Don Johnson

MEXICO CITY -- It's only a supporting role on a soap opera. But the character Don Johnson -- a corrupt DEA agent in a new prime-time soap opera on Mexican television -- promises to be a lightning rod for the deep anger toward the United States that the drug issue has created in Mexico and Latin America.The character is in the cast of a controversial telenovela -- or soap opera -- called "Demasiado Corazon" (Too Much Heart), a love story set against the world of drug trafficking. It debuted this autumn on the Television Azteca network.

'Heroes' stars split up, but remain friends, according to sources Heroes stars Milo Ventimiglia and Hayden Panettiere have ended their relationship, People magazine reported yesterday on its Web site. "They lead different lifestyles. He's 31, she's 19. She still has growing up to do and he's very low-key," a source close to the couple tells People. "The relationship never seemed like it had legs." The couple, who spent part of 2007 trying to hide their relationship, is still on amicable terms, another source says.

* ''Paradise'' A comedy-drama in which a 10-year-old boy spends the summer with a couple who have lost their child. Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith star.

Seedy, sour and looking for any excuse to sit at a bar and drink instead of practicing law -- that's Grant Cooper, the latest incarnation of Don Johnson (Miami Vice and Nash Bridges) in Just Legal, a new drama from producer Jerry Bruckheimer that premieres tonight on the WB network. Think Paul Newman in the feature film The Verdict. But instead of Boston, this weekly series is set in a noir-ish section of Venice, Calif., where Johnson's Cooper, a washed-up attorney, seems destined to spend his final days in an alcohol haze.

"Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" attempts to raise junk to the level of American pop myth. But this particular piece of garbage is not redeemable -- sewers stink and so does "Harley Davidson."Simon Wincer's new film tries to redo "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" in a slightly futuristic context -- the year is 1996 and the ozone layer is gone -- with motorcycles instead of horses. Wincer's good with horses in historical contexts -- he did "Phar Lap" and TV's "Lonesome Dove" -- but he takes a terrible spill here.

'Heroes' stars split up, but remain friends, according to sources Heroes stars Milo Ventimiglia and Hayden Panettiere have ended their relationship, People magazine reported yesterday on its Web site. "They lead different lifestyles. He's 31, she's 19. She still has growing up to do and he's very low-key," a source close to the couple tells People. "The relationship never seemed like it had legs." The couple, who spent part of 2007 trying to hide their relationship, is still on amicable terms, another source says.

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.

MILL VALLEY, Calif. -- Between now and Election Day, politicians will fall over themselves in trying to convince us they are tougher on crime than their opponents.Of course, no matter who gets elected, it won't have a radical impact on the crime rate. This is good news because -- well, frankly, we need crime.Imagine for a moment that tomorrow noon, all crime disappears. No more burglaries, robberies, larcenies. Within days, entire industries would go belly-up: police departments, detective agencies, security guards, gun manufacturers, locksmiths, self-defense teachers, sociologists, alarm makers, etc.Why, the construction business alone would go into a major tailspin if it wasn't engaged in building prisons.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - In a medium obsessed with the young and the restless, two veteran actors are smashing the age barrier to star in fall series. Dennis Hopper, 69, plays a Pentagon official in NBC's E-Ring. Don Johnson, 55, portrays an over-the-hill lawyer in WB's Just Legal. Both dramas come from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who has reshaped prime time with CSI, Without a Trace and Cold Case. He also has done quite a lot for middle-age actors who never will be confused with male models and boy toys.

