People

By Michele Orecklin

BUT WILL IT LAST?

Last week the comedian JERRY SEINFELD got engaged to the comely JESSICA SKLAR. Will it last?

PROS:

Unlike Seinfeld's last girlfriend, Sklar was old enough to vote and drink when they began dating

Many women would find it hard to walk away from a man worth $250 million

CONS:

Sklar seems sketchy on the rules of marriage: she began dating Seinfeld shortly after returning from her first honeymoon

The real-life Soup Nazi has predicted the marriage is doomed

PREDICTION: Yes! He's rich and she's young, yada, yada, yada

ANOTHER LOSS IN THE ER

Has greed lost its lure in Hollywood? Is wearing scrubs and working with chest paddles so onerous? Do television stars really still believe they can be successful in the movies? These were among the disquieting questions raised last week when JULIANNA MARGULIES rebuffed a $27 million offer to remain on ER for two more seasons. After six years of playing nurse Carol Hathaway, Margulies is intent on pursuing her film career. "We wish her well and know that she will be successful in all her endeavors," said ER executive producer John Wells. Perhaps Wells hasn't seen The Newton Boys, Margulies' last film, which earned a total of $10 million, or less than half of $27 million.

VIRTUALLY EXCITING

Aspiring filmmakers, are you feeling overlooked, underappreciated, unaccountably undiscovered? Not to worry; Leo feels your pain. Last week LEONARDO DICAPRIO, whose movie-star status has helped him become wildly rich and fabulously hedonistic, announced he is giving back to the industry by inaugurating the First Annual Leonardo DiCaprio International Online Short Film Festival (official nickname: LeoFest). Moviemakers can submit works no longer than 15 minutes to be judged in four categories by a panel of experts; the best films will be loaded onto the Internet www.leofest.com beginning in December. "This festival strives to offer a level field on which anyone who wishes may play," says DiCaprio. His populism is noble, but who wants to be part of a festival without parties, fine hotels or the chance to rub elbows with Harvey Weinstein?

FEUD OF THE WEEK

NAME: Geri "formerly Ginger Spice" Halliwell OCCUPATION: Singer; ambassador for the U.N. BEST PUNCH: Garnered reams of press by confirming her relationship with famed British deejay Chris Evans days before releasing her new single, the same day Baby released hers

NAME: Emma "still Baby Spice" Bunton OCCUPATION: Singer; ambassador for Sporty BEST PUNCH: Suggested Halliwell's relationship was a ploy to snag record sales; said, "[Evans] has been trying to bed me too...He rang over the weekend asking me out for a drink--but I refused"

WINNER: Halliwell, because her single beat Baby's and she's no longer single