THE EMMY AWARDS AND...PALINMANIA?!

Hello, everybody. Well, last night of course was the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, and there were lots of stuff to talk about from them.

First...the opening skit that raised lots of nerves, as a spoof of a plane crash which was meant to parody last year's drama winner "Lost" happened just hours after a deadly Comair Flight 191 crash in Kentucky killed 49 people. NBC (which telecast this year's awards) said in a statement that the timing was unfortunate, while that network's Lexington affiliate's general manager was "stunned and horrifed" over the bit; the "Los Angeles Times" called it "cringe-inducing."

Aside from that ill-fated skit, host Conan O'Brien in his musical number took a jab at his own network buried in fourth place. Of course, this is not new, as late night hosts have swiped at other networks' troubles in the past. Al Franken started all this on "Saturday Night Live" in 1980 when he babbled about Fred Silverman's failure to pry NBC out of then-third place while showing a list of the week's top ten shows in which eight of them were on CBS, two on ABC, and none NBC.

Anyway...other memorable moments of the night included Dick Clark's appearance, Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith, and Kate Jackson paying tribute to Aaron Spelling, and Bob Newhart clinging on to dear life throughout the show.

Oh yeah, there were Emmys to be handed out inbetween those. "24" took the Best Drama prize with Kiefer Sutherland grabbing Oustanding Drama Actor while Mariska Hargitay, who gave birth to new baby boy August months ago, added another new bundle of joy: Lead Actress Drama for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit". On the comedy side, "The Office" nabbed the Series trophy, while Julia Louis-Dreyfus claimed Lead Actress ("The New Adventures of Old Christine"). And "The Daily Show" and "The Amazing Race" remained unstoppable in Variety and Reality-Competition Series as they're both now 4-0 in their wins.

Meanwhile, at the Creative Arts awards held the previous weekend, not even that controversial "South Park" episode that poked fun at Tom Cruise couldn't stop "The Simpsons" in getting the Animated Program statue, while former Fairbanksan Ben Grossmann was one of the winners for Visual Effects in the Sci-Fi Channel movie "The Triangle."

The excitement all started on the red carpet of course, as Katherine Heigl and Sandra Oh of "Grey's Anatomy" (which by the way, went home with zero Emmys) were heartstoppers in their gowns. Pregnant Heidi Klum glowed in red, as did Hargitay, Debra Messing, and Louis-Dreyfus.

The best-dressed has to go to Heigl, who flaunted her curves in her flesh-toned Escada. As for the worst? A three-way tie between Ellen Pompeo, Paula Abdul, and one of my favorite entertainment news show ladies even though I love her...Maria Menounos. After four straight years of knockout Emmy fashions from her, she really overdid herself in black. Vanessa Minnillo -- who did the Emmy beat for "Entertainment Tonight" -- looked way better.

The final tally after last night: HBO took 26 awards of the 95 they were nominated, followed by NBC (14), ABC (11), Fox (10), CBS, (9), and PBS rounding out with eight.

Maybe next year, the Emmys should go back to the traditional voting process. That new one nearly made this year's show a turn-off.

Now that this is out of the way...Last week in the primaries, Sarah Palin ended Frank Murkowski's re-election chances when she beat him and John Binkley to take the Republican gubernatorial candidacy.

I have done some deep thinking while going back to some history, but if Palin does get elected, we could not only be seeing both the first female governor and the youngest at 42...but probably the hottest since Pierre Trudeau was elected Canada's Prime Minister in 1968!

Yes, during an extremely heavy time for America (Vietnam, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, everything blowing out of proportions at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago with Dan Rather getting punked), our neighbors to the North were in the wave of Trudeaumania, as a swinging and very single Trudeau had Canada heading to the polls in droves. At 48 (way too old to be a heartthrob), he was mobbed by screaming teenagers wherever he campaigned; he was like the Johnny Depp of Canadian politics. And since a mosh pit was a generation away, Trudeau was an instant kissing booth as the ladies were all over him.

Now flash forward 38 years later to now and Sarah Palin. Okay, she's happily married with four children, but I don't see any young males running to the polls to vote for her as the issues don't seem to be on their minds. But if she does beat Democrat Tony Knowles in an apparent landslide on November 7 (like hell it'll happen), don't be surprised if she becomes the only piece of eye candy in Juneau. I wouldn't be surprised if we see her among the "50 (or 100) Most Beautiful People" listing or if she makes guest appearances on Leno, Letterman, Daily Show, or Conan as they intro her as "The Hottest Governor in America."

Palin and Knowles (who looks kind of rugged) could be in for fight of their lives...which could result in the sexiest race for governor Alaska's had in a long time. But if Palin wins or loses, I'll always still be fond to the one Sarah I care about: MICHELLE GELLAR!!! (though she's married to, but...) So long!

IT'LL BE PALIN VS. KNOWLES IN NOVEMBER FOR ALASKA'S TOP JOB!!!

Good evening. Just tonight, the primary elections were held here in Alaska, and the big story coming out of it right now is that Frank Murkowski's attempt at four more years as our governor has come to an end.

In the hot three-way Republican race between him, Sarah Palin, and John Binkley, it was Palin in the end who pulled it off. With 60.4% of the statewide numbers in as of 10:50pm Alaska Time (2:50am on the East Coast), Palin grabbed 50.7% of the votes (35,809 in raw numbers) with Binkley in second with 30.1% (21,272) and Murkowski crashing to third (18.7%, 13,235 votes).

On the Democratic side, it was all Tony Knowles with 67.8% (24,052) followed by Eric Croft with 24% and 8,500 votes. Unlike the Republicans where those three were slugging it out UFC-style, the Knowles and Croft took things easy.