Family members and colleagues of four correctional officers who were seriously wounded in a series of disturbances at the Maryland House of Correction Annex harshly criticized the warden yesterday for failing to lock down the maximum-security prison after a brawl Tuesday.That failure, they said, led to an orchestrated attack the next day that left one officer, 34-year-old Christopher Hill, in Maryland Shock Trauma Center's intensive-care unit yesterday with more than 17 stab wounds in his back and face.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - In a medium obsessed with the young and the restless, two veteran actors are smashing the age barrier to star in fall series. Dennis Hopper, 69, plays a Pentagon official in NBC's E-Ring. Don Johnson, 55, portrays an over-the-hill lawyer in WB's Just Legal. Both dramas come from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who has reshaped prime time with CSI, Without a Trace and Cold Case. He also has done quite a lot for middle-age actors who never will be confused with male models and boy toys.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - You take away the mahogany tan, the convertible, the white suits with pastel shirts and what have you? You have Don Johnson the person. Buried in the debris of publicity for most of his adult life, Johnson has not only survived the white-hot lights, he's turned them inward. Always an underrated actor, Johnson has given up his breezy banter for words of significance in his latest teleplay, Word of Honor, premiering Saturday on TNT. Johnson plays a Vietnam veteran who harbors a secret which threatens to destroy several lives 30 years after the fact.

Air it during sweeps, and they will come.Nowhere was that better demonstrated than this past weekend, when Part 1 of NBC's near-universally panned "Noah's Ark" (The Sun's David Zurawik called it a bomb, and that was one of his nicer terms) garnered enough viewers to make it the most-watched film to air on TV this season.Nielsen numbers give Noah and his rain a 20.9 rating, 32 share (which means nearly one-third of all TV sets in use Sunday night were helping spread Noah-mania throughout the land)

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.

MEXICO CITY -- It's only a supporting role on a soap opera. But the character Don Johnson -- a corrupt DEA agent in a new prime-time soap opera on Mexican television -- promises to be a lightning rod for the deep anger toward the United States that the drug issue has created in Mexico and Latin America.The character is in the cast of a controversial telenovela -- or soap opera -- called "Demasiado Corazon" (Too Much Heart), a love story set against the world of drug trafficking. It debuted this autumn on the Television Azteca network.

Family members and colleagues of four correctional officers who were seriously wounded in a series of disturbances at the Maryland House of Correction Annex harshly criticized the warden yesterday for failing to lock down the maximum-security prison after a brawl Tuesday.That failure, they said, led to an orchestrated attack the next day that left one officer, 34-year-old Christopher Hill, in Maryland Shock Trauma Center's intensive-care unit yesterday with more than 17 stab wounds in his back and face.

All you "Price Is Right" fans, come on down!"The Price Is Right 25th Anniversary Special" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- Has Bob Barker really been doing this for a quarter century, having screaming people try to guess how much something costs? Have models (and Vanna White prototypes) like Janice Pennington, Dian Parkinson, Kathleen Bradley and Chantel Dubay really spent a quarter century pointing at and caressing merchandise? You betcha. (Although Parkinson, who once sued Barker for sexual harassment, doesn't seem to have been invited to the party.

Seedy, sour and looking for any excuse to sit at a bar and drink instead of practicing law -- that's Grant Cooper, the latest incarnation of Don Johnson (Miami Vice and Nash Bridges) in Just Legal, a new drama from producer Jerry Bruckheimer that premieres tonight on the WB network. Think Paul Newman in the feature film The Verdict. But instead of Boston, this weekly series is set in a noir-ish section of Venice, Calif., where Johnson's Cooper, a washed-up attorney, seems destined to spend his final days in an alcohol haze.

A melee at the Maryland House of Correction Annex sent four correctional officers to the hospital yesterday as legions of their colleagues used tear gas and pepper spray to force more than 90 inmates into their cells.The disturbances, in which inmates poured water over the floor of the maximum-security prison's D building and refused to return to their cells, began shortly after 2 p.m. and ended when the prisoners surrendered two hours later.It was the second serious incident at the Jessup prison in two days; a fight in a mess hall Tuesday wounded 12 officers and seven inmates.

All you "Price Is Right" fans, come on down!"The Price Is Right 25th Anniversary Special" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- Has Bob Barker really been doing this for a quarter century, having screaming people try to guess how much something costs? Have models (and Vanna White prototypes) like Janice Pennington, Dian Parkinson, Kathleen Bradley and Chantel Dubay really spent a quarter century pointing at and caressing merchandise? You betcha. (Although Parkinson, who once sued Barker for sexual harassment, doesn't seem to have been invited to the party.