Freak Show

Common Pleas Judge Lynne Abraham keeps worrying about the upcoming trial of Gary Heidnik turning into a "circus," a "sideshow" or a "media event. " The defendant, his lawyer, the district attorney and other necessary officials had to travel to Pittsburgh because the judge felt publicity had made it impossible for Heidnik to get a fair trial with a Philadelphia jury. Of the potential jurors interviewed in Philadelphia, 180 had heard of the case and 124 had already decided whether Heidnik was guilty.

LARRY Ceisler's recent op-ed branding a potential constitutional convention as a "political freak show" populated by "crazies" illustrates a stunning lack of research on the issue. As the author of SB340 and HB1929 in 2007 (and a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor), I suggest he review that legislation. It provides ample compensation for delegates and funds a convention from existing legislative surpluses. It designates transparent methods for lobbying, calls for three delegates elected from each senate district and doesn't demand public financing of delegate campaigns.

WHEN IT comes to Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt , Tattle is torn. We hate to write about them because they're the worst type of publicity whores. On the other hand, the freak show is a very popular carnival attraction. So, here's the latest from the demonic duo. Please shower after. TMZ.com: Spencer is trying to sell a sex tape with him and Heidi. RadarOnline.com: Heidi denies there is a sex tape. TMZ.com: Spencer meets Heidi in Costa Rica and threatens that if she doesn't agree to do another reality show with him - one about her trying to leave him - he will release the tape(s)

Australian trio Silverchair took the stage of the Electric Factory on Saturday night to the sounds of circus music, with a carnival freak-show scene as a backdrop. But to the mostly teenage crowd that packed the Factory, the members of Silverchair are anything but freaks. They're the stars of their high school Battle of the Bands who play grunge hand-me-downs from Pearl Jam and Nirvana even though older brothers and sisters tell them it's not cool anymore. "I don't really know how to put on a cool show," Daniel Johns, the frontman with long blond hair and a babyface, sang in a perfect imitation of Kurt Cobain's anguished yowl.

Already ticked off about his team's 2-0 loss in a scrimmage Sunday against FC Dallas, Union team manager Peter Nowak yesterday blasted what he called the excessive whining over referees' calls, a problem he said would turn MLS into a "freak show. " Nowak said he despises seeing not only opposing coaches, but players, and even equipment managers and other team employees complaining about one call after another. "It looks bad when a coach is waving his arms on every call," Nowak said.

It is hard to say which of Insectavora's meals is the least appetizing. The pus-colored maggots she dumps on her tongue, then illuminates with a flashlight so the audience can see them wriggle? The glistening earthworm she slurps with a gustatory glee more often associated with children eating spaghetti? The crunchy crickets? Jolting people out of their seats is one of the points of the Coney Island Circus Sideshow. Before Insectavora, the audience has already watched the Amazing Blazing Tyler Fyre pound nails into his nose and Ravi the Scorpion Swami contort and stretch his body as if it were Silly Putty.

JUST ONE DAY after turning 32 - with her latest hunky beau Ben Affleck at her side - J.Lo filed for divorce from hubby No. 2, dancer Cris Judd. La Lopez filed yesterday in Los Angeles citing - come on say it with us now! - "irreconcilable differences," the entertainment news show "Extra" reported. The two announced their separation last month, after being married only nine months. Girlfriend has already moved on, according to a report in yesterday's New York Post. Affleck and Jennifer canoodled - Tattle's word of the day - while they made "goo-goo eyes" at each other Wednesday when La Lopez was feted at a surprise birthday party, the Post reported.

In a time of warfare and economic decline U.S. Rep. James Traficant (D., Ohio) gave America the one thing it needed: a freak show. Thank you, Mr. Traficant, for teaching us to laugh again. The whole thing was just plain weird. At various times during his testimony before the House, Traficant invited the IRS and the Justice Department to kiss him in a certain place. He likened the House to an elephant eating a portion of him. And he vowed to run for reelection from a prison cell.

The Tom Cruise publicity machine is a'rolling - sending out a missionary to deliver an actual, though indirect, pseudo-apology. This, in the wake of the breakup with his monster bride, Paramount Pictures, which has accused him of acting like a one-man freak show since he brought Katie Holmes under his circus big top. War of the Worlds coproducer Kathleen Kennedy tells the New York Daily News that Scientology's impossible missionary is afflicted with...

This is the week when historically I would rant about the idiocy of the Emmy nominations. Well, not this time. No siree, Bob Barker. I will not attack the stodginess of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. (Even though the average age of its voters may actually have increased with the passing of nonagenarian comedy writer and producer Sherwood Schwartz.) Instead, I will praise the bold, discerning, often surprising choices reflected in this year's fields. First of all, The Kennedys . The controversial mini-series is up for outstanding mini-series or movie.