Meanwhile, despite lots of support for its defeat from businesses and local chambers of commerce, 52.8% said yes on Ballot Measure 2. And as for the Lieutenant Governors, Democrat Ethan Berkowitz took the Combined ballot with 59.5%, while 57.5% went to Sean Parnell for the Republicans.

To recap: Sarah Palin has ended Frank Murkowski's re-election chances in a big way, and it'll be her and Tony Knowles vying for the big job on November 3. For Palin, she will try to make history by being elected Alaska's first female governor, something Fran Ulmer attempted to do in 2002 but lost to Murkowski. For Knowles, he was our governor once from 1994 to 2002; will he be again in 2006? This is starting to shape up to be quite an amazing and interesting campaign to the end, and we'll be keeping watch between now and when we head to the booth to write the final chapter of this year's election by filling in that oval on our Accu-vote ballots. Good night.

FLYING THE FRIENDLY SKIES FAR FROM BECOMING FRIENDLY YET AGAIN

Hello, everybody. I'm sure you already know by now that due to a terrorist plot being thwarted to use liquid explosives to blow up several planes bound from Britain to the United States, airports around the world took no chances to up their security. As a result, you cannot bring these on your carry-on anymore:

• Beverages (including juices, water, and sodas)
• Toiletries (personal, oral hygiene, and hair and skin care products like shampoos or lotions)

But what you can bring is baby formula; it's just that you have to taste it yourself to make sure it's legit. Prescription medicine including insulin are also acceptable.

Now that's here, but in Britain, they're really upped the ante. Electronics like laptops, portable DVD players, mobile phones, and even iPods are now banned from carry-ons period. That means if they want to entertain themselves during the flight from now on, they're going to have to bring a book.

So, what do I make of all this? Well, you can still bring beverages with you, but that's after you go through security and that the gift shops near the gates still sell them. As for toiletries? You might have to put them in the checked luggage.

Looks like we're going to live by these new rules from then on. After all, with the five-year anniversary of 9/11 just weeks away, flying the friendly skies continue to be anything but friendly with every security measure they pull on us. So long.

MEL GIBSON'S MEL-ODRAMA

Hello, everybody. Alright, every person in the world has had their take on what has been up with Mel Gibson over this week; and now, finally, it's my turn.

To refresh your memory: Last weekend after a night of partying, Gibson was arrested for DUI in Malibu. Moments later, he would be spewing out anti-Semitic remarks saying that the Jews are "responsible for all the wars in the world" and even called a female police officer "sugar tits"; the latter was when he was at the police station. His blood alcohol content was 0.12, higher than the 0.08 limit. Here was his first statement just moments after his arrest:

"After drinking alcohol on Thursday night, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed. I drove a car when I should not have, and was stopped by the L.A. County sheriffs. The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person.

I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said and I apologize to anyone who I have offended.

Also, I take this opportunity to apologize to the deputies involved for my belligerent behavior. They have always been there for me in my community and indeed probably saved me from myself. I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry.

I have battled the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse. I apologize for any behavior unbecoming of me in my inebriated state and have already taken necessary steps to ensure my return to health."

Well, it didn't take long for the Jewish community to come out swinging at Gibson's remarks. The next day of course, it would be the talk of talk radio and the cable news discussion shows, not to mention the entertainment news and late night monologues as usual (except for Letterman; he was in reruns all this week). Mel issued a second statement a couple days later:

"There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of anti-Semitic remark. I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI charge.

I am a public person, and when I say something, either articulated and thought out, or blurted out in a moment of insanity, my words carry weight in the public arena. As a result, I must assume personal responsibility for my words and apologize directly to those who have been hurt and offended by those words.

The tenets of what I profess to believe necessitate that I exercise charity and tolerance as a way of life. Every human being is God’s child, and if I wish to honor my God I have to honor his children. But please know from my heart that I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot. Hatred of any kind goes against my faith.

I’m not just asking for forgiveness. I would like to take it one step further, and meet with leaders in the Jewish community, with whom I can have a one on one discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing.

I have begun an ongoing program of recovery and what I am now realizing is that I cannot do it alone. I am in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display, and I am asking the Jewish community, whom I have personally offended, to help me on my journey through recovery. Again, I am reaching out to the Jewish community for its help. I know there will be many in that community who will want nothing to do with me, and that would be understandable. But I pray that that door is not forever closed.

This is not about a film. Nor is it about artistic license. This is about real life and recognizing the consequences hurtful words can have. Its about existing in harmony in a world that seems to have gone mad."

With that, apology accepted by the Anti-Defamation League. But to the public...is anyone buying them? Actor Rob Schneider, a half-Jew, isn't; he said he won't be working with the actor ever again, while one of Mel's "Maverick" co-stars, Jodie Foster, is standing up to him because he's "honest, loyal, and kind."

So, what do I think of all this? As we've learned many times from other celebrities who've broken the law (and have their mugshots displayed around the world, especially in "NewsBeat" on the old website), Mel can turn his life around. We've watched his career over the years from "Mad Max" to the "Lethal Weapon" series to "Passion of the Christ", and there's no way it'll be diminished anytime soon. Sure, his mugshot will join Hugh Grant's, Michael Jackson's, Tom DeLay's (why was he smiling in his?), and Glen Campbell's among others in the Celebrity Mugshot Hall of Fame; but when the dust is settled, Mel Gibson will be Mel Gibson once again...just like when Britney Spears used to be Britney Spears until she started seeing Kevin Federline and completely blew everything out of proportions, reputation and all!

Mel will definitely tough it all out, but it won't be an immediate process. If he does, let's hope he won't have another Mel-tdown ever again. So long.