Phil Donahue

Alan Keyes and Sister Souljah. It certainly makes for one of the livelier match-ups you'll see this fall on PBS.Keyes, the Republican candidate for the Senate in Maryland, and rap musician Souljah are two of the panelists featured in "The Issue Is Race: A Crisis in Black and White" tonight on MPT (Channels 22 and 67). The two-hour forum on race relations is presented by Phil Donahue and includes Washington Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly among its other panelists. U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Keyes' opponent, was invited to be a panelist, but declined, Donahue tells viewers.

Marlo Thomas stopped in at L.A.'s trendy Frida Mexican and immediately caught the eye of one of this column's handy helpers. Our guy complimented the new sparkling DVD release of Marlo's iconic That Girl sitcom. Mrs. Phil Donahue - of whom he said, "doesn't she ever age?" - was gracious and forthcoming: "I am thrilled about the shows being out. I did an audio commentary. And I have to credit the whole team - the cast and writers - for making the series so successful. Ann Marie was the first single girl on TV to have her own pad and a boyfriend.

TV talk-show legend Phil Donahue said he knows his ratings have to turn around soon if his comeback on MSNBC is going to last. "If we don't make noise in six months, it's going to be hard for me to tell my family that I was treated unfairly," Donahue said. Donahue's highly publicized 8 p.m. show is off to a sluggish start in its first six weeks, drawing about half the viewers watching CNN's new entry in the time period, Connie Chung Tonight. Last week, his show averaged 365,000 viewers to Chung's 686,000, according to Nielsen Media Research.

TAMPA, Fla.-- --The breakup rumors are true. The nightly dinners have stopped. The sleepovers, too. The duo isn't officially separated, but the fire sure ain't what it used to be. Apparently, A-Rod and Jeet just don't love each other like they once did. That's according to Alex Rodriguez, the New York Yankees third baseman and baseball's most talented and intimidating princess (sorry, Barry Bonds, but the crown has been passed). Rodriguez decided to come clean yesterday in his first spring chat with the media.

AS THE first negative ads of this year's gubernatorial race hit the airwaves, voters might want to remember a quip from the eloquent Adlai Stevenson, who twice won the Democratic presidential nomination and twice lost to Dwight Eisenhower:"A lie is an abomination unto the Lord and a very present help in trouble."* * *TELEVISION talk show host Phil Donahue's campaign to broadcast an execution on his program has not gone unnoticed by David Letterman's writers.A sampling of the Donahue-execution jokes heard recently on the Letterman show follows:* "To give you an idea of how oppressively hot and humid it was in New York City yesterday, guys were showing up at the 'Donahue' show asking to be executed."

Phil Donahue is bringing his talk show to the Eastern Shore tomorrow morning with a live broadcast from Easton. The subject will be the recent controversy in Talbot County concerning the distribution of condoms in schools.The show, which can be see on Channel 2 (WMAR) at 9 o'clock, will take place at Easton's Avalon Theater. It is part of what Donahue is billing as "Heartland: A Week in the Life of America," which will also include shows from towns in Maine, Illinois, Texas, Alaska and Arizona.

Because of incorrect information provided to The Sun, an article in yesterday's Today section about Phil Donahue in Easton gave the wrong date for the TV broadcast of "Donahue." The show was aired live Tuesday on WMAR-TV (Channel 2).EastonPhil was coming.At 7 a.m., Dover Street in Easton is usually deserted. But yesterday, despite chill November winds, a line stretched all the way down the block -- affluent Talbot County matrons waiting beside high school girls in sneakers, each one lucky enough to have a ticket to a remote broadcast of the "Donahue" show.

"Do you want me to shut up?" voluble Susan Powter politely asked a photographer kneeling near her."No, you can talk," he replied. "Just look this way."Judging from the attention she commanded, the Dallas-based "motivation diva" had the alluring look of a winner Tuesday at the 31st annual National Association of Television Program Executives convention in Miami Beach. NATPE, an elephant-size flea market for 10,000-plus buyers and sellers of syndicated programming, helped Ms. Powter schmooze the way for her new weekday syndicated show, premiering this fall.

Sitting down for a chat with Phil Donahue seems a bit unnatural.Wouldn't walking and talking be more like it?After all, after 25 years of "Donahue" shows -- --ing up and down TV studio aisles, mike in hand, asking "Is the caller there?" -- it just seems more appropriate, somehow.But on this rainy afternoon in New York, the mood of the 56-year-old talk show host is relaxed to the point of pensive.It's a couple of hours before show time in NBC-TV's Studio 8G when Mr. Donahue ushers a reporter into his office at 30 Rockefeller Center.

Daisy Fuentes promises her new talk show for CNBC won't wade into the tabloid waters so favored by traditional talk fare."You will not see transsexuals who have gotten a sex change to become women and are now lesbians," Ms. Fuentes said the other day.Not only doesn't she want to make her viewers uncomfortable, she doesn't intend to make her guests feel that way, either. She just wants to find out "what makes them tick." And controversy isn't likely to be part of the mix."I don't enjoy controversy," she said.

