Kathy Bates

Kathy Bates, the all-too-attentive fan of writer James Caan in ''Misery,'' is the clear favorite for Best Actress among Evening Sun readers and other callers to Lou Cedrone's SUNDIAL Oscar Line. We'll know for sure when the Academy Awards are announced next Monday night.Forty-four percent of the 196 respondents in a telephone survey conducted last Wednesday chose Bates, followed by Julia Roberts for ''Pretty Woman'' (30 percent), Joanne Woodward for ''Mr. & Mrs. Bridge'' (13 percent), Meryl Streep for ''Postcards From the Edge'' (7 percent)

Series Wife Swap: : The series marks its 100th episode by taking two families selected by viewers from past fan favorites. This time, the storm-chasing, science-obsessed Heene family from Colorado swaps wives and moms with the psychic, performing arts-inclined Silvers from Florida. (8 p.m., WMAR-Channel 2) Friday Night Lights: : Dillon is in the spotlight when the Panthers' game is selected to be televised nationally. (9 p.m., WBAL-Channel 11) Battlestar Galactica: : Part 1 of the series finale.

LOS ANGELES -- Not long after winning the Oscar for Best Actress last spring, Kathy Bates was shooting another picture, "Prelude to a Kiss," in a blue-collar neighborhood in Chicago.It was a night shoot, and people gathered to watch Bates and her co-star, Alec Baldwin, at work. "We had bodyguards and it was all really big time," she says. "A lot of people were asking for autographs."Along about 2 a.m., accompanied by her bodyguard -- "that was kind of strange" -- Ms. Bates took her Yorkshire terrier Pip for a walk.

NEW YORK - In Revolutionary Road, Leonardo DiCaprio does not play a CIA agent, a reclusive multimillionaire or a South African diamond smuggler. Instead, he plays Frank Wheeler, a suburban husband, father and office worker - a character of whom it could be said that there's nothing unusual or extraordinary at all. "I suppose it would be a first," DiCaprio says of this exceedingly normal, almost banal role. "A lot of times, movies don't get made unless it's about something larger than life, or something people find is more interesting than" - and here he laughs - "the monotony of everyday existence."

HBO announced yesterday that Kathy Bates and two unknowns will star in "Late Shift," a film about the backstage battle between David Letterman and Jay Leno to succeed Johnny Carson as host of the "Tonight Show" on NBC.The film is based on the book by New York Times television reporter Bill Carter, formerly of The Baltimore Sun, who also wrote the HBO screenplay.Ms. Bates will play Helen Kushnick, Mr. Leno's former manager. Daniel Roebuck will play Mr. Leno, while John Michael Higgins will portray Mr. Letterman.

"The Waterboy" attains the level of most of Adam Sandler's movies, which is to say, not very high. But that will be enough if audiences check their brains at the door to enjoy this amiable, silly and human story of a mama-smothered young man and his rise to fame and acceptance.Sandler plays Bobby Boucher, a social misfit whose one mission is to provide good water to the college football team he works for in the Louisiana bayou. He's a relentless perfectionist, boiling the stuff to guarantee its purity, even offering spring water as an alternative.

Series Wife Swap: : The series marks its 100th episode by taking two families selected by viewers from past fan favorites. This time, the storm-chasing, science-obsessed Heene family from Colorado swaps wives and moms with the psychic, performing arts-inclined Silvers from Florida. (8 p.m., WMAR-Channel 2) Friday Night Lights: : Dillon is in the spotlight when the Panthers' game is selected to be televised nationally. (9 p.m., WBAL-Channel 11) Battlestar Galactica: : Part 1 of the series finale.

MOVIESA bridge through time Joanne Woodward was nominated for an Academy Award for her work in ''Mr. and Mrs. Bridge,'' and the honor was well deserved. Ms. Woodward stars with her husband, Paul Newman, as a Kansas City couple who make it through the Depression era '30s into the '40s. Many of us like to think that life was simpler back then, and maybe it was. But that doesn't mean Mr. and Mrs. Bridge were spared the familiar agonies. The film, sensitive and moving, is showing at the Rotunda and Westview cinemas.

TELEVISIONLife beyond the BowlIt is, of course, the weekend of the football, with Super Bowl TV specials starting today and running nonstop on one channel or another straight through to game time tomorrow at 6 p.m. on WBAL-TV (Channel 11). But there is one noteworthy non-football special this weekend, "The 24th Annual NAACP Image Awards," at 11:30 tonight on WMAR-TV (Channel 2). NBC is broadcasting the telecast saluting achievement by African-Americans. Awards will be given to the Four Tops, the O'Jays, the Dells, the Temptations and Arsenio Hall.

Small, trivial things can sometimes add up to large, important ones. That's the message of "Frankie & Johnny," an ingratiating romantic comedy currently playing nationally.It's only a little thing, for example, that Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Johnny (Al Pacino) have names which, taken together, form the title of a popular song. But trivial though this coincidence is, it's not nothing.And as Frankie and Johnny get to know each other, the little things start to add up: She's a waitress and he's a cook.

