Back when "L.A. Law" was one of the hottest shows on TV, Harry Hamlin and Corbin Bernsen were two of the hottest men on TV. And, apparently, stories of their rivalry weren't altogether manufactured by the tabloids.
A couple of years ago, a rather obviously annoyed Hamlin deflected a question about what it was like to be named People Magazine's sexiest man alive.
"You'd have to ask Corbin Bernsen," Hamlin said, taking an unprovoked shot at his former "L.A. Law" castmate. And then trying to explain it away by insisting that Bernsen was green with envy when it happened.
"When that happened, he just came up to me one day and he said, 'Harry, what was that like? Wow!' " Hamlin said. "I just figured he probably wanted to be there."
Bernsen, however, had an entirely different version of those events. "He didn't really say that, did he?" he asked while doing publicity for next month's "L.A. Law — The Movie" reunion. "He was kidding, wasn't he?"
Well, it didn't seem like it.
"No, I wasn't jealous at all," Bernsen insisted. "When I saw all that went along with that — and how embarrassed he was by it — I was actually glad it wasn't me."
And, all these years later, it doesn't really matter anymore.
"Hey, at this point I'm just glad to still be working," Bernsen said. "I'm not as young as I was. I've got a great wife and great kids. I don't think that Harry and I were rivals (on "L.A. Law"), and we certainly aren't now."
TOGETHER AGAIN: For the first time since he left "L.A. Law" in 1991, Hamlin is co-starring with Susan Dey in the TV movie "Disappearance," which airs Sunday at 6 p.m. on TBS.
No, it's not the story of their post-"L.A. Law" careers.
NO MORE WHOOPI: Whoopi Goldberg, who has been in the center square of "Hollywood Squares" since the show was revived in 1998, won't be there much longer. She's quitting at the end of this season, reportedly because she wants more money than the producers are willing to pay her.
Which is sort of ironic, given that when the show began Goldberg told critics that producers "offered me a really beautiful amount of money." Apparently, beautiful in 1998 is less beautiful in 2002.
And Goldberg admitted that working on "Hollywood Squares" isn't working hard.
"Even the most dense of stars can come and play this show. This is a positive thing," Goldberg said. "It's fun. The thing about this game is anybody can play it. You don't have to be a rocket scientist. You only have to have a sense of humor."
And get paid a whole lot of money.
Goldberg, who has been credited as an executive producer on the show, will be out on that count as well. Not that she was involved in the day-to-day production of the show.
"I get up every day, and I call people," Goldberg said. "I call my friends. I say, 'Will you come and do this with us?' So my contribution to this point is just really trying to fill those boxes."
DEGENERES TO DAYTIME? Ellen DeGeneres, whose second sitcom has apparently bitten the dust, may not be away from TV for long. She could be hosting her own daytime talk/variety show in the fall of 2003.
DeGeneres has signed with Warner Bros./Telepictures, the producers of the soon-to-be-retired "Rosie O'Donnell Show." O'Donnell's show is being turned over to the very funny Caroline Rhea ("Sabrina the Teenage Witch") in the fall.
Word is that the only thing that might put the kibosh on that would be if CBS actually renews "The Ellen Show." But given the fact that the network cut back the episode order from 22 to 18 and only aired 13 of those, that's unlikely.
CASTING ABOUT: Mark Harmon, whose TV credits range from a pair of doctors ("St. Elsewhere" and "Chicago Hope") to a pair of detectives ("Charlie Grace" and "Reasonable Doubts"), will begin a four-episode stint as a Secret Service agent on the May 1 installment of "The West Wing."
His character will be assigned to protect press secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney), and sparks will ignite between them.
Be on the lookout to see if there are any scenes in which Harmon interacts with his 1991-93 "Reasonable Doubts" co-star, Marlee Matlin, who has a recurring "West Wing" role as political consultant/pollster Joey Lucas.
In the latest attempt to stave off cancellation, "Ally McBeal" will feature guest appearances by Heather Locklear and Lara Flynn Boyle on Monday's episode.
Locklear plays a bigamist, while Boyle plays a witness against her.
Boyle has been on "Ally" before, playing her character from "The Practice" on a pair of crossover episodes. This time, she'll be a completely different character.
OUT OF THE "FAMILY": CBS has apparently come to its senses and decided to sentence the legal drama "Family Law" to die.
The network won't officially announce its fall schedule until next month, but episodes of the show that were originally scheduled to air April 22 and 29 have been yanked, replaced by additional episodes of "First Monday" and the newsmagazine "48 Hours." Which means that the episode of "Family Law" that aired earlier this week was the season — and probably series — finale.
What with the success CBS has had with its 7-9 p.m. sitcoms on Monday nights — particularly the hugely popular "Everybody Loves Raymond" — certainly the network can follow with something more watchable (and more successful) than the increasingly boring, annoying "Family Law."
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com