TV talk-show legend Phil Donahue said he knows his ratings have to turn around soon if his comeback on MSNBC is going to last. "If we don't make noise in six months, it's going to be hard for me to tell my family that I was treated unfairly," Donahue said. Donahue's highly publicized 8 p.m. show is off to a sluggish start in its first six weeks, drawing about half the viewers watching CNN's new entry in the time period, Connie Chung Tonight. Last week, his show averaged 365,000 viewers to Chung's 686,000, according to Nielsen Media Research.

SANTIAGO, Chile - For sheer longevity and number of viewers, nothing on American television compares to the variety show Sabado Gigante, or Giant Saturday. Week after week for 40 years, this three-hour program has been a Saturday night fixture, and it's now seen by up to 100 million Spanish-speakers in 20 countries, including the United States. Mario Kreutzberger, 61, has been the host of Sabado Gigante since Day 1, his natural reticence hidden behind his goofy stage persona, Don Francisco.

AS THE first negative ads of this year's gubernatorial race hit the airwaves, voters might want to remember a quip from the eloquent Adlai Stevenson, who twice won the Democratic presidential nomination and twice lost to Dwight Eisenhower:"A lie is an abomination unto the Lord and a very present help in trouble."* * *TELEVISION talk show host Phil Donahue's campaign to broadcast an execution on his program has not gone unnoticed by David Letterman's writers.A sampling of the Donahue-execution jokes heard recently on the Letterman show follows:* "To give you an idea of how oppressively hot and humid it was in New York City yesterday, guys were showing up at the 'Donahue' show asking to be executed."

I KNEW it would come to this sooner or later -- Phil Donahue is asking a North Carolina court to grant him permission to videotape the June 15 execution of convicted murderer David Lawson.This would be a first for the talk shows and Oprah and Geraldo are gnashing their teeth that their booking agents hadn't thought of it first.I can't wait to see the Donahue broadcast because the show should set off sparks.The entire program will have to be moved to Death Row Studio A at the prison and the audience will be bussed in.The show will probably go something like this: The condemned man is brought into the room, he hugs Phil and then takes his seat in the electric chair as everyone applauds.

Daisy Fuentes promises her new talk show for CNBC won't wade into the tabloid waters so favored by traditional talk fare."You will not see transsexuals who have gotten a sex change to become women and are now lesbians," Ms. Fuentes said the other day.Not only doesn't she want to make her viewers uncomfortable, she doesn't intend to make her guests feel that way, either. She just wants to find out "what makes them tick." And controversy isn't likely to be part of the mix."I don't enjoy controversy," she said.

"Do you want me to shut up?" voluble Susan Powter politely asked a photographer kneeling near her."No, you can talk," he replied. "Just look this way."Judging from the attention she commanded, the Dallas-based "motivation diva" had the alluring look of a winner Tuesday at the 31st annual National Association of Television Program Executives convention in Miami Beach. NATPE, an elephant-size flea market for 10,000-plus buyers and sellers of syndicated programming, helped Ms. Powter schmooze the way for her new weekday syndicated show, premiering this fall.

NEW YORK -- At the height of the 1988 presidential campaign, Democratic nominee Michael S. Dukakis gave a foreign policy speech in Chicago at noon one day. Then he flew to Sterling Heights, Mich., and had his picture taken driving a tank.It was one of the more memorable moments of the campaign -- and a classic case of a candidate "stepping on his own story," in the lexicon of the political consultants. Mr. Dukakis' views on how to deal with the Soviet Union were lost in laughter at the tank pictures.

Phil Donahue says he would broadcast an execution on hi talk show."What's wrong with it?" he said. "Let's see future bad guys watch these people fry right here on television."-- Associated PressBreezy opening theme. Fade in to studio audience applauding. Donahue is standing stage left next to an ominous-looking electric chair. He wears a bemused expression.Donahue: "Thank you, thank you. Well, we've got a special treat for you today. Billy Clyde Semple has been on Death Row in Florida's Railford Prison since 1987.

Phil Donahue says he would broadcast an execution on hi talk show."What's wrong with it?" he said. "Let's see future bad guys watch these people fry right here on television."-- Associated PressBreezy opening theme. Fade in to studio audience applauding. Donahue is standing stage left next to an ominous-looking electric chair. He wears a bemused expression.Donahue: "Thank you, thank you. Well, we've got a special treat for you today. Billy Clyde Semple has been on Death Row in Florida's Railford Prison since 1987.

Sitting down for a chat with Phil Donahue seems a bit unnatural.Wouldn't walking and talking be more like it?After all, after 25 years of "Donahue" shows -- --ing up and down TV studio aisles, mike in hand, asking "Is the caller there?" -- it just seems more appropriate, somehow.But on this rainy afternoon in New York, the mood of the 56-year-old talk show host is relaxed to the point of pensive.It's a couple of hours before show time in NBC-TV's Studio 8G when Mr. Donahue ushers a reporter into his office at 30 Rockefeller Center.