You'd think world domination would be enough. But, no, Tyler Perry isn't satisfied by his box-office-busting success in four artistic genres: film, TV, books and live theater. He's not content that, in the past 15 years, he's gone from living in his car to living in a 26-room mansion in Atlanta. It isn't sufficient that next month will see the opening of the Tyler Perry Studios, a 30-acre complex with five soundstages southwest of Atlanta, where Perry hopes to nurture undiscovered talent.

The difference between the actors and the onlookers was indistinguishable - Da'Juan Prince had done his job well. On the Baltimore set of HBO's original drama series, The Wire, which is scheduled to complete filming here next week, the costume department's job is to make the clothing and atmosphere as realistic as possible. Much of its work is done before the cameras roll, but throughout filming, members can be seen on the sidelines, ready to grab a new shirt - and oftentimes a dirty one, depending on the requirements of the scene - if necessary, ensuring that everyone is dressed appropriately.

"The Waterboy" attains the level of most of Adam Sandler's movies, which is to say, not very high. But that will be enough if audiences check their brains at the door to enjoy this amiable, silly and human story of a mama-smothered young man and his rise to fame and acceptance.Sandler plays Bobby Boucher, a social misfit whose one mission is to provide good water to the college football team he works for in the Louisiana bayou. He's a relentless perfectionist, boiling the stuff to guarantee its purity, even offering spring water as an alternative.

There is no Katharine Hepburn movie this year, so viewers who insist on charm, music, lights and laughter in their holiday movies will have to make do with "The West Side Waltz," which airs at 9 tonight on WJZ (Channel 13).Some sacrifice.Based on Ernest Thompson's stage play, "The West Side Waltz" is loaded with talent. There's a star in each of the three main roles -- Shirley MacLaine, Liza Minnelli and Jennifer Grey.As if that weren't an abundance of riches, one of Hollywood's finest actresses, Kathy Bates, plays a supporting role.

HBO announced yesterday that Kathy Bates and two unknowns will star in "Late Shift," a film about the backstage battle between David Letterman and Jay Leno to succeed Johnny Carson as host of the "Tonight Show" on NBC.The film is based on the book by New York Times television reporter Bill Carter, formerly of The Baltimore Sun, who also wrote the HBO screenplay.Ms. Bates will play Helen Kushnick, Mr. Leno's former manager. Daniel Roebuck will play Mr. Leno, while John Michael Higgins will portray Mr. Letterman.

Who will save our 'lost generation'?Statistics regarding the condition of children in poverty, beset by crime and labeled the "lost generation," are appalling. Responsible adults cannot let this continue.I suggest the president call a meeting of leaders of the entertainment industries and demand they become more responsible. We are being fed a diet of violence, corruption and sex. Young people think this is real life and it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.Sure, there's lots of money to be made in the short run. But in the long run we are already seeing a "lost generation" that will perpetuate more lost generations.

The difference between the actors and the onlookers was indistinguishable - Da'Juan Prince had done his job well. On the Baltimore set of HBO's original drama series, The Wire, which is scheduled to complete filming here next week, the costume department's job is to make the clothing and atmosphere as realistic as possible. Much of its work is done before the cameras roll, but throughout filming, members can be seen on the sidelines, ready to grab a new shirt - and oftentimes a dirty one, depending on the requirements of the scene - if necessary, ensuring that everyone is dressed appropriately.

You'd think world domination would be enough. But, no, Tyler Perry isn't satisfied by his box-office-busting success in four artistic genres: film, TV, books and live theater. He's not content that, in the past 15 years, he's gone from living in his car to living in a 26-room mansion in Atlanta. It isn't sufficient that next month will see the opening of the Tyler Perry Studios, a 30-acre complex with five soundstages southwest of Atlanta, where Perry hopes to nurture undiscovered talent.

LOS ANGELES -- Not long after winning the Oscar for Best Actress last spring, Kathy Bates was shooting another picture, "Prelude to a Kiss," in a blue-collar neighborhood in Chicago.It was a night shoot, and people gathered to watch Bates and her co-star, Alec Baldwin, at work. "We had bodyguards and it was all really big time," she says. "A lot of people were asking for autographs."Along about 2 a.m., accompanied by her bodyguard -- "that was kind of strange" -- Ms. Bates took her Yorkshire terrier Pip for a walk.

TELEVISIONLife beyond the BowlIt is, of course, the weekend of the football, with Super Bowl TV specials starting today and running nonstop on one channel or another straight through to game time tomorrow at 6 p.m. on WBAL-TV (Channel 11). But there is one noteworthy non-football special this weekend, "The 24th Annual NAACP Image Awards," at 11:30 tonight on WMAR-TV (Channel 2). NBC is broadcasting the telecast saluting achievement by African-Americans. Awards will be given to the Four Tops, the O'Jays, the Dells, the Temptations and Arsenio Hall.