrey, who presented Pontiacs to an entire studio audience earlier this season and then handed out $15,000 worth of her "Favorite Things" to a screaming, sobbing mob of teachers. Next is Ellen DeGeneres, who raised more than $450,000 for hunger-relief organization America's Second Harvest in her recent "Thanks-for-Giving" fund-raising drive, then followed up with "12 Days of Giveaways," rewarding audiences with such trinkets as digital cameras.

If you're a parent, it's likely that the disc you'll have sitting in your DVD player for at least the next month will be Finding Nemo, a two-DVD set that hit stores Tuesday. The good news is that the film (and its multitude of shimmery DVD extras) is a joy. The Pixar fish film has become, since its summer release, the highest-grossing animated film in history and garnered some of the best critical cartoon hosannas since ... well, since Pixar's last film, Monsters, Inc. At the box office, Finding Nemo surpassed The Lion King, which reached DVD shelves last month.

It might not be as headline-grabbing as the coming out of Ellen DeGeneres' character on ABC's Ellen six years ago, or, perhaps, even the kiss shared by gay partners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman during CBS's Tony Awards telecast earlier this month to celebrate their award for the songs in Hairspray. But something deeper and more important has been happening in the way homosexuality is being portrayed on television: Viewers are being offered some of the most enlightened images of gay, lesbian and transgendered identity ever - but only on those cable channels for which viewers are paying a premium.

Degeneres on the road Before her sitcom, and before all the coming-out/dating Anne Heche hoopla, Ellen DeGeneres was a stand-up comedian. Now she's back on the road, on a tour that hits Washington's Lisner Auditorium April 16 and 17, and which culminates in shows in New York that will be filmed for an HBO special. It's been a busy year for DeGeneres: Her talk show makes its debut in September, she has a book due in the fall, and she recently lent her voice to the Disney-Pixar animated film Finding Nemo, due in May. To catch the stand-up star as she perfects the material for her TV special, call Ticketmaster at 410-492-SEAT, or check out www.ticketmaster.