After an emotional week that felt more like a year to me, Whitney Houston will be laid to rest Saturday. Her private funeral, which will be televised and streamed live online, is set for New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J., the church where she came of age polishing her glorious instrument, that multi-octave marvel critics simply referred to as "the Voice. " Even now, I can't shake my inexplicable sadness over why the legendary artist had to go so soon, at age 48. This one hit hard, even harder than Michael Jackson's death.

Some will say Jerry Sandusky showed grace toward his accusers by sparing them the torment of testifying in public about their private hell. I am not so inclined. Sandusky's unorthodox lawyer, Joseph Amendola, has granted interviews to anyone with a pen. He has allowed his client, the former Penn State assistant football coach, to vent on NBC and in the New York Times, with Sandusky spinning a PG version of showers and sleepovers with 10 boys, activities that now encompass more than 50 counts of sexual abuse.

This is the week when historically I would rant about the idiocy of the Emmy nominations. Well, not this time. No siree, Bob Barker. I will not attack the stodginess of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. (Even though the average age of its voters may actually have increased with the passing of nonagenarian comedy writer and producer Sherwood Schwartz.) Instead, I will praise the bold, discerning, often surprising choices reflected in this year's fields. First of all, The Kennedys . The controversial mini-series is up for outstanding mini-series or movie.

It took some time before Brian Yorkey figured out exactly what mental condition would plague his leading lady. Yet even before the librettist/lyricist had paired the symptoms with a diagnosis, he and composer Tom Kitt knew who they wanted to play the tricky role: Alice Ripley. Years passed and incarnations of their rock musical Next to Normal (originally titled Feeling Electric ) came and went. But Ripley was never available - until she was. When the show began workshops at Second Stage Theatre in 2006, Ripley was finally free to play Diana Goodman, whose bipolar disorder wreaks havoc on her household.

Hard to believe, but the current season of "Jerry Springer" is its 20th. At five days a week that amounts to a staggering amount of adulterers, cross-dressers, food (and foot) fetishists who have paraded (and often wrestled) in front of the "Springer" cameras. And just this week, the show's distributor, NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution, extended the program - which airs at 11 a.m. daily on MyPHL, Channel 17 - through 2014. As surprising as the lengthy run may be to some, there may be no one more shocked by the show's longevity than Springer himself.

WHEN IT comes to Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt , Tattle is torn. We hate to write about them because they're the worst type of publicity whores. On the other hand, the freak show is a very popular carnival attraction. So, here's the latest from the demonic duo. Please shower after. TMZ.com: Spencer is trying to sell a sex tape with him and Heidi. RadarOnline.com: Heidi denies there is a sex tape. TMZ.com: Spencer meets Heidi in Costa Rica and threatens that if she doesn't agree to do another reality show with him - one about her trying to leave him - he will release the tape(s)

Already ticked off about his team's 2-0 loss in a scrimmage Sunday against FC Dallas, Union team manager Peter Nowak yesterday blasted what he called the excessive whining over referees' calls, a problem he said would turn MLS into a "freak show. " Nowak said he despises seeing not only opposing coaches, but players, and even equipment managers and other team employees complaining about one call after another. "It looks bad when a coach is waving his arms on every call," Nowak said.

How did a freak show like Jersey Shore become 2010's must-see TV event? Glamour had nothing to do with it. Take eight young adults - brash, mouthy kids from what is often disparaged as "the bridge-and-tunnel crowd" - and pack them in a rental house in a blue-collar beach town in New Jersey. Give them jobs in a souvenir shop on the boardwalk and let them blow all their wages on bronzer, hair products and steroids before sending them out bar-hopping every night. What you get is reality TV with a far larger component of reality than the genre usually trucks in. The antics of this crass, coppertoned crew fascinated viewers.

LARRY Ceisler's recent op-ed branding a potential constitutional convention as a "political freak show" populated by "crazies" illustrates a stunning lack of research on the issue. As the author of SB340 and HB1929 in 2007 (and a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor), I suggest he review that legislation. It provides ample compensation for delegates and funds a convention from existing legislative surpluses. It designates transparent methods for lobbying, calls for three delegates elected from each senate district and doesn't demand public financing of delegate campaigns.

Give Britney Spears a little credit: It was a mere 2? years ago that the pop star, who brought her three-rings-in-the-round "Circus" spectacle to the Wachovia Center on Sunday, was a baldheaded tabloid train wreck with a career seemingly beyond repair. K-Fed was the least of her concerns: The teen-pop tease had grown up to be the out-of-control poster woman for poor parental decision-making. And when the story got out that the Associated Press had a Spears obituary ready, it seemed only logical, considering what an apparent danger she had become to herself.