People

By Michele Orecklin

GOOD NEWS A group of musicians will record a song to benefit Kosovo refugees

BAD NEWS The song was written by DAVID CASSIDY

[GOOD NEWS] JUDD NELSON announced he is leaving the sitcom Suddenly Susan

[BAD NEWS] He plans to revive his movie career

HOPE HE DIDN'T THROW OUT THE COFFEEMAKER

The new day that dawned on BRYANT GUMBEL'S career at CBS last week looked a lot like the old days, only with a few more clouds. The network announced that Gumbel, who in 1997 pulled up anchor at NBC's top-rated Today show, would return to morning television as host of ratings bottom dweller CBS This Morning. This is despite the fact that CBS president Leslie Moonves said last year that Gumbel would "rather be shot in the head than move back to mornings." Gumbel, who has a $5 million contract with CBS, has been relatively dormant since his prime-time foray, Public Eye, was canceled after less than a year. The revamped morning show, to be co-anchored by a yet unnamed female broadcaster, will debut in November.

WAS THIS HOW THOREAU DID IT?

Nature can be so inspiring. While skiing in Aspen, Colo., last year, actor WILL SMITH and director Paul Hunter contemplated the surrounding mountains and realized the music video for Smith's forthcoming film Wild Wild West had to be big. As it turns out, big was an understatement. The final product is seven minutes long, and features 40 dancers, action sequences scored by a 50-piece orchestra and cameos by Stevie Wonder, Babyface, Enrique Iglesias and a group of tarantulas imported from Africa. "I've been working on this since December and sleeping in the editing bay the past three nights," Hunter said last week as he rushed to finish the video in time for its debut this week. Maybe next time he should consider vacationing in Kansas.

IT DID WONDERS FOR DIONNE

Yes, PAULA JONES has a few unresolved legal issues. But in an industry that already includes LaToya Jackson among its spokespeople, that's hardly grounds for disqualification. And so last month a Florida company approached Jones to lend her name to a psychic hot line, an offer she accepted without first consulting her husband, her attorney or even LaToya. "I hit the roof when I found out," says Susan Carpenter-McMillan, Jones' longtime adviser. "It's the most demeaning thing, and it flies in the face of everything [Paula and I] believe in religiously." When Jones later expressed misgivings about the enterprise, she was informed that the contract is legally binding. So while she's not manning any phone lines, her face and name remain linked to the enterprise. It seems that while the counsel of telephonic telepaths is dubious, the counsel of their lawyers is highly reliable.