For Saturday, three or four bits of news about people I like

Quick, before I get into any of that, think: How many versions of "Law & Order" are there, and when's the last time you watched a new episode of one?

For me, the answers to those are I have no idea and for at least 10 years or so. It's not that I have anything against "L&O," simply that I prefer them with the late Jerry Orbach. Now, however, I think they've packed a new version with just the right stars to get me to tune in.

Two of my definite favorites, Terrence Howard and Alfred Molina, will rotate on the new "L&O" version "Law & Order:Los Angeles" as, respectively, a deputy district attorney and a prosecutor. Great news on the "Law" side, and though I have no idea who's gonna keep the "Order," you can bet that that's enough to get me to tune in for at least a few episodes when this premieres on NBC presumably some time this fall.

And in related TV news, just about the only possibly positive thing about the demise of the wickedly funny Starz show "Party Down" is that its cast members keep popping up in good shows. Adam Scott will be a regular on "Parks and Recreation" this fall to presumably pitch woo at Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope, and now comes word that Lizzy Caplan has also found a new gig, and a starring one on HBO.

Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez production company is developing Julie Klausner's memoir "I Don't Care About Your Band" for Caplan to star in as a HBO series. Though I had never heard of her, Klausner is a comedy writer/comedienne, and her book, as the title implies, is a comedic look at her dating life in New York City with men trying to make it "in bands, as comedians, writers, or worse, as actors." Sounds not too far removed from Caplan's character on "Party Down," and like something I'll definitely tune in for.

And finally, in some actual movie news, it seems that "Precious" director Lee Daniels may have lost - at least temporarily - one movie and picked up another one that sounds at least as good.

For a while now, he's been working on a piece of historical drama called "Selma," which, as you can probably guess from the title, involves the American civil rights movement. Had that come together, it would have (and probably still will) have a pretty epicly good cast, including Liam Neeson as President Lyndon B. Johnson and Robert De Niro (maybe) as George Wallace (try and imagine that). While that was set to start shooting in August, the financing has at least been delayed, and in the meantime, Daniels has jumped onto something that sounds equally up his alley.

Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Daniels has now signed on to rewrite and direct something called "The Butler," based on a series of articles by Wil Haygood on Eugene Allen, a White House butler who worked for eight presidents in the 20th century and, of course, had to be witness to some rather amazing events.

The script that Daniels will be working on comes from Danny Strong, a name that may be familiar to fans (like me) of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Gilmore Girls." After having long recurring roles on those shows, he went on to write the seriously good HBO movie "Recount," about the shenanigans that lead to George W. Bush becoming president. Along with a sublime performance from Laura Dern as Katherine Harris, it also just delivered a whipsmart story, so I can't imagine Daniels will have to do a thorough rewrite here.

And though this wouldn't start shooting until the end of this year, what makes it a lock to get made before "Selma"? One Denzel Washington has been approached to play the titular butler, and I can't imagine he'd turn it down.

Either way, though I'd love to see Daniels branch out a bit and move beyond matters of race, he's a very talented director to keep your eyes on no matter what comes next.

OK, I really have to get a move on today so I can work a hopefully happy viewing of "Dinner for Schmucks" into a busy Saturday, so I'll just leave you with the perfect closing gift, the Comic-Con panel for "Chuck," in its entirety. I don't know if anyone will bother to watch the whole thing, as I did, so I'll go ahead and tell you now: It doesn't contain the best news of all about the new season coming Sept. 20, that "Terminator" badass and Salisbury, Md., native Linda Hamilton will play Chuck and Ellie's mom (I can't wait to see that!) It does feature the entire cast having a good time, and for fans of the show it's well worth watching. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.

An open apology to the great Mr. Bernie Mac

Actually, the - potentially - greatest news I could find out there this morning is that Warner Bros. has finally given a release date, Oct. 16, 2009, to Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are." Of course, that says nothing about what the final movie will look like and doesn't mean Warner just won't move it back again, but there's still hope that my favorite story of childhood will make it to the big screen while I'm still drawing breath.

But the main subject here today is an apology to Bernie Mac, whose last movie, "Soul Men," I had snubbed until last weekend. As I'll explain, though, I don't really think it's entirely my fault.

This summer and into the fall has really been pretty solid for comedies, but I had avoided Mac, Samuel L. Jackson and director Malcolm Lee's "Soul Men" because of what has to be just about the worst marketing campaign of all time. Can you remember it? It pretty much scarred my brain for the rest of the year with two of the most tired jokes I've ever heard, one about what happens when poor Jennifer Coolidge removes her dentures (man, does she deserve better) and the other about what happens when Mr. Mac accidentally takes a viagra and gets into bed with Mr. Jackson.

So, you can understand why I've just said no since the movie opened in the first week of November, but this weekend was finally weak enough to make me just give in. I just couldn't bring myself to watch any remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still," and even with five of my very favorite actors (Luis Guzman, Elizabeth Pena, Alfred Molina, Melonie Diaz and Freddy Rodriguez) in "Nothing Like the Holidays," I also couldn't see taking in what looked like just the most predictable kind of holiday fare. However, neither could I see a fall weekend with no movies.

What it came down to was a choice between "Role Models" and "Soul Men," and my love for Bernie Mac swung me to the latter (how in the world either one is still in theaters remains a mystery, however) and I found there's a lot of good things just under the crude surface in the other Mr. Lee's flick.

If they had just told me (and perhaps I should have been able to figure it out on my own) that this was mostly a sweet buddy road movie in which Mr. Mac and Mr. Jackson drive cross country to reunite at the Apollo Theater as soul duo the Real Deal (and, even better, you get John Legend in a coffin, to boot), I would have been in from the start. Those two dudes are clearly friends and enjoy ribbing each other, and the road leads to very funny scenes like them performing in a country and western bar (complete with Mr. Jackson line dancing.) As a much less funny Adam Herschman says at one point, "They say motherf***er a lot, but they're real nice guys," and that - and support from the always welcome Sharon Leal - is where the flick gets most of its appeal.

Now, don't get me wrong. This is BY NO MEANS a great movie, but it is a really fun one, and well worth a rental when it hits that point (even if this is somehow still playing in a theater near you, too, I'd still wait for DVD.) And a further apology from me to Malcolm Lee, who is, yes, Spike Lee's cousin. He's certainly not making movies that look anything like Spike's, but he's still managed to make three flicks - "Soul Men," "Roll Bounce" and the silly but satisfying "Undercover Brother" - that I really like, so huzzah to that.

Like most of the world, I first found the late, great Bernie Mac in Spike's "Kings of Comedy," and to this day I still can't believe that it was this hilarious but very blue routine that really set up the premise for and landed him his mostly funny sitcom. After a tired couple of minutes of black-white comedy, in this clip he really launches into "his sister's kids" (the 2-year-old is "a shepherd of the devil"), so if you've never seen this watch it with your headphones on if at work and enjoy. And please accept my apology for snubbing your last movie so long, Mr. Mac. Rest in